This article examines the integration of mysticism, spirituality, Sufism, and neurotheology as a means to bridge the spiritual and biological dimensions of human religious experience. Mysticism is interpreted as the pinnacle of transrational religious experience, while spirituality is viewed as a progressive development of ethical and inner consciousness. Sufism, as the mystical path of Islam,...
Abstract Both literature and science contain numerous descriptions of so-called self-transcendent experiences, which seem to deeply alter the boundaries between the self and the rest of the world. The subjects of these experiences often report feeling extended to the world, united with it, or, conversely, feeling retracted from it, as if they were tiny or insignificant. Sometimes, they report...
Contemporary interpretations of psychedelic spirituality are dominated by the “mystical experience model,” which emphasizes that psychedelics can lead to well-being through bringing about ego dissolution and a unitive mystical experience. Rooted in perennialist and dualist assumptions—often derived from Christian mysticism, Vedanta, and Plotinian Neoplatonism—this framework has shaped both...
The relationship between schizophrenia and psychedelic drug states has long attracted scholarly interest and psychedelics have sometimes been described as psychotomimetic. Sense of self can be understood as the feeling of “mineness” that normally characterizes all experiences. In both schizophrenia and psychedelic experiences, alterations to sense of self are present and correlate with clinical...
Peoples and Rundel argue that oceanic experiences in psychedelic-assisted treatment need not indicate regression but may reflect expansions of consciousness. I respond by examining how the self enables survival yet contributes to suffering, distinguishing expanded states from perspective, and proposing perspective as the hinge that transforms transient ego-dissolution into lasting growth. I...
This study explores the applicability of the 22 cards of the Tarot Major Arcana as a symbolic tool for self-exploration in counseling, grounded in C.G. Jung’s individuation theory. Individuation, as conceptualized by Jung, is a psychological journey toward the integration of the ego and the Self, encompassing symbolic stages such as ego separation, confrontation with the shadow, ego dissolution...
Objective. Spirituality and religiosity have long been associated with experiences that transcend ordinary self-awareness, often described as mystical union or nondual awareness. This study examines the concept of the “enlightened self” as a transcendent ideal, focusing on the role of mindfulness practice and psychedelic experiences in fostering self-transcendence, nondual awareness, and...
The Bardo Thodol (bar do thos grol), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, has traditionally served as a spiritual manual guiding consciousness through the postmortem bardo (bar do) states toward liberation or rebirth. While prior interpretations have framed the text in ritualistic, psychological, or mystical terms, this essay proposes an original and interdisciplinary...
Background: Burnout is a common problem experienced by hospital nurses due to high work pressure, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an approach proven effective in addressing work burnout. Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction on nurse burnout....
Psilocybin, an indoleamine alkaloid derived from various fungal species, is the subject of renewed, rigorous investigation for its therapeutic potential in psychiatry. This compound, a prodrug for the active metabolite psilocin, functions primarily as a partial agonist at the serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor. Its administration within a structured psychotherapeutic context is associated with...