Last summer, I took a sacrament I think the literature refers to as "toad slime." In this particular experience - it's a nine-minute, uh, moment; I've taken it several times - I turned into a very large, black woman. I was surrounded by beings who were children - all suffering, hungry, frightened, sick. I found myself opening my arms to draw them all into myself. At the same time I was both gagging on it all and in absolute ecstasy, the ecstasy of just being part of the total dance of life, not looking away from anything. Ram Dass