The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death

The author reflects on a personal memory of Dean Samuel Miller, who emphasized that birth and death, two of the most profound human experiences, are becoming increasingly insulated from everyday life in the modern 20th century. Miller argued that these experiences have the potential to shape the character and quality of life but are instead falling victim to technological efficiency, contributing to dehumanization rather than counteracting it. The lecture explores these ideas in the context of human immortality.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This Spring I received a long distance telephone call from Dean Samuel Miller, who invited me to give this year's Ingersoll Lecture on human immortality. Three days later, Dean Miller was dead. When I heard the sad news, I, as many of you no doubt, began to think about the way he had influenced me, especially during my theological training here at Harvard Divinity School. One of my most vivid memories was a point which he emphasized in his class on Religion and Literature. Sam Miller felt strongly that in our modern 20th century two of the most profound and important experiences of human life are becoming more and more insulated from everyday existence. These two experiences, birth and death, have the potential for affecting the character and quality of the rest of life. But in each instance, they are falling victim to modern technological efficiency and adding to the process of dehumanization rather than counteracting it.