Coming from an alternative religious meditative experiences mindset...
I do not find ecstasy or cannabis to be good roads to getting there.
In every case that I have seen, the drugs always are a hindrance in going forward and getting to those locals (in the mental and emotional realms) on your own.
However, I do know that many people would never have gotten past step one except for the assistance of drugs like ecstasy or cannabis.
Now, getting back your mental processing.
Ecstasy is said to open up your right brain, but this may not be true, it may shut down your left brain.
The right brain sees everything as connected.
Everything out there is literally a part of you. It is beautiful, loveable, truly connected. There is no separation.
The left brain sees everything as disconnected.
This is why scientists take everything apart. We need to find out how an atom works, lets smash it into its pieces so we can study it.
So, you damaged your brain. Either killing off part of the left brain, or killing the connections between the left and right hemispheres.
Now, you will have to heal that. Meditation is not the answer, but meditation is the start of the answer.
I will offer you a worthy response when I am able to, but first I need clarification on something.
It sounds as though you are suggesting that we all ought to attempt to get to where you are at. That being an alternative religious meditative mindset.
I am sure I must be misinterpreting that, so can you clarify where you mean when you say "to getting there."
An apropos word would be nirvana. But most english speakers do not know what that means. They also think that is the goal of meditation.
Nirvana makes all of your ecstasy trips seem like... the difference between being in a kiddy pool and being in the ocean.
Most drugs have a mind (focus) altering property. And, you can achieve the same results from meditation. But, with meditation, you are in control. You can go there when you want to, you can come back when you need to. You can even get to the state where, in your words, you love all your friends, and you are also aware that they are not in a state to reflect that love, or deal with it.
One of my mentors talked of LSD as a train ride through Buddha land.
But, with meditative practice, you get to walk in Buddha land, not just a controlled trip.
However, there are many people who... are really stuck in this 3D world. These people don't even have a feeling of a thought about there really being something more out there. For these people, taking the train ride through Buddha land gets them to where they KNOW that there is something more out there, and can go seek it.
But, what I have seen with cannabis is that, they get addicted to the crutch. They think the crutch is the walking. And so, getting them off the crutch is often difficult. Even worse, after they are off, they still have this grey fog that permeates their aura, that they have to go and clear/repair.
Okay, I understand what you mean now. I was unaware of the word nirvana too, as I am not religious in the slightest.
You will be happy to know I first started meditating almost a decade ago. I have made great progress with my healing, but I am unsure if I will ever fully repair my brain. But, prolonged fasting certainly seems to be more effective to me than any other thing I have tried.
I am well aware of the powers of meditation. I have written before of how my deepest meditation sessions felt very similar to taking psychedelic drugs. I am not sure I agree with you on the cannabis, however. I believe the plant to exist for this very reason- to aide us on our journey within- as well as many other things.