The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology
February 25, 2020
Edward Howells
Human experience is central to mystical theology but it cannot define it, because, according to mystical theology, the experience is not merely human but divine. After an orientation in the current debate on mystical experience, the puzzling quality of the experience, as both fully human and more than anything human, is elaborated through an exposition of three historical examples, Augustine,...
F1000Research
February 21, 2020
Helané Wahbeh, Garret Yount, Cassandra Vieten et al.
Background: Belief in the paranormal is widespread worldwide. Recent surveys suggest that subjective experiences of the paranormal are common. A concise instrument that adequately evaluates beliefs as distinct from experiences does not currently exist. To address this gap, we created the Noetic Experiences and Beliefs Scale (NEBS) which evaluates belief and experience as separate constructs....
Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics
February 19, 2020
Rodney B. Sangster
In this his latest book, Sangster presents a comprehensive theory that takes the cognitive view of language in a promising new direction, based upon how linguistic signs relate to one another at different levels of consciousness. At the rational level, where signs are necessarily experienced in context, they are primarily polysemic. At the transpersonal or pre-contextual level, however, they...
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 18, 2020
Bartosz Jura
preprint
In this theoretical work the temporal aspect of consciousness is analyzed. We start from the notion that while conscious experience seems to change constantly, yet for any of its contents to be consciously perceived they must last for some non-zero duration of time, which appears to constitute certain conflict. We posit that, in terms of phenomenological analysis of consciousness, the temporal...
Perspectives on Psychological Science
February 13, 2020
Ann Taves
127 citations
Although many researchers in psychology, religious studies, and psychiatry recognize that there is overlap in the experiences their subjects recount, disciplinary silos and challenges involved in comparing reported experiences have left us with little understanding of the mechanisms, whether biological, psychological, and/or sociocultural, through which these experiences are represented and...
Spinal cord series and cases
February 4, 2020
Jace S Pincock, Alexandra L Terrill
Study design: Online survey of individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Objective: This pilot study examined associations between mindfulness factors, resilience, and levels of depression and anxiety after SCI. Setting: Community-based; United States. Methods: A survey was posted online and shared with individuals with recent SCI (≤5 years). Results: Thirty-four individuals responded to the...
January 30, 2020
Joseph Azize
Gurdjieff was fundamentally a mystic in that his system was designed to come into a state where the lower centers or “brains” (mind, feeling, organic instinct) are made healthy and are harmonised together and are aligned with the higher “centers”. In Gurdjieff’s teaching, the higher centers receive the impressions which are the content of mystical experiences, but the lower centers, being...
Hispanic American Historical Review
January 29, 2020
Michele McArdle Stephens
Alexander Dawson has produced a stellar piece of comparative scholarship on the history of peyote and its uses in both Mexico and the United States. He opens his book with an 1833 cholera epidemic that plagued a small town in northern Mexico and the attempt by a pioneering doctor to use local remedies to solve the crisis. This introductory chapter paves the way for the multifaceted remainder of...
January 24, 2020
Christopher F. J. Ross, Leslie J. Francis
1 citation
This study builds on earlier work to test Ross’ thesis that the perceiving process is core to individual differences in religious experience. Data provided by 149 adolescents (16–18 years of age) who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales alongside the Mystical Orientation Scale supported Ross’ thesis. Intuitive types recorded a significantly higher score than sensing types on the...
Українське Pелігієзнавство
January 24, 2020
Yuriі Boreiko
The article attempts to comprehend the phenomenon of an event in the religious dimension. An event is considered as a phenomenon characterized by a singularity, that is, an individual character of expression, belongs to the sphere of non everyday life, does not coincide with the usual framework of understanding of the world and does not correspond to empirical factual. The need for a more...