Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

by Timothy Leary

Written in the psychedelic era, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out is Timothy Leary at his best, beckoning with humor and irreverence, a vision of individual empowerment, personal responsibility, and spiritual awakening. Includes:
o Start Your Own Religion o Education as an Addictive Process o Soul Session o Buddha as Drop-Out Mad Virgin of Psychedelia God's Secret Agent o Homage to Huxley o The Awe-Ful See-Er o The Molecular Revolution o MIT is TIM Backwards o Neurological Politics
"Trickster is a major figure in American Indian folk Wisdom. Also in Sufi Tales … a certain type of "rascal"-with a grin and a wink (and wisdom beyond wisdom) … in the Zen tradition this is known as the School of Crazy Wisdom … Timothy Leary-in his own inimitable way-has become the twentieth century's grand master of crazy wisdom …"
- Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Drugs, Spirituality, Psychology, History, Politics

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 1999

About the author

Timothy Francis Leary was an American writer, psychologist, futurist, modern pioneer and advocate of psychedelic drug research and use, and one of the first people whose remains have been sent into space. An icon of 1960s counterculture, Leary is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. He coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

Reviews

[P.E.]

The Acid Eucharist?


Main points:

-> Aimed at people under 40 : the message is divisive and presented as such, right-off.

-> A call for renewal, discovery out of the rut of US civilization in the 50s/60s.

-> Leary uses the same line to advocate LSD and marijuana as Huxley in The Doors of Perception: we as part of mankind already make use of many other psychoactive drugs, allegedly more toxic and dangerous to the human body (caffeine, alcohol, barbiturates).

-> Timothy Leary introduces a curious blend of experimental science and mysticism.

-> Message presented as both new and the oldest spiritual message in the history of mankind...

-> The aim repeatedly stated in the recording is: 'expanding consciousness' by taking LSD. All proceeds from drug use, which sounds resolutely autoreferential... a bit like religious faith.

-> Language of humility & challenge, flirting with martyrdom...

-> Timothy Leary intends it to be a gospel of retreat to the wilderness, far from 'cities', 'machines', 'relations which do not make sense to yourself', 'politics', 'religion'. While at the same time avowedly craving for 'holiness', 'wisdom' and universal reformation/'expansion' of consciousness...

Link to the free recording (a lot of ads though...).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zihuata...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bro...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyched...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student...



Documentaries about the Summer of Love & related topics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFNo-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJGY...


Discs on the display stand:

Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & the Holding Company

Disraeli Gears - Cream

Just a Poke - Sweet Smoke

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd

Hawkwind album - Hawkwind

Forever Changes - Love

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

In Search of the Lost Chord - The Moody Blues

Close to the Edge - Yes

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles


-------

Similar reads:
The Doors of Perception
Les Paradis artificiels
A Scanner Darkly
Into the Wild
Walden & Civil Disobedience


In the same spirit:
Les quatre accords toltèques
Le Psy De Poche
...

[Carl Winge]

I definitely vibe with the general idea of a psychedelic, utopian society, but I found some of his main ideas to be underdeveloped. First, his interpretation of homosexuality as a disorder is quite dated, and there are a number of ways homosexuals are important to society. Sexual reproduction isn't critical for every individual, though it's certainly important for our survival as a species. Second, he frequently dismisses the importance of machines and technology. The production of the holy sacrament, LSD, requires technology. And I view the development of machines and technology as important aspects of our evolution.

I suppose I will have to take his advice and write my own religion.

[Tess]

…. just wow

[Finbarr]

Listened to the audiobook and found it very soothing. So soothing, in fact, that it sent me to sleep on numerous occasions.

[Laurie]

I was surprisingly impressed by this book. My impression of his "followers" (many of them who did not seem to fully grasp what he was saying when he said to "drop out") made me think that he was just this quack. However, I found out that his view on drugs was much like my own.....the need to take what you learn while on them and apply them to your life.

[Daniel K-Cox]

Interesting cultural context for the age of psychedelics and the second sexual revolution, but I wasn't much of a fan aside from that

[Scott Benowitz]

The title of this book is a reference for the phrase which Timothy Leary was famous for.
While people frequently immediately associate Timothy Leary with research relating to potentially therapeutic uses for lysergic acid diethylamide, the broader themes that he wrote about were encouraging people to explore out- of- the- box unconventional thinking, exploring philosophies from cultures from other regions of the world, and questioning the emptiness of American society during the second half of the 20th century.
Timothy Leary explores all of those aforementioned themes in this book. He does discuss research which involved LSD, and he discusses numerous ideas about philosophies as well as the shallowness of American culture which are rarely addressed by other writers.
And while Timothy Leary had seemingly intended this book to address issues relating to people who were living in the U.S., I think that the issues that he discusses in this book will be equally relevant to readers who have not lived in the U.S.- as long as someone has questioned the fundamental values of the society that they're living in, they'll appreciate the essays that Timothy Leary had written which his family has published posthumously.
This book was published posthumously. Timothy Leary died in 1996, and this book was published in 1999. I don't know the reason that this book was not published during Timothy Leary's lifetime. Perhaps he'd intended to continue to revise this essay as well as add to it. Perhaps some of the issues that he mentions were controversial and publishing companies weren't interested in publishing this when he'd written this.
I was not alive in the 1960's, I was born in the 1970's, so the comments that I'm writing about this book are obviously not based on any personal memories that I have about experiences from the era. In my opinion, this book is as relevant today as it was when Timothy Leary had originally written this book (I'm writing these comments about this book in 2023).

[Jacob]

This was even better than I thought it'd be. Definitely a worthwhile read..

On the opening page of the book Leary reminds the readers, "You are God: Remember!" and begins the first chapter, "Start Your Own Religion," with the premise:

"The Purpose of Life is Religious Discovery

That intermediate manifestation of the divine process which we call the DNA code has spent the last 2 billion years making this planet a Garden of Eden. An intricate web has been woven, a delicate fabric of chemical-electrical-seed-tissue-organism-species. A dancing, joyous harmony of energy transactions is rooted in the 12 inches of topsoil which covers the rock metal fire core of this planet.

Into this Garden of Eden each human being is born perfect. We were all born divine mutants, the DNA code's best answer to joyful survival on this planet. An exquisite package for adaptation based on 2 billion years of consumer research (RNA) and product design (DNA).

But each baby, although born perfect, immediately finds himself in an imperfect, artificial, disharmonious social system which systemically robs him of his divinity."

What an excellent way to frame a discussion of individual human behavior and consciousness... But I'm gonna end this "What did you think?" here -- in the words of Jack Keroauc, "I could say lots more but aint got time or sense." (The Origins of Joy in Poetry)

[Ghan]

In a society that values conformity and obedience, the individual who dares to think for themselves is often ostracized and ridiculed. These nonconformists, these outcasts, are the true pioneers of society, the ones who push us to question our assumptions and expand our horizons. They are the ones who are not afraid to be different, to be themselves.

If you find yourself feeling like an outsider, like you don't fit in with the crowd, that's a good thing. It means that you have the potential to make a real difference in the world.
Don't be afraid to be yourself, to follow your own path. The world needs your unique perspective. ~ Timothy Leary

[Joanne Sitarz]

I would hope that if I read this book at age 21 I would give this book a similar review. Timothy Leary was one of the pioneers of my hippie youth but sadly I had never read anything by him and he was only a line from the song Manchester England, so I decided to read his most famous writing. Well, while the man was a genius, he was also a bit of an idiot as well. C’mon, LSD for pregnant women and children? No one over the age of 45 in leadership? I am still a peace loving hippie but I think Leary swallowed a little too much blotter.

[Luke]

still relevant and I’d have loved to have met him

I have come away from this book just wishing I could go for a walk with Timothy Leary and chat to him. I bet he would have been great to have as a friend. I wonder if he regretted standing up to the system but once he got on that trajectory he couldn’t get off and just had to see it through. I’m glad he lived the life he did, realistically I won’t drop out myself as I’m to lazy but to those who did/do to pursue something bigger good look to them.

[Beverly]

Reading this in 2024, gives a whole different perspective; I am disturbed by Leary's take on homosexuality AND his reducing women's role to basically child bearing. While some of his concepts are worth thinking about and some of his predictions have come to pass, I found this to be very outdated AND mysogynistic in its approach.

[Cherie]

Leary's recipe for society obviously involved his favorite love, but also, a different way of thinking. A collection of essays. Groundbreaking for its time. Fascinating. A creative crazy genius.

[Nicolette Napier Froelicher]

Definitely will be reading his other books!

[FirstNations Bobations]

Best thing from the 1960's I've ever read.

[Cory]

People in community reviews must be over forty 😄

[Rali Weaver]

Interesting

[Toto]

Maistauti, kurti savo laisva ir nevarzoma pasauli neprikpausoma nuo senu pirdylu igeidziu ir begalinio prabangos troskimo. Tikrai taip.

[Leon Quinn]

Second time reading this highly idealistic book. First was probably over 20 years ago. We are even less close to Leary's vision now 😔

[TheDivineReset]

i believe this was written before he changed his opinions on gay people. theres a section in the book where he says “Heterosexual monogamous fidelity is the only natural way of sexual union. However, because this is the Kali Yuga, and because we live in the final stages of a sick society, sexual variations are inevitable.”

also, i dont think its truly legally protected anymore to be able to take religious sacraments in your self created church even if its a legally recognized church. i think its technically legal but there have been numerous instances of government seizing sacraments from psychedelic churches. youd have to go through the governments religious exemption process to truly get legal protection which could take years. only two religious have been able to get through the process successfully, other than native american groups. so im not sure how useful this book is in the current day.

[Kelsi]

Timothy Leary is a fruit loop.

[Mtafc]

Too bad he didn't write the bookmbefore he dropped all the acid.