Psychometric brahman, psychedelic science: Walter Stace, transnational Vedanta, and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire
Jeffrey A. Breau, Paul Gillis-Smith
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2023 DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2023.2266322 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key points | Argues that the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) preserves Walter Stace's interpretation of modern Vedantic Hindu ideas, embedding them in contemporary psychedelic science. |
Abstract
The longstanding juncture between science and religion in psychedelic research is mediated most notably by the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ). The MEQ is a psychometric survey for assessing mystical experiences, and it relies on the work of philosopher Walter Stace for its typology and philosophy of mysticism. Yet there is an under-investigated influence from Vedantic Hinduism that contributed to Stace’s thinking. In an analysis of Stace’s hermeneutics of mysticism, this article demonstrates how Stace’s typology of mystical experience was created in dialogue with major figures in the field of modern, transnational Vedanta. From there, we investigate how these figures’ approaches to religious experience manifest in Stace’s typology of the mystical experience and are preserved in the MEQ. We conclude by discussing how the enduring use of the MEQ, and scientists’ insistence on its theoretical rigour, embeds Stace’s interpretation of modern Vedantic ideas in the contemporary practice of psychedelic science.
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 6
- Historians on Drugs: Toward an Empirical Historiography of Global Psychedelic Cultures South Atlantic Quarterly April 1, 2025
- Psychedelics, Harm Reduction, and Life's Big Questions: Making Sense of Spirituality and Religion After the Journey Anthropology of Consciousness August 27, 2025
- Mystical dynamics: renewal, luminous light, and ego disintegration as key features associated with mystical oneness—a psychometric analysis using the PES100 in controlled psychedelic studies Religion, Brain & Behavior March 31, 2026
- Allowing Similarities: Using Aldous Huxley’s Views on Mystical Experience to Assess the Import of Profound Unitive Experiences Occasioned by Psychedelic Substances Religions December 22, 2025
- Epistemic phenomenology in psychedelic experience Synthese November 5, 2025
and 1 more in the library
Cites 27
- Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression New England Journal of Medicine April 14, 2021
- Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction Journal of Psychopharmacology September 11, 2014
and 22 more in the library