Howard - I agree with your observation. Viewed from the perspective that
both substances are teaching - vehicles for the spirit and consciousness,
it appears to me that ibogaine is the province of more therapeutically
oriented or more experienced consciousness explorers.

LSD's capacity to demolish the ego can be tremendously liberating and
healing, but the Sufis say (I've read) that we all have a false and a real
ego.

LSD appears to be able to dissolve rigid and narrow world views and
self-boundaries by in essence, returning consciousness to a fertile,
infantile like state. One can look at a telephone or other common object
while peaking on LSD and wonder, "what's this? Something you eat?"

But not all that we have learned, often painfully, needs to be unlearned,
and spiritual development seems to me largely the process of integrating
learned truths into our lives (egos). It is this evolving, authentic ego, I
think, which is addressed by ibogaine. I'm sure this thought isn't original
on this list, but I believe ibogaine does not disrupt normal ego function
that much because an intact ego is required to assimilate the deeper
knowledge ibogaine may offer.

I don't know if this is the type of response you were looking for - from a
neurological viewpoint, might ego function remain intact in the ibogaine
experience because deeper brain structures (closer to critical life
support areas) are more involved? My impression is that the subjective
experience of LSD is based mainly in the neo-cortex.

Brett Mann


At 06:34 PM 05/10/2000 CEST, you wrote:
>It is my opinion that ego death as described in LSD literature does not
occur
>as an ibogaine effect but, that the ego always remains as an observer within
>the ibogaine experience.
>
>Comments?
>
>Howard
>
>
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