Ones Journey & Self Worth

I thought this read was enticing and I think that part of what the writing is meant to do. Hogan's writing was to explain an experience of a path one took to gain enlightenment. The section of this chapter where he explains Smith's experiences and means he took to gain enlightenment.
Smith had experienced what he calls his most important mystical experiences. I agree with him that entheogens do not produce a spiritual path, but they can give one a glimpse and the feel of spirituality for a short-term period.
"spirituality should be the transformations of one's whole life."
I believe that when one takes on the belief that entheogens can create a realm that one can live and produce a spiritual life as a whole is false. this is where people fall into the trap at times when they begin to believe that the state of mind one reaches when on a etheogen could be permanent. It could be a spiritual awaking but fallowing the path of trying to stay in a permanent state from the entheogen is dangerous to the mind body and soul. Smiths says that he found his experience and that he needs not enter that realm again. His answers were answered on a different level and recognized that he need not abuse the drug but be content with what he gained from the experiences.
I like how he sees enlightenment as an "ideal" or "a quality of life". It may just be true that true enlightenment is a realization of becoming one with who, what you are, one with the environment and everything around you. To carry ones self in a holistic manner free from the strains and boundaries of our mind and physical matters.

I also wanted to touch on what he wrote about science. As a child smith truly loved science, it gave people a longer life and discovered things most would not imagine. Its truly a great gift what our minds offer to us. Though i believe that science has taken us to a dark room, a slow destruction. science as he puts it is "an object" it has manifested into a way to deny what is natural to us and has created a mind set of competition, money, power, poverty, and erases the natural connection and flow that we as humans that are part of the earth are responsible for. We live higher that any other beings, we take for granted the earth, we forget that we live on a planet that is unstable. We live without consequence's because we believe that whatever problem arises science can fix it and we will be able to live on as a forever surviving race. We cannot let science answer all of our questions we must take it upon ones self to answer the questions within ourselves. Without this the journey is already made and in a sense ended for them, before that began. Science is out of balance, it has created a failing earth, and self destruction of our environment and ourselves. I don't want to be misconstrued science is a great benefit I think it just needs find its balance.
I guess this was a bit of an unorganized rant.....