The Five Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness (5D-ASC) Rating Scale is a self-report measure used to characterize changes in consciousness induced by pharmacological (e.g., psychedelics) and non-pharmacological methods (e.g., meditation), and predict clinical outcomes. Although it has been widely used with English-speaking participants, there is no version that has been adapted for...
This study presents a concise comparative analysis of entanglement in Tantra Sādhana and Quantum Physics, focusing on the union of Śiva–Śakti and the principle of quantum non-locality. In Tantra, the Śiva–Śakti union signifies the experiential realization of non-dual consciousness, where separation between observer and observed dissolves. Quantum physics similarly reveals non-local correlations...
abstract: This article brings together authorities in the Tibetan Mahāmudrā (“Great Seal”) tradition of the Kagyü school with a contemporary, Christian-adjacent account of mind and consciousness, drawn from the psychologist and theologian Daniel Helminiak. It draws them together on the basis of their shared affirmation that conscious states and operations are intrinsically and nontransitively...
Spontaneous thoughts and experiences, including mind wandering and dreaming, make up a significant proportion of our conscious mental lives. An influential proposal posits that dreaming and mind wandering exist on a continuum of spontaneous thought, in which dreaming is intensified compared to mind wandering. Yet the precise relationship between dreaming and mind wandering is only beginning to...
In K-12 environments where teacher burnout and attrition are increasingly prevalent, where can educational professionals seek sustainable approaches to reduce exhaustion, emotional demands, and uncertainty? In this paper, I extend Christopher McCaw’s research on the direct and dynamic relationship between contemplative practices and who teachers are and are becoming. By examining the current...
This review provides an overview of Roland R. Griffiths' history of research, and his mentoring and collaborating approach to science that contributed to his impact in behavioral and neuropsychopharmacology and psychedelic medicines development. The approach was to summarize studies in his major domains of research, including preclinical and clinical abuse liability assessment science, alcohol,...
This paper aims to develop and explore the dynamic interrelation between religious theology, psychoanalysis, neurochemistry and psychology, through investigating the extent of the relationship between positive empathetic beliefs, serotonin (5HT), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), empathic emotional states, elevated serotonin levels, and their combined influences relating to the Jungian concept of...
The current definition of hallucinations as perception-like experiences has been criticized for neglecting their experiential character and context. This study examined the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) and visual hallucinations (VHs) in schizophrenia and their relation to other psychopathology, particularly basic self-disorders. Twenty patients with...
Over the past century, research on meditation and mindfulness has aimed to characterize the behavioral phenomenology and the neurophysiology of the contemplative mind. In recent years, investigators have extended this work beyond single participants to dyads and larger groups using hyperscanning (the simultaneous recording of neural activity from two or more individuals). This narrative review...
We argue that the powerful transformative effects of mystical-type experiences can be understood using the same machinery that underlies insight problem solving, and that both mystical experiences and insight are species of a genus of “realization experiences”: experiences wherein some phenomenon or piece of information becomes suddenly experienced as real or true. Specifically, we argue that...