On a Distinction between Soma and Aushadhi

I'm enjoying reading Brian James's Yoga and Plant Medicine, and it sparked a series of ideas that would make a great introductory post to my line of thinking on the application of plant medicine to spiritual inquiries. (He has generously made this book available to all his supporters on Patreon: Medicine Path.) He opens an early chapter with a discussion on one of the more astounding of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, IV.1:

The mystic powers (siddhis) arise due to birth, herbs, mantras, the performance of austerity, and samādhi.

—from Edwin Bryant's 2009 translation from the orig. Sanskrit

A little context for non-experts like myself: This sutra comes at the beginning of the fourth and final section of the text. It comes after a deep discussion on the internal branches of the eight-limbed raja yoga system. In my own yoga lineage, the siddhis—the mystical powers granted as boons for progress made along the spiritual path, include things like esoteric knowledge of the universe, the ability to control the sense perception of others, and control of time and matter itself—are to be distrusted and avoided as a matter of principle. Even if they are real, they would only prove to be distractions along the path. Therefore, the siddhis should be shunned.

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Now, this late into the text, Patanjali reveals that samādhi is not the only method for attaining the mystical powers, but it is the most preferred. A human can be born with powers; that is, through no fault or work of your own, you are placed much closer to universal spiritual goals than someone whose inherited powers aren't quite as established. Mantras are taught by many schools of Eastern enlightenment, and their inclusion here could be a practical (if not polemical) separation from those schools. The sutra is made all the more strange by the inclusion of tapaḥ (austerities), because this is one of Patanjali's five niyamas. All of this is to say, this sutra is uneasy on its premise.

This leaves us with the discussion at hand: aushadhi. Bryant translates this as herbs; Brian James prefers sacred plants; but it has variously been translated as drugs and medicine, as well. The classical commentators have nothing to say on the acquisition or preparation of aushadhi, and the word appears nowhere else in the Yoga Sutras. We are left with knowing it when we experience it; to find it for ourselves.

Perhaps the classical commentators and the practitioners that followed them had lost their connection to the medicine Patanjali is referring to. The scholars that preceeded us did know of the Vedic tales of soma. And this may have been the only point of reference for an ingestible potion that grants mystical powers—the drink of the gods. But the implication of the sutra is that this medicine is accessible to use here on Earth, not limited to the unknown celestial domains. Aushadhi is listed alongside earnestly held realities like reincarnation, mantra recitation, austerities, and samādhi. There is no reason to believe that the medicine is unobtainable. Contrast that with soma.

There is no evidence that soma existed outside of Vedic myths. I can only assume that if one interrogated any number of Iron Age cultures, one would find references to divine brews that could grant any of us immortality, universal knowledge, and miraculous abilities. But this is itself a kind of trick. Insofar as the gods exist, they envy our mortality. We know what it is to experience something fleeting and for the first time. What it is to forget. We can make a materialist analysis here, as well: Would we even recognize soma? Our day-to-day experience with the world is too far removed from that of ancient India to expect the same thresholds for the miraculous. This is in some stark contrast with the plant medicines being discussed today for treating certain forms of depression. Those who have explored the properties of these natural medicines can feel the healing happening within them, and the chemicals themselves seem to communicate their own purpose to the seeker.

Let's return to Sutra IV.1:

The mystic powers (siddhis) arise due to birth, herbs, mantras, the performance of austerity, and samādhi.

What if we aren't interested in the siddhis? The sutra and the commentators do not prohibit the use of aushadhi for assistance along the spiritual path. In earlier sections of the text, the Yoga Sutras and their commentators are not quiet on the vows the yogi must take to progress. In fact anything that removes ignorance and spiritual barriers are worthwhile tools. (Note that Sutra IV.3 presents one of Patanjali's few and famous analogies: that of the farmer removing earthen dams to flood dry farmland.)

Let's consider for now a modification to Sutra IV.1. There are plant medicines—aushadhi—available to us today as a result of technology and happenstance that can induce the states of consciousness necessary for samadhi. They are not separate things at all. This suggests to the practitioner an updated roadmap for building up the five external limbs to enhance the experience of aushadhi-induced samadhi. Such a thing could be a breakthrough for many seekers who, feeling they have a storehouse of good karma from their practice, have yet to experience the exhilaration of absolute absorption.

The actual medicine used will undoubtedly depend on the person. Alan Watts considered LSD, psilocybin, and cannabis as candidates for aides in deep meditation. Brian James has had great success combining yoga and ayahuasca in an experiential practice. While we may disagree on the particulars, I can see that James and I land at many of the same conclusions. Experience does seem to suggest that an established yoga practice enhances the effects of our medicines. As with so many of life’s particulars, what an "established yoga practice" is will be up to the practitioner.

One thing we know for certain: These medicines do not impart supernatural powers—as interesting of a world as that would be!

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