A comparative analysis of Jungian depth psychology and Tibetan Buddhist Tantra reveals a fascinating array of similarities, which are united in their most essential form through the manner in which mythic imagery is employed in both disciplines as a powerful agent of inner transformation. Various forms of creative engagement with sacred symbols–including mandalas–are enacted in each...
Healing methods based on the altered states of consciousness common to spiritual or shamanic traditions escape neuroscientific explanations based on classical physics and classical cognition-denoted here as 'perceptualcognitive' (characteristic of the ordinary state of consciousness) information processing.A second foundation of knowledge-named as 'nonlocal-intuitive' approach-with another way...
Social and intelligent behavioural designs have been observed in primitive and present day microorganisms in all three kingdoms of life. These behavioural patterns help microorganisms, to understand, evaluate and judge their constantly varying environment. Behaviour is represented as conscious moment, which occurs due to an event, which may be intentional or unintentional. Microorganisms have...
Transpersonal psycho therapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their...
NeuroQuantologyJune 3, 2015Tatyana Petrovna Lifintseva, Diana E. Gasparyan
The research investigates the concept of a “subjectless consciousness” and deconstruction of a classical subject in Western philosophy of the XX-th XXI-th century (especially in structuralism and post-structuralism). It also investigates the “non-dual” consciousness (jnāna), “understanding wisdom” (prajnāpārmitā) and an extra-subjective “consciousness treasury” (ālayavijnāna) in Māhāyana...
A much repeated theme in spiritual experiences is that the subject often feels that he can experience multiple states at the same time or he can experience multiple states of time. This theme of simultaneous multiple states of awareness are a unique subject the scientific understanding of which remains almost nil. The most common simultaneously existing states of awareness recorded in the...
Psychoactive plants have been consumed by many cultures, cults and groups during religious rituals and ceremonies for centuries and they have been influential on the eruption of the many images, secret and religious symbols, esoteric geometrical shapes, archetypes, religious figures, philosophy of religions since the dawn of Homo sapiens. Some of the psychoactive plants used for religious...
Psychoactive plants which contain hallucinogenic molecules that induce a form of altered states of consciousness (H-ASC) have been widely used during the religious rituals of many cultures throughout the centuries, while the consumption of these plants for spiritual and religious purposes is as old as human history. Some of those cultures were shaman and pagan subcultures; African native...
Altered states of consciousness induced by hallucinogens (H-ASC) is still a vaguely understood phenomenon. Taken the diverse psychological effects they exert, the main mechanism of action of hallucinogens; LSD, ibogaine, THC, PCP, MDMA, methamphetamine, mescaline, psilocybin and DMT, of which psychological effects are discussed in the article, are not properly understood and explained by the...
This paper proposes a new interpretation of quantum physics that encompasses the first-person and third-person perspective and provides a solution to the mind-body problem. First, a definition of phenomenal existence and a simple metaphysical model of mind are derived from the principles of irreducibility, distinction and persistence. Then it is shown that this process of existence can be...
Despite our current reductionistic materialist paradigm allowing explanations of almost all aspects of our experience, certain areas of scientific endeavor are still contradicted. This motivates the need for a new paradigmatic approach to integrate several different scientific disciplines and to postulate a new and comprehensive model, producing a paradigm shift. But this is not easy and has...
Michael Bova reviews events that took place in the early 1970s when his cousin Jimmy confidentially reported spontaneous experiences involving unusual sensory awareness and altered states of consciousness which developed into the apparent anomalies of extra sensory perception and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Bova describes Jimmy’s emotional duress of having spontaneous anomalies and includes...
Harris Friedman has made a unique contribution to science by constructing the first explicitly transpersonal measure, helping to bring transpersonal psychology into the realm of more conventional science. He has also engaged in a wide range of professional activities during his career, including mentoring younger scholars and professionals. This paper consists of an introduction written by...
This paper provides an overview of Kenneth Ring’s autobiography, as well as his major scientific contributions to the formation of the now well-known, field of near-death studies. This article is a delightful and personally engaging story written directly by the author, which will both profoundly touch the reader and tickle his/her sense of humor. Ring discusses how he first became interested...
Until today, we still do not know what glue binds together neural activity to sub-cellular molecular mechanisms, or the phenomenon which we call mind to our organic brain. In physics however, we mere or less know what the gluons are that bind matter together. What kind of an equation could this quantum physical/mechanical equation be, which would join mind/consciousness using the knowledge...
In this paper the general definitions of the concepts of consciousness, conscious and subconscious thinking are formulated. In the present article the central problem of the thinking that is how the thinking is governed is considered. It was established that it is governed not directly on the level of the set of thoughts, i. e., mind, but indirectly on the level of the metric space over the...
This paper proposes to evaluate the relationship of scientific criteria to parapsychology. It is herein argued that the most effective ways for the discipline of parapsychology to progress, are: a) to face psi, firstly, as a conceptual problem; b) to combine several approaches containing psi in their essence; and c) to try to build a psi “hard core” through a theoretical approach to resolving...
Although the term “shamanic†is used to refer to a diverse range of phenomena, it nonetheless reflects something empirical. Cross-cultural research illustrates that the concept of the shaman reflects the existence of similar spiritual healing practices found in pre-modern foraging and simple horticultural and pastoral societies around the world (Winkelman, 1992; 2000). This cross-cultural...
Spontaneous apparently anomalous are often inappropriately bundled together based on brief common descriptions. Yet, they may be phenomenologically and etiologically distinct. Consequently, heterogeneous results lead to mistaken pooling of dissimilar events, incorrect implying single etiologies, though actually reflecting different phenomenological types (e.g., “out-of-body experiences” induced...
This paper focuses on aspects of quantitative and quantum approaches to the phenomenon of hallucination. Consideration is given to the molecular hypothesis of consciousness, to consciousness as perception of the self, and to hallucinatory perception as consciousness detached from reality. The possible transitional sequence viscosity of membrane / Gs protein / tubulin in altered states of...
A novel approach is introduced to explain the appearance of telepathy‐like effects as the consequence of disturbances in the normal equilibration or ‘equilibrated non‐equilibrium’ of ordinary human experience. A new electromagnetic version of Freud’s psychoanalytic model is proposed, which begins by treating the mind as a charged object that interacts with others and the environment in a...
There has been little rigorous research on the content of ayahuasca sessions, despite the tribal use of this herbal concoction and the existence of three Brazilian churches in which ayahuasca is considered a sacrament. The Casto Spirituality Scoring System, a reliable measure designed to identify content in dream reports, was utilized to answer the following question: Is it possible to identify...
We are pleased to present this special edition on Dreams, Telepathy, and Various States of Consciousness. This edition includes a broad array of articles from well-known authors in the field that address topics such as anomalous experiences of mediums and advanced meditators, shamanic experiences, near-death experiences, experiences related to dreams and body wisdom, and the various ways that...
Ecstasy (from the Greek, ekstasis: distraction; derangement; astonishment) is defined by dictionaries as (1) an emotional state so intense that one is carried beyond rational thought or self-control; (2) rapture associated with mystical experience. In this essay, we take the position that “addiction” is a social construct, a term that reflects a societal convention as much or more so that its...
The possibility that information can be acquired at a distance without the use of the ordinary senses, that is by “extrasensory perception” (ESP), is not easily accommodated by conventional neuroscientific assumptions or by traditional theories underlying our understanding of perception and cognition. The lack of theoretical support has marginalized the study of ESP, but experiments...