The father of chemical enlightenment passes away...

Albert Hoffman, the Swiss inventor of LSD, died yesterday aged 102. May he rest in peace. He changed my life and until now I've never expressed my gratitude.

The discovery which he qualified with this remark: "Catastrophic consequences... can ensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken for a pleasure drug', changed a whole culture.

What was unseen became seen, although as if in fairground mirror, but nevertheless the visions were transformative and made mass spiritual experience and aspiration a reality.

Before it was declared illegal, I read a book in 1967 in which leading lights of the day recalled the experiences of their tripping. One remarked on the power of the drug, saying that he really did not welcome that depth of perception in this life - and preferred normality. Normality was not for me: a callow youth at the time I was seduced by Tim Leary's rant: "turn on, tune in, drop out."

And to cut to the chase, I decided that chemical nirvana was something within my grasp. I purchased top grade "Owsley" acid - six tabs - and hitchhiked down Highway 1 to beyond Big Sur. Hiked up a canyon much frequented by hippies, settled in the woods. With religious fervour I ingested all the acid and recall very little - but the power of the drug was such that my limbs felt INTERCHANGEABLE - I believed for a few hours that my hands were my feet and my feet were my hands. Not the experiences of which bodhisattvas are made!

In the end LSD started to unhinge me, most likely because, as Hoffman warned, I took it in uncontrolled situations for "pleasure".

So by 1970 I was off drugs...and the following year became a student of the breath... But, that as they say, is another story.