The Natural Mind: A Revolutionary Approach to the Drug Problem – Dr. Weil's First Book on Consciousness and the Philosophy of Integrative Medicine

by Andrew Weil

The best-selling books of Andrew Weil, "the guru of alternative medicine," (San Francisco Examiner) offer a comprehensive blend of traditional and alternative methods that help to achieve better health in the modern world. A bestseller in its original edition, The Natural Mind was Dr. Andrew Weil’s frst book and the philosophical basis for all of his resulting beliefs and tenets on health, healing, and the mind. Revised and updated for the twenty-first century, The Natural Mind suggests that the desire to alter consciousness periodically is an innate, normal human drive. A landmark in his career, and in America’s approach to the drug problem in general, The Natural Mind is essential reading for anyone interested in Andrew Weil’s philosophy of integrative medicine and optimum health.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Psychology, Science, Drugs, Philosophy, Nature

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing oriented approach to health care that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. He is the author of many scientific and popular articles and of 14 books: The Natural Mind, The Marriage of the Sun and Moon From Chocolate to Morphine (with Winifred Rosen) Health and Healing, Natural Health, Natural Medicine; and the international bestsellers, Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Food, Diet, and Nutrition The Healthy Kitchen: Recipes for a Better Body, Life, and Spirit (with Rosie Daley) Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being; and Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future (issued in paperback with new content as You Can’t Afford to Get Sick).

Combining a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine, Dr. Weil is Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, where he also holds the Lovell-Jones Endowed Chair in Integrative Rheumatology and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health. The Center is the leading effort in the world to develop a comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine. Graduates serve as directors of integrative medicine programs throughout the United States, and through its Fellowship, the Center is now training doctors and nurse practitioners around the world.

Learn More:
Facebook.com/DrWeil
YouTube.com/DrWeil
Instagram.com/DrWeil
Flickr.com/DrWeil
Pinterest/DrWeil

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Weil believes the root of the nations drug problem is the failure of our culture to recognize the importance of altered states of consciousness. He believes drug abuse is clearly a problem that needs to be corrected, but that culture misunderstands the nature of the problem.

First, it seems to me that Dr. Weil is addressing drugs like cannabis that our culture has declared war on for its counter-cultural symbolism. Drugs like pain killers, caffeine, alcohol, tranquilizers, and tobacco are all ironically accepted by society even though they are the most dangerous. It is not the mind constricting drugs that society fears.

Dr. Weil believes that many people have a natural desire for altered states of consciousness. I'm sure great philosophers like Plato would agree that it is good to spend time in states of consciousness other than our ordinary superficial waking state. These altered states seem to be doors to using the mind in very beneficial ways. The aim of education, according to Plato, was to "know thyself". We cannot fully know reality through reason alone. The non-drug ways in which people shift their perception is often through contemplation, solitude, meditation, fasting, etc. But drugs can seem like an easy shortcut to make this shift take place. Thus, there are people who intelligently and infrequently use drugs for beneficial psycho/spiritual reasons. Even though Dr. Weil agrees there are better ways to alter consciousness than to use drugs, he does believe society has imposed an exaggerated burden on these individuals.

Dr. Weil believes this misunderstanding is due to 'straight thinking' instead of 'deep thinking'. From what he describes, straight thinking is the philosophy that is rooted in the scientific enlightenment and the thinking of philosophers like Descartes. It is a very disenchanted, linear, machanical, dualistic, and rational way of thinking that is typical of ordinary thinking in industrial society. This type of psychology primarily relies on the scientific method.

What Dr. Weil calls 'deep thinking', corresponds to the counter-cultural movement to the 18th century Enlightenment referred to as Romanticism. The Romantics did not look outward searching for mathematical laws, but looked inward to explore the mysteries of love and desire, intuition and imagination, fear and angst, the paradoxical nature of truth, and perhaps most importantly to bring the unconscious into consciousness. This epistemology can be found in romantic thinkers like Goethe, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Poe, Shelly, Keats, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, etc. Similar themes can be found in the philosophies of Asia.

Now Dr. Weil claims that a culture based on deep thinking rather than straight thinking would be much more capable of teaching people how to satisfy their needs of transcendence without the use of drugs. "Excessive use of drugs", says Weil,"is itself a pattern of behavior arising from straight conceptions." The Natural Mind suggests a new model for thinking about drugs as well as many other subjects like medicine and healing.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Weil's points in this book align with his holistic philosophy of health: drug abuse is the symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. The author makes the point that drug use has been inherent in every society, and that the society's attitude toward this usage will determine whether or not it is detrimental. Societies that surround drug use with a rich set of norms and customs tend to see less problems, and vice versa. Our society's banishment of drugs has made the pacifying effect of norms and customs impossible, and thus created a vicious cycle of drug related problems and fear mongering. The author does not promote drug use, and in fact advises against it, while also acknowledging his past usage. He neither whitewashes nor promotes the negatives involved with drug use, but instead takes a more nuanced view.

Everyone can see that there are problems with both drug usage and with prohibition. But unlike in his health related books, Dr. Weil doesn't specify what the cure for this problem should be. In that sense, it has the tone of a utopian fantasy. The title of "...A Revolutionary Approach..." is true. It's harder to find solutions than to observe what's wrong, and even harder to convince someone who has been impacted negatively by drugs that the drugs weren't the real problem. It's more comforting to blame the drugs than the user. That just leads back to Dr. Weil's conclusion: society needs to think more holistically about drugs, and everything else, for that matter.

Overall, it's a book with a lot of great observations and interesting ideas from someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. Just expect to find more questions than answers.

[Zach]

Someone left this book on my floor (accidentally?) at a party. At first I thought maybe it was just some lazy pot-head propaganda (you know like some dude keeps a copy of it on him at all times, and then drops it as he's climbing out my window onto the roof), but i read a good bit of it and it is actually pretty great. Is this yours or what? Who does this book belong to?

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Weils has the most conscious and rational approach to the relationship between humans and drugs.

Ever since I first used cannabis when I was 15 or 16, I knew something about our culture's relationship with drugs was wrong, very wrong. I later tried alcohol and psychedelics, which confirmed my intuitive ideas on the subject.

It feels good to know that a man with medical education agrees with what I thought intuitively.

It is nice to know I am not alone in this way of thought, and in wanting to alter my consciousness, while remaining healthy.

Thanks Andrew, your book is much appreciated.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be challenging, particularly as regards the subject of heroin and heroin "addiction". Weil's claims ran counter to much of what I had thought I knew about these matters, but his credentials, evidential references and general tone compelled me to reconsider. I came out of this knowing that I knew less than I had thought I had known. That doesn't often happen. I was impressed and strongly recommend this book.

[Mackenzie]

basics

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book ages ago when it had its original subtitle: An Investigation of Drugs and the Higher Consciousness. I don't know if Weil has revised the book or not.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other book I own by this author is "Eating Well for Optimum Health," and that should really tell you a lot. This is not the sort of book that takes its conclusions for granted or is published as an epistle to the saints themselves. No, it is a legitimate report of investigation. It centers, thematically if not syntactically, upon the idea that we grossly and often misapprehend the nature of those social and individual conflicts that arise out of the ab/use of substances, especially those mind-altering, perception-changing, authority-derobing, paradigm-shifting substances commonly known as drugs. Like Terence McKenna pointed out in a memorable interview, drugs are either that which cures us from our ailments or the one among the top social problems of several decades, and the fact that it is both imbues the collective mind of our drug-relieved/drug-addled civilization with a persistently-inextricable, very real schizophrenia. In short, Weil highlights the systemic value of altered states of consciousness and alludes to structures/institutions/apparatuses that can assist in integrating the individual and collective tendency to pursue them. I recommend this book especially to anyone who has ever encountered conundrum or moral disorientation when trying to relate your own feelings of love and respect for another individual with your experience of fear and disrespect when they choose to orient their actions or behavior around a mode, aspect, or interpretation of consciousness with which you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable.

This is another book I finished reading ages ago and put off reviewing at the time. I have since loaned it to a friend with whom I hope I can discuss it some day. This has been a rough year for my reading habits but I am resolved to rejuvenate my voice through listening patiently to the voices of others.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt as if I was reading the Bible, not because of any theological or spiritual essence, but because some chapters seemed incredibly insightful while others, including Weil's claims on consciousness, age like milk. An example of the latter comes to his strong conviction that a non-addictive pain relieving drug will never be found, cited as such a definitive source of his evidence of "straight" (i.e., normal, typical) thinking vs "stoned" (i.e., novel, off-the-beaten-path) thinking—the drug suzetrigine proves him wrong as a neuroperipheral acting drug.

Still, his crizitisations of the American solution to the drug "problem" is seemingly obvious at first, then, insightful and surprisingly well thought later on in the book.

[Mark Matzeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Weil makes his case for beneficial approaches to Non-Ordinary Reality. The entire "drug problem" subtext was distracting. Spoiler: Weil doesn't think there is a drug problem, but it's covered in considerably more nuance than that.
His critique of allopathic medicine is more persuasive in some areas than others and might be problematic considering current global pandemics.
I read "The Natural Mind" as part of a continuing study of Contemplation, meditation, and non-Ordinary Reality, so focused mostly on those aspects of this book. It's kind of a finger pointing at the moon.

[Seekers of Unity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weil does a lot of projecting in this book and was way over-influenced by his childhood experiences of getting high off paint and asphyxiation. Nice intro to discussion of psychedelics, ideas of set and setting. Spends much of the latter part of the book advocating alternative, homeopathic, methods of healing.

If you like books like this you'll love my project:
http://youtube.com/c/seekersofunity?s...

[Olivia Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for school~ and enjoyed it! I found myself learning a lot about myself and more about my learned beliefs on drug use and addiction through this reading. How I categorize good vs. bad drugs. Learned lots, felt cautious at times with some information which is leaving me interested in continuing to be open and explore this approach and mindset towards drugs and addiction.

[Tony Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful and insightful investigation into altered states of consciousness and how these are approached by different societies and mindsets, shedding some light on how we might recast the drug debate. Surprisingly (or depressingly!) still very relevant 50 years after being written.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some interesting points (and perhaps insights) but is difficult to get past Weil's somewhat angry/know-it-all tone (which he does address in the introduction).

[Magdalena Kanik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different perspective on drug use in daily life

[Mark Flanigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on drug use that I found liberating to read. While there are just a few dated aspects to it, considering the times, it is perhaps more relevant now than when it was first printed.

[Sean Mcdonough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a close friend of mine, and the title is slightly misleading. In essence, the book is about two things: drug usage (or "the drug problem") and the natural human desire to find alterered states of consciousness - and how the former is really just a mechanism for many people to achieve the latter.

A little bit about the author, because I feel it makes a difference to some who might simply dismiss the book as "another drug book": Dr. Andrew Weil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...) isn't a wonk; on the contrary, he has a deep medical background and compelling education. He doesn't take the position that drugs are bad, but rather suggests that like anything else they can be used for good purposes/reasons or abused to negative effect. His view of science and this field have evolved to the point where he has evolved a philosophy that integrates both scientific ("straight") and Eastern-style ("deep") principles.

Personally, I've always leaned towards science and logical thinking. My degree is in chemistry, I work in information technology, and I believe in leveraging the scientific method as a litmus test for most things in this world. That said, I found this book enlightening and well worth the time I spent reading it. It challenged me on many levels, and I can say that it has changed the way that I think about a number of different things pertaining to drugs and consciousness. Weil doesn't try to ram his philosophy down the reader's throat, but instead combines his observations and experiences with solid "scientific knowledge" to make several points ... and he does this very effectively.

Will you enjoy this book? It's hard to say, but I do have this thought: if you are open to the suggestion that there is more to life and consciousness than what we can scientifically document, then you will probably be challenged by this book if not find something even more worthwhile.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother gave me this book to read. Weil manages to approach the subject with extreme amounts of common sense, draws on info from everywhere, the streets to the amazon, says what drug-takers have known forever (or at least the smart ones) where it's all in your head basically - he describes an attitude to drug taking, which is evidenced in small tribes in the amazon, that makes drug-problems a non-entity, placing them firmly in the developed world where we have gotten ourselves all bunged up, thrown ritual to the wind, and abuse rather than use. It's all put very well. Must of pissed off a lot of his square peers, as he was a pharmacist or doctor too and these views would have been pretty tabboo for a medical professional to publically expound - then and now. Still, it makes total sense, hard to argue with what he puts forward, especially given the way he says it. I say it badly. Read it yourself.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

...the mental steps required before a human being commits violence against another human being appears to be definition of hte other person as "other" or "different." pg 116

drug dependence - far from being an isolated phenomenon caused by particular substances - is simply a special case of a very general problem-- reliance on external things to produce or mantain desired internal states (including highs, health, and freedom from anxiety about manifestations of nature). pg 124

pg 175 Chemistry, by failing to find (consciousness), demonstrates nothing except the limitations of its methods. - Joseph Wood Krutch


(This is a book I'd like to reread. While he isn't for legalization or criminalization, he is for a whole other way of thinking about drugs and dependency. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I feel like his way of explaining things was new to me and a helpful perspective.)

[Meimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very easy to dismiss the content of The Natural Mind, as Dr. Andrew Weil was literally on drugs when he came up with the ideas, and significant portions of the book were spent on justifying use of recreational drugs. However, underneath the biased agenda lies many fascinating insights that I also had encountered in my own experience, including the unease with the solutions recommended by allopathic medicine, the limitations of retrospective studies, and the benefits of accepting the ambivalent nature of reality. While I would encourage taking the book with a mountain of salt and looking past the drug-related biases, I also believe the book brings up many useful and helpful ideas.

[Moxie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was skeptical of this book at first, because when doctors put their faces on the covers of their books, they are often promoting some kind of fad that doesn't have a lot of scientific basis. That isn't what's going on in this book at all, though. He has a valuable perspective that can be insightful for anyone, regardless of their personal relationship with drugs. Speaking for myself, I've started to re-examine the reasons that I use various drugs (both in general, and in the moment). Additionally, his solar mind/lunar mind dichotomy is probably the idea that has stuck in my mind the most so far.

The book isn't perfect, of course. We have a lot more data about drugs than we did when this was written, but that doesn't change the messages.

[Matthew O'Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some fantastic information in this book. However, when Weil started getting into concepts of the immaterial, he lost me. The view around something that at least appeared to be homeopathic to the approach to drugs, consciousness, and spirituality comes off as a book I'd find on the Dr. Oz show rather than a serious medical doctor's CV.
I'd also like to mention that the things I could identify as facts I only knew from reading in other medical journals or text books. His citations are scant, studies few and far between. It's more anecdotal than anything else. He relies on personal experience over case studies, and that's more problematic as not everyone will experience things the same way he has. Otherwise this was an interesting, and open-minded, take on the drug problem.

[new york, no shoes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for anyone who votes, or thinks, or breathes, or, well, just about anything else, really. It's not that I agree with everything he has to say (although I do with quite a bit) so much as the way he approaches issues and thought processes in general is good brain exercise. He's pretty funny, too... although most of Weil's later work has to do with holistic health and not drug-related issues specifically, this book definitely made me a fan of his.

(p.s. I read this for my "drugs & society" class)

[Scotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unconscious mind is just as real as "normal" consciousness. Becoming aware of the unconscious mind can be useful in many ways. While drugs can usually get you to a state of altered consciousness, in the long run it is better to get to these states without the aid of drugs. Any altered state of consciousness is never from drugs, it is from yourself. Humans have a natural drive to alter consciousness that begins in children (like when they roll down hills, which i still like to do).

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

before he became well known, this book was a gem for me. Very different from the health guru he has become, this is just plain good sense, written after he realized his formal Ivy League medical training was not going to put him on the typical healthcare career path. This book gives the reader a good insight into why he thinks so well beyond the box.

[Madelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent common-sense approach to drug use and abuse in society. This helped confirm many of my own ideas about the natural human drive to seek altered states of consciousness and the damage done by the misguided the War on Drugs.

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare classic about accurate information about altered states of consciousness -- set and setting is the foundation of any experience. Anyone interested in investigating altered states should read this one.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely a must read. The author seems to go off the deep end at times, but manages to maintain valid points and a rationality that I found oddly clairvoyant. Anyway, read it, decide for yourself

[Gerry]

Andrew Weil is Amazing. One of the Greatest Minds of our times. Why can`t we all find a Doctor like this ?
He is always my Go-To guy in reference for Health and Nutriton related topics. Also a Professor at Harvard.
I LOVE Dr. Weil.

[Malcolm Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for anyone who has ever considered America's approach to the "drug problem."

I have read it several times and have purchased copies for friends to read.