In some forms of postdictive phenomena, later events influence the perception of earlier ones, suggesting that conscious perception may be preceded by extended periods of unconscious processing. An example is the Sequential Metacontrast (SQM) paradigm, in which vernier offsets are unconsciously integrated over several hundred milliseconds before conscious perception. Obviously, the integrated...
This paper examines psychedelic experience not as a question of truth or illusion, but as a problem of worldhood. Rather than asking whether altered states disclose deeper realities or merely distort ordinary perception, it investigates what such experiences may reveal about the conditions through which worlds become possible, stable, and inhabitable. Building upon previous analyses of...
The Psilocybe cubensis mushroom is recognized as the primary source of psilocybin in the Americas, occurring naturally across various regions. This fungus has a long history of use in Mesoamerican rituals due to its capacity to induce altered states of consciousness. The defining characteristic of Psilocybe mushrooms is their psilocybin content. Following ingestion, psilocybin is metabolized...
The authors of this chapter analyze the psychological mechanisms of esoteric traditions, combining research results in the field of symbolic cognition, consciousness and cultural psychology studies. The chapter provides an insight into the role of symbolism, intuition and altered states of awareness as cognitive mechanisms that contribute to individual meaning-making and cultural identity. It...
Abstract: Analytic idealism individuates minds by dissociation: a perspective with a private interior is an alter, bounded off from mind-at-large. Kastrup marks where this happens with a metabolism criterion — life is the extrinsic image of a process with an inside. This essay asks whether metabolism is the only way to form an interior, or one instance of a more general condition. The...
Nonduality is a foundational but conceptually elusive notion across several contemplative traditions. Nondual traditions challenge the assumption that a subject-object structure characteristic of ordinary experience is an intrinsic feature of conscious awareness. However, little remains known about the neurocognitive mechanisms associated with such experiential state. Here, we investigated how...
This study investigated the effects of hypnosis on consciousness and ocular activity in two participants S01 and S02. EEG and EOG signals were recorded during a P300 oddball paradigm, both before and after Ericksonian hypnotic induction. Consciousness was quantified using the Normalized Consciousness Level (NCL) via the ncl-matlab toolbox, while eye movements were characterized using standard...
According to the Idealistic school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Yogācāra, human existence is not as much the condition of a “being”, of an entity, but a mere experience projected by the cosmic consciousness, by the so-called “store-house consciousness” (ālayavijñāna). Nevertheless, human existence has some special features; it doesn’t represent a simple cosmic experience but rather an “alteration” of...
Abstract The use of meditation as a tool to improve human wellbeing is receiving considerable scientific interest. However, most existing research has focused on concentration-based practices. One powerful alternative is jhana meditation, which leads to states characterised by self-reinforcing bliss, potentially useful for a variety of clinical and scientific domains. However, our understanding...
Disturbances of self-experience have long been regarded as a core feature of schizophrenia. Classical psychopathological accounts described disruptions in the sense of self, agency, and bodily ownership as central to the disorder (Bleuler, 1911), while contemporary phenomenological approaches conceptualise schizophrenia as involving disturbances of the “minimal self” or pre-reflective sense of...