Skip to content

Allowing Similarities: Using Aldous Huxley’s Views on Mystical Experience to Assess the Import of Profound Unitive Experiences Occasioned by Psychedelic Substances

Dana W. Sawyer

Religions December 22, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/rel17010009 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Topics Mysticism Psilocybin Mystical experience
Keywords Experiential learning Telepathy Trance Paranormal Parapsychology Epistemology Psychoanalysis Analogy Religious experience Psychology of religion
Key points Argues that unitive mystical experiences occur across religious traditions and are regularly triggered by psychedelics like psilocybin, offering insights for scholars of mysticism and potential benefits for individuals and society.

Abstract

For more than four decades, the emphasis in the academic study of world religions has been on differences over similarities, and comparative analyses allowing for commonalities have become increasingly rare. This article argues that similarities nonetheless exist and should be studied. After disclaiming the judgment of other scholars that Aldous Huxley attempted to describe the “core” or “essence” of mystical experience, the article continues with a description of Huxley’s unitive mystical experience as simply a thread running across the traditions, evidenced by the fact that it is often found in both the primary and secondary literature of mysticism. The essay then goes on to cite descriptions of unitive experiences in research studies with psychedelics. Given that these experiences regularly occur with psilocybin and other drugs, as studies show, the article argues that the use of psychedelics is currently providing a rich source of experiential reports from which scholars of mysticism may glean insights. Furthermore, based on the views of Huxley, and supported by the reports of Roland Griffiths, Jussi Jylkka, David Yaden, William Richards, Julie Holland and others, the article speculates about the possible benefits of unitive mystical experiences triggered by psychedelics for both the individual and society.

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

Cites 13

and 8 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Mysticism Psilocybin Mystical experience