--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you are serious about your religion…" description: "\"If you are serious about your religion, if you really wish to commit yourself to the spiritual quest, you must learn how to use psychochemicals. Drugs ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/timothy-leary-2431_astronomy_if-you-are-serious-about-your-religion-i_2032910.png" --- # If you are serious about your religion, if you really wish… ![“If you are serious about your religion, if you really wish to commit yourself to the spiritual quest, you must learn how to use psychochemicals. Drugs are the religion of the twenty-first century. Pursuing the religious life today without using psychedelic drugs is like studying astronomy with the…” quote by Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/timothy-leary-2431_astronomy_if-you-are-serious-about-your-religion-i_2032910.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/timothy-leary-2431_astronomy_if-you-are-serious-about-your-religion-i_2032910.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/timothy-leary-2431_astronomy_if-you-are-serious-about-your-religion-i_2032910.png) > “If you are serious about your religion, if you really wish to commit yourself to the spiritual quest, you must learn how to use psychochemicals. Drugs are the religion of the twenty-first century. Pursuing the religious life today without using psychedelic drugs is like studying astronomy with the naked eye because that's how they did it in the first century A.D., and besides telescopes are unnatural.” [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To truly engage in modern spirituality one must incorporate psychedelic substances, as they are the contemporary tools for expanding consciousness. **In simple terms:** Modern spirituality needs psychedelics as tools. Key Takeaway Explore psychedelics responsibly for spiritual growth. Themes spirituality psychedelics modernity consciousness tradition Mood curious reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational controversial When to use this quote - personal meditation - therapy sessions - creative workshops - ritual gatherings - research studies Key Concepts Neurotheology altered states ritual practice Questions to Reflect On - What ethical guidelines should govern psychedelic use in spiritual practice? - How can one balance tradition with modern tools? A Different Perspective Psychedelics can be risky and may cause psychological distress if misused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Commit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Drugs Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drugs-religion-3436526/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Naked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naked/) [Naked eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naked-eyes/) [Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic/) [Psychedelic drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic-drugs/) [Psychochemicals Drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychochemicals-drugs-3743286/) [Quests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quests/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-life/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Telescopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telescopes/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Unnatural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnatural/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Using Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/using-psychedelic-3743287/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Without u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-u/) ## Related quotes > [Pursuing the religious life today without using psychedelics drugs is like studying astronomy with the naked eye because that's how they did it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/pursuing-the-religious-life-today-without-using-psychedelics-drugs-is/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Drugs Are the Religion of the People ? The Only Hope is Dope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/drugs-are-the-religion-of-the-people-the-only-hope-is-dope/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [When you have a lot of time, when you're not working a full-time job, you have a lot of time to question things and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/when-you-have-a-lot-of-time-when-you-re-not-working-a-full-time-job/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [“Because sex, drugs, and religion all hinge on the same kind of simple neurochemical events: addictive, euphoric, exhilirating - and all, equally, meaningless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/because-sex-drugs-and-religion-all-hinge-on-the-same-kind-of-simple/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [The danger of psychedelic drugs, the danger of mind-opening, the danger of consciousness expansion, the danger of inner discovery is a danger to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-danger-of-psychedelic-drugs-the-danger-of-mind-opening-the-danger/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [You simply cannot understand psychedelic drugs, which activate the brain, unless you understand something about computers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-simply-cannot-understand-psychedelic-drugs-which-activate-the/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [I started out in psychedelic drugs, and people said it was a flight from reality. It still is a flight from reality, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-started-out-in-psychedelic-drugs-and-people-said-it-was-a-flight/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [How he could be a good user of LSD," I asked, "And know about the spiritual dimension - all that sort of thing -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/how-he-could-be-a-good-user-of-lsd-i-asked-and-know-about-the/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [No one can accuse Stuart Young of avoiding the big issues - with insight and verve, he tackles head on the existence of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-chadbourn/no-one-can-accuse-stuart-young-of-avoiding-the-big-issues-with/) [Mark Chadbourn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-chadbourn/) > [I ask of cinema what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-jodorowsky/i-ask-of-cinema-what-most-north-americans-ask-of-psychedelic-drugs/) [Alejandro Jodorowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-jodorowsky/) > [Psychedelic drugs don't change you - they don't change your character - unless you want to be changed. They enable change; they can't impose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/psychedelic-drugs-don-t-change-you-they-don-t-change-your-character/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [The potential of the psychedelic drugs to provide access to the interior universe, is, I believe, their most valuable property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/the-potential-of-the-psychedelic-drugs-to-provide-access-to-the/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [Whether drugs lead to illumination or degradation depends on the spirit in which one takes them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-andrews/whether-drugs-lead-to-illumination-or-degradation-depends-on-the/) [George Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-andrews/) > [“A large dose of niacin is one of the most rapid and reliable ways to pull a person out of a bad trip on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-p-reid/a-large-dose-of-niacin-is-one-of-the-most-rapid-and-reliable-ways-to/) [Daniel P. Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-p-reid/) ## More by Timothy Leary > [You are a God Act like one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-are-a-god-act-like-one/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Tune in, turn on, and drop out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/tune-in-turn-on-and-drop-out/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [The most important thing you do in your life is to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-most-important-thing-you-do-in-your-life-is-to-die/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [The aim of human life is to know thyself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think with your friends. Create, create new realities. Philosophy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-aim-of-human-life-is-to-know-thyself-think-for-yourself-question/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Learning how to operate a soul figures to take time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/learning-how-to-operate-a-soul-figures-to-take-time/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [At the peak of his scientific triumphs, Newton became a 'head,' a student of the inner spiritual world - or in modern terms, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/at-the-peak-of-his-scientific-triumphs-newton-became-a-head-a-student/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [When you teach someone how to perform creatively (ie, associate dead symbols in new combinations), you expand his potential for experiencing more widely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/when-you-teach-someone-how-to-perform-creatively-ie-associate-dead/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [In the Eleusinian mysteries, they would always warn people, "if you go in here, your ego will die. You're going to have to confront…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/in-the-eleusinian-mysteries-they-would-always-warn-people-if-you-go/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [At every level there are eight stages of intelligence. You have to turn your brain on to the circuits that are used at that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/at-every-level-there-are-eight-stages-of-intelligence-you-have-to/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Intelligence is the ultimate aphrodisiac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/intelligence-is-the-ultimate-aphrodisiac/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [You cannot use butterfly language to communicate with caterpillars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-cannot-use-butterfly-language-to-communicate-with-caterpillars/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Of course, the drug does not produce the transcendent experience. It merely acts as a chemical key — it opens the mind, frees the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/of-course-the-drug-does-not-produce-the-transcendent-experience-it/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Seven million people I turned on, and only one hundred thousand have come by to thank me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/seven-million-people-i-turned-on-and-only-one-hundred-thousand-have/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) [Explore all 165 Timothy Leary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) ## More Astronomy quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. 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Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/from-the-grasses-in-the-field-to-the-stars-in-the-sky-each-one-is/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“Sentinels of trees breathe life into bodies of earthly flesh As their mighty arms reach to the stars we join in their quest for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/sentinels-of-trees-breathe-life-into-bodies-of-earthly-flesh-as-their/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [“If there are no stars on the sky, you must try to be happy with the shining streetlights!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-there-are-no-stars-on-the-sky-you-must-try-to-be-happy-with-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. 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Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." ... quote has been credited to Les Brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylviek/shoot-for-the-moon-even-if-you-miss-it-you-will-land-among-the-stars/) [Sylviek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylviek/) > [When certain stars take you under their wing, it does help as they gauge your potential and are willing to work with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-bhatt/when-certain-stars-take-you-under-their-wing-it-does-help-as-they/) [Vikram Bhatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-bhatt/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. We are beholden to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-were-put-here-as-witnesses-to-the-miracle-of-life-we-see-the-stars/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. 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