Relation between Psychedelic and Transcendental Experiences
International Journal of Psychological Studies November 1, 2022 DOI: 10.5539/ijps.v14n4p31 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPsychedelic experiences and transcendental experiences during meditation are fundamentally different across five dimensions: EEG patterns (gamma vs alpha), brain blood-flow (decreased vs higher frontal), content of experience (intense mental/emotional vs content-free self-awareness), mechanism of action (influenced by set and setting vs transcending them), and therapeutic application. Therefore, equating the two or using findings from one to justify the other is inaccurate. Both areas merit careful research, but their results should not be superficially combined.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Transcendental meditation Consciousness Transcendental number Content measure theory Psychotherapist |
| Key finding | Argues that psychedelic and transcendental meditation experiences are fundamentally different across EEG, brain blood-flow, experiential content, mechanism, and therapeutic application, making it inaccurate to equate them. |
Abstract
Psychedelic use is generally considered safe, and their effects are being equated with those of meditation practices. To assess these conclusions, this paper compares psychedelic and meditation experiences in terms of 1) EEG patterns, 2) brain blood-flow patterns, 3) content of experience, 4) mechanism of action, and 5) therapeutic application. On these five factors, psychedelic and transcendental experiences during meditation practice are completely different: gamma vs alpha EEG; decreased brain blood-flow vs higher frontal blood-flow; intense mental and emotional content vs content-free self-awareness; influenced by the set and setting vs transcending the set and setting. Since brain patterns and inner experiences differ, it is not accurate to equate psychedelic and transcendental experiences or to use effects or mechanism of one to justify the other. Yes, carefully designed research into both psychedelic and transcendental experiences should continue. But the results of these studies should not be superficially combined.