This article presents a taxonomy of altered states of consciousness, primarily based on their central phenomenological features. Following taxonomic principles and a modified Delphi methodology, a multidisciplinary, international group identified eight distinct phenomenological/behavioral states (some with subcategories): proto and transitional, delirium, minimal to no awareness, experiential...
The science of meditation has grown tremendously in the last two decades. Most studies have focused on evaluating the clinical effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, neural and other physiological correlates of meditation, and individual cognitive and emotional aspects of meditation. Far less research has been conducted on more challenging domains to measure, such as group and...
Meditation of one type or another can be found in a wide variety of cultures and traced back for at least two and a half thousand years. The wide spread of popularity of transcendental meditation has been helpful since it comprises a simple, rapid, highly standardized training procedure which readily lends itself to experimental investigation. The responses to meditation are most readily...
This article explores the nature of wisdom using an integrative cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary approach by drawing on contemporary research as well as the philosophical and contemplative disciplines of both East and West. To do this the article first analyzes definitional issues. These issues include difficulties of definition in general, and of wisdom in particular, the common elements...
Background: Recently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, owing to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, and theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression. Objective: We aimed to determine the state of the...
In the brief period before it was legally terminated, considerable human subjects research was conducted on psychedelics. More than 1,000 clinical reports documented a wide array of psychological effects and therapeutic possibilities. The findings held major implications for disciplines as diverse as psychology, psychiatry, neuro-science, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies....
Meditation is now one of the most enduring, widespread, and researched of all psychotherapeutic methods. However, to date the meeting of the meditative disciplines and Western psychology has been marred by significant misunderstandings and by an assimilative integration in which much of the richness and uniqueness of meditation and its psychologies and philosophies have been overlooked. Also...
Four decades ago, Huston Smith published one of the mostinfluential articles ever written on psychedelics, titled “Do Drugs HaveReligious Import?” As part of “The Oral History of PsychedelicResearch Project,” he was interviewed and invited to revisit thistopic. The interview covers his personal experiences, as well as the influences of psychedelic experiences on religious traditions...
The use of antidepressants continues to increase, yet relatively little is known about their precise subjective effects, and there is growing concern about subtle psychological side effects. One novel investigative approach to these problems may be to use introspectively trained subjects such as meditators. Experienced meditators recently taking antidepressants rated antidepressant effects on...
Abstract Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have demonstrated numerous significant findings including changes in psychological, physiological, and transpersonal realms. This paper attempts to summarize these findings, and to review more recent meditation research. We then suggest directions for future research,...
Despite 40 years of dialogue, debate still continues over whether psychedelics are capable of inducing genuine mystical experiences. This paper first reviews the arguments against this possibility and shows that all of them contain shortcomings. One reason the debate still continues is that there has been no adequate theory of mystical states and their relationship to the factors which produce...
An Analysis of Recent Meditation Research and Suggestions for Future Directions Shauna L. Shapiro, Ph.D. University of Arizona Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior University of California Irvine College of Medicine ABSTRACT: Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have dem- onstrated numerous...
The nature of the experiences induced by shamans has long been a topic of considerable controversy. The experiences occurring during one of the major shamanic techniques, the shamanic journey, have been described in terms of various psychopathologies or as identical to the transcendent experiences of Buddhism and yoga. Despite such claims, careful analysis reveals that shamanic journey...
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been at the center of a debate over its potential benefits as an adjunct to psychotherapy versus its capability for neurotoxic effects and is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). However, as yet, there is very little methodological data on the subjective experience of the MDMA-induced state or its...
The article outlines reasons why the field of transpersonal psychology arose and some of its current theoretical and experimental frontiers. These frontiers include full-spectrum models of development that encompass transconventional stages, possible integrations among different psychological schools, new understandings of contemplative practices and altered states of consciousness, and...
Behaviorally induced stress is associated with increased arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion. In this report we describe a phasic conditioned response of AVP secretion yielding 2.6-7.1 times normal plasma concentration of this hormone in association with a physiological state of decreased activation, that associated with the mental technique of "transcendental meditation" (TM) in long-term...
This article provides an introduction and overview of meditation practice, theory, and research. The models of human nature and consciousness from the meditative traditions are compared with traditional Western psychological models, and the former are suggested to encompass a wider range of states of consciousness and psychological well-being. The various models and mechanisms, psychological...
Barriers to research and publication appear to have resulted in a bias toward selective dissemination of predominantly negative information about the effects of psychedelics. However, it appears that significant numbers of people feel that the psychedelics have made positive contributions to their personal psychological growth. This article summarizes the experiences and conclusions of five...
All psychologies posit either explicit or implicit models of the person which shape perception, organize experience, and determine methods of inquiry. A transpersonal model, like a humanistic model, focuses on the human potential for growth, health, and well-being. It goes beyond existing models to include self-transcendence, and it emphasizes the centrality of conscious ness in shaping...