Religion
July 1, 1982
Richard A. Hutch
9 citations
Researchers in psychology of religion in America and Britain have inherited the theoretical and research traditions established by W. James, S. Freud and J. Dittes. New nomothetic or theoretical frameworks have been called for in order to organize a plethora of idiographic data. A response to the call has been slow, but Paul Pruyser designated at least six areas in which the development of...
International Journal of Neuroscience
May 1982
David W. Orme-Johnson, Michael C. Dillbeck, R K Wallace et al.
EEG coherence was measured between pairs of three different subjects during a one-hour period practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program. Coherence between subjects was evaluated for two sequential fifteen minute periods. On six experimental days, these periods preceded and then coincided with a fifteen minute period during which 2500 students participated in the TM-Sidhi program at...
Psychosomatic Medicine
May 1, 1982
John T. Farrow, Russell Hebert
95 citations
We observed, over four independent experiments, 565 criterion-meeting episodes of breath suspension in 40 subjects practicing the Transcendental Mediation technique (TM), a simple mental technique involving no breath control procedures. The frequency and length of these breath suspension episodes were substantially and significantly greater for TM subjects than for control subjects relaxing...
American Journal of Psychiatry
April 1, 1982
70 citations
The authors review the few surveys that have been made of the incidence of out-of-body experiences. They then present data on 339 respondents to questionnaires who reported having had out-of-body experiences and 81 who had not. They analyze these data according to the conditions existing at the time of the experience, phenomenological features, and the long- and short-term impact of the...
Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis
1982
Hans Hof
1 citation
Phenomena such as ecstasy and mysticism display both psychological and physical features. The purpose of this paper is finding and understanding the structures in human consciousness which characterise the experience of certain kinds of ecstasy. The context in which this task is performed is an outline of fundamental changes in consciousness brought about by those methods of meditation which,...
Psychophysiology
November 1, 1981
David E. Becker, David Shapiro
55 citations
ABSTRACT Two studies have been widely quoted as indicating the differing states of consciousness in Zen vs Yoga meditation. A replication and extension were attempted. Very experienced Zen, Yoga, and TM meditators with average lengths of experience of 7.5 yrs, 5 yrs, and 7 yrs, respectively, and two groups of controls were presented with auditory clicks during meditation. EEG alpha suppression...
May 1, 1981
Noriaki Akaike
There has been a considerable amount of research published on the Mt. Ontake cult and the religious associations (k6) dedicated to the worship of this mountain. Since the main characteristic of the Ontake cult is the spirit possession rite, performed by the nakaza ("between seat," or medium), the maeza ("front seat," or officer who summons the spirit, interrogates him and sends him away), the...
Third Force Psychology: an international journal of humanistic psychology
March 1, 1981
Michael Pirot
I proposed that the study of mental exercises, such as meditation, may lead to a radically different theory of consciousness than has been previously held in Western thought. The use of a mantra as a concentrative device that may undergo habituation is discussed as a possible vehicle for gaining a new understanding of mind.
American Journal of Psychiatry
June 1, 1980
R Walsh
In recent years a number of assessments of the non-Western consciousness disciplines have been undertaken by Western behavioral scientists. The author suggests that a variety of conceptual, methodological, experimential, and content inadequacies render the conclusions of these investigations of doubtful validity. He then describes the models of human nature postulated by these disciplines and...
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
March 1, 1979
J E Runions
6 citations
This paper reviews the phenomenology of the mystical experience and its varied contexts epilepsy, toxicity, organic brain syndromes, the major psychoses and hysterical dissociative states as well as in apparently normal persons. The impact of the experience on the personality is noted and its significance briefly reviewed. The author notes that two fallacies await the unwary psychiatrist: the...