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glance it may appear that Mahavir was against the smoking of ganja; yet if we analyze his insistence on fasting, we may conclude that the changes caused in the body after thirty days fasting are also chemical and quite similar to those caused by smoking ganja. There is no difference at all. The changes resulting from PRANAYAM (the science of breath) are also chemical.
If a person breathes in a certain way, changes in the proportion of oxygen begin to take place. A profuse supply of oxygen causes some elements to burn down and others to be preserved. The changes inside are chemical. The hippie says that all the prevalent spiritual practises also cause only a chemical change. The same chemical change can also be possible by taking a tablet.
The fourth point of emphasis of the hippie, one over which he finds himself confronted with troubles, is on these drugs. The law is against their use. Laws were framed by those who did not know anything about LSD. Doctor Leary is a unique personality in this field who has done tremendous work in the direction of making it possible for man to attain the experience of 'samadhi' by the use of drugs. And those who have made such experiments become different persons altogether; they were just able to turn over a new leaf in their lives.
As it is, we have to live under tensions, but as soon as a person takes any of such drugs, his whole mind becomes relaxed. Then one does not live under tensions, but here and now. The hippies have coined a special term 'turn on' for it. There occurs some turn, some gate, which becomes opened, with the use of the tablet. As 'dropping out' signifies parting company from the crowd, in the same way 'turning on' implies to take a turn somewhere else from our present position -- into that world, that dimension, about which we now know nothing.
As a result of the use of chemical drugs, human consciousness can expand and can be filled with aesthetic poeticness. Dr. Leary is conducting quite significant experiments in this direction. His men are divided in many groups which are spread out in jungles, mountains and the countryside. The police hunt for them and try to dislodge them.
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