The most striking single phenomenon was the conception of a death-birth experience, of having died to an old life and been born to a new, which gave a lasting sense of new significance and meaning to life. In commenting upon the significance of the consciousness-expanding drugs with his experimental group, Pahnke emphasized that the drug alone was not sufficient. One cannot expect positive experiences automatically. He said that a meaningful religious setting and the framework within which to derive the meaning and integration of the experience was absolutely essential. Only passing attention is given to this in the literature on these drugs.
Primary attention is needed.
Furthermore, the classical means of inducing deeper religious experience are not part of the Western Protestant tradition. By way of summary, I have said that the expansion of consciousness can take place today without the use of drugs. Further constriction of the perception of reality is caused by the loss of adequate psychological moratoria from the fretful plunge toward adulthood, especially in preadolescence. These restrictions can be loosened by conscious attention and discipline. They often are broken by circumstance and necessity.