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ages and ordeals from my sessions have grown more clear and refined. I recall being able to face the eternal fire of creation and not be burned, to 274 + TAKING PAUSE "I've adopted a few new words into my mental vocabulary to describe the psychedelic experience. I see people more as organisms. I think the DMT experiences validated certain spiritual ideas, particularly a belief in the value of the subjective, beyond or in addition to the validity and value of the scientific." He also sent us a photograph of his young son, whose middle name was Strassman. Lucas, whose real-life near-death experience nearly ended in circulatory collapse, nevertheless felt he got something positive out of the session. "I don't see the world in quite the same way since DMT," he said. "I'm more open-minded and laid-back. The experience reconfirmed my path and what I'm involved in. As far as my beliefs and spiritual perspec- tives, everything was reinforced." Elena, about whose mystical experience we read in chapter 16, sent me a letter one year after she finished the dose-response study: "Most of my experiences fade with time. Not so with DMT. The im- bear the weight of the entire universe and not be crushed. This brings some perspective to my mundane life and I am able to relax and embrace it more easily. Outside me, not much is different. Inside, I rest in the comfort of knowing my soul is eternal and my consciousness endless." Let's summarize this small number of follow-up conversations and inter- views. Volunteers reported a stronger sense of self, less fear of death, and greater appreciation of life. Some found they were better able to relax, and they pushed themselves a little less. Several volunteers drank less alcohol or noted they were more sensitive to psychedelic drugs. Others believed with greater certainty that there are different levels of reality. We also have heard about powerfully felt validation and confirmation of pre- viously held beliefs. In these cases, views and perspectives became broader and deeper, but not essentially different.