Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
April 9, 2025
Nicholas Hedlund
This article proposes visionary realism as a philosophical framework to underlabor for the development of a unified science of spiritual experience. By integrating elements of Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism, Ken Wilber’s integral theory, William James’s radical empiricism, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s participatory epistemology, and Rudolf Steiner’s subtle empiricism, visionary realism outlines...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
July 31, 2024
Michael James Winkelman
6 citations
Differences among constructivist, perennialist, and universalist perspectives on mystical experiences are bridged with neurophenomenology and neuroepistemology perspectives that illustrate constructivist and deconditioning processes and universal innate experiences. These approaches show that phenomenal similarities and differences in the features of meditative experiences are related to...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
December 2, 2017
Michael Silberstein
5 citations
It is argued that when it comes to the hard problem of consciousness neutral monism beats out the competition. It is further argued that neutral monism provides a unique route to a novel type of panentheism via Advaita Vedanta Hinduism.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
September 2, 2014
William A. Richards
17 citations
Renewed research with entheogens (psychedelic substances) has been able to facilitate the occurrence of mystical forms of consciousness in healthy volunteers with a high degree of reliability. This article explores the potential significance of this development for religious scholars, especially those interested in the study of mysticism. The definition of “mystical consciousness” employed in...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
September 2, 2014
Leonard Hummel
10 citations
A new era has emerged in research on entheogens largely due to clinical trials conducted at Johns Hopkins University and similar studies sponsored by the Council for Spiritual Practices. In these notes and queries, I reflect on implications of these developments for psychological studies of religion and on what this research may mean for Christian churches in the United States. I conclude that...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 2009
Ann Taves
13 citations
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience is one of the world's most popular attempts to meld science and religion. Academic reviews of the book were mixed in Europe and America, however, and prominent contemporaries, unsure whether it was science or theology, struggled to interpret it. James's reliance on an inherently ambiguous understanding of the subconscious as a means of...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
September 2, 2006
Ervin Laszlo
Abstract. Two fundamental issues raised by Lothar Schäfer are considered: (1) the question of a suitable paradigm within which the findings of quantum physics can be optimally interpreted and (2) the question of the assessment of the presence and importance of mind and consciousness in the universe. In regard to the former, I contend that the ideal of science is to interpret its findings in an...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 2005
Jean L. Kristeller, Thomas J. Johnson
Abstract. We explore the role of meditative practice in cultivating experiences of compassion, empathy, and altruism and address an apparent paradox: Meditation often is associated with solitary retreat, if not preoccupation with one's own concerns. How, then, does such a practice promote compassion for others? We propose a two‐stage model. The first stage involves disengagement from usual...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 1996
Eugene G. D'Aquili, Andrew B. Newberg
Abstract. We consider only the relationship of consciousness to physical reality, whether physical reality is interpreted as the brain, artificial intelligence, or the universe as a whole. The difficulties with starting the analysis with physical reality on the one hand and with consciousness on the other are delineated. We consider how one may derive from the other. Concepts of universal or...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 1986
Virginia Ross
Abstract. A “transcendent function,” which integrates conscious and unconscious elements, can be characterized for the human mind. From Carl Jung's model of four basic functions of the psyche—thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition—a modified compass of the psyche is constructed to conform to the neurobio‐logical structure of the bilateral brain. The transcendent function can be correlated...
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 1983
Richard H. Jones
Abstract. The purpose of this article is to explore certain parallels and divergencies between contemporary philosophy of science and the comparative study of mysticism. Two types of mystical experiences, “depth‐mystical” and “nature‐mystical,” are first differentiated. Next, the role of both experience and doctrine in the development and justification of mystical knowledge is defended....