There is a mystical experience called Ego Dissolution that occurs when using psychedelics such as LSD and Psilocybin or while meditating, wherein the subject will express that they are connected to everything around them, even everything in the universe, and that they gain an understanding of profound truths through the experience (this will be much more surprising to psychedelics users than meditators, as it takes many years of study to reach this stage through meditation.) The more you look into it however, the more you will discover the principle behind it really is mystical. The ideas put forward by Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century BCE and by Zhuangzi in the Warring States Period are very similar to those found in modern psychedelic experiences, and even to the ideas put forward by modern neuroscientists such as Georg Northoff. This paper will first explain the historical study of the ego and the way it developed in Western and Eastern cultures. The final three parts are focused on the theories of Canadian psychiatrist Georg Northoff, Siddhartha Gautama, and Zhuangzi, explaining the similarities between psychedelic experiences and Buddhist meditation, and discussing the principles behind their theories. Finally, the concluding chapter explains that the so-called ego dissolution from the drug experience is not the disappearance of the self, but a huge change in the way they experience the world. During a state of deep meditation in Buddhism, the self is really does disappear, or is in state of very low activity, unable to function effectively.
