Abstract This article systematically constructs an Eastern introverted empirical paradigm rooted in Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist traditions, in contrast to the dominant Western extroverted empirical model. While the latter relies on external observation, experimentation and quantitative analysis as standard scientific norms, the Eastern cognitive path centering on self-reflection, mental...
This study introduces a unified framework for addressing several open questions concerning consciousness, including subjectivity and awareness, the confounding findings of neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) research, and the phenomenon of delayed consciousness observed in Libet’s free-will experiments. The framework, named the Twin Cognitive Cycle (TCC), is derived from an executable...
Here, the reader is taken through the history of shamanistic beliefs and practices to highlight its parallels with the contemporary helping professions. Seeking their power to heal, exorcise evil spirits, and commune with the dead, some consider shamans offer a mystical means of dealing with the vicissitudes of life. As can be said of people undergoing psychoanalytic treatment, altered states...
Chapter 10 : The Doors of Perception explores how altered states unlock consciousness’ vast but ordinarily constrained potential. Drawing on Aldous Huxley’s mescaline experiments and his notion of the brain as a “reducing valve,” the chapter follows how chemical mysticism, meditative practices, and rational inquiry by figures such as Richard Feynman open access to hidden territories of...
This study explores light as a metaphor for consciousness by integrating Suhrawardi’s philosophy of illumination with modern psychology. In Suhrawardi’s view, light is not only a metaphysical symbol but an ontological reality linking human beings to the divine source of knowledge. Meanwhile, modern psychology examines consciousness through neurocognitive, cognitive, and phenomenological...
The article explores the ontological status of mystical testimonies by applying the phenomenological framework of Roman Ingarden. To navigate the methodological confusion surrounding the definition of a “mystical text,” the author utilizes eidetic reduction to determine the necessary conditions for such a text’s existence. Within this framework, a mystical text is classified as a purely...
Abstract Psilocybin and other serotonergic psychedelics show therapeutic promise for psychiatric disorders, yet objective neural correlates linking the acute psychedelic state to persisting psychological outcomes remain limited. Electroencephalography (EEG) microstate analysis characterizes the rapid spatiotemporal organization of large-scale brain activity, offering a millisecond-resolution...
Referencing Robin Carhart-Harris’s distinction between primary and secondary consciousness, this chapter focuses on the individual experience of narrating stories, highlighting a “zone of discovery.” For an individual to access a meaningful story, it is often necessary to undergo a loosening, taking a step or two away from secondary consciousness and the coping functions of daily routine toward...
There are episodes in Norman Mailer’s novel The Naked and the Dead that seemingly contradict its realistic genre when ordinary soldiers experience moments of mystical awareness and knowledge about everything and everyone. Admittedly, these moments are fleeting. Yet, studying these flashes of insight inevitably leads to the conclusion that the young author of mere 25 years packed a lot more in...
This interdisciplinary research monograph examines a broad range of Exceptional Human Experiences (EHEs), including Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), Reincarnation Memories (RMs), Deathbed Visions (DBVs), Terminal Lucidity (TL), Shared Death Experiences (SDEs), and Mystical Consciousness (MC). These phenomena have been reported across cultures and historical periods and continue to attract...