Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 2012
Katherine A Maclean, Jeannie‐marie Leoutsakos, Matthew W. Johnson et al.
412 citations
A large body of historical evidence describes the use of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psilocybin mushrooms, for religious purposes. But few scientific studies have attempted to measure or characterize hallucinogen‐occasioned spiritual experiences. The present study examined the factor structure of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), a self‐report measure that has been used to...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 2011
Zhuo Chen, Qi Wen, Ralph W. Hood et al.
54 citations
This study explores the phenomenological structure of mystical experience among 139 Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns. Semi-structured interviews, thematic coding, and statistical analyses demonstrated that Stace's common facets of mysticism as measured by Hood's Mysticism Scale (M Scale) successfully described Buddhist experience as modified by Buddhist doctrines. Confirmatory...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
June 1, 2011
Zhuo Chen, Ralph W. Hood Jr., Lijun Yang et al.
63 citations
In the study of mysticism the debate has centered on whether a universal experiential core exists regardless of religious interpretation. The current investigation combines Jamesian empiricist and social constructivist perspectives to argue that stable experiential facets load variously on factors to construct local interpretations. Local interpretations reflect a family resemblance—a mystical...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
March 1, 2010
Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, Brendan Ozawa-de Silva
14 citations
Adapted from a Shin Buddhist style of meditation, Naikan (“inner-looking”) is a week-long contemplative practice that involves reviewing one's life from the perspectives of others and has been called an indigenous Japanese psychotherapy due to its effectiveness in treating a variety of disorders. Data collected during an extended ethnographic study of Naikan in both Japan and Austria reveal...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
November 22, 2006
Katherine J. Hagedorn
38 citations
This essay considers why studying ecstatic religious parctices that include music as an integral component of trance and possession performance might be productive for sociologists, praticularly in the context of globalization. As spirit possession practices become connected with global markets, and as specific musical genres associated with trance are reinterpreted within secular frameworks...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 1995
William Sims Bainbridge, James Mcclenon
64 citations
James McClenon examines the relationship between wondrous events-extrasensory perception, apparitions, out-of-body and near-death experiences, sleep paralysis, psychokinesis, firewalking, psychic surgery, and spiritual healing-and the foundations of religious belief.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
June 1, 1991
Stephen R. Wilson, Colleen Ward
48 citations
PART ONE: ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES The Cross-cultural Study of Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health - Colleen A Ward From Disease to Discourse - Michael Lambek Remarks on the Conceptualization of Trance and Spirit Possession PART TWO: ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 'Ravished of a Fiend' - Simon...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 1989
Anthony J. Blasi, David L. Preston
23 citations
Foreword Randall Collins Preface Part I. A Sociological View of Zen: 1. Approaching the study of religion 2. On going native Part II. A Profile of Zen Membership and Formal Orgainzation in Southern California: 3. A profile of Zen membership 4. The physical layout of a Zen center 5. Formal organization and staff Part III. The Zen Teacher: 6. The teacher 7. Daily schedule 8. Interaction with...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 1987
Lee A. Kirkpatrick, Carol Zaleski
318 citations
This book represents the first objective, comprehensive survey of the evidence for life after death provided by 'near-death' experiences. Carol Zalewski demonstrates that the eyewitness account of life after death is a common motif in the folklore and religious literature of the world, and shows that medieval Christian visionary narratives in particular offer surprisingly close parallels to the...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
December 1, 1978
L. Eugene Thomas, Pamela E. Cooper
41 citations
The study explored types and incidence of intense experiences reported by normal adults. A structured question developed by Greeley (1974) and an open-ended question asking respondents to describe their experiences were completed by 302 young adults. A third of the respondents indicated on the structured item that they had had an intense spiritual experience, a percentage similar to that found...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
March 1, 1974
Ralph W. Hood
63 citations
A measure of intense religious experience was related to measures of psychological strength in two studies. In the first study a significant negative correlation was found between intense religious experience and Barron's (1953) measure of ego-strength. However, this correlation was reduced to insignificance when the religion subscale was removed from Barron's total EgoStrength Scale. In the...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
1964
Joseph Havens
5 citations
Joseph Havens, A Working Paper: Memo on the Religious Implications of the Consciousness-Changing Drugs (LSD, Mescalin, Psilocybin), Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 216-226