$Book$ The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell {PDF}
The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell
By : by Aldous Huxley
ratings : 34,684
ratings reviews : 1,142
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Original Title : The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell
ISBN : 0060595183 (ISBN13: 9780060595180)
Edition Language : English
Series :
Paperback, 187 pages
Published May 4th 2004 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics (first published 1956)
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Description : As only he can, 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. Contains the complete texts of The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell , both of which became essential for the counterculture As only he can, 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. Contains the complete texts of The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell , both of which became essential for the counterculture during the 1960s and influenced a generation's perception of life.
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REVIEWS :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 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 'There are things known and there are things unknownand 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 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 ConfessionsIf 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 Teenage KicksI 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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 Woah. First time reading anything like this.It makes a lot of sense for the most part,although the part where he says we likeshiny things because they take us to ''The Other World'' is a bit ''meh, no.'' it most certainlymakes you see the whole thing from a verydifferent 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-readit though. 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.
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