Mystical Experience
Religions June 24, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/rel13070589 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Consciousness Social connectedness Epistemology |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key points | Proposes that mystical experience results from the suppression of factors that construct standard consciousness, accounting for its negative features and ineffability. |
Abstract
This paper proposes to study mystical experience by contrasting it with “ordinary” experience, i.e., with standard consciousness. It emphasises the construed nature of standard consciousness and the role that the mutual connectedness of mental contents plays in its construction. It then shows that removal of the factors that are responsible for the “making” of standard consciousness accounts for the principal features of mystical experience; these features are, therefore, mainly negative. Understanding mystical experience as the suppression of factors that contribute to the construction of standard consciousness, along with a discussion of the mechanism that makes this possible, permits answers to some frequently asked questions, such as: Why is mystical experience ineffable? What is its epistemic status? Does it have implications for our understanding of mind, consciousness, and self?
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Vectorial Cerebral Hemisphericity as Differential Sources for the Sensed Presence, Mystical Experiences and Religious Conversions | 1993 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The epistemic innocence of psychedelic states. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine | 1982 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Expanding the scope of "trans-humanism": situating within the framework of life and death education - the importance of a "trans-mystical mindset". Frontiers in Psychology April 23, 2024
- Realization experiences: a convergent account of insight and mystical experiences Philosophical Psychology 2026
- Clinical Utility of Mystical Experiences: An Overview and Conceptual Framework. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis July 21, 2025
- The Pleasure of Not Experiencing Anything: Some Reflections on Consciousness in the Context of the Early Buddhist Nikāyas Religions October 25, 2023
- The Buddhist Noble Truths: Are They True? Religions January 6, 2023
and 2 more in the library
Cites 19
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors Journal of Psychopharmacology October 11, 2017
- Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. Pharmacology & Therapeutics May 1, 2019
- Are There Levels of Consciousness? Trends in Cognitive Sciences April 22, 2016
- Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience Numen 1995
and 14 more in the library