Metaphysics of The MindMetaphysics of the Mind: The Roots of Jungian Psychoanalysis & Spiritual Perception in Cognitive Neuroscience
Alan Peter Garfoot
Global Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences 2026 DOI: 10.37745/gjahss.2013/vol14n12431 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Psychic Perception Religious experience Spirituality Cognition Enlightenment Psychoanalysis Interpretation philosophy Cognitive psychology Metaphysics Jungian analytical psychology |
| Key points | Proposes that mystical experiences and spiritual consciousness have a neurological basis involving serotonin-to-DMT conversion in the pineal gland, supporting Jungian concepts of spiritual awareness. |
Abstract
This paper aims to develop and explore the dynamic interrelation between religious theology, psychoanalysis, neurochemistry and psychology, through investigating the extent of the relationship between positive empathetic beliefs, serotonin (5HT), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), empathic emotional states, elevated serotonin levels, and their combined influences relating to the Jungian concept of mystical experiences and enlightened spiritual consciousness, across a cross-section of the major world religions. It examines specifically how the conversion of serotonin into the potent psychoactive compound, DMT, within the pineal gland, the hyperstimulation of multiple areas of the frontal lobes through the DMT release expands the bottleneck filter of perception which then combined with the gland's unique photoreceptive properties, effectively enables and facilitates individual mystical experiences based on prior serotonin saturation of religious experience. It is proposed that psychological experiences of enlightenment or heightened spiritual consciousness, which may be linked to heightened perceptual awareness of all pervasive divine presence of an almighty supreme being have a neurological and psychopharmaceutical basis which is a basis for Carl Jung's theoretical and experiential conceptualisation of spiritual awareness, psychic experiences and religious experience. This multidisciplinary approach to evidence and theory from separate domains of academia incorporates recent findings from neuroscience, psychopharmacology, cognitive psychology, and religious studies to draw together, define and explain the exact underpinning psychophysiological mechanisms are underlying the creation of mystical psychic states of consciousness.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |