Federal Action to Accelerate Psychedelic Treatments for Serious Mental Illness President Trump signed an executive order (the “Order”), on April 18th 2026, titled “Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness”. The Order addresses the slow pace of development and limited availability of psychedelic treatments for serious mental health conditions. This represents a major shift in...
This chapter is an excerpt from a larger book project on the phenomenon traditionally described as the “Dark Night of the Soul” in the writings of John of the Cross. It combines historical, phenomenological, psychological, and contemplative perspectives in order to reinterpret this classical mystical concept for a contemporary audience. While remaining grounded in the Catholic and monastic...
Operational proxies are common in artificial consciousness research, but their validity is rarely tested against independent behavioral measures. We evaluate such proxies in artificial neural architectures by comparing internal-state measures with behavior-level probes. Initial validation exposed substantial mismatches: a thalamus-inspired agency proxy was negatively correlated with independent...
This essay proposes a three-layer architecture of mind in which phenomenal consciousness (qualia) is neither the foundation of mentality nor its inevitable accompaniment, but rather an emergent mechanism triggered by a specific computational condition: the irresolvable collision of multiple simultaneous contexts within a system operating under bounded resources. The intermediate layer — here...
Contemporary psychotherapy is organized across a plurality of traditions that differ not merely in technique but in their foundational commitments to ontology, epistemology, and the theory of the subject. This paper pursues two interrelated objectives. First, it provides a systematic analysis of the third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy—covering Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT),...
Author's Note (May 2026) This is a revised version of a paper first deposited in March 2026. The revision makes three changes. First, the abstract has been rewritten to more accurately reflect the paper's scope: the core argument is a pressure argument against generator theories of consciousness at the evolutionary scale, and the paper does not advance a specific positive theory as its...
This work proposes a speculative metaphysical model of vision and cognition based on a dual structure of anthropic perception: the separation of ocular (external) and cardiac (internal) modes of seeing in the human condition, and their presumed unity in non-human or “cosmic” anthropic beings. The study develops a philosophical anthropology of vision in which perception is not reduced to sensory...
The third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) emerged in the mid-1990s as a loosely convergent set of responses to the representationalist and content-focused assumptions of second-wave cognitive therapy. This paper provides a systematic analysis of ten third-wave modalities: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy...
Language is the medium through which psychotherapy operates, yet its ontological status is systematically undertheorized across therapeutic traditions. This paper argues that the diverse ways in which psychotherapeutic schools treat language reflect genuinely distinct philosophical positions that have direct clinical implications, and that a unified account requires integrating three traditions...
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9969-0790 This essay is the work of thirteen years of inquiry by a contemplative practitioner who came to the question of the observer not as a theorist but as a seeker — driven there by a life that, more than once, brought her to the edge of its own continuance and found, at that edge, something that would not be the brink. It is written in conscious distinction...
This essay argues that a mature science of consciousness cannot rely only on third-person observation of neural, behavioral, or functional correlates. It must also develop disciplined first-person inquiry: trained, refined, communicable, and corrigible forms of observing experience from within. In dialogue with neuroscience, phenomenology, contemplative practice, and syntropic philosophy, the...
Dreams remain one of the most intriguing phenomena in psychology and neuroscience. Recent brain imaging studies have revealed that the cortex—especially the prefrontal cortex—plays a variable role in dream processes depending on the level of consciousness. This article discusses the role of the cortex in conscious (lucid) and unconscious (normal) dream processes in light of current experimental...
Consciousness has been a central topic in both philosophy and science, often debated as either a purely physical phenomenon or a metaphysical construct. This paper proposes an alternative perspective: consciousness as a relative phenomenon, shaped by a living organism's biological structure, perceptual capacity, and environmental context. By integrating insights from neuroscience, evolutionary...
The hypothesis that consciousness arises from quantum phenomena is one of the most debated and speculative topics in contemporary science. While quantum effects have been demonstrated in specific biological systems [6,7,8], there is currently no robust experimental evidence linking quantum processes directly to consciousness [9,10,11]. This article critically examines existing arguments,...
This paper offers a rigorous philosophical roadmap that challenges the hegemony of contemporary reductionist scientism and explores new pathways toward an integrative view of reality. Taking the "hard problem of consciousness" and its explanatory gap as a starting point, the author deconstructs the ontological claims of materialism and maps out alternative models of the mind-brain relationship,...
This case study examines how consciousness functions under extreme physiological stress, drawing on first‑person observations from a subject experiencing full‑body CRPS, chronic migraines, post‑surgical complications, nausea, and post‑cancer recovery. Despite severe and persistent bodily distress, the subject demonstrates organized, high‑level cognitive output, including structured scientific...
Emerging research in contemplative science and psychedelic neuroscience suggests that deeply entrenched patterns of selfhood and cognition—often associated with mental disorders like depression—can be profoundly altered through both meditative practice and pharmacological intervention. This paper presents a neuroconstructivist framework for understanding how deep meditation and dissociative...
This whitepaper extends the theoretical framework of Designed Disorientation (Szwarc, 2026) to conversational AI environments, introducing the concept of Illusory Agency: the condition in which a human operator holds nominal control over an AI interaction, believes that control is being exercised, and does not perceive the progressive abdication of genuine regulatory responsibility that is...
This interdisciplinary essay explores resonance, music, perception, and synchronization as potential bridges toward understanding complex adaptive systems. Beginning with the phenomenological experience of immersive orchestral music, the paper investigates how collective synchronization, adaptive coupling, and distributed coherence may provide intuitive access to systemic dynamics that are...
In contemporary spiritual discourse, the concept of consciousness is often used in very different ways without this difference being clearly recognized. This can lead to misunderstandings, unnecessary conflicts, and the impression that fundamentally different philosophies are speaking about the same thing. A particularly important example is the modern idea of “cosmic consciousness.”In some...
Mental health is a complex and multidimensional construct that includes emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. In recent decades, increasing academic pressure, life style changes and social demands have led to a rise in stress, anxiety and depression, particularly among adolescents and students. Accurate assessment of mental health is essential for both clinical and educational...
In contemporary spiritual discourse, the concept of consciousness is often used in very different ways without this difference being clearly recognized. This can lead to misunderstandings, unnecessary conflicts, and the impression that fundamentally different philosophies are speaking about the same thing. A particularly important example is the modern idea of “cosmic consciousness.”In some...
The proposition of "inexpressible, inexpressible" in Buddhist scriptures has long been misinterpreted by the public and some researchers as irrational mysticism, or dismissed as an evasive rhetorical device to avoid in-depth exploration of doctrinal implications. Taking the boundary of language as the core entry point, this paper attempts to construct an interdisciplinary theoretical framework...
Based on Indian traditions, Vibrational healing activities, especially Indian classical music and mantra therapy, have continued to attract growing interest for their ability to promote psychological wellness. As the problem of stress, anxiety, and emotional upsets becomes more widespread, the demand for complementary and culturally-oriented mental health care increases. The current review...
This methodological preprint presents a neurophenomenological calibration protocol for first-person validation of contemplative practices. The core hypothesis: the cognitive register "where am I?" combined with a somatic anchor (Nabho-mudra: tongue to soft palate) switches attention from narrative self-referential processing (DMN) to configurational, non-evaluative presence (SN/CEN balance)....