The philosophical study of mind in the twentieth century was dominated by a research program that used a priori methods to address foundational questions. Since that time, however, the philosophical study of mind has undergone a dramatic shift. To provide a more accurate picture of contemporary philosophical work, I compared a sample of highly cited philosophy papers from the past five years...
136 Finally, seven principles might guide both Evangelical and Reformed theology and piety. The first three are theological: mystical union correlates with several Reformed theological themes; Ambrose consistently holds a balance between Word and Spirit, creating a biblical theology of experience, a development of a sanctified reading of Scripture, and an experience of the fullness of God; and...
Mirabai, a sixteenth century bhakta, wrote passionate songs of her desire for God. Burning for him, she employed the genre of viraha-bhakti, a mystical eroticism of longing from the Vaiṣṇava tradition, as she begged for him to “[c]ome and extinguish the fire of separation.” Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century Beguine from low-country Europe, wrote poems, letters, and prose that tell of her longing...
Abstract: *This paper is based on different previous presentations, in particular Understanding and compassion. Towards an integration between spiritual and sociological knowledge S.P.A. Annual Conference, Anaheim (CA, USA), 18th August 2001, unpublished; “Contemplative knowledge and sociological understanding”, panel Contemplative understanding: a challenge to the sociological perspective,...
While many clinical trials suggest that meditation is effective in reducing disease-related symptoms and increasing quality of life in diseased samples, subjective health benefits associated with the use of meditation under naturalistic conditions have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in quality of life, mental health, and satisfaction in...
Many philosophers and brain scientists hold that explaining consciousness is one of the major outstanding problems facing modern science today. One type of consciousness in particular-phenomenal consciousness-is thought to be especially problematic. The reasons given for believing that this phenomenon exists in the first place, however, often hinge on the claim that its existence is simply...
Empirical phenomenology – study of lived subjective experience is the latest addition to the interdisciplinary efforts aiming at understanding the human mind. We present the research, which was originally aimed at investigating the experiences of Holotropic Breathwork, however, results of the analysis convinced us to move the focus of our interest to differences between individual ways of...
This article reviews mainstream scientific publications on near-death experiences (NDEs). We searched near-death experience in titles, key words, and abstracts at the Web of Knowledge database published between 1945 and 2013. We identified 266 relevant documents, the oldest from 1977. There was a strong predominance of opinion articles (book reviews, commentaries, and editorials), review...
BackgroundSensory isolation in a flotation tank is a method known for inducing deep relaxation and subsequent positive health effects for patients suffering from e.g. stress or muscle tensions pains. Very few studies have investigated this method as a preventive health-care intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects in healthy participants after receiving a series of...
I wish to discuss a large, interwoven set of topics pointed at in the title above. Much of what I say is highly speculative, some is testable, some is, at present, surely not. It is, I hope, useful, to set these ideas forth for our consideration. What I shall say assumes quantum measurement is real, and that Bohm's interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is not true. The Stalemate: In our...