Secret Drugs of Buddhism is the first book to explore the historical evidence for the use of entheogenic plants within the Buddhist tradition.
Drawing on a wide range of disciplines (including pharmacology, iconography, botany, and scriptural sources), this book calls attention to the central role which psychedelics played in Indian religions, tracing their history from the soma of the Vedic period to amrita, the sacramental drink of Vajrayana Buddhism.
In particular, Secret Drugs of Buddhism aims to identify the ingredients of the original, psychedelic form of amrita. In doing so, this book presents evidence from many countries in which the Vajrayana movement flourished, including Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal and Japan but special attention is given to India, the land of its origin.
In addition to 12 color plates there are 114 black-and-white line illustrations throughout the text.