[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37652031]

Before trying MDMA I had mostly written it off as a feel-good drug: an artificial high like cocaine or meth, useful only for escapism. Why bother chasing that sort of experience? But now having tried most of the commonly used psychedelics, I’ve come to believe that MDMA is the most profound of them all.

MDMA does feel good, of course, but it’s not escapist. It’s a deep, wholesome, fundamentally healing sort of goodness. It is unconditional, redeeming love and forgiveness — the core of Christian spirituality. It is the revelation that you really are lovable, even your darkest, hidden parts, and that you are capable of love. Debatably, there is no more profound lesson to be learned about the human condition. It really is magical.

Even so, the experience is surprisingly subtle. It doesn’t particularly force positive feelings (“ecstasy” is a total misnomer, IMHO). At first you don’t necessarily even notice any effect at all, maybe just a mildly better-than-average mood. But gradually it becomes clear that this subtle sense of well-being is infinitely deep: nothing you might experience can possibly disturb it. All sense of shame and self-judgement, fear of rejection, hang-ups that get in the way of connecting with people --- all dissolve immediately on contact. And from that sense of absolute safety, the capacity to love emerges naturally. The drug doesn’t generate it. It just helps you get out of your own way.

I’ve taken MDMA a few times now just on my own at home (lacking a rave community, although I’m sure that’s a fantastic experience also), where it’s relatively easy to implement harm reduction measures: stay hydrated, take protective supplements, get a full night’s sleep before and after, and wait multiple months between doses (doing all these, I’ve never experienced a ‘hangover’, just a positive afterglow). I’ve found the most rewarding results from trying to keep my attention grounded in bodily sensation, gently returning to the body whenever I notice I’ve become lost in thought. Often, difficult memories or associations will surface of their own accord, sensing that it’s safe to do so, and seeing them from a loving perspective can be immensely healing.

I really hope we can eventually find our way to making this experience legally and safely available to everyone who wants it. Yes, MDMA has sharp edges; it’s not as physiologically benign as the classic psychedelics, but it’s not addictive and it can be used safely. Not everyone has good experiences every time, but compared to the classical psychedelics, it’s much more reliably positive. It apparently has some effectiveness as a medicine for specific illnesses like PTSD, but IMHO the real condition it treats is much broader: the universal human condition of feeling more walled off than we’d like to be.

One last galaxy-brain thought: if we ever figure out a way to replicate MDMA’s pro-social effects that people could safely use on a day-to-day basis, it might be the most valuable thing we ever invent. One could even see it as the metaphorical second coming of Jesus, his kingdom on earth achieved through purely secular means. How’s that for a career goal? :-)