Moksha: Writings on Psychedelics & the Visionary Experience by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am a big fan of Aldous Huxley’s work from what I know of this author. A friend in the music business recommended that I try Moksha and I thoroughly appreciated reading it. It is perhaps the logical follow-on read to the infamous ‘Doors of Perception’ as the book covers the period during which Huxley’s great mind was subjected to hallucinogenic drugs. His groundbreaking work with (and indeed coining of the phrase) the hallucinogens, was important for science as a whole. So often drug use can be tainted in today’s society. Huxley demonstrates that he was acting in a responsible fashion and he was exceptionally keen on expanding his consciousness. He saw in the substances he used a visionary future for mankind and Moksha gives us an insight into that world. I found the most enthralling part of this book to be the interspersed personal correspondence between chapters. These letters showed Huxley’s devotion to his cause and gave valuable insight into his personal manners. I felt Moksha to be an intimate portrait of a man with immense brainpower, a true literary shaman and a genius. Huxley’s work should long be remembered and his life celebrated more so than it actually is. I plan to go on to read his novel ‘Island’ next as that has so far eluded me.