Attitudes are Shifting About Buddhism and Psychedelics

At the heart of Shakyamuni Buddha’s spiritual revolution was the doctrine of anātman, meaning “no-soul” or “selflessness.” This was not just a refinement of existing spiritual thought — it was a direct challenge to the deeply held belief in an unchanging self, and that spiritual liberation was achieved by realizing that atman (self, soul) is eternal and persists beyond death. The Buddha essentially said, “You don’t exist the way you believe you do.” It was the pinnacle of heterodoxy.