Abstract We report the findings of a survey and a qualitative study of “time expansion experiences” (TEEs) in which time subjectively slows down dramatically. We found that 70% of a sample of 1043 US residents reported at least one TEE in their lives, with many people reporting multiple TEEs. The most significant trigger/context of TEEs in our sample was accidents/emergencies (52%), followed by...
Progress in Brain Research2024Christine Flatten, Damisela Linares Gutierrez, Sebastian L. Kübel et al.1 citation
We tested and validated the German version of a new instrument for measuring "wakefulness," defined as "an expansive, higher-functioning, and stable state of being in which a person's vision of and relationship to the world are transformed, along with their subjective experience, their sense of identity and their conceptual outlook" (Taylor, 2017, p. 22). In order to test the construct validity...
This paper argues for a ‘perennial phenomenology’ (or ‘soft’ perennialism) varying from the traditionalist notion of a ‘perennial philosophy.’ Perennial phenomenology offers a more nuanced form of perennialism that focuses on spiritual/mystical experiences rather than the teachings and beliefs of different religions. While teachings and beliefs vary greatly, the mystical experiences associated...
Embracing Metaphysics: Transpersonal Psychology as a Post-Materialist Approach Michael Daniels’s book Shadow, Self, Spirit is an essential book for students of transpersonal psychology – perhaps the clearest, most wide-ranging and well-written overview of the topic that has yet been written. However, this article suggests some problematic areas with Daniels’s approach, such as his criticism of...
Time Expansion Experiences (TEEs) occur when a person’s normal experience of time slows down or expands significantly. Previous research has associated them mainly with accidents but also with altered states of consciousness such as mystical experiences, psychedelic experiences, and near-death experiences. This article describes a qualitative study of 74 reports of “Time Expansion Experiences”...
In reply to This discussion illustrates that perennialist perspectives are far from outmoded. I discuss the metaphysical aspects of my model, suggesting that there is no reason why transpersonal psychology should not address metaphysical issues, as long as they are secondary to phenomenological issues, and as long as they are based on evidence rather than wholly speculative. Attempts to exclude...
Appendix 4: Transcripts of Interviews with Participants Interview Transcript -Pl Q: Was there a particular point at which you underwent transformation?Yes, it happened after a terrible breakup with my last girlfriend, and I was for the first time in my life thinking of giving up fighting for getting better from my deep depression.It was a sudden, and in fact brutal transformation induced in a...
This paper argues for a soft perennialism, distinct from the hard perennialism which suggests that spiritual and religious traditions are expressions of the same underlying spiritual realities.There are two reasons why it is necessary to think in terms of a soft perennial model: firstly, because of a number of important common themes or trends across spiritual traditions; and secondly (and most...
In this paper, it is argued that “higher states of consciousness”–or mystical experiences–have two main sources: they can be caused by a disruption of the normal homeostasis of the human organism and also by an intensification of the “consciousness-energy” that constitutes our being. (These are termed HD and ICE states). The author investigates examples of both types of experience, and compares...