What Technology, Plants, or Chemicals Help Meditation?
The physical body is a wonderful laboratory within which many mysterious chemical processes provide the basis of our perception in the physical world. The consciousness — which is not physical — uses the body while it interacts with physicality.
Observe on the Tree of Life:
The consciousness (Tiphereth) is manifested in a physical body (Malkuth).
While within the body, the consciousness perceives through the physical senses and our three brains, but cannot see more; it cannot see where it came from, or any other dimension. Our spiritual longing is the urge to see, but we cannot because of the psychological condition we have created: our inner darkness. Our consciousness is trapped in our psychological defects. That is why when our consciousness does leave the body - every night - it does not remember much, or what it does remember is vague, strange, or nightmares: experiences in our inner hells.
Those who engage in spiritual pursuits seek to utilize the consciousness and perceive other dimensions, and everyone wants to see the superior worlds, the heavens. However, sadly, because people are so hypnotized by physical matter and desires, they assume that to activate or stimulate the consciousness they must use physical matter and energy that correspond with their desires, such as drugs, alcohol, plants, chemicals, music, machines, etc. This is the basis of many problems. Such devices do awaken the consciousness, but they awaken it in its conditioned state: the consciousness is trapped in anger, pride, envy and lust, thus it awakens within those defects, and sees through those defects, and experiences through those defects. That is why drug users have experiences - they see other dimensions, but it is only their own inner hells.
While the consciousness remains in its conditioned state, it can only see through its desires, fears, anger, pride, lust, etc. The visions produced by drugs, alcohol, chemicals and machines only perceive the hell realms. Worse, those who rely on those tools become addicted, weak, dependent, and entirely confused, because everything they perceive is filtered not only by their psychological conditioning, but also by the influence of the chemicals, plants, drugs, etc.
Hidden Influences
Speaking of influences, everything in nature has consciousness. Minerals and plants are utilized by black magicians to seduce the naive. It is easy for them to control the consciousness of a plant to manipulate the "experiences" of a plant user (such as yaje, mushrooms, marijuana, hapé, etc). Yes: people who use plants or mineral substances to have "spiritual experiences" are usually being manipulated by black magicians: lied to, so the black magicians gains power, control, money, sex, etc.
“Each elemental of Nature represents certain powers of the blessed goddess mother of the world. Thus, whosoever knows how to handle the powers of nature that are enclosed within each herb, within each root and each tree, is the only one who can be a true magician and doctor. Thought is a great force, yet everything is dual in creation. Thus, if we want to make perceptible any hidden intention, a physical instrument that serves as the clothing for that idea is necessary. This instrument is the plant that corresponds to our intention. Only the one who knows the secret of commanding the elementals of plants can be a magician.” — Samael Aun Weor, Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic
Black magicians use plants to feed desires, gather followers, and manipulate the naive. They promise awakening, spiritual development, powers, etc. but they lie. They plants they provide are controlled by ritual to deceive the one who ingests it. In turn, the user becomes convinced in the power of the "shaman," and devoted to "natural magic," when in truth, they are being groomed for initiation into black magic.
White magicians use plants to heal. They do not use them to fulfill their desires or provoke "spiritual experiences." They do not need them for that, since they know how to use the consciousness in its natural state, liberated from all conditioning factors.
Liberate the Consciousness from All Conditions
The consciousness is not physical. It does not require any physical influences. What is needed is to extract it from the physical influences. In fact, it is because of physical influences that the consciousness cannot perceive what it does when it is in its natural, unconditioned state. Our consciousness is in an abnormal state, hypnotized by sensations and physicality. When you liberate it from that state, it easily perceives other dimensions, without the need for any physical influences.
Notice how Tiphereth, the unconditioned consciousness, is in the sixth dimension. It is already there. All one has to do is liberate it from the conditions that pull it down: remove it from physicality (3rd dimension), energy (4th dimension), emotion and thought (5th dimension), and it remains free, natural, unconditioned.
On the other hand, if you deepen your reliance on physical devices or chemicals, you only deepen your slavery to physicality, sensations, desires, etc which inevitably pull you down lower. How then will you awaken when you die and your physical body is removed from the consciousness? You will not have those chemicals or substances available, thus you will remain asleep.
Therefore, in this tradition, we emphasize the development of consciousness in its natural state, free of any reliance on physical matter or energy. We learn instead to liberate the consciousness from physical matter and energy — and even go further, freeing it from other more subtle conditions — so that it is then free to perceive without any limitations or artificial influences. Most amazing of all is this is easy, requires nothing outside of you, is free, and has no side effects.
Stated simply, if you want to activate the consciousness and perceive visions, other dimensions, etc., then learn to meditate. That is all you need. From that training, you will restore the natural abilities of the consciousness without the risk of becoming dependent on external influences, or sickened by them, or even killed by them. Through meditation training you recover the natural ability to see non-physical imagery (clairvoyance), and leave the body when you want (astral projection), while keeping the consciousness free of any physical limitation or influence.