Habits as Culture and Religion Summary and Analysis

McKenna argues that intoxication can act to dissolve the modern notion of the psyche called the ego. Dissolving the ego results in the undifferentiated feeling that Eastern philosophy calls the Tao, a collective connection to the Earth, which is the goal of much of Eastern thought.

Western philosophy differs from Eastern ways on many levels. Western focus has been on the ego and monotheism. It also differs in being the only theology lacking a relationship with a woman - no mother, sister, partner or daughter. Modern religion does not set aside the ego but instead centers around a rigid moral structure and sense of obligation.

Existentialism is born from the loneliness of man and his disconnection from the unconscious. In place of symbiotic relationships with plants, scientific industrialism and global politics have created...