Traditional definitions of liberation (such as moksha, nirvana, and kaivalya) across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical traditions have remained empirically underspecified and conceptually divergent for over 2,500 years. This study proposes an operational definition of liberation asperpetual self-transcendence through infinite domain expansion, characterized by the inability to fix one's...
BACKGROUND Depersonalization and derealization (DP/DR) are dissociative symptoms involving a sense of unreality and detachment from one's self or surroundings. While strongly associated with psychiatric conditions, their relationship to physical health and epistemic trust-shaping how individuals integrate information and particularly fragile in dissociative states-remains underexplored. METHODS...
Abstract This article argues for the significance of modernist fiction to the history of depersonalization, a psychiatric concept that describes the feeling of estrangement or detachment from one's own thoughts, feelings, sensations, body, or actions. It also suggests that reading modernism with a focus on depersonalized experience helps to distinguish “high” from “late” modernism, and to...
Brain Research BulletinMay 1, 2026Ladina Philomena Gubser, Anna Stefania Trippel, Niklaus Zoelch et al.
Ketamine has been shown to modulate glutamate signaling in animals and may therefore have the potential to restore glutamate imbalances in the brain. Impaired glutamate homeostasis has been implicated in mental health disorders such as substance use disorders (SUDs). Thus, we investigated ketamine's potential to increase glutamate levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key region for the...
OBJECTIVE: 'Ego dissolution' refers to a temporary state characterized by diminished self-referential processing, which leads to a breakdown of personal boundaries and an enhanced sense of unity with the environment. Both psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, and contemplative practices, like meditation, have been proposed as mechanisms for modulating the ego. While ayahuasca induces transient...
This paper introduces the concept of egostasis (self-based goal-directed persistence behaviour) and proposes a novel neurophenomenological theory of the experience of suffering, grounded in the framework of active inference. We argue that psychological suffering is a transmodal, aversive state arising from prediction errors being attributed to a self-model. Chronic suffering is proposed to...
This article examines the phenomenology of al-Hallaj’s ma‘rifat through an interpretation of the phrase “Anā al-Ḥaqq” in the context of the contemporary spiritual crisis. The main research questions include: how al-Hallaj’s ma‘rifat is understood as a transformation of mystical consciousness, how “Anā al-Ḥaqq” is interpreted phenomenologically, and how this experience is relevant in addressing...
The self is often described in terms of the narrative self, but the organization of first‑person experience extends beyond autobiographical continuity. The theory of self‑anchors introduces an architecture with three interacting axes: a stable self‑anchor, bodily grounding, and rhythm‑generating dynamics of the retrosplenial cortex. The stable self‑anchor is associated with the precuneus and...
This study explores the convergences between the mystical teachings of Rumi and Jesus Christ as reflected in Sufi poetry, Gospel narratives, and Christian ascetic writings. Through a comparative analysis of symbolic imagery, archetypal motifs, and spiritual practices, the article argues that both figures articulate a shared mystical language centered on Divine Love, inner transformation, and...