Thanks for the reply, Hamlet.

Of course, living day-to-day in a state of complete ego-loss is hardly practical, if it's even possible (though perhaps Buddha and Jesus may have attained such states). What I'm talking about isn't casting off the masks that are our egos (sense of self) completely and permanently, but rather being consciously aware that it is only a mask.

Sure you get some 'warm and fuzzys' from high minded thoughts you might have. But you've just dumped high-powered chemicals into your brain. Thoughts, senses and endorphens are running wild. So who's to make the call that this is really 'enlightenment' and not just being fucked up? (yes, I've even tried myself a few times.)
Forgive me for using a snippet of quote here, but I find that this sums up my thoughts in words better than I can:

For the purposes of this study, in describing my experiences with psychedelic drugs I avoid the occasional and incidental bizarre alterations of sense perception that psychedelic chemicals may induce. I am concerned, rather, with the fundamental alterations of the normal, socially induced consciousness of one's own existence and relation to the external world. I am trying to delineate the basic principles of psychedelic awareness. But I must add that I can speak only for myself. The quality of these experiences depends considerably upon one's prior orientation and attitude to life, although the now voluminous descriptive literature of these experiences accords quite remarkably with my own.
(http://deoxy.org/w_psyrel.htm, 7th paragraph ... very interesting essay, by the way. )

What I'm getting at with that is that yes, I feel there are noteable differences between the 'bizarre alterations of sense perception' (being fucked up) and the 'fundemental alterations of the normal, socially induced consciousness of one's own existence and relation to the external world' (enlightenment).

True, such chemicals aren't a 'mystical experience in a bottle', but they can shift your perspectives to make it much easier to attain such experiences, especially if you're seeking them. One person might do mushrooms and just laugh his ass off for 5 hours without gaining a shred of insight, while another person might find God. :stoned: