Monk views ecstasy drug on a higher plane

Publication title: Edmonton Journal
Pages: G.4
Section: RELIGION
Publication date: Sep 2, 1995
Dateline: London, England, UK
ProQuest document ID: 252207784
Copyright: (Copyright The Edmonton Journal)
Author: HELEN NOWICKA, Observer News Service


Abstract:

"Ecstasy use awakens the will to understand others. It awakens the unconditional love that God has for all of us."

The speaker explaining why he took drugs is not a wild-eyed teenage raver or a New Age mystic, but a 50-year-old Benedictine monk.

He believes ecstasy, a drug usually associated with dancing and loud music, has aided his spiritual development. Between one and five million people in Britain are estimated to have tried ecstasy, which has been linked to around 50 deaths. The monk takes the view that carefully regulated use can encourage understanding of the divine, helping transcend the everyday concerns to "open us up to something that is already there."

Full text:

"Ecstasy use awakens the will to understand others. It awakens the unconditional love that God has for all of us.''

The speaker explaining why he took drugs is not a wild-eyed teenage raver or a New Age mystic, but a 50-year-old Benedictine monk.

He believes ecstasy, a drug usually associated with dancing and loud music, has aided his spiritual development. Between one and five million people in Britain are estimated to have tried ecstasy, which has been linked to around 50 deaths. The monk takes the view that carefully regulated use can encourage understanding of the divine, helping transcend the everyday concerns to "open us up to something that is already there."

He agreed to discuss his experiences on condition of anonymity -- his church superiors do not know of his other habit.

The devout Catholic has taken ecstasy, the street name for the drug MDMA, two or three times a year since he was introduced to it in 1983 by an academic friend who was researching its effects.

Each time he chooses a serene environment that could not be farther from the flashing lights and pounding beat of a rave.

Sometimes it is a quiet country setting with secular friends, sometimes his monastic cell.

The first time, he was amazed by the drug's impact.

"I was completely enveloped with the divine presence. I felt extraordinary waves and waves of compassion for all beings.

"I was in a state of complete relaxation, but also complete recall. Incredible love was pouring itself into me."

The monk compared the closeness to God that he experienced to his feelings during moments of deep prayer or contemplation.

"MDMA makes prayer easier because it removes or suspends the ego, so you can be more aware of the divine presence," he said.

The monk sees no contradiction between his illegal drug use and his role as a committed Christian who has taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, but adds that drugs are no substitute for strong moral foundations.

The monk believes casual use of the ecstasy drug at raves and nightclubs is a "prostitution" of its potential.

His views are contained in Ecstasy and the Dance Culture, by Nicholas Saunders, an authority on ecstasy, which is published in Britain this month.

A rabbi and two Zen Buddhist monks who were interviewed said the drug had helped them meditate and pray.