I’ve had two people point me at Michael Pollan’s new book “How to Change Your Mind.” It’s the latest celebration of drugs as a gateway to psychological balance and spiritual experience. Predecessors include the writings of Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary and Sam Harris.

What few remember is that the same thing was said about cocaine in the ’70s – doctors considered it a mild addiction, and users celebrated the clarity that it brought to their mental process.

But the fact is that a drug elevates your mind in an unsustainable manner, and in spiritual affairs every gate opens both ways. When the high comes down and it slams shut, you no longer are able to manage the demons that have taken up residence in your psyche, and they slowly begin to amplify your weaknesses as they take over your motivations.

I raised my children with the precept that “Love is the Anti-Drug.” Drugs are merely a way of creating the state that is achieved when you are in a committed, loving relationship. If you have to take a drug to achieve that state, then the real problem is that you are resistant to that kind of intimacy.

The benefits of submitting to the discipline of commitment to another are immense. They see aspects of you that you can’t see yourself because your consciousness resides at the surface of your psyche. This is why Shamballa Buddhists celebrate tantric sex – it’s not just a physical experience, but a bearing of witness that is a powerful aid to achieving spiritual clarity and connection.

But just as with gateway drugs, the Shamballah tradition does not see tantric sex as a foundation of spiritual development. It’s a refinement intended for mature practitioners.

If you’re not ready to open yourself to the spiritual winds but want to prepare yourself for that engagement, please contact me. If you look at my blogs (everdeepening.com and love-returns.org) you’ll see that I’ve been refining my capacity to express love unconditionally for a long time. I’ll bear witness to your journey, and ensure that what comes through the gate serves only your best interests. All for a fee that does little more than ensure that I’ll be there next week for the next step – and the next, until you’re ready to fly on your own.