Just as shamans take certain substances, so did the ancient sages of china. Of coarse you do not need to do it. My understanding different teacher on psychedelics is that they produce a lot of yin energy, which then interferes with your practice. Though amanita are a psychedelics, it is not like any other. The reason i wish to try it is because I simply wish to try it, not by recreational means, but to see what it can do. Certainly there is something within this mushroom that the Tibetans, Chinese, Agnostics, and others knew about. The feeling of your own energy and life force seems to bring about a curiosity for me. I am still more interested in the idea of what the fuel is to this fire, if it is more yang than the yin side.