“Psychedelics show you what’s in and on your mind, those subconscious thoughts and feelings that are hidden, covered up, forgotten, out of sight, maybe even completely unexpected, but nevertheless imminently present.”
Discovering DMT
Several years ago, my work colleague played Terence McKenna’s theory on the evolution of man—specifically how we co-evolved with psychedelic mushrooms, which in high doses developed a higher level of consciousness for primates, and ultimately us.
Gradually, I delved deeper into McKenna’s work and learned about his many trips on DMT. I was intrigued and wondered a lot about this chemical, albeit while listening to hours of McKenna’s speeches at work.
Months later, I listened to Joe Rogan delve into his trip on DMT, which was one of the most eye-opening listening experiences I have ever encountered. DMT continued to become more and more of a mystery and something I really wanted to try.
What struck me was how both described encountering something that felt MORE real than everyday reality. Not less. That contradiction hooked me. How can a chemical in your brain produce an experience that feels realer than the waking world?
Ayahuasca in Peru
One day, my buddy came back from a trip to Peru, where he did ayahuasca with a shaman. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic brew that the Amazonians make from plants in the Amazonian jungle. More specifically, it contains the active substance DMT in the drink. His experience consisted of spiritual and demonic entities.
Being a conscious explorer, I had to try this for myself.
A year later, he calls me up to give notice of another trip, and without much hesitation, two days later we are off deep into the Peruvian Amazon.
Historically, the Amazonians used this ayahuasca brew to provide clairvoyance, subconscious introspection, and basically have a psychedelic experience that they would extrapolate into something surreal.
My ayahuasca trip wasn’t anything special, unfortunately. Ayahuasca also has a tendency to cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
To explain the effects of ayahuasca, it is simply a mixture between the emotional connectivity of magic mushrooms, the introspection of marijuana, and the drunkenness of alcohol. Also add in the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea of ipecac.
Was I disappointed? A little. But I came back even MORE curious about DMT in its pure form. That curiosity is what led me to Strassman’s book.
The Science of DMT
Nonetheless, I wasn’t deterred, so during my trip I continued to read about DMT and the intense psychedelic experiences you could potentially obtain.
More specifically, DMT is a natural molecule secreted by the pineal gland within the human brain. The pineal gland is almost in the center of the brain and is about the size of your pinky fingernail.
DMT is released while you dream, thus you have vivid imagery that can actually affect your physiology. Furthermore, on the 49th day of conception, when the fetus is considered alive, is the exact time that DMT is secreted by the brain of the fetus as well, thus becoming conscious.
Finally, near-death and death experiences—such as white lights, spiritual experiences, tunnels, flashes of your life, and drops in your body temperature—are also caused by the secretion of DMT by the pineal gland.
Strassman goes into serious scientific detail here. This isn’t some hippie manifesto—the man is a clinical psychiatrist who obtained DEA approval to inject volunteers with DMT in a hospital setting. Think about that. The U.S. government greenlit a study where people were given the most powerful psychedelic compound known to man and asked to describe what happened.
The Volunteers
What makes this book absolutely FASCINATING is the firsthand accounts from Strassman’s research subjects. These weren’t reckless thrill-seekers. They were screened, prepared, and monitored in a clinical environment.
And yet, the experiences they described were anything but clinical.
Many volunteers reported encounters with intelligent beings—entities that communicated and observed them. Others described traveling through geometric tunnels of impossible color and arriving in spaces that felt like alternate dimensions.
The consistency across reports is what got me. These people didn’t know each other. They had no way to coordinate their stories. Yet the themes kept repeating—beings, geometric patterns, a sense of being somewhere ELSE entirely. You can feel Strassman’s intellectual honesty as he grapples with data that doesn’t fit neatly into any existing scientific model.
The Spiritual Molecule
DMT is considered the spiritual molecule, or the consciousness molecule.
When DMT is consumed through ingestion, injection (medically), or inhalation, you have a very real and very vivid spiritual experience. Perhaps your consciousness becomes aware of other dimensions that co-exist with ours. Other times, you have a deep spiritual introspection.
This book explains what happened during the deep scientific study of DMT.
What I appreciate most is that Strassman doesn’t force a conclusion. He presents the data—the brain chemistry, the volunteer reports, the spiritual parallels—and lets you sit with it. He explores connections to Tibetan Buddhism, the pineal gland’s association with the “third eye,” and the overlap with near-death accounts. But he never says, “This PROVES the soul exists” or “This is just brain chemistry misfiring.”
That restraint is rare in a field where people tend to pick a side and dig in.
Why It Matters
Whether you believe DMT opens a doorway to other dimensions or simply floods your brain with the most vivid hallucinations possible, the implications are wild either way. If it’s purely neurochemical, our brains can generate experiences indistinguishable from what people call “spiritual encounters”—and that raises enormous questions about consciousness and reality.
If it’s something more? Then we’re barely scratching the surface of what it means to be human.
I walked away from this book with more questions than answers. And honestly, that’s the sign of a great book—it doesn’t close the door on your curiosity, it kicks it wide open.
Final Thoughts
Strassman put his career on the line to study a substance that mainstream science had blacklisted for decades. The result is a book at the intersection of hard science, philosophy, and spirituality—and it manages to respect all three.
If you’re interested in consciousness, psychedelics, or what the human brain is truly capable of, this is essential reading. It won’t give you neat answers. But it will make you think in ways you haven’t before.
Absolutely a must-read for the psychedelically curious. 4/5
Thanks for reading.
— Leonidas
