[GaryPalmer]

I've never done Ayahuasca and I am still leaning more to the side that these beings are NOT created by your mind. These experiences are too structured and follow simmilar spiritual themes. If these substances would simply fire random neurons in a brain you would expect more of a delirious/deluded and dream-like state. Also, I think there was some study that showed that psychedelics acutally reduce brain activity instead of amplifying it as you would expect from a materialist perspective.

That entity actually asked you a very valid question. Why do you need to explain it away? Is it because of fear that it might be real? Why would you be afraid of that?

[Tenoke]

>If these substances would simply fire random neurons in a brain you would expect more of a delirious/deluded and dream-like state.

They don't fire completely random neurons. All drugs have some consistent(ish) effects. Among other things MDMA is more likely to activate empathy-related mechanisms, (some) cannabis is more likely to activate tiredness-related mechanisms and DMT is more likely to affect entity recognition and related mechanisms.

>That entity actually asked you a very valid question. Why do you need to explain it away?

Because generally it's a good habit to have true beliefs. In this case asking yourself might've been better after the experience but the habit itself is good to have and deluding yourself even after the fact is bad.

[BossingAround]

I think it was McKenna who said he believes that because people hear about elves before their trips, they experience them and the experience is fairly similar. Even the name, an elf, is suggestive of the appearance of the creatures.

[pmoriarty]

No one, to my knowledge, talked about "DMT elves" before McKenna. The people who talked about them afterwards were very likely directly or indirectly primed by him to expect to see them, and we all know that expectations can strongly influence what one experiences on psychedelics.