Two different spiritual states of consciousness – A response to John Rowan, ‘Do transpersonal psychologists know what they are talking about?’
Transpersonal Psychology Review 2020 DOI: 10.53841/bpstran.2020.22.1.6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that samadhi and satori are distinct altered states of consciousness produced by different meditation practices and are often confused with each other, noting that their galvanic skin response correlates differ and that satori is associated with psychotherapeutic insights. The author focuses on satori in response to Rowan's paper on samadhi and describes personal experiences of satori. |
Abstract
This is a response to John Rowan’s (2019a) paper ‘Do transpersonal psychologists know what they are talking about?’. Two different meditation practices can lead to two different altered states of consciousness, samadhi and satori, the latter being associated with psychotherapeutic insights. Rowan’s article is about samadhi so this paper concentrates on satori, comparing and contrasting the two, which are often confused with each other, in particular their galvanic skin response (GSR) correlates are different. Some personal experiences of satori are described.