Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
February 18, 2022
Sam Parnia, Stephen G. Post, Matthew T. Lee et al.
68 citations
Advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science have enabled scientific insights into what happens to the human brain in relation to death. Brain cells are more resilient to anoxia than previously assumed, becoming irreversibly damaged over hours to days postmortem. Resuscitation science has restored life to millions after cardiac arrest, and survivors describe a universal set of recollections related to death. This review examines death, recalled experiences during cardiac arrest, post-intensive care syndrome, and related phenomena, discussing potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodological considerations. It also addresses controversies in studying consciousness and recalled experiences of cardiac arrest and death in comatose subjects to standardize future research.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2011
Jeff Levin
47 citations
Energy healing practices can be grouped into four traditions: East Asian, Western professional, bioenergy, and contemporary metaphysical. Core concepts across these systems include the source and transmission of healing, what is transmitted, the healer's actions and state of consciousness, and client requirements. Technique is less important than three key factors: focus, intention, and compassion. The paper argues that formal training is not necessary for effective energy healing.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2008
Jeff Levin
38 citations
This paper provides the first comprehensive scholarly overview of eight major esoteric healing traditions: kabbalistic, mystery school, gnostic, brotherhoods, Eastern mystical, Western mystical, shamanic, and new age. It describes each tradition's beliefs and practices related to health, healing, and medicine, then identifies commonalities in anatomy, physiology, nosology, etiology, pathophysiology, and therapeutic modalities. The survey concludes by discussing implications for clinicians, biomedical researchers, and medical educators.
Religions
August 25, 2022
Jeff Levin
10 citations
New Age healing emerged into popular culture in the 1980s, rooted in the human potential and holistic health movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which themselves drew on 19th-century Theosophy, New Thought, and spiritualism. The New Age is not a single social movement but a hodgepodge of elements borrowing from mysticism, esoteric metaphysics, the occult, and self-actualization regimens. Its rise provoked converging critiques from conservative religious, secular-rationalist, and biomedical perspectives. Since the 1990s, the New Age label has largely disappeared, but its associated beliefs and practices have seeded themselves into contemporary Western medicine and mainline religion, with implications for their intersection.
Journal of Religion and Health
June 1, 2023
Jeff Levin
Research on physical and mental health has mostly examined behavioral measures of religiousness, such as attendance or prayer, along with attitudes, beliefs, and identity. Subjective experiences like feelings of transcendence or unitive connection with the divine have received less emphasis. There is good reason, based on previous studies, theory, and clinical observation, that such experiences may impact well-being. Although studying these seemingly ineffable experiences poses conceptual and methodological challenges, facing them would provide deeper insight into the human spiritual dimension and connections among body, mind, and spirit.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2021
Jeff Levin
This article introduces a framework for understanding Western esoteric healing. It first provides background on Western esotericism and its healing traditions. The concept of therapeutic knowledge, drawn from philosophy of medicine and medical anthropology, is then explained and applied to esoteric healing. A taxonomy is proposed that categorizes sources of therapeutic knowledge in esoteric healing systems into channeling, initiation, and empirical observation or validation. The second part of the series will offer examples for each category and suggest directions for further research.