The Doors of Perception is an autobiographical book written by Aldous Huxley. Published in 1954, it elaborates on his psychedelic experience under the influence of mescaline in May 1953. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, ranging from the "purely aesthetic" to "sacramental vision", and reflects on their philosophical and psychological implications. In 1956, he published Heaven and Hell, another essay which elaborates these reflections further. The two works have since often been published together as one book; the title of both comes from William Blake's 1793 book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.The Doors of Perception provoked strong reactions for its evaluation of psychedelic drugs as facilitators of mystical insight with great potential benefits for science, art, and religion. While many found the argument compelling, others including German writer Thomas Mann, Vedantic monk Swami Prabhavananda, Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, and Orientalist scholar Robert Charles Zaehner countered that the effects of …
The Doors of Perception is an autobiographical book written by Aldous Huxley. Published in 1954, it elaborates on his psychedelic experience under the influence of mescaline in May 1953. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, ranging from the "purely aesthetic" to "sacramental vision", and reflects on their philosophical and psychological implications. In 1956, he published Heaven and Hell, another essay which elaborates these reflections further. The two works have since often been published together as one book; the title of both comes from William Blake's 1793 book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.The Doors of Perception provoked strong reactions for its evaluation of psychedelic drugs as facilitators of mystical insight with great potential benefits for science, art, and religion. While many found the argument compelling, others including German writer Thomas Mann, Vedantic monk Swami Prabhavananda, Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, and Orientalist scholar Robert Charles Zaehner countered that the effects of mescaline are subjective and should not be conflated with objective religious mysticism. Huxley himself continued to take psychedelics for the rest of his life, and the understanding he gained from them influenced his final novel Island, published in 1962.
Review of 'The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (P.S.)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I enjoyed the Heaven and Hell more than The Doors of Perception. While an interesting take on the psychedelic experience, it was the the ponderings about religion, of aesthetics like stained-glass windows of the cathedrals, the incense, the ritual chants that transfer us into different realities, that I found thoroughly enlightening.
There are a lot of cultural references here, and having read into Joseph Campbell's work, Zen and Meister Eckhart made this much more easily approachable than what it would've been without that pre-existing knowledge.
Review of 'The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
There is a lot I wish wasn't in Doors of Perception (largely, Huxley's experiments with psychedelics bring little of value to the book) but I do feel that it's essential reading for people today staring down the barrel of legal marijuana and a burgeoning interest in meditation. What is it about a sober life that makes us so bored? What is it that forces us to smash our senses apart on a regular basis? Huxley does a brilliant job of answering these questions and providing some insight into where we might find real answers outside the pub.
