აღქმის კარები / სამოთხე და ჯოჯოხეთი

by Aldous Huxley

წიგნში მოთხრობილია ავტორის პირადი ფსიქოდელირიული თავგადასავალი, რომელიც მან ნარკოტიკული საშუალება მესკალინის მიღების შემდეგ განიცადა. ის აღწერს, როგორ გარდაქმნის ნარკოტიკი ჩვენს აღქმის უნარს, თუ როგორ მოგვეცემა მისი საშუალებით საკუთარი ცხნობიერებისა თუ გარესამყაროს შესწავლის შესაძლებლობა...თავად ეს წიგნიც ერთგვარი მოგზაურობაა, რომლიდან დაბრუნების შემდეგ მკითხველს ბევრი რამე სახეცვლილი დახვდება...ეს ყველაფერი შეიძენს იმ მნიშვნელობას,რომელიც შესაძლოა სამუდამოდ შეუმჩნეველი დარჩენილიყო...

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Classics, Essays, Spirituality, Science

206 pages

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Brave New World (1932), best-known work of British writer Aldous Leonard Huxley, paints a grim picture of a scientifically organized utopia.

This most prominent member of the famous Huxley family of England spent the part of his life from 1937 in Los Angeles in the United States until his death. Best known for his novels and wide-ranging output of essays, he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts. Through novels and essays, Huxley functioned as an examiner and sometimes critic of social mores, norms and ideals. Spiritual subjects, such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism, interested Huxley, a humanist, towards the end of his life. People widely acknowledged him as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time before the end of his life.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally, I greatly prefer to read books in the dead-trees format—actual paper in my hand. This was the first I've read in a long time where I found myself desperately longing, not only for an electronic edition, but for a fully hypertextual version, rich with links. Over the two months I spent on this volume, on and off, I believe two-thirds of my time was spent on the Internet looking up references. At the very least, this book would benefit greatly from extensive illustration: the range of artistic works referenced, from Caravaggio to Millais to Vermeer, is sure to baffle most modern readers without a degree in Art History. Remember Laurent Tailhade? Yeah, me neither.

Frankly, with the state of Liberal Arts education today, I have a hard time believing that much of anyone who has read this in the last 30-40 years has understood but a fraction of it—and reading over the reviews I can find bears this out. Both essays are often seen as little more than an apologia for "drug experimentation." While that is certainly an element of both, it can hardly be taken as Huxley's central point. It was rather Dr. Leary who much later reduced the matter to such a simple and simplistic premise, and even he had more than that to say to those who were willing and able to delve beneath the surface.

Instead, while making the case for the legitimacy of drug use, Doors offers a hypothesis for the mechanism of the experience via the well known reference to Blake and the then-current state of neuro-biological research; to wit, that ordinary perception is a matter of the mind filtering data for survival, while transformed or visionary experience—whether achieved through asceticism, art, or chemistry—opens the mind to all the data available, regardless of its mere survival value, thus allowing one to see through the ordinary to a truer vision of reality. Why, after all, should one need to starve or abase oneself for months and years to achieve such states when the same experience, or a reasonable simulacrum, can be had for the cost of a drug and perhaps a mild hangover?

Heaven and Hell goes on to develop this thesis by comparing the visions induced by exogenous chemicals to the more visionary pieces of art throughout history, as well as elaborating on the religio-spiritual theme. This is where, I believe, a majority of readers are likely to get lost, and thus explains why there are far more extant reviews of the former essay than of the latter. Even with handy art references, the latter is still the more difficult read, with its several tangential appendices and textual digressions. One might almost suppose that the drugs had not yet worn off while he wrote this one. Still, for the persistent, this is a worthwhile sequel, and it is readily obvious why the two are so often packaged together. But keep your browser near at hand, because many of his points are utterly lost without knowing the art to which he refers.

Finally, it is this very lack of illustration, and internal referencing for the modern reader, that prompts me to deduct one star from what would otherwise be a truly stellar recommendation. I continue to hope that the Huxley estate, or whoever controls the copyrights, will consider reissuing this with the necessary supplemental material, perhaps even in a definitive scholarly "critical edition." Were it in the public domain, I might take on such a project myself.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever had to be the designated driver while your buddies got wasted? Watching them laugh at nothing and behave like asses while you’re (unfortunately) stone cold sober is a pretty miserable experience as your mind hasn’t been altered by chemicals. Reading “The Doors of Perception” is like this - Aldous Huxley does mescaline and then describes it extensively to the bored reader who is probably not on mescaline. And it’s not nearly as fascinating as Huxley believes it to be - because we’re probably not on mescaline (I know I wasn’t when reading this crap). “The Doors of Perception” is a 50 page essay and it’s sequel, “Heaven and Hell”, a 33 page essay, read like far longer works because they’re so unreadable.

The point of the essays is that Huxley believes there is more to human nature than the base level of survival and that it’s because of how our species has developed that has made us forget ways in which we can perceive things beyond the ordinary. He wants to allow people to experience mescaline in order to see things he believes are there but beyond our reach without the help of hallucinogenics.

And here’s the big problem I have with this view - it’s that assuming that what you experience while high is worth more and is more real than what you experience everyday. I mean, what you’re experiencing is simulated with the aid of chemicals - why would it be more “real” than reality? A problem endemic to this book is that Huxley is talking about experiences that are purely visceral and “beyond man-made constructs” such as language and are therefore indescribable - yet he’s trying to describe them with language. Which is why you get drivel like this:

“I spent several minutes - or was it several centuries? - not merely gazing at those bamboo legs, but actually being them - or rather being myself in them; or, to be still more accurate (for “I” was not involved in the case, nor in a certain sense were “they”) being my Not-self in the Not-self which was the chair.” p.10

“Confronted by a chair which looked like the Last Judgement - or, to be more accurate, by a Last Judgement which, after a long time and with considerable difficulty, I recognized as a chair - I found myself all at once on the brink of panic.” p.33

Good lord, this crap goes on and on for nearly a 100 pages and it doesn’t help that he’s not a very good writer to start with. His rambling style fused with a dry, almost academic, vernacular makes reading this book of insubstantial observations and half-formed ideas all the more insufferable. All he proves is that drugs make intelligent people sound like morons.

He feebly attempts to make the argument that researchers and scientists don’t take “spiritual” experiences seriously because they can’t see it, measure it, rationalise it, in any scientific way. Duh. He bewails methods (eg. taking mescaline) that allegedly “make you more perceptive, more intensely aware of inward and outward reality, and more open to the spirit” which constitute the “non-verbal humanities” aren’t taken more seriously. Well, when you put it like that, Aldous...

He attempts to rectify this by constantly referencing William Blake, Homer, and Goethe in an effort to make the essay appear academic and therefore substantial and worthy of consideration. It’s truly pretentious and pathetic in its ineffectiveness.

This quote basically sums up the essays:

“Those folds in the trousers - what a labyrinth of endlessly significant complexity! And the texture of the grey flannel - how rich, how deeply, mysteriously sumptuous!” p.16

Wooaaaah, Aldous got fucked up on mescaline!

[KamRun · Rating 2 out of 5]

درباره ی کتاب - ویرایش شد

بسیاری با آلدوس هاکسلی به واسطه کتاب دنیای قشنگ نو آشنا هستند. اما این نویسنده معروف اثر جنجالی دیگری دارد که در ایران ناشناخته است: درهای ادراک دوزخ و برزخ. هاکسلی در بخش اول این کتاب تحت عنوان درهای ادراک، تجربیات خود را از مصرف روانگردان مسکالین شرح داده است. همانطور که از نام کتاب مشخص است، پس از مصرف، جهان برای هاکسلی همان جهان است، اما کیفیت ادراک وی در مواجهه با طبیعت و همچنین صنایع دست انسان، نظیر موسیقی و نقاشی دچار تغییرات وسیعی شده است
توصیفات هاکسلی از شفافیت و درخشش مناظر و نور در این کتاب، با بخشی از توصیفات مربوط به بهشت در مسیحیت و اسلام شباهت زیادی دارد
بخش دوم کتاب، بهشت و دوزخ، علمی و به قدر کافی مستند به نظر نمی رسد.نویسنده در این بخش به تشریح قسمتی از ناخوداگاه انسان که با تجربیات عرفانی و رویابینی ها در ارتباط است می پردازد. وی تجربیات عرفانی عرفا، مرتاض ها، و پیروان ادیان ابراهیمی را معادل رویابینی حاصل از مصرف مسکالین می داند. با اینکه این رویابینی به دلیل بنیان بیوشیمیایی خود یک تجربه ی عرفانی محسوب نمی شود، اما از کیفیتی به مراتب بیشتر از تجربه عرفا برخوردار است. هرچند که هاکسلی در ادامه، تجربه عرفانی و رویابینی مذهبی را هم مردود اعلام کرده و تحت تاثیر عوامل زیست- شیمیایی بدن می داند. به عنوان مثال می گوید ریاضت، روزه، دعاهای طولانی و خودزنی های مذهبی باعث آزاد شدن مواد شیمیایی مختلف در بدن نظیر هیستامین و آدرنالین از یک سو و افزایش دی اکسید کربن در مویرگ های مغزی از سویی دیگر می شود و از این طریق کارایی مغز، به عنوان "سوپاپ کاهش دهنده" مختل شده و درهای ادراک ناخوداگاه برای فرد گشوده می شود
نظریه ارتباط بهشت و دوزخ توضیف شده در ادیان ابراهیمی و رویاهای حاصل از مسکالین جالب و درخور توجه است. در ادیان ابراهیمی، به وجود سنگ های قیمتی، طلا و جواهرات در بهشت اشارات زیادی شده است.به عنوان مثال توصیف اورشلیم آسمانی در مکاشفه یوحنا بدین صورت است:

آنگاه مرا در روح، به كوهي بزرگ بلند برد و شهر مقدس اورشليم را به من نمود كه از آسمان از جانب خدا نازل مي شود و جلال خدا را دارد و نورش مانند جواهر گرانبها، چون يشم بلورين. بناي ديوار آن از يشم بود و شهر از زر خالص چون شيشه مصفي بود و بنياد ديوار شهر به هر نوع جواهر گرانبها مزين بود كه بنياد اول، يشم و دوم، ياقوت كبود و سوم، عقيق سفيد و چهارم، زمرد و پنجم ، جزع عقيقي و ششم، عقيق و هفتم، زبرجد و هشتم، زمرد سِلقي و نهم، طوپاز و دهم، عقيق اخضر و يازدهم، آسمانجوني و دوازدهم، ياقوت بود. و دوازده دروازه، دوازده مرواريد بود، هر دروازه از يک مرواريد و شارع عام شهر، از زر خالص چون شيشه شفاف. و در آن هيچ قدس نديدم زيرا خداوند خداي قادر مطلق و بره قدس آن است و شهر احتياج ندارد كه آفتاب يا ماه آن را روشنايي دهد زيرا كه جلال خدا آن را منور مي سازد و چراغش بره است و امت ها در نورش سالک خواهند بود و پادشاهان جهان، جلال و اكرام خود را به آن خواهند درآورد

در بهشت توصیف شده توسط هاکسلی نیز همه چیز بشدت درخشان اند و رنگ ها شفافیت زیادی دارند. اما چرا باید برای توصیف سرزمینی که پول در آن معنایی ندارد، از این سنگ های گرانبها و نایاب استفاده کرد؟ علت های زیادی برای این موضوع وجود دارد، اما هاکسلی مشخصا به این اشاره می کند که علت، جادوی نور و شفافیت جادویی رنگ و تاثیری است که انسان در رویابینی از ناخوداگاه خویش می گیرد



درباره مسکالین

کاکتوس سن پدرو یا پیوت ، گیاهی خودرو در نواحی بیابانی و کوهستانی آمریکای جنوبی است که خواص روانگردانی دارد. مصرف آن به سه هزار و ششصد سال قبل از میلاد مسیح باز می گردد. بومیان آمریکای جنوبی و سرخپوست ها برای مصارف درمانی و یا آیین های مذهبی و پیشگویی از پیوت به صورت تدخینی و خوراکی(معجون) استفاده می کردند. قوانین قضایی در ارتباط با پیوت در کشورهای مختلف متفاوت است،اما بر اساس طبقه بندی سازمان مبارزه با موادمخدر آمریکا، مسکالین جز مواد مخدر روانگردان کلاس یک (مواد مخدری که در حال حاضر استفاده ی پزشکی نداشته، قابلیت سومصرف زیادی داشته و پتانسیل ایجاد وابستگی شدید روانی یا جسمی دارند) قرار دارد
دوز کشنده ی مسکالین (ال دی پنجاه) 315 میلی گرم بر کیلوگرم وزن است. هرچند گزارش مرگ مستقیم در اثر سومصرف این روانگردان تا کنون نادر است


تجربه ی شخصی من

هاکسلی با مسکالین، بهشت رویایی خویش را تجربه کرد. اما همانگونه که هاکسلی هم هشدار داده، بخشی از مصرف کنندگان مسکالین، به جای بهشت، وارد شاهراه شیزوفرن دوزخی می شوند.وی در این باره می گوید

شیزوفرن، بهشت خود را در کنار برزخ و دوزخ هایش دارد. بیشتر مصرف کنندگان مسکالین تنها بخش آسمانی شیزوفرن را تجربه می کنند. دارو برزخ و دوزخ را فقط برای کسانی که اخیرا مواردی از کج بینی داشته یا دچار افسردگی و اضطراب مزمن بوده اند به همراه می آورد. بنابراین اگر در راه غلط قدم برداری، تمام وقایعی که رخ می دهد، مدرکی از توطئه علیه تو خواهد بود. اگر به سمت پایین جاده دوزخی عازم شوی، هرگز نمی توانی توقف کنی
در یک رویای دوزخی، رویابین با نوری بدون سایه که تهدید آمیز است روبرو شده، سپس وحشت لایتناهی فرا می رسد. مکان��سم هستی بی رحمانه آشکار می شود و تنها چیزی را که به یاد می آورد، گناهان، دردها و تنهایی کیهانی است. جهان تغییر شکل می دهد، اما به بدترین وضعیت ممکن. هرچیز درون آن از ستارگان تا گرد و خاک زیر پایشان به طور غیرقابل توصیفی شوم و منزجز کننده است. هر سوژه ای حضور یک وحشت ساکن بی نهایت قدرتمند ابدی را معنی می کند

تجربه من هم سفری دوزخی بود. دروازه ای که از آن عبور کردم، مطمئنا دروازه بهشت نبود. چیز زیادی از آن چند ساعت را به خاطر نمی آورم. طی چند هفته بعد از مصرف، به صورت آنی چیزهایی از آن شب به خاطرم آمد که همه را مکتوب کردم. این نوشته ها گسسته اند، مانند رویای شان. جزئیات بیشتری به خاطر نمی آورم

افزایش ضربان قلب (168) و فشار خون ( فشار دیاستولی 11، فشار سیستولی 19)، احساس گرگرفتگی، سبکی سر، اختلال دید، گیجی و تهوع (در اثر مشکلات ریوی پیشین) چند دقیقه بعد از مصرف. به تصور خودم،مصرف مسکالین در دقایق ابتدایی تاثیری بر من نداشت. پرسید خوبی؟ متوجه شدم قادر به تکلم نیستم. به صورت بریده بریده بعد از تلاشی نسبتا طولانی به زبانی بیگانه توانستم بگویم خوبم

شروع شد. قلب بیرون از سینه می تپد. در تاریکی شب ، درخشش و شفافیتی عجیب. برگ های درختان در نور چراغ ،ابعاد را نمی بینم، لمس می کنم.
سگ به نزدیکم آمد، مرا بویید و رفت. زن قرمز پوش وحشت زده فرار کرد.گم می شوم، بی هدف به راه می افتم، رفتن، بدون تصمیم گیری. ناخوداگاهم کنترل را بدست گرفته. می خواهد مجازاتم کند؟ درهای جهنم را برایشان باز کرده ام
ترسی الیم، بدون علت. به عمق وجودم رخنه کرده و به هرچیزی که می نگرم سرایت می کد. شخص رداپوشی در تعقیبم است. نه اینکه صرفا حس باشد، از تمام جنبه ها عین واقعیت است. از گوشه چشم می بینم، صدای کشیده شدن کفش هایش روی زمین را می شنوم. به محض اینکه برمی گردم و عقب را نگاه می کنم، ناپدید می شود. دچار بی مکانی و بی زمانی شده ام. ناگهان در آبادان م، زیر نور مشعل های پالایشگاه. دو دقیقه گذشت، ساعت را نگاه می کنم، عقربه های ساعت نشان می دهند که حدودا دو ساعت گذشته است. با سردرگمی تمام چند بار مسیری طولانی را می روم و بازمی گردم
آدم ها را می بینم، صورت ها مثل نقاب، زیر نقاب ها تنها تاریکی. با مردی روبرو می شوم که دهانش لب ندارد. اسکلتی که رویش پوست کشیده اند. صورتک با دهانی بدون لب به طور وحشتناکی خندان به من خیره شده. سعی می کنم از نگاهش فرار کنم، اما راهی نیست. خودم را پشت یکی از عابرین پنهان می کنم و دور می شوم. دندان ها از شدن سرما به هم می خورد. بدنم زیر فشار قرار دارد. توصیف دقیقی از جهنم، فشار دندان بر دندان. می فهمم که سرما نیست که بدن را می لرزاند، خودم هستم. لرزش متوقف می شود و حس سرما و فشار می رود
اکنون با شروع این قطعه موسیقی ، وارد سطح بالاتری از آگاهی می شوم. ترس می رود و جایش را سکون و حزن می گیرد.دیگر من نیستم، فاعل نیستم، تنها یک نظاره گرم. ابدیت بر من مکشوف می شود. تنهایی مان را می بینم، زمینی سترون، وسیع و تاریک.سایه است یا گودال؟نمی توانم تشخصی دهم. اندوه و غم را می بینم (تداخل احساسات و ادراک) . از لای درزها به بیرون می خزند. غم رنگ دارد، نارنجی و سرخ و بنفش. هیچ را می بینم،یک نقطه است، سطح می شود و حالا دارد حجم پیدا می کند.ای هیچ عظیم! بر من ترحم فرما! تطهیرم کن! باید گریست.پر از هیچ، اینچنین. تمام ناراحتی های دنیا را می بینم، هرچه می بینم، هرچه که می شناسیم، حقیقت اندوه، یک کوه یخ است. قسمت بزرگترش آن زیر پنهان شده و هنوز با آن روبرو نشده ایم. دست آویزی نیست، امیدی نیست، رهایی ممکن نیست
به کالبد دیگری می خزم. خودم را با نگاهی جدید می بینم. از چشم هایش می بینم و از دهانش حرف می زنم.از درون او بی رحمانه به خودم حمله می کنم. حیوانی حقیر و به دام افتاده. ظهور این خویشتن مهلک من! رحم نمی کنم، تازیانه کلمات یکی پس از دیگری. تمام منظومه ی شخصیتی ام فرو می ریزد. به گریه می افتم. تنها می مانم و به تابلویی که می چرخد نگاه می کنم. کز می کنم درون خود
به هرچه که نگاه می کنم، قبل از اینکه تصمیم به فکر کردن بگیرم، طوفان ذهنی شروع می شود. ابدیت هرچیزی در همان چیز است،در همان لحظه، همان آن.می بینمش
خودم را می بینم، با قامتی راست. موهایم به سرعت سفید می شود. پیر می شوم. نزدیک تر می روم، این پیر شدن نیست، این سفید شدن مو نیست، دارم از سر می سوزم. تبدیل به یک کبریت بزرگ می شوم، سرم شعله گرفته و دارد به پایین سرایت می کند، خمیده و چروک می شوم، خاکستری رنگ. شعله خاموش می شود. ضربه ای وارد می شود و تبدیل به توده ای خاکستر می شوم.ستونی از نمک
دختری از ماشین پیاده می شود. بندهای کفشش را روی جوراب و قسمتی از پایش گره زده. ترکیب جوراب و بند کفش روی پوست سفیدش تبدیل به یک پنجره می شود. از پنجره به درون نگاه می کنم.پنجره ای به درون زندگی دختر. تمام زندگی دختر را می بینم، شادی و ناراحتی اش، لذت و درد اش، تمام زندگی اش در کسری از ثانیه از جلوی چشم هایم می گذرد
او را می بینم. کوتاه. یک تلائلو. رایحه ی عطری گرم و غریب. دستش را می گیرم، محو می شود.عمیق ترین رویاهای این خویشتن بی خرد. پروازی بی بال از این من درون.اکنون سرزمینم ناپدید گشته و زندگی آزاد شده است

[Ahmad Sharabiani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell, Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley explores the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness.

These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in this century.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز پنجم ماه می سال 2003میلادی

عنوان: درهای ادراک بهشت و دوزخ؛ نویسنده: آلدوس هاکسلی؛ پیشگفتار: جی.جی بالارد؛ مترجم: مهناز دقیق نیا؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، میر کسری، سال1381، در 128ص، شابک: ایکس - 964744902؛ عنوان دیگر بهشت و دوزخ؛ موضوع: داروهای توهمزا، مسکالین، از نویسندگان بریتانیایی تبار آمریکایی - سده 20م

درهای ادراک، بهشت و دوزخ؛ عنوان کتابی از «هاکسلی»، نویسنده ی «بریتانیایی» تبار «آمریکایی» است، که در دو موقعیت نگارش یافته است؛ بخش نخست «درهای ادراک» خیالات «هاکسلی»، پیش از مصرف روانگردان «مسکالین (کاکتوس سن پدرو)» است، و بخش دوم یعنی «بهشت و دوزخ»، نام داستانی است، که ایشان پس از مصرف «مسکالین»، و خارج شدن از حالت عادی، به نگارش درآورده اند؛ «هاکسلی» در این کتاب کوشیده، رفتار انسان‌هایی را، که مواد مخدر مصرف می‌کنند، به تصویر واژه های خویش بکشد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

[Ian "Marvin" Graye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenage Kicks

I read this book in the early 70's in my early teenage years.
The first thing about "The Doors of Perception" is that it was the source of the name of the band, "The Doors".
The second is that it shaped the views of many people about drugs for 20 years.
Aldous Huxley came from a scientific as well as a creative background. For me, it gave him some level of credibility when assessing the merits of psychedelic drugs.
Basically, (I think) he argued that the psychedelic experience could open the doors of additional powers of perception, over and above the rational.
I can't remember anything about Heaven and Hell, but in retrospect you could build an argument that drugs opened the door to Hell, just as much as anyone could have argued that they opened the door to Heaven.
No matter what your views about drugs, you have to acknowledge that the drugs of that period are different to today.
In those days, they were probably more natural, but more impure.
Nowadays, they are industrial, concentrated, focussed, powerful, dangerous, unless it suits someone in the supply chain to introduce impurities, in which case they are even more dangerous.
You can't afford to be romantic about some back to nature experience.
Nowadays, you are wrestling with a whole other beast.

[Stian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.

- St. Augustine, from Confessions

If you are like me, you have some reservations about trying drugs -- even psychedelic ones. I know one of the people that I look up to -- Carl Sagan -- was a fairly regular marijuana smoker. I know Richard Feynman, another one of my 'heroes', tried some drugs, but stopped at some point as he grew afraid of damaging his brain somehow and losing his abilities in mathematics and physics. But the allure is there. Like Ishmael in Moby Dick I have an "everlasting itch for things remote", but for me it's not remote, but rather quite the opposite: it's an itch to explore my own mind. It's an enticing idea, you must admit: to fully delve into your own consciousnes, to see everything everywhere at once without even moving; to feel at peace with everything; quite possibly to feel that you've figured out the riddle that is human existence. I can't help but think that it would be a mistake never to have such an experience during this very short and most likely only experience of consciousness I'll have. Huxley, in his Doors of Perception essay doesn't make it seem like any less of a mistake.

Early in May 1953, Aldous Huxley volunteered to trip on mescaline in the name of science. The Doors of Perception consists, in its first part, of Huxley recounting his experiences on the drug, and in its second, shorter half of an argument for the usage of psychedelic drugs in order to "ooze past the reducing valve of brain and ego, into consciousness."

It's an incredibly fascinating essay. There is in particular one remarkably cool idea brought up, quoting the philosopher C.D. Broad,

"that we should do well to consider much more seriously than we have hitherto been inclined to do the type of theory which [Henri] Bergson put forward in connection with memory and sense perception. The suggestion is that the function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs is in the main eliminative and not productive. Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and the nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful."

As such, the consciousness we experience has gone through a "reducing valve", so that our experience of consciousness does not overwhelm us. However, with drugs, you can let some more consciousness seep through the no longer watertight valve of the brain and nervous system. It is then that there is an "obscure knowledge that All is in all -- that All is actually each." And this is, writes Huxley, just about "as near, I take it, as a finite mind can ever come to "perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe.""

This essay was extremely fascinating. I'll skip writing anything about Heaven and Hell, as, honestly, I found it to be pretty boring. But read The Doors of Perception. It's brilliant.

[Sumati · Rating 4 out of 5]

'There are things known
and there are things unknown
and in between are the doors'; The Doors of Perception.

Why should you read it?

1. If you want to question the mind.
2. If you want an insight into psychedelics. (i.e. if you haven't already tried any form of hallucinogens yet)
3. If you want to know about the 'unknown' and its difference with the 'known'.
4. If you want to know what is the difference between a deranged ( schizophrenic) and a normal brain and what defines a brain, normal and labels a visionary, mad?
5. If you want to read the richness of the text used to describe the philosophical treatment of the mystical experience.
6. If you are a Morrison fan.
7. Lastly, If you want to BREAK ON THROUGH (TO THE OTHER SIDE) ; Please use the DOORS OF PERCEPTION

[Dang Ole' Dan Can Dangle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going into this I had very high hopes, which were somewhat let down. A book about hallucinogenic drugs and altered mind-states written by author of famed science fiction novel Brave New World (which, as of writing, I have yet to read). Being that I have dabbled in the use of psychedelics and studied countless writings on hallucinogens and alteration of mind-states, a topic that greatly fascinates me, not to mention my love for sci-fi, I really expected more from this.

I was deeply disappointed... mostly. Contained within the book are two parts: The Doors of Perception and Heaven & Hell, as the title informs. The Doors of Perception focuses on the author's experience with mescaline. I did not like it.

It comes off as preachy and even pretentious. Pretentious being a word I don't use loosely, seeing as how I feel it is often misused/misinterpreted and wrongly attributed to some truly great artistic and intellectual people. There's not even much psychology in here, and even less science. The author just goes on about there being a correct way of seeing the world and a layman's way. The former only achieved by a special certain few, such as artists or those who achieve said "vision" through drug-use. It's all boring and, to simply put it, fairly stupid.

Psychedelics, or drugs in general for that matter, do not unlock or expand parts of your mind. They merely allow you to look at things in a new, different way. They do not make you any smarter, save for the things learned through the experience of taking them. This is why many great musicians or artists are greatly, even directly, influenced by drugs, because with drugs they see things in a new light that many people never noticed before due to the routine of conventional thinking, which makes their art appear to be fresh and unique. Artistic even.

The second part is basically the same. However, what makes this book worth reading is the forty or so pages at the end of Heaven and Hell, entitled "Appendices". I found these pages to be the best and most fascinating. The author talks about pattern inducing stroboscopic lamps (something I was not very knowledgeable on), potential affects hallucinations had on religions in the past, the affect technology has had on art, and schizophrenia, among other things.

So yes, the appendices are better than the actual book. There wasn't really much in here that I wasn't already aware of, but even with the bulk of it being mediocre with the rest really shining, I can easily recommend this. Especially to those interested in altered mind-states or psychedelics, or even surrealism.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Towards the end of his life Aldous Huxley was introduced to psychedelics, still legal at that time. His analyses of the phenomenon are detailed in these two essays here combined in one volume. For further reading about his relationship to such drugs see, of course, the various biographies about Huxley, particularly Huxley in Hollywood, and his wife's collection of essays by and about him and these drugs entitled Moksha. For his use of his experiences in literature see his novel Island.

Though dated, much of what Huxley surmises about the way psychedelics work still corresponds in a general way with contemporary theory and all of what he writes in describing the psychedelic experience is quite well done.

Note that Huxley was legally blind throughout most of his life--a reason for his fascination with his pelucid inner vision?

[Flybyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the soul.”

On a beautiful day in May, just like today, Huxley embarked upon a journey to the gates of perception in a controlled environment. As part of an experiment on the effects of psychedelic drugs and in an attempt to feel the revelation of the whole universe, he takes mescaline under supervision and his experiences are recorded.
Imagine a philosopher/writer taking drugs to open his “doors of perception”, to see some kind of eternal connection between everything on the universe, well you can be sure he will talk. A lot. A one-time experiment turns into a miraculous voyage by the eloquent author. Just like a small kid, as soon as he takes the mescaline he expects miracles to happen but all he gets is disillusionment as he writes:

“I had expected to lie with my eyes shut, looking at visions of many-coloured geometries, of animated architectures, rich wit gems and fabulously lovely, of landscapes with heroic figures, of symbolic dramas trembling perpetually on the verge of the ultimate revelation.”
Oh, what a drama-queen, hell just wait a second for the drug to kick in!
This is only the beginning, he gets higher on words than drugs I guess. He is so bewildered by the “Mind at Large” (which is like the movie Limitless, when you start to see everything connected), he is both elated and scared:
“The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful.”
The argument that in order for us to survive and adapt to earth, our brain has given us limited access to observe the universe never gets old. He says: “To make biological survival possible, Mind at Large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this particular planet.”

However, we want more. We are curious as beings, we want more than this reduced awareness and we create artificial inducers to open up the narrowed tiers of our brains: “The need for frequent chemical vacations from intolerable selfhood and repulsive surroundings will undoubtedly remain.” An escape from self. Yes, that’s why the use of psychedelic drugs goes back as much as the history of mankind. It’s not a brand new concept.

He describes his experience as “interest in space is diminished and interest in time falls almost to zero.” Well the space-time continuum down the drain, there left no worry whatsoever. However, at this state, he says humans become completely disinterested in anything else other than observing, so he cautions by asking: “How could one reconcile this timeless bliss of seeing as one ought to see with the temporal duties of doing what one ought to do and feeling as one ought to feel?”

My only problem with this personal account is that Huxley pretends to be more than he actually is. He is not a psychiatrist, not a doctor, not a medical researcher or chemist but he freely throws claims, hypothesizes and exaggerates his one-time trial of drugs as a reference to generalize his subjective views. It’s a great personal account but should not be taken as an objective reference.

[Frona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on his own experience with mescalin, Huxley informs us about the true nature of reality, that is, the sheer scope of it. He doesn't stop at great works of art, shizophrenia or religion, but freely connects his intake of this drug to an ambitious bundle of themes in order to supplement them all and to prescribe some more of the same, or at least similar, medicine. Drugs and transcendence/life in general had always have much in common, but his way of preaching is exactly like what his drug encounter warns him against.

The description of his adventure would be much more revealing, if it hadn't elevate into a lecture about two ancient categories of being, one experienced through our everyday life, where language represents a barrier between us and the world, and the other one of true essence that can be reached only through some transcendental activity such as taking drugs. Although his expedition to the sphere of pure perception shows him the limitations of words and all of our classifications, it seems he identifies his trip with as many concepts and theories as he possibly can. He makes a paradigm of pure being out of it, which selfless as it is, is based on one sole experiment of his humble self. Little is left of this experiment but widespread doctrines, which just fit too neatly. I wonder how much previous knowledge affected his experience or how much posterior interpretations transversed it and I got the feeling he didn't quite catch its uniqness, or as he would said, suchness.

Or perhaps it was just his forceful implications I have troubles with. When he doesn't generalize, he does his best; his charachterisation of draperies in the baroque paintings is just beautiful.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doors of Perception is a deeply interesting short essay by the famous author Aldous Huxley. In 1953 he was involved in a controlled experiment into the psychological effects of the drug mescalin.
What he describes is less a mere hallucinatory experience and more an opening of his ability to percieve, and to see himself as part of the Oneness of the universe. He argues (quite correctly) that a massive part of the function of the brain is to selectively discard sensory input, keeping only what is important in the here and now and relates to our immediate survival ability. The effect of mescalin, as also felt through sensory deprivation, oxygen starvation, hypnosis, and other sources, is to bypass the "brain valve" and receive more of the "useless information". And it is through that that we can perceive ourselves as we truly are, part of the All.

In Heaven and Hell, the follow up essay to Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley revisits the topic of visions in the context of the social and spiritual import of these experiences. Through the essay (which is a considerably tougher read than Doors of Perception) Huxley discusses the history of vision-creating stimulus and how as time has progressed we have become desensitised to a lot of the vision-inspiring beauty that was used to such great extent in the religions of the past.

[Майя Ставитская · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you wanted to know about the "Doors of Perception", but were too shy to ask:
1. Yes, it's about the drug.
2. Yes, in contrast to the absolute majority of authors, Huxley did not consider lysergic acid derivatives evil.
3. Yes, Jim Morrison named his band "The Doors", inspired by this essay. (although his fate serves more as an anti-advertisement).

So, the book has three undoubted advantages: 1 It was written by a genius; 2. It is wonderfully translated by Maxim Nemtsov, who has a little more haters than fans, but I am among the second; 3. The audio version is perfectly read by Igor Knyazev, in whose performance I listen to everything. The book has one, but the fundamental flaw is the apology of a narcotic substance.

An adept of experiments on the expansion of consciousness through LSD, Aldous Huxley made considerable efforts to popularize it. I must say that in his own life he is. a person who was physically very unhealthy found great solace in preparations based on lysergic acid, in which he partly saw the embodiment of the soma predicted by himself in the "Brave New World". He also passed away under the influence of an intramuscular injection of 400 micrograms of this substance, which helped to avoid excruciating agony.

The problem is that the writer fell into the trap of extrapolation, from Russian to understandable - others are not judged by themselves. His own psyche, prepared by serious concentration exercises and meditation, unique intelligence, level of responsibility, tendency to aggression differ significantly from the same parameters of another person. The fact that for a Buddhist, an intellectual, who also went through a difficult experience of disability, which he managed to overcome thanks to self-discipline - that for him an interesting cognitive experience of escapism, then another will finally crack an already weak psyche and can serve as an impetus to very unpleasant complications.

In general, an interesting and informative experience of visionary, combined with deep discussions about the nature of man, about the possible structure of the world, about ways to overcome the problems facing the human race.

Под небом голубым есть Город Золотой
А что, если наша Земля - ад какой-то другой планеты?
То, что вы хотели знать о "Дверях восприятия", но стеснялись спросить:
1. Да, это о наркотике.
2. Да, в противоположность абсолютному большинству авторов, Хаксли не считал производные лизергиновой кислоты злом.
3. Да, Джим Моррисон назвал свою группу "The Doors", вдохновившись именно этим эссе. (хотя его судьба служит скорее антирекламой).

Итак, у книги три несомненных достоинства: 1 Она написана гением; 2. Она замечательно переведена Максимом Немцовым, у которого ненавистнико�� чуть больше, чем поклонников, но я из числа вторых; 3. Аудиоверсия превосходно прочитана Игорем Князевым, в чьем исполнении слушаю все. У книги один, но основополагающий недостаток - это апология наркотического вещества.

Адепт опытов по расширению сознания посредством ЛСД, Олдос Хаксли приложил значительные усилия к его популяризации. Надо сказать, что в собственной жизни он. человек физически очень нездоровый, находил большое утешение в препаратах на основе лизергиновой кислоты, в которой отчасти видел воплощение предсказанной им самим в "Дивном новом мире" сомы. Он и из жизни ушел под воздействием внутримышечного укола 400 мкг этого вещества, который помог избежать мучительной агонии.

Проблема в том, что писатель попал в ловушку экстраполяции, с русского на понятный - по себе других не судят. Его собственная, подготовленная серьезными упражнениями на концентрацию и медитацией психика, уникальный интеллект, уровень ответственности, склонность к агрессии существенно отличаются от тех же параметров другого человека. То, что для буддиста, интеллектуала, к тому же прошедшего через тяжелый опыт инвалидности, которую сумел преодолеть, благодаря самодисциплине - что для него интересный познавательный опыт эскапизма, то другому окончательно взломает без того некрепкую психику и может послужить толчком к очень неприятным осложнениям.

В целом интересный и познавательный опыт визионерства, соединенный с глубокими рассуждениями о природе человека, о возможном строении мира, о путях преодоления проблем, стоящих перед человеческой расой.
Во вселенной есть только один уголок, который ты можешь уверенно взять в кандидаты на улучшение, это ты сам...

[Liepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

,,Mažai tikėtina, kad žmonija kada nors pajėgs verstis be Dirbtinių Rojų. Daugumos žmonių gyvenimai blogiausiu atveju teikia tiek daug skausmo, o geriausiu- yra tokie monotoniški, skurdūs bei riboti, kad postūmis pabėgti, ilgesys išeiti iš savęs bent kelioms akimirkoms visada buvo vienas pagrindinių sielos troškimų."

Labai intrigavo, tačiau skaitėsi ganėtinai sunkiai.  "Suvokimo duryse"  autorius aprašo savo patirtį pavartojus kvaituliniame pejotlyje esančio meskalino, o kita esė "Dangus ir pragaras" yra tęsinys. Surinkta ir apibendrinta nemažai medžiagos, Naujųjų pasaulių paieškos mene, gamtoje. Paanalizuota, kaip stipriai žmogui reikia nušvitimo, savo pasąmonės atradimo ir aptarti metodai, nuo visai nekaltų, pvz kvėpavimas, meditacija,iki psichotropinių medžiagų, kaip tą pasiekti.
Skaičiau dėl įdomumo, mano požiūrio į kvaišalus, kad ir lengvuosius, ši apybraiža nepakeitė ir noro patirti tą patį, ką autorius, nesukėlė. Juolab, kad jis pats pripažįsta, kad tam tikrais atvejais tai, kas turėtų sukelti rojų, nuveda į pragarą, tai būtų streso būsena, kepenų pažeidimai ir t.t., plius ir dar neištirti veiksniai, tad rizikuoti neverta.

[Michael || TheNeverendingTBR · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic from the Psychedelic Era.

Huxley goes into detail about his fascinating experiences with the mind expanding substance, mescalin.

This is basically the whole premise of this essay, him describing the results of mescalin ingestion on himself.

A thought-provoking and interesting read.

[Ammar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of two essays by Aldous Huxley.

Short philosophical essays. The main one is Huxley's description about his Mescaline trip and his reaction to various forms of pictures paintings while he is on Peyote.

Interesting counterculture book that I can see the aspect of why it was a popular book in the 1960s.

[Lostaccount · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aldous Huxley munches on some Mescaline (four tenths of a gram, means nothing to me as a clean living soul) as a guinea pig, experimenting for a friend. He expects some kind of visionary experience, a la Blake, but as he admits, he is a “poor visualiser” and experiences less than the visions described and painted by artists, because gifted artists, according to him, have a “little pipeline to the Mind At Large which by-passes the brain valve and the ego-filter”. Unlike gifted artists, “by an effort of will I can evoke a not very vivid image” says Huxley.

What he sees are some golden lights, the intricacies of design in nature, trips out on the “Allness” and Infinity of folded cloth in his trousers (haha), is struck by lively dissonance of colours, experiences the “is-ness” of things, the Istigkeit, the “infinite value and meaningfulness of existence”, things quivering under the pressure of the significance with which they are charged, sees simple things charged with meaning and mystery of existence etc. etc., and comes to conclusion that brain is eliminative, not productive, filtering out what we don’t need in order to survive, protecting us from being overwhelmed and confused, or going insane, since we know all, remember all, about everything, everywhere in the universe. This is the finite mind, the “Mind at large".

Huxley discusses the idea that we all crave the release from Reality ("the urge to transcend is a principal appetite of the soul"), through some kind of soma/drug, to reach these (what he calls) “antipodes” of the mind, the universal and ever-present urge for self-transcendence, (Wells) the door in the wall, the need for (chemical) vacations from intolerable selfhood. He later discusses how we achieve this through religious ceremony, drug taking, etc.

In second part he discusses in more detail these antipodes of the mind, claiming that we dream in black and white, which is not true (may be true for Huxley, the “poor visualiser”), and the scintillating things we create to bring us the visionary experience, like vivid paintings, fireworks, lights, even theatre lights and costume jewellery (bit of a stretch!), and the resplendence of royal ceremonial dress (another bit of a stretch!), etc. etc. things which give us a reminder of those things we see in that “other world”, “whatever in nature or a work of art resembles one of those intensely significant inwardly flowing objects encountered at the mind’s antipodes is capable of inducing if only in partial attenuated form, the visionary experience”. He uses this to explain our “inexplicable passion” for gems, shiny objects, jewellery, vivid colours in painting, stained glass windows, glass, chrome, “the beauty of curved reflections and softly lustrous glazes” etc., things that transport the beholder, as a reminder of preternatural colours and intensity of the "other world".

He bangs on about this for page after page, but where the book gets good is where he starts discussing the numinous quality of certain works of art, like landscape painting as a vision inducing art form, the distances and propinquity in same, things isolated from their utilitarian context, medieval art, renaissance art, things seen and rendered as living jewels, things of visionary intensity, transfigured and therefore transporting.

Later he discusses schizophrenics as negative visionaries – “for a healthy person perception of the infinite in a finite particular is a revelation of divine immanence”, not so for the mentally ill. They are transfigured by their visions, but for the worse.

He also discusses religious punishments, self-flagellation, hypnosis, fasting, vitamin deficiencies, Mortification of the body etc., as a means of reaching those antipodes of the mind by increasing the CO2 to lower efficiency of the brain as a reducing valve and permit the entry into that “other world”, to experience the visionary or mystical from “out there”, also including things like prolonged shouting, praying, chanting, etc. to experience the “intense significance of things that give us God’s immanence”, because, in a nutshell, the brain is “chemically controlled and therefore can be made permeable to the superfluous aspects of mind at large by modifying the normal chemistry of the body”.

An important little book that warrants re-reading.

[Matthew Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a while. I'll split this review into two parts. The Doors of Perception gets about 6 stars and Heaven and Hell gets 4/5, so I'll round it up to five in total.

So, The Doors of Perception. Huxley takes 4/10 of a gram of mescaline and writes about the experience. Mescalin is comparable with LSD. I wasn't expecting much from the writings of his 'experience' but I found it fascinating. Of course, the world is more desensitised to drugs now; on the whole, we are more familiar with them, their effects, but I still found Huxley's work insightful, even humorous at times, as he stares fascinated at the folds in his clothes, or at flowers. These are the best bits, I think. If you care not for the quotes, I'll be doing an over-view of Heaven and Hell below all the italic quotes below.

Visual impressions are greatly intensified and the eye recovers some of the perceptual innocence of childhood, when the sensum was not immediately and automatically subordinated to the concept. Interest in space is diminished and interest in time falls almost to zero.

Though the intellect remains unimpaired and though perception is enormously improved, the will suffers a profound change for the worse. The mescalin taker sees no reason for doing anything in particular and finds most of the causes for which, at ordinary times, he was prepared to act and suffer, profoundly uninteresting. He can't be bothered with them, for the good reason that he has better things to think about.

Man's highly developed colour sense is a biological luxury- inestimably precious to him as an intellectual and spiritual being, but unnecessary to his survival as an animal.

Huxley has the recordings of his conversations with the investigator. He kept saying, over and over, 'This is how one ought to see.'

These are my favourite two observations from Huxley -

The legs, for example of that chair- how miraculous their tubularity, how supernatural their polished smoothness! I spent several minutes- or was it several centuries?- not merely gazing at those bamboo legs, but actually being them- or rather being myself in them

At this stage in the proceedings I was handed a large coloured reproduction of the well-known self portrait by Cezanne- the head and shoulders of a man in a large straw hat, red-cheeked, red-lipped, with rich black whiskers and a dark unfriendly eye. It is a magnificent painting; but it was not as a painting that I now saw it. For the head promptly took on a third dimension and came to life as a small goblin-like man looking out through a window in the page before me. I started to laugh. And when they asked me why, 'What pretensions!' I kept repeating. 'Who on earth does he think he is?' The question was not addressed to Cezanne in particular, but to the human species at large. Who did they all think they were?

Heaven and Hell. The 'sequel' is less about Huxley. In fact, not really about him at all. He writes about the origins of mysticism, namely, colour in nature, art and to the human race. He discusses dreams, schizophrenia, and the human experience. I don't have many quotes for this part, it's more interesting as a whole, but it does get the reader thinking. For example,

Professor Calvin Hall, who has collected records of many thousands of dreams, tells us that about two-thirds of all dreams are in black and white. 'Only one dreams in three is coloured, or has sonic colour in it.' A few people dream entirely in colour; a few never experience colour in their dreams; the majority sometimes dream in colour, but more often do not.

Do I dream in colour? I honestly have no idea.
On the whole, The Doors of Perception is far better, more interesting and more entertaining. But that isn't to say Heaven and Hell isn't.

[Théo d'Or]

- Hi, Mr. Huxley. Sorry to disturb your eternal sleep, but lately I have the feeling that I am a cat, and this affect my some deeply human obligations...You know...
Your book revealed certain similarities to me. Can we talk about it ?

- Ask away, my dear cat. Aaa, friend.. I'm happy to discuss my experiences with psychedelics and their effects on the human nervous system.

- Well.. I was a bit surprised to read how strongly you emphasize the usefulness of psychedelics. Didn't you worry about their potential harmfulness ?

- Of course I did ! But as a writer and philosopher I felt it was necessary to explore the boundaries of human consciousness and expand our understanding of reality. As I wrote in my book, " there are things known, and there are things unknown. And in between are the doors of perception ". Psychedelics can certainly open those doors, but they are not without their risks.

- Right. And you definitely didn't hold back on describing those risks. You wrote about how it can affect the nervous system, and you even mentioned how it can lead to mental illness..

- Yes, it's true that psychedelics can be harmful if not used responsibly. In fact, I once had a friend who became convinced he was a glass of orange juice, after taking LSD. He spent weeks in a mental hospital !

- Well.... better cat than a glass of...Whatever.. But can't you argue that psychedelics also have some positive long term effects, like increasing creativity and open- mindedness ?

- Absolutely ! When used correctly psychedelics can be a powerful tool for self -discovery and personal growth. But I would never recommend them to someone who's not psychologically stable enough to handle the intense experience..

- Well , it certainly seems like there's a lot to consider when it comes to this term, " correctly ".
But at least, I agree that The Doors of Perception is a fascinating read.

- Glad you found it entertaining, my c... friend. Just remember, the doors of perception are always open, whether or not we choose to explore them. It's up to us to decide how far we want to go.

- Just one more question, Mr. Huxley... Why did you die ?

- I'd have liked to die of emotion, my cat... Sorry, I meant friend...Unfortunately, it was something much more.. ordinary.

[Ned · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first from Huxley and I imagine he represents the best of what a liberal education used to teach, a broad and deep knowledge of the humanities, art and psychology. His knowledge and visceral love of art is astonishing and made me long for all the greatness I never have known. Consequently I learned a great deal. His main thesis is that the our consciousness is absolutely stifled by the narrow window through which we learn, created by our educational system and the reductionist thinking of modern science. To get beyond this narrowness (the portal), he studied the ancient practices of native Americans (and others) of using hallucinogens. Huxley details his experiences after consuming peyote, and comes up with rather startling observations, primarily through the enhancement of “seeing” without preconceptions (or abstract reasoning, as we normally comprehend visual perceptions, constricted by words and ideas). He experiences people and man-made objects suddenly as ludicrous and grossly insensitive creations that pale compared to the “true” essence of matter, objects, animals and the world. Fascinating stuff. A hero for Huxley is William Blake, one of the few who naturally achieve this, almost as religiously inspired. Theology, and the conception of god is enhanced, and he comments on the purity of ascetics and mystics, who achieve “chemically induced” perception through practice and various physiological techniques to obliterate comfort and conformity.

This is one of those books that I found largely happenstance: (1) I’ve always liked the band (The Doors) who took their name from this book; (2) it was staring me down in an airport; (3) I was aware of “Brave New World”, his most popular book; and (4) a general interest in hallucinogens and how I might personally achieve transcendence.

The writing was uneven, repetitive, even rambling. But the genius shines through and the educational aspect was immense. A truly “enlightening” experience, I recommend this. He’s written broadly on many topics, and I know little about the man. It is not even clear his country or nationality, so I’ll be looking into that as well.

[Spasa Vidljinović]

Intrigantna knjižica, sastavljena od dva eseja, inspirisana je poemom Viljema Blejka, Venčanje Neba i Pakla. Kroz nju se saznaju potencijali mozga prilikom uzimanja psihodelične supstance meskalina, koja se dobija iz jedne vrste kaktusa. I ne samo to, Haksli se trudi da nas uputi da drugačija percepcija može nastati i dejstvom nekih aparata, postom... Ovo stanje svesti se razlikuje od uobičajenog i po tome što konzument ne mari za prostor i vreme, te dve kategorije postaju potpuno nevažne.

Svaka osoba ima drugačija iskustva s one strane svesti, autor ove knjige tvrdi da je to i do karaktera i trenutnog duševnog stanja konzumenta. Njemu su iskustva bila prožeta intenziviranjem boja stvari i pojava koje su se zatekle kraj njega. Zbog svega ovoga iskustva s druge strane vrata percepcija mogu biti anđeoska ili dijabolična, zavisi od osobe do osobe.

Potka koja se provlači kroz ovo delo, a da nije vezana za psihomedicinsku sferu je percepcija s one strane svesti kroz umetnička dela. Opisuje neobične doživljaje umetnika oslikane kroz njihove slike i segmente koji zbog boje i položaja daju poseban efekat. Saznajemo specifičnosti vezane za japanske pejzaže, Van Gogove čemprese, Rembrantove vetrenjače, elizabetansko pozorište...

Knjiga je privukla veliku pažnju, jer je sam Haksli koristio meskalin i bio spreman, generalno u svom životu na razne vrste eksperimenata. Na sebi je probao različite vežbe za oči zbog oslabljenog vida, što je i zabeležio u posebnoj knjizi, proučavao je različite religiozne pravce...

[Kristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah. First time reading anything like this.
It makes a lot of sense for the most part,
although the part where he says we like
shiny things because they take us to ''The Other World''
is a bit ''meh, no.'' it most certainly
makes you see the whole thing from a very
different angle. It also made me want to try
psychedelics even more and Mescalin is now
on my Drugs-To-Take list. I will have to re-read
it though.

[Phoenix Rises · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book about perceiving things as they actually are: Kant's noumena, the thing in itself. The book is a fascinating treatise on raw perception, on an experience of seeing things in real time. The question is, can we handle understanding what is happening around us all at once in its entirety? Huxley compared the taking of the drug mescaline to the experience of schizophrenia: whereas the drug fades and you are no longer bombarded with perceiving all of existence, the schizophrenic perceives all existence indefinitely. This comparison sheds an interesting light on mental illness and its strengths. I appreciate this book a lot, and must ultimately agree with its conclusion that systematic thinking will ultimately miss the mark and flounder to explain the things that are most important, the things that give our life the most meaning.

[Andreea Toader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

[Michael Kress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book narrates one of Aldous Huxley's mescaline trips. Taking this drug allows his consciousness to walk through "doors" and perceive things in a different way. When he comes back through the doors, he is enlightened and changed forever. The subject material of this book is similar to much of the Zen literature that I've been reading lately. A problem with Eastern thought is that you can understand "oneness" intellectually but still feel isolated. Huxley claims that mescaline can help the subject have a real transcendental experience. Native American cultures had a practice of using mescaline and therefore had a different view of the world than Westerners. One problem Westerners have is that the culture revolves so much around assigning language and symbols to everything that they can only see life that way. They have a constant mental monologue in whatever language they happen to speak. The main thing I learned from this book was to try to view the world, especially during meditation, without having to assign man-made symbols to everything. However, I never use any drugs other than caffeine and ibuprofen, so I'll to do it without the aid of certain mind-altering chemicals.

[Mehrsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huxley goes on an acid trip and validates buddhist conceptions of ego. I read this because Michael Pollan kept citing to it in his new book about psychadelics. This is really well-written and fascinating. Well worth the read.

[Stuart Brkn Johns · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doors of Perception is a classic account of Huxley's experiments with mescaline, a psychoactive substance derived from a cactus. In this short but profound book, he describes his experiences of altered perception and consciousness, as well as his reflections on art, religion, philosophy and society. He argues that the human mind is capable of transcending the ordinary limits of reality and accessing a higher realm of beauty and meaning. He also explores the implications of his insights for the human condition and the possibility of creating a more harmonious and enlightened world.

The book is written in a lucid and elegant style, with vivid descriptions of Huxley's visions and sensations. He draws on various sources of inspiration, such as literature, music, painting and mysticism, to illustrate his points and enrich his narrative. He also shows a keen awareness of the potential dangers and pitfalls of using drugs as a means of spiritual exploration. He acknowledges that his experience was subjective and influenced by his personal background and expectations, and that it may not be easily replicated or communicated to others. He also warns that the use of mescaline may have negative effects on the physical and mental health of some individuals, and that it should not be taken lightly or irresponsibly.

The Doors of Perception is a fascinating and influential book that challenges the reader to question their assumptions and expand their horizons. It offers a glimpse into a different mode of perception and awareness that may have profound implications for our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. It is a book that invites us to open our eyes and minds to the infinite possibilities of human experience.

3.9 Stars

[Žilvinas Gečiauskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turiu prisipažinti , kad net nežinau ką rašyti apie šią Knygą. Pirmoji mano pažintis su Aldous Huxley buvo 2017m perskaityta „ Geltonasis Kroumas“. Knygos anotacija tiek daug žadėjo , kad su didžiausiais lūkesčiais puoliau prie jos ir deja teko nusivilti. Atmetus keletą įdomesnių vietų ir man patikusi Huxley rašymo stilių , visa kita buvo neįdomu ir dažnai pagaudavau save , kad mintys skrajoje po kitus pasaulius ir tekdavo ištisus puslapius skaityt iš naujo. Nepaisant to mano tikėjimas Aldous Huxley nė kiek nesusvyravo ir aš net neabejojau , kad su šiuo autoriumi mano draugystė bus ilga ir įdomi. Po to perskaityta „ Puikus naujas pasaulis“ man tapo viena geriausių perskaitytų Knygų.
„Suvokimo durys. Dangus ir pragaras.“ , man priminė pačią pirmą pažintį su Huxley. Lygiai taip pat po Knygos anotacijos ir Knygos įvertinimų , jau nekalbant apie faktą , kad ši Knyga įkvėpė mano mylimos grupės „the Doors“ pavadinimą , tikėjausi labai daug ir nusivyliau. Deja jeigu jūs kaip ir aš tikitės , kad ši Knyga bus tokia pat išnešanti į kitus pasaulius , esančius kitose visatose , kaip „ The Doors“ dainų tekstai , teks nusivilti. Buvo įdomesnių minčių , bet deja visa kita buvo ne tik , kad neįdomu , bet ir man atrodė , kad viskas kartojasi ir kartojasi , turiu pripažinti , kad aš netgi nepajutau , kad būtų koks nors skirtumas tarp „Suvokimo durys“ ir tęsinio „ Dangus ir pragaras“. Jeigu tikitės , kad skaitydami šią Knygą pajusit tai ką patiria meskalino ir kito psichodeliko užvartojęs žmogus teks nusivilti.
Bet aš vis dar daug tikiuosi iš Huxley kūrybos , mano tikėjimas dėl to , kad dvi Knygos iš trijų nepaliko didesnio įspūdžio nė kiek nesusvyravo ir aš žinau , kad sekančios Knygos prie kurių prieisiu , pavyzdžiui „Neregys Gazoje“ manęs nenuvils

[Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained two essays Huxley wrote about the experience of taking Mescalin (LSD) and his journey to understand his inner self. I only read the first essay The Doors of Perception and to be honest I found it to be pretty boring. Huxley talks about watching flowers in a vase for hours, or studying old paintings in a new light. He does however make a few interesting concluding remarks, including my favourite quote from the essay: "Systematic reasoning is something we could not, as a species or as individuals, possibly do without. But neither, if we are to remain sane, can we possibly do without direct perception, the more unsystematic the better, of the inner and outer worlds into which we have all been born." (pg 49)

Overall rating: 2.5/5 stars (rounded up to 3/5 stars)

[misael martins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para os vivos, as portas do Céu, do Inferno e do Purgatório abrem-se, não por meio de pesadas chaves duplas de metal, mas sim pela presença no sangue de um conjunto de substâncias químicas e pela ausência de outras tantas.

Este livro reúne dois ensaios principais – As Portas da Percepção e Céu e Inferno – publicados pelo britânico Aldous Huxley, em 1954 e 1956, respectivamente. A par disso, foram ainda adicionados oito outros pequenos ensaios do autor sobre o mesmo tema.

A(s) obra(s) reúne(m) as experiências de Huxley sob o efeito de estimuladores alucinogénicos, em particular a mescalina – princípio activo do peiote – e do ácido lisérgico ou LSD. É uma obra incontornável neste campo, tendo influenciado profundamente a contracultura hippie dos anos 60, e tendo mesmo inspirado de forma vincada Jim Morrison, o lendário vocalista dos The Doors, que atribuiu o nome à banda de rock psicadélico influenciado pela leitura do ensaio e a partir do nome do mesmo. No entanto, enquanto que em Jim Morrison – e nos génios musicais seus contemporâneos – o uso dos psicadélicos assume uma forma mais artística, revolucionária e subversiva; em Huxley, configuram o meio – a porta – para uma outra consciência, uma nova percepção, em tudo diferente da anterior. No fundo, Morrison adquire o estilo panfletário de Blake (de quem é a frase original que inspira o próprio Huxley: If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite .)

Os indivíduos de imaginação fértil são, na sua maioria, transformados em visionários pela mescalina.

O segundo ensaio – Céu e Inferno – é mais sombrio e esquizofrénico, apontando os perigos (a palavra é minha, Huxley nunca a usa) da ingestão dos agentes psicadélicos e, particularmente, da realidade hipersensitiva que por eles é criada.

E então, repentinamente, tive uma vaga noção do que seja a loucura. A esquizofrenia tem os seus paraísos, juntamente com os seus infernos e purgatórios.

É, quanto a mim, uma obra essencial para quem se interessa pelo tema. Contém, a par da descrição de verdadeiras trips e da natureza elevada e contemplativa da nova percepção, livre de simbolismos e representações, espantosa e simplesmente viva, sem esforço para tal, verdadeiros tratados sobre arte, literatura e pintura, experienciadas com uma outra abertura, uma outra visão, um outro nível de percepção.

Vivemos, agimos e reagimos uns com os outros; mas sempre, e sob quaisquer circunstâncias, existimos a sós. Os mártires irrompem na arena de mãos dadas; mas são crucificados sozinhos. Abraçados, os amantes procuram desesperadamente fundir os seus êxtases isolados numa única autotranscendência; frustradamente. Pela sua própria natureza, cada espírito, na sua prisão corpórea, está condenado a sofrer e a gozar em solidão. Sensações, sentimentos, concepções, fantasias – são todas coisas privadas e, a não ser por meio de símbolos, e indirectamente, não podem ser transmitidas. Podemos acumular informações sobre experiências, mas nunca as próprias experiências. Da família à nação, cada grupo humano é uma sociedade de universos insulares.