Erratum to Formoso, K. A. (2023). Factor analysis of the MEQ43 suggests non-psychedelic mystical experiencesare different from psychedelic mystical experiences. Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology, 4, 28-45. https://doi.org/10.53074/cstp.2023.63
PenamasDecember 31, 2024Alvary Exan Rerung, Y. K. Susanta
The DI/TII rebellion in Lembang Kaduaja, Tana Toraja, commanded by Kahar Muzakkar, was highly detrimental to the local population. The rebellion caused them to endure suffering until it became a traumatic memory for the community. We employed a qualitative approach to interpret the traumatic memory they interpreted as a spiritual experience. Therefore, phenomenological investigation is...
Henry Bergson (1859-1941) and Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938) wished to establish religious truth on firm grounds beyond any doubt. For this purpose, both relied heavily on Religious or Mystical Experience, which is direct and doubt-free. However, the next and most important question is: What does the mystic achieve from this experience? The answer is “Knowledge”--- but what is the nature of this...
LecturesDecember 18, 2024Hanifatus Sholehah, S. Jannah, Faridatul Jannah et al.1 citation
This research article offers a comparative analysis of the Bhakti Movement in Hinduism and Sufi Mysticism in Islam, two profound spiritual movements that emerged in India and the Islamic world, respectively. Through an exploration of their historical backgrounds, philosophical foundations, practices, and impacts on society, this study aims to shed light on the similarities and differences...
PLoS OneDecember 5, 2024Timothy Palmer, Kenza Kadri, Eric Fakra et al.5 citations
Much work has investigated beneficial effects of mindfulness-based meditation methods, but less work has investigated potential risks and differences across meditation methods. We addressed this in a large pre-registered online survey including 613 mediators where we correlated participants' experience with fifty meditation techniques to psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and mystical...
Abstract The concept of “efficacy” is dually grounded in theory and in individual experience. On the one hand, it is a key issue in many religious practices, from intercessory prayer to healing rituals. On the other hand, the concept concerns causality, belief, and intentionality and is here localized within recent discussions of predictive mind and embodied cognition and related to the...
It has been demonstrated that birth without medical intervention conveys significant physical and psychological benefits to the mother and her newborn baby. However, there is a need to include women's subjective experience of physiological birth to understand and promote it. The theoretical concept of "birthing consciousness" hypothesizes that women during natural childbirth sometimes...
Modern clinical trials suggest early evidence for the safety and efficacy of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (PAP) in domains including addictions, dysphoria related to life-threatening illnesses and depression. Research suggests that the mystical experience (ME) under psychedelics appears to play a key role in positive outcomes. With a growing evidence base, it is possible that PAP may be...
ABSTRACT The present study aimed to characterize the relationship between mystical experience and psychopathology measures in a general-population sample of 763 U.S. adults. The participants were assessed across various domains including psychopathology, spirituality, personality, and life experience. The analysis revealed three distinct profiles among individuals: Transcendent Wellness,...
AbstractThree major neural networks exist in the human central nervous system—the executive function network, the default mode network and the salience network. A key component of the latter is the insula. The insula and associated structures is implicated in peak experiences such as romantic love, profound spirituality and engagement with the arts which can impart to those experiencing them a...
Non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelics can be accompanied by so-called "peak experiences," characterized at the emotional level by their intensity and positive valence. These experiences are strong predictors of positive outcomes following psychedelic-assisted therapy, and it is therefore important to better understand their biology. Despite growing evidence that the...
ReligionsSeptember 27, 2024Michael Andrew Ceragioli
In The Sources of Religious Insight, Josiah Royce assesses William James’ pragmatic evaluation of exalted, private religious experience, advanced in The Varieties of Religious Experience as inadequate to encompass the full range of religious experience. Among other contributions, Royce adds social and communal experience to James’ individualistic appraisal. Rather than tacking on to the...
This narrative review explores the utilization of psychedelic states in therapeutic contexts, deliberately shifting the focus from psychedelic substances back to the experiential phenomena which they induce, in alignment with the original meaning of the term “mind-manifesting”. This review provides an overview of various psychedelic substances used in modern therapeutic settings and ritualistic...
Background: Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is permitted in Switzerland under its limited medical use program. Data from patients in this program represent a unique opportunity to analyze the real-world practice of PAT. Aims: This study compared the subjective effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin between patients undergoing PAT and healthy volunteers. For the patients,...
حکمت صدراییSeptember 13, 2024Ahmad Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Mahdi Gorjian
One proposed solution to address the validity of mystical experiences for non-mystics is to emphasize their frequency (tawatur). This approach suggests that certain mystical claims can be considered valid due to multiple reports from different mystics. This solution, which has been considered in Mulla Sadra's philosophy after Suhrawardi, can be seen as one of the best approaches in addressing...
Abstract: Edward Abbey and Terry Tempest Williams, exemplars of the American nature writing tradition and representative examples of modern American environmentalist politics, replicate the foundationalist epistemological assumptions of mystics in the Christian tradition. I examine the work of Richard Rorty for the encouragement his pragmatism gives to environmentalists to move away from...
Especially in The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James developed the polar categories of healthy-minded individuals content with their once-born religion versus sick souls who need to become twice-born in order to find religious peace. Biographers of James have concluded that he does not fit well under either of his polar categories. Drawing on both data about James’ life and on his...
Individuals with a history of psychotic experiences and disorders such as schizophrenia, and mood disorders with psychotic features tend to be excluded from psychedelic-assisted therapy research and treatment programs, despite minimal research demonstrating heightened risk of adverse effects for this group. Participants (n = 100) were asked to complete an online, retrospective survey that asked...
Differences among constructivist, perennialist, and universalist perspectives on mystical experiences are bridged with neurophenomenology and neuroepistemology perspectives that illustrate constructivist and deconditioning processes and universal innate experiences. These approaches show that phenomenal similarities and differences in the features of meditative experiences are related to...
Abstract Background Previous international clinical trials have indicated that mystical experiences resulting from the consumption of classic psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, may represent a subjective psychological mechanism of action associated with therapeutic effects for various mental disorders. The revised 30-item Mystical Experience Questionnaire is one of several psychometric...