In this excerpt from a panel discussion, Bill introduces Teilhard de Chardin’s view that humans are spiritual beings whose core is love, described as an intelligent, creative energy that underlies all religions. Mary agrees and shares an anecdote from a cancer study where a participant, after a psychedelic experience, felt a deep connection with her partner’s dying father, facilitating meaningful conversation and mutual comfort in hospice. The moderator thanks Mary and invites Brian to close. Brian quotes Chardin, envisioning a future where humanity harnesses the energy of love, likening it to the discovery of fire. The conversation weaves together philosophical spirituality, the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for end‑of‑life care, and an aspirational vision of love as a transformative force.
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Uh, Teilhard de Chardin, the great Jesuit, uh, discoverer of Peking Man, who was both a mystic and a scientist, uh, is fond of, uh, reminding us that we really are spiritual beings who are having human or physical experiences right now. And I think that's a delightful perspective, that this spiritual dimension, how— whatever we want to call it, uh, seems to be within each of us. It's a basis for ethics. I think there is love at the core of being, not as a mushy emotion, but as a very intelligent, creative, uh, energy, if you will, that the mystics keep rediscovering. You know, this is the basis perhaps of all the world religions. And we develop our theologies and our traditions, but at the core, maybe there really is what we often call one God or one ground of being, or one void that contains all reality. Choose your term, but there's something incredibly beautiful and sacred, uh, within each of us, I believe.
I'll just kind of go right from there, saying I agree with everything Bill said, and, and that the psychedelics often have the ability to show that part of ourselves. I mean, that is what is the real— where the real healing comes, because the psychedelics reveal, if we allow them, if we let go and allow the experience, they reveal that part of us that is the oneness, the connectedness to all. So I just want to read this one little thing real quick and then I'm done. Just because I was looking through different session reports and things from our cancer study before, and I love this because it was a conversation that I had with our volunteer who had completed her studies, and she said that after this experience, her partner's father went into hospice, and she said because of her experience she felt connected enough with him that she hadn't really before, but she also felt ease with talking to him about her experience, and she really said she felt that that helped him in his last days, and it certainly helped her too to have a connection with him. So, kind of speaks to what Bill said about you know, could the caregivers, could the providers benefit to be able to help navigate this time of someone's life, being with them on that level. So thank you.
Beautiful, thank you, Mary. So life has so many magical twists and turns. I hope everyone has more magic today than even than what we've heard here, the magic in the little things in life. And Brian, you did such a beautiful job in that book that you deserve the last word.
It's hard to come up with something, so I'll quote Chardin, picking up where Bill left off, something that I've been praying every night, repeating in my head for about 25 years now. He once said, "The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for only the second time in the history of the world, humanity will have discovered fire." Maybe it is all about love.
Ah, thank you, Bill, Mary, Brian, Everybody listening, Tony, Janice, my heart is full, and we can all enjoy the rest of our Sunday. And stay well. Bye-bye.
