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A Scientific Assessment of the Validity of Mystical Experiences

Author: Andrew C. Papanicolaou

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-04-14

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1000356930

In this book the approach of the natural sciences is adopted to confront the ontological question of how far mystical experiences can be considered as reports of an objective reality rather than reports of subjective delusions. Moving beyond traditional philosophical or cultural and theological interpretations of mystical phenomena, the author uses inductive inference to analyze claims made by secular and religious mystics, highlight links between altered states of consciousness and neurochemistry, and counters reductionist claims that mystical states are exclusively products of neurochemical, neurophysiological, or psychopathological factors. The text also considers the positive long-term effects of proper use of psychedelics and meditation. This fresh approach to mystical experiences will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students working in the areas of psychology and neuroscience, and with an interest in mysticism in religious studies and philosophy.

Mystical Experiences and Scientific Method

Author: Christer Norrman

Publisher:

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13:

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Acute Religious Experiences

Author: Richard Saville-Smith

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-02-09

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1350272922

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This book engages the problem of how, in the 21st century, we are to speak about experiences of the extraordinary/anomalous/extreme which occur on a transhistorical and transcultural basis. Critical re-readings of seminal texts show how 20th-century theoreticians in the humanities sought to erase madness from their irrational subjects. This propensity to sanitize madness in the study of religions was mirrored by the instinct of psychiatrists to degrade religious experiences by reducing mad consciousness to psychosis or dissociation. Richard Saville-Smith introduces explanatory pluralism as a way of recognizing these disciplinary biases and mad studies as a way of negotiating this understanding. The disproportionate significance of madness in shaping the fabric of the human story can then be recovered from both erasure and dismissal to be given the recognition previously denied - as acute religious experiences. Acute Religious Experiences divides into three sections, beginning with re-readings of William James's pathological programme, Rudolf Otto's numinous, T. K. Oesterreich's possession, Mircea Eliade's shamanism, Walter Stace's mysticism, Walter Pahnke's psychedelic experience, and Abraham Maslow's peak experiences. These ideas are shown to constitute the beginnings of a fractured discourse on the irrational. In part two, contemporary psychiatry's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and Foucault's History of Madness are re-read to reposition madness as not necessarily pathological. This opens the way for the identification of acute religious experiences as a new holistic and post-colonial approach through which religious data can be organized and addressed on a comparative basis. In part three, The Gospel of Mark is re-read as a case study to demonstrate the novel insights which flow from the identification of acute religious experiences. Richard Saville-Smith draws on his own experiences of madness and his PhD from the School of Divinity at The University of Edinburgh to elucidate his research.

Mystical Luminosity Experience

Author: Jonathan Dinsmore

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-07-01

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13: 9004700609

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Light of a divine or transcendent nature is widely revered in various religious and mystical traditions around the world, and luminosity with mystical qualities such as love, bliss, peace, and noetic realization is also frequently reported by contemporary experiencers. Despite being described as a profoundly significant, sacred, and transformative experience, mystical luminosity has received relatively little attention in modern scholarship and scientific study, and has only been examined empirically within isolated contexts, such as NDEs or contemplative practices. This study examines the phenomenology which binds mystical luminosity across various experiential contexts to construct a phenomenologically grounded theoretical model. A three-part mixed methods investigation using a new mystical luminosity experience scale based on this model is then summarized, with findings generally supporting and further clarifying the model.

Does a Unitive Mystical Experience Affect Authenticity?

Author: Allison Perry

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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The researcher used the intuitive inquiry method to interview Protestant Christians about their unitive mystical experiences. The unitive mystical experience is an experience of being one with God or the universe knowing ultimate love, peace, or truth. Thirteen adult participants described in an interview format whether or not they were living in accordance with the new knowledge received in their experience. This is defined for the purpose of this study as authenticity. The researcher transcribed the interviews, verified each transcript with each participant, used thematic analysis to identify themes, and invited outside interview readers to confirm or refute the researcher's identified themes. All participants reported a change in their values and behaviors due to their experiences. Participants also verified the 12 themes that the researcher compiled as the research results. Two important findings are that the participants have an increased connection and feeling of responsibility to Spirit, people, and the world; and participants experience a surrendering of ego and self while opening to the Divine immediately before or during these experiences. Transpersonal authenticity is a termed coined by the researcher and supported by this research and other literature to describe the relationship between the unitive mystical experience and authenticity. One conclusion of this study is that the unitive mystical experience does affect authenticity, and this path of authenticity is personally unique to each individual.

Human Interaction with the Divine, the Sacred, and the Deceased

Author: Thomas G. Plante

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-06-30

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1000418006

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Human Interaction with the Divine, the Sacred, and the Deceased brings together cutting-edge empirical and theoretical contributions from scholars in fields including psychology, theology, ethics, neuroscience, medicine, and philosophy, to examine how and why humans engage in, or even seek spiritual experiences and connection with the immaterial world. In this richly interdisciplinary volume, Plante and Schwartz recognize human interaction with the divine and departed as a cross-cultural and historical universal that continues to concern diverse disciplines. Accounting for variances in belief and human perception and use, the book is divided into four major sections: personal experience; theological consideration; medical, technological, and scientific considerations; and psychological considerations with chapters addressing phenomena including prayer, reincarnation, sensed presence, and divine revelations. Featuring scholars specializing in theology, psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and ethics, this book provides a thoughtful, compelling, evidence-based, and contemporary approach to gain a grounded perspective on current understandings of human interaction with the divine, the sacred, and the deceased. Of interest to believers, questioners, and unbelievers alike, this volume will be key reading for researchers, scholars, and academics engaged in the fields of religion and psychology, social psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and health psychology. Readers with a broader interest in spiritualism, religious and non-religious movements will also find the text of interest.

Developing a Model of Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy

Author: Abdallah Rothman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-07-29

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1000416194

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At a time when there is increasing need to offer psychotherapeutic approaches that accommodate clients’ religious and spiritual beliefs, and acknowledge the potential for healing and growth offered by religious frameworks, this book explores psychology from an Islamic paradigm and demonstrates how Islamic understandings of human nature, the self, and the soul can inform an Islamic psychotherapy. Drawing on a qualitative, grounded theory analysis of interviews with Islamic scholars and clinicians, this unique volume distils complex religious concepts to reconcile Islamic theology with contemporary notions of psychology. Chapters offer nuanced explanations of relevant Islamic tradition and theological sources, consider how this relates to Western notions of psychotherapy and common misconceptions, and draw uniquely on first-hand data to develop a new theory of Islamic psychology. This, in turn, informs an innovative and empirically driven model of practice that translates Islamic understandings of human psychology into a clinical framework for Islamic psychotherapy. An outstanding scholarly contribution to the modern and emerging discipline of Islamic psychology, this book makes a pioneering contribution to the integration of the Islamic sciences and clinical mental health practice. It will be a key resource for scholars, researchers, and practicing clinicians with an interest in Islamic psychology and Muslim mental health, as well as religion, spirituality and psychology more broadly.

Eastern European Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence

Author: Lada Kaliská

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-02-22

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1000346854

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This book offers a unique perspective on Emotional Intelligence (EI) research in Eastern Europe, analyzing current trends in the research and application of EI in a region with a distinct socio-political history. Bringing together leading researchers from seven countries, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, and Russia, chapters within this edited volume present original research that illustrates both the etic and emic aspects of emotions, to discuss how EI research can address psychosocial challenges across different societies. Using a selection of cross-cultural frameworks for comparison, contributors to the volume make important developments to the field of EI research by instating a cultural and regional adaptation of EI theories. This includes considerations of EI from a collectivistic perspective as well as the relevance of creating psychological measurement tools that reflect and represent the cultural and linguistic nuances in the adaptive use of emotional information. Eastern European Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence will prove a valuable resource for academics, researchers, and students of cultural and social psychology, or particularly for those seeking to expand their conceptual understanding of EI.

The Psychological Basis of Moral Judgments

Author: John J. Park

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-07-19

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1000402150

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This volume examines the psychological basis of moral judgments and asks what theories of concepts apply to moral concepts. By combining philosophical reasoning and empirical insights from the fields of moral psychology, cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and neuroscience, it considers what mental states not only influence, but also constitute our moral concepts and judgments. On this basis, Park proposes a novel pluralistic theory of moral concepts which includes three different cognitive structures and emotions. Thus, our moral judgments are shown to be a hybrid that express both cognitive and conative states. In part through analysis of new empirical data on moral semantic intuitions, gathered via cross-cultural experimental research, Park reveals that the referents of individuals’ moral judgments and concepts vary across time, contexts, and groups. On this basis, he contends for moral relativism, where moral judgments cannot be universally true across time and location but only relative to groups. This powerfully argued text will be of interest to researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in cognitive science, moral theory, philosophy of psychology, and moral psychology more broadly. Those interested in ethics, applied social psychology, and moral development will also benefit from the volume.

The Relevance of Alan Watts in Contemporary Culture

Author: Peter J. Columbus

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-03-31

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1000384993

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Whilst accounting for the present-day popularity and relevance of Alan Watts’ contributions to psychology, religion, arts, and humanities, this interdisciplinary collection grapples with the ongoing criticisms which surround Watts’ life and work. Offering rich examination of as yet underexplored aspects of Watts’ influence in 1960s counterculture, this volume offers unique application of Watts’ thinking to contemporary issues and critically engages with controversies surrounding the commodification of Watts’ ideas, his alleged misreading of Biblical texts, and his apparent distortion of Asian religions and spirituality. Featuring a broad range of international contributors and bringing Watts’ ideas squarely into the contemporary context, the text provides a comprehensive, yet nuanced exploration of Watts’ thinking on psychotherapy, Buddhism, language, music, and sexuality. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of psychotherapy, phenomenology, and the philosophy of psychology more broadly. Those interested in Jungian psychotherapy, spirituality, and the self and social identity will also enjoy this volume.