Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
September 2, 2014
William A. Richards
17 citations
Recent research with entheogens (psychedelic substances) can reliably induce mystical forms of consciousness in healthy volunteers. This article discusses the definition of mystical consciousness used in such studies, distinguishing it from visionary or archetypal states and other altered mental states. It also considers how entheogens can be used skillfully and safely, and explores implications for clarifying confusion within the academic study of mysticism, offering suggestions for future religious research.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
June 2, 2009
Ann Taves
13 citations
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience struggled to be understood by contemporaries because it was unclear whether it was science or theology. James used an ambiguous concept of the subconscious to bridge religion and science, but this alone does not explain the book's obscure overarching question, its emphasis on psychopathology and unusual experiences, or its many examples and sparse argument. Reading the book in the context of the transatlantic network of experimental psychologists and psychical researchers, especially Frederic Myers, clarifies its underlying question.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
September 2, 2014
Leonard Hummel
10 citations
Clinical trials on entheogens, notably at Johns Hopkins University and sponsored by the Council for Spiritual Practices, are reshaping psychological studies of religion. The author argues that this research aligns with William James's pragmatic approach in the psychology of religion, which evaluates religious practices by their practical benefits. Concerns that entheogen-induced religious experiences threaten the integrity of religious communities are largely unfounded. However, the research poses risks of colonizing religious life and commodifying its practices, as well as significant individual harm from entheogen use, warranting ethical scrutiny.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
July 31, 2024
Michael James Winkelman
6 citations
Differences among constructivist, perennialist, and universalist views on mystical experiences can be reconciled through neurophenomenology and neuroepistemology, which show that both learned (constructivist) and innate (universal) processes shape these experiences. Specific brain functions and their activation or suspension produce the phenomenal similarities and differences in meditative states. Meditators deliberately modify brain processes through deconditioning of habitual cognition, gaining access to preconceptual awareness and unconscious mental processes. Different mystical experiences involve changes in neurologically mediated forms of self, providing a basis for universal mystical experiences. Recurrent forms of mystical consciousness are understood as natural brain states.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
December 2, 2017
Michael Silberstein
5 citations
Neutral monism, the view that the fundamental nature of reality is neither mental nor physical but a neutral substance, offers the best solution to the hard problem of consciousness—explaining why and how physical processes give rise to subjective experience. This philosophical position also provides a distinctive path to a new form of panentheism, the belief that the divine pervades and interpenetrates the universe while also extending beyond it, through the lens of Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. The argument presents neutral monism as superior to rival theories and connects it to a theological framework.