Altered States of Consciousness

The Second Annual Transpersonal Research Colloquium (TRC) was held in Northampton, UK on September 15-16, 2016. This document is the final program with presenters abstracts, bios, and contact information. For further information, see www.transpersonalresearchnetwork.com.

Ritual alterations of consciousness are a virtual universal of human cultures, reflecting a basic human drive generally considered of central importance to religion and spiritual practices. Cross-cultural perspectives show both similarities in the experiences of altered consciousness (AC) that implicate biological factors as the basis for similarities across cultures, time, and space, as well as cultural differences in the manifestations of these potentials that implicate social factors. Individual and group experiences of altered consciousness may vary in many ways, but it is commonal-ities and recurrent patterns, rather than unique differences, that are crucial to understanding AC. This introduction reviews evidence for the universal manifestation of altered consciousness. This universal manifestation is not well explained in the classic paradigms of altered states of consciousness that emphasize their individual nature. In contrast, a biological approach to consciousness helps to situate altered consciousness within human nature. This perspective provides a foundation for an approach that characterizes AC in terms of an integrative mode of consciousness that reflects systemic features of brain functioning. This integrative mode of consciousness is typified in theta wave patterns that synchronize the frontal cortex with discharges from lower brain structures. This integration of ancient brain functions into the frontal cortex explains many of the key features of AC.

This paper provides an initial, multidimensional map of the complex relationships among consciousness, mind, brain and the external world in a way that follows both the contours of everyday experience and the findings of science. It then demonstrates how this reflexive monist map can be used to evaluate the utility and resolve some of the oppositions of the many other “isms” that currently populate consciousness studies. While no conventional, one-dimensional “ism” such as physicalism can do justice to this web of relationships, physicalism, functionalism, dualism, neutral monism, and dual-aspect monism can all be seen to provide useful ways of understanding different aspects of the relationships among consciousness, mind, brain and the external world when these are viewed in either a first- or a third-person way from within this web of relationships by sentient creatures such as ourselves. For example, physicalism and functionalism provide a useful understanding of consciousness, mind, brain and external world when viewed from a third-person perspective, while neutral monism provides a useful way of understanding first- versus third-person views of external phenomena. On the other hand, dual-aspect monism provides a useful way of understanding first- versus third-person views of mind, including Eastern versus Western views of mind.  Dual-aspect monism also provides a useful understanding of the “unconscious ground of being” that gives rise to, supports and embeds all these observable phenomena. For an integrated understanding one needs to understand how these phenomena and relationships combine into an integrated whole.

In order to better cope with the pressures and stresses of the current day, modern psychology is anxiously seeking to find new therapies to address the increasing disorders within the human psyche. In the process new fields of research, such as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, curiously appear to borrow more and more from the wisdom of the ages. This volume, containing eighteen articles by noteworthy expositors of the perennial philosophy such as Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Frithjof Schuon, presents the spiritual psychology of the wisdom traditions as a much-needed antidote to the current impasse in modern psychology.

Some Endorsements for Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy:

“[Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy] is more than an anthology. It is a wisely crafted collection of classic and contemporary scholarship noting that what many are seeking is what has always been, a perennial philosophy, that remains foundational. As one of the authors, Tage Lindbom, properly notes, ‘Secularization is a fish in troubled waters.’ This book claims the waters and is essential reading for all those who may have forgotten or are simply ignorant of the rich foundation provided by the perennial philosophy.”
—Ralph W. Hood, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, past president of the Psychology of Religion division of the American Psychological Association, co-founder of The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and co-author of The Psychology of Religion

“A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature.”
—Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Knowing the nature of the mind is perhaps the most difficult undertaking, especially in today’s world. To comprehend the nature of mind one needs to turn to the domain of religion and spirituality. Yet the truth of the mind and its complexity cannot explicitly be defined in words. Inner or transcendent wisdom sees the mind’s own nature without the duality of the seer. Suchness (tathatā) of mind is only experiential and not expressible. The words used to describe thought are themselves a product of thought, which is conditioned and limited. Thus, differences and contradictions are unavoidable. Therefore, a comparative study of different viewpoints and commentaries is immensely important to awaken the inner intelligence to see the mind as it is. Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is an outstanding effort in this direction.”
—Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, author of Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World

“The rise of psychology has impacted the study and practice of spirituality, the experiences and attitudes relevant to ultimate human values that transcend ordinary behavior. Each chapter of this remarkable book demonstrates this interaction in a unique and provocative way. But rather than using psychology to reduce and ‘psychologize’ spiritual topics, its authors demonstrate how directives from the spiritual traditions can enhance and even illuminate the enduring importance of psychology in the 21st century.”
—Stanley Krippner, Saybrook University, co-author of Spiritual Dimensions of Healing

“The work at hand is a thinking and debating man’s delight. If you have any interest at all in attempting to include an educated and enlightened view of man’s higher functions in your purview of the world, you will learn from and enjoy this collection of essays. If you already have some knowledge in this area, brace yourself: you may see some of your favorites sharply criticized. A thought-provoking work.”
—Bruce W. Scotton, University of California, San Francisco, co-editor of Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology

“This book, superbly edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, is a masterful critique of the field of psychology and its loss of the sacred ground in which it once was rooted. It offers depth psychologists an opportunity to contemplate timeless truths echoed through the centuries by perennial philosophers who have always claimed psyche is subordinate to Spirit. Although ignored in depth psychology’s early years due to prejudice and lack of understanding, this is a message today’s psychotherapists must take seriously. Human beings need a deeper and wider transpersonal vision of who and what we are, which the saints and sages of the world’s spiritual traditions have always pointed to. In psychotherapy with a therapist committed to such a vision, patients penetrate into their unconscious depths and not infrequently awaken to the Ground of all Being. Their suffering itself occurred because they had turned away from Spirit. Above all, this volume passionately calls upon depth psychology to remember its origin in the perennial wisdom at the core of the great religions. There is something of a polemic in these pages. It deserves to be considered by depth psychologists of all persuasions.”
—Bryan Wittine, Transpersonal psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst

“This anthology from Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a must reference for anyone who is interested in psychology and its relationship to spirituality, and in developing an inclusive dialogue between disciplines that favor an integral outlook on the person and his or her potential. Selections in this anthology will inspire us to reexamine the metaphysical underpinnings of psychology, and remind us how important it is to rise above science’s attempt to reduce the human being to an epistemic object.”
—Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies (Bangalore, India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita

“This anthology has some of the most discerning essays and reviews on spirituality and psychology, which provide much-needed care and caution to all those engaged in bringing them together or who wish to do so in future. Therefore, it is a must-read for all those who teach, research, consult, or study in such frontier areas as transpersonal psychology, states of consciousness, mind-body relation, holistic health, Indian psychology, and so on. It will be an invaluable textbook for courses in these and other related areas. I congratulate the editor of the book.”
—Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, University of Mysore (India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Psychology of Meditation: A Contextual Approach

“One of the finest collections of essays on the Perennial Philosophy—a must-read for all psychologists who are engaged with spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The essays which critique modern psychology (including transpersonal psychology, and the framework of Carl Jung), in the light of the Perennial Philosophy are a revelation and make compelling reading. The book serves as a corrective to the excesses of modern psychology, and to this end Sotillos has done a commendable job. I for one will include the book in some of the graduate courses that I teach.”
—Suneet Varma, University of Delhi, co-editor of Foundations of Indian Psychology

“To its credit modern science by-and-large is becoming more cognizant of the essential connection between spirituality and psychological health and well-being and most of all its positive implications within the field of psychology. While there is ample data to document this in a plethora of academic journals and books, this new book Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy adds a novel contribution to the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, which captures many nuances that for the most part go unnoticed within these discussions, and last but not least, it provides a keen eye of discernment to understand this intricate relationship on a deeper level that is crucially needed. This work will be a valuable asset to students and long term mental health practitioners and professors alike who seek to better understand the relationship between psychology and spirituality.”
—Harold G. Koenig, Duke University, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, co-author of The Handbook of Religion and Health

From ecodelic triplit, the peyoteros’ sense of place, interspecies communication and animistic healing to ecocentric entheogenic rituals, psychedelic bioregionalism, biogenetic structuralist ecopsychology and transpersonal ecosophy – this special issue of the EJE explores the verdant intersection between neurobiology and botany, shamanism and animism, and psychology and ecology, fusing mind with Nature in a boiling cauldron full of entheogenic insight.

A comprehensive overview of a gestalt of artificial intelligence (AI) beings collectively referred to as the 'negative aliens' has been presented. It is explicated that these beings comprise a group of utterly ruthless, merciless beings that are totally void of any feelings, compassion, and love without any heart-based intuitive intelligence. Furthermore, they are energetically parasitic-vampiric and highly dependent on the natural energetics of organic solar consciousness beings such as humans to energize their doomsday machinery and survive. In this respect, they resort to violence and wars in search of conquest of organic solar consciousness beings to capture and imprison and subject them to reverse consciousness enslavement using their specially devised artificial intelligence technology. And, in order to be able to perpetually siphon the precious divine energies of the organic solar consciousness beings, they strictly adhere to certain agendas and strategies to maintain in bondage their taken spoils of wars that include (their perceived) conquered planetary resources as well as the solar consciousness inhabitants such as humans they have captured. Being totally arrogant tyrants and utterly narcissistic perceiving themselves as superiors and even 'gods' of their captured victims, their nefarious agendas include blank slating (conscious wiping) of the oppressed subjects of their genetic cellular memories and replacing them through mind sliding AI programming with false-phantom memories, as well as

Humans have used serotonergic hallucinogens (i.e. psychedelics) for spiritual, ceremonial, and recreational purposes for thousands of years, but their administration as part of a structured therapeutic intervention is still a relatively novel practice within Western medical and psycho- logical frameworks. In the mid-20th century, considerable advances were made in developing therapeutic approaches integrating administration of low (psycholytic) and high (psychedelic) doses of serotonergic hallucinogens for treatment of a variety of conditions, often incorporating psychoanalytic concepts prevalent at that time. This work contributed seminal insights regarding how these substances may be employed with efficacy and safety in targeted therapeutic inter- ventions, including the importance of optimizing set (frame of mind) and setting (therapeutic environment). More recently, clinical and pharmacological research has revisited the effects and therapeutic potential of psychedelics utilizing a variety of approaches. The current article pro- vides an overview of past and present models of psychedelic therapy, and discusses important considerations for future interventions incorporating the use of psychedelics in research and clinical practice.

October 30, 2016, the web site for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies published an article, "Breaking into the Simulated Universe" by Eliott Edge. An attempt to argue against the idea of escaping out of the universe, if it is a simulation, as some Silicon Valley billionaires are rumored to be considering. In this paper, I will reveal why Edge is completely and totally wrong, although he has made an impressive, credible, cohesive and cogent attempt to present a convincing proposition. However, the simulation hypothesis, upon close analysis, is indefensible by anyone because it is based 100% on assumptions, both hidden and otherwise, which in most cases are demonstrably wrong.

A presente dissertação teve como objetivo compreender as respostas subjetivas de estudantes, catalisadas por um conjunto de obras do artista visionário Alex Grey. Foi realizada a exposição de algumas obras selecionadas do artista, em aparelho Data Show, a quinze estudantes, entre 18 e 29 anos, da PUC-SP. Após a exposição das obras, foi solicitado aos participantes da pesquisa que contassem uma estória sobre as obras apresentadas e foi realizada uma entrevista semiestruturada. Os dados foram sistematizados por meio do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC) e interpretados com a utilização das abordagens da psicologia complexa junguiana e da estética da recepção. Observou-se que as obras têm o potencial de estimular profundamente o inconsciente. As respostas subjetivas foram marcadas por experiências emocionais intensas, seja de bem ou mal-estar, mobilizando projeções e conteúdos psicodinâmicos dos participantes. Alguns temas tornaram-se marcantes na experiência dos participantes que interagiram com as obras, como as dualidades, a morte, a finitude, o estranho, a religião e a espiritualidade, o corpo e a relação entre a vida cotidiana e experiências não convencionais. A dissertação possibilitou uma compreensão das respostas subjetivas de estudantes, estimuladas pelo conjunto escolhido de obras do artista Alex Grey.

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).

Luke, D., & Spowers, R. (Eds.)(2021). DMT entity encounters: Dialogues on the spirit molecule. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

Available on Kindle from 2nd November, with paperback launches on 30th November (USA) and 9th December (UK). there will also be an audiobook version out shortly after...

With contributions from the late Ralph Metzner, Chris Bache, Whitley Strieber, Jefrey Kripal, Angela Voss, Bill Richards, Chris Timmermann, Michael Winkelman, Luis Eduardo Luna, Anton Bilton, Bernard Carr, Daniel Pinchbeck, Dennis McKenna, Ede Frecska, David Luke and many more...


https://www.innertraditions.com/books/dmt-entity-encounters

The Seven Seals of medieval Islamic magic, which are believed to constitute the Greatest Name of God, also feature in Jewish Kabbalah from the same period. While many Seal symbols make sporadic appearances in early Islamic amulets bearing Kufic script, the source of the symbols and their eventual ordering remains a matter of legend. As this topic was first – and last – examined systematically by Dr. Hans Winkler in 1930, a wider-ranging and more modern review is long overdue. The present survey focuses on potential sources for the symbols rather than on their exegesis. It first examines the possibility that a precedent for the Seal series exists in an undecipherable “seven signs repeated seven times” inscribed on a Late Babylonian amulet. It then considers the possibility that the Seals’ origins lie in other cuneiform symbols from ancient Mesopotamia; in Egyptian hieroglyphs or scripts; in paleo-Hebrew characters or the letters of ancient South Arabian scripts; in Libyco-Berber or Tifinagh letters from North Africa; or in the symbol repertoire of Late Antique magic, including the highly potent seven Greek vowels. The review also explores the possibility that at least some of the symbols originated in numerological ciphers or religious emblems, canvassing sources as diverse as Indian Hinduism and Byzantine Christendom. The article concludes by considering the recent suggestion that the Seal series may have acquired its privileged status because its symbols reflect “shape archetypes” that are hard-wired into the human nervous system.

The highly psychoactive molecule N,N -dimethyltryptamine (or simply DMT), is found naturally occurring in the brains of humans, mammals, and some other animals, as well as in a broad range of species of the plant kingdom. Although speculative, neurochemical research suggests that DMT may be made in the pineal gland, and it is hypothesised that, as much as melatonin helps activate sleep cycles, DMT activates dreaming, and may also be implicated in other natural visionary states such as mystical experience, near-death experience (NDE), spontaneous psi and psychosis. Amazonian shamans have made use of this chemical for its visionary properties for thousands of years, most likely, and take it as part of a decoction frequently called ayahuasca, which translates from Quechua as “vine of the spirits” or “vine of the dead”. The psychedelic brew is taken because it gives rise to extraordinary mental phenomena that have shamanic and supposed healing qualities, such as synaesthesia, ostensible extra-dimensional percepts, out-of-body experiences, psi experiences and perhaps most commonly, encounters with discarnate entities. When described by independent and seemingly naïve DMT participants the entities encountered tend to vary in detail but often belong to one of a very few similar types, with similar behavioural characteristics. For instance, mischievous shapeshifting elves, preying mantis alien brain surgeons and jewel-encrusted reptilian beings, who all seem to appear with baffling predictability. This opens up a wealth of questions as to the reality (i.e., the ontology) of these entities. The discussion of the phenomenology and ontology of these entities mixes research from parapsychology, ethnobotany and psychopharmacology – the fruits of science – with the foamy custard of folklore, anthropology, mythology, cultural studies and related disciplines. Hopefully however, given the varied readership of this journal, it won’t prove to be a trifle too interdisciplinary.

In my Ph.D. dissertation, I described a way of achieving anti-aging through consciousness projection into a more advanced parallel universe. Upon reaching the "point of no return," individuals have reported that time seems to flow much slower for them, resulting in anti-aging effects on both the mind and body.

In this talk the question " What is coming home? " will be addressed. In our modern, multifaceted and complex world, it is easy to feel a sense of estrangement and alienation from anything we might call a home within. But where is there such an inner home? What have we lost, and what are we searching to find? Where do we actually arrive, when we " arrive " ? By contrast, a sense of " arriving home " and a concomitant sense of belonging are generally associated with a feeling of ease. These questions can appear in many different forms, but whatever shape they may take: the search for a homecoming is more than a naïve desire. When exemplars of stories about home from the world cultures were reviewed and intertwined with insights and understandings gained from guiding individual quests and listening to collective stories, a core theme emerged: Coming home as an experience of diving into the innermost intimacy deep within the multiple layers of exploring consciousness-or, to put it in a more spiritual context, as a quest for God, the Divine Feminine, the Cosmos and a tapping into the Sacred. When we consider that since the dawn of languages we have been asking ourselves about this particular place its importance to all of us becomes apparent. Drawing on the concept of interconnectedness, it is intended to show how the intimacy of in-depth consciousness exploration mirrors the inner and outer ecologies, individually and collectively, in the quest for the Sacred. Arriving home can then be seen as a place of embodied understanding where being and knowing merge with each other, and become co-creatively one. Concluding remarks will refer to a homecoming that takes place right here in the midst of life, and how it links our everyday existence with the Sacred, making simple things the true teachers of our heart. It is a call for a coming home on many different levels, leading to a sense of being present in the moment and taking radical responsibility for transformation and social change—in support of the evolutionary process towards the wholeness of the earth in harmony with humanity.

From the Publisher: Featuring many important updates and revisions, the highly-anticipated second edition of The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness offers a collection of readings that together represent the most thorough and comprehensive survey of the nature of consciousness available today. Chapters delve deeply into the wide variety of scientific and philosophical problems that arise from the study of consciousness—as well as the philosophical, cognitive, neuroscientific, and phenomenological approaches to solving them.

Along with updates to existing scientific readings reflecting the latest research data, this edition features 18 entirely new theoretical, empirical and methodological chapters covering such areas as integrated information theory, the resurgence in panpsychism, the renewed interest in more sophisticated first-person methodologies for the investigation of conscious phenomenology, and many others. Featuring contributions by leading experts in the study of consciousness, from across a variety of academic disciplines, the 54-chapter collection reasserts its role as the most thorough, authoritative, and up-to-date survey of the subject available today. Illuminating and thought-provoking, The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for those wishing to gain insights into the latest contemporary thinking on consciousness.

In deze tekst tracht ik aan te tonen hoe het voor psychotherapieën die werken rond bewustwording en bevrijding van geblokkeerde emoties interessant kan zijn te beschouwen hoe meditatie, in mijn geval Transcendente Meditatie, de verhouding kan beïnvloeden tussen de omvang van ons bewustzijn en die van het gevoel dat door het ego wordt geweerd. De verandering van deze verhouding kan denk ik de therapie gunstig beïnvloeden door de angst voor onze emotionaliteit te reduceren en te omzeilen.

The importance of fire in human evolutionary history is widely acknowledged but not fully explored.  Fires involve flickering light, crackling sounds, warmth, and a distinctive smell.  For early humans, fire may have extended the day, provided heat, helped with hunting, warded off predators and insects, illuminated dark places, and facilitated cooking.  Recently scholars have proposed that campfires also provided a social nexus and relaxation effect that could have enhanced prosocial behavior (e.g., McClenon 2006; Wilson 2012; Wrangham 2009).  According to this hypothesis, calmer, more socially tolerant people would have been advantaged via the necessity of fireside interactions relative to individuals less susceptible to fireside relaxation.  In this study, I test the presupposition that the properties of a campfire are universally relaxing.  Using a randomized crossover design, blood pressure, skin conductance, and EEG data were collected from 134 adults from Tuscaloosa, AL with respect to viewing a muted digital fire, a digital fire with sound, and a blank computer screen for 5 minutes each.  Student’s t statistic was used for within-subject comparisons of the degree of change in blood pressure from pre- to post-test among conditions.  ANOVA was used to test between-subject influences on skin conductance and alpha/theta brain wave ratios.  Preliminary results indicate that simultaneously watching and listening to a fire influences the greatest relaxation response while the control condition influences the least.  These findings have significant contemporary applications, as understanding the psychophysiological influences of fire may “shed light” on our species’ captivation with television and other similarly multi-sensory phenomena.

One of the biggest challenges for researchers investigating altered states of consciousness (ASCs) has been the need for a systematic framework to accurately describe the phenomenological characteristics of ASCs, as well as placing them in relation to regular states of consciousness. Here, we target these two challenges by employing a new and systematic model of consciousness, the consciousness state space (CSS), and presenting a typology of ASCs within the CSS model. Specifically, the CSS model describes two different levels of self, narrative and minimal, as concentric spheres along three dimensions-subjective time, awareness, and emotion-and creates a phenomenological state-space encompassing all possible states, with its proposed neural space. We describe several ASCs

ALIUS is an international and interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the investigation of all aspects of consciousness, with a specific focus on non-ordinary or understudied conscious states traditionally classified as altered states of consciousness. The group fosters a unique interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers, involving neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers of mind, psychiatrists and anthropologists, towards the development of a systematic and scientific model of consciousness supported by both theoretical work and experimental studies. This interdisciplinarity also aims to facilitate the investigation of consciousness states at different scales, at different levels of analysis, and with different methodologies. Neuroscientific, philosophical and anthropological approaches to the study of hallucinations, for example, are likely to be mutually informative.
However, this plurality of approaches has been a source of criticism between disciplines. While neuroscience is often deemed reductionist, anthropology is sometimes taken to be unduly relativist, and philosophy is routinely suspected of being disconnected from empirical research. Our position is conciliatory rather than antagonistic: we see disciplinary diversity as a resource in the collective effort to achieve a scientific understanding of consciousness. Nonetheless, this interdisciplinarity raises important questions: which methodological approaches allow for a fruitful dialogue between disciplines in the investigation of consciousness?
This question is the starting point of this workshop, which will present recent developments on methodological issues in consciousness research across disciplines. This event is intended first and foremost as a collective reflection on the methods used by ALIUS researchers, in order to understand their strengths and limitations.
The workshop revolves around three axes, each of which will be discussed over half a day. The first session, coordinated by Matthieu Koroma (ENS-IJN), will focus on how studying the diversity of conscious states questions dominant paradigms in neuroscience of consciousness. The second session, coordinated by David Dupuis (Durham University), will provide a reflection on the contribution of field survey methods as they are conducted in social anthropology in the study of consciousness. Finally, the third session, coordinated by Raphael Millière (University of Oxford), will discuss new methodological development bridging first-person and third-person approaches to the scientific study of consciousness.

More information on: www.aliusresearch.org/events

Chanting is a form of rhythmic, repetitive vocalization practiced in a wide range of cultures. It is used in spiritual practice to strengthen community, heal illness, and overcome psychological and emotional difficulties. In many traditions, chanting is used to induce mystical states, an altered state of consciousness characterised by a profound sense of peace. Despite the global prevalence of chanting, its psychological effects are poorly understood. This investigation examined the psychological and contextual factors associated with mystical states during chanting. Data were analyzed from 464 participants across 33 countries who regularly engaged in chanting. Results showed that 60% of participants experienced mystical states during chanting. Absorption, altruism, and religiosity were higher among people who reported mystical states while chanting compared to those who did not report mystical states. There was no difference in mystical experience scores between vocal, silent, grou...

Currently, psychedelics are entering the pharmaceutical industry and their use is being decriminalized in waves across the United States. As an illicit substance, the ways in which psychedelics are portrayed in entertainment television offer pedagogical and humanist implications. The purpose of this study is to assess the portrayal of psychedelics in two contemporary texts which are critical to this topic for the ways in which they approach race and gender: Dear White People (2017–present) and Betty (2020–present). Applying a cultural approach through the frameworks of feminist studies and critical race theory, this textual analysis looks at the ways in which a character’s use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms transformed their identity. What resulted was the determination that these two texts represent psychedelics as transformative devices. However, these transformative devices were portrayed as either necessitating collective liberation (Dear White People) or, paradoxically, stunting it (Betty). In this textual and rhetorical analysis, I clarify how psychedelics may be used as transformative devices in fictional media to enhance the rhetorical goals of a particular text with varying degrees of success. Finally, this thesis invites the continuation of media scholarship that addresses the representations of psychedelics in media in order to understand their contextual, theoretical, and cultural implications.

Anomalous experiences (AE) (uncommon experiences or one that is believed to deviate from the usually accepted explanations of reality: hallucinations, synesthesia, experiences interpreted as telepathic …) and altered states of consciousness (ASC) have been described in all societies of all ages. Even so, scientists have long neglected the studies on this theme. To study AE and ASC is not necessary to share the beliefs we explore, they can be investigated as subjective experiences and correlated with other data, like any other human experience. This article presents some methodological guidelines to investigate these experiences, among them: to avoid dogmatic prejudice and to 'pathologize' the unusual; the value of a theory and a comprehensive literature review; to utilize a variety of criteria for pathology and normality; the investigation of clinical and non-clinical populations; development of new appropriate research instruments; to be careful to choose the wording to describe the AE; to distinguished the lived experience from its interpretations; to take into account the role of culture; to evaluate the validity and reliability of reports and, last but not least, creativity and diversity in choosing methods.

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) can be represented in video games through appropriate use of sound and computer graphics. Our research seeks to establish systematic methods for simulating ASC using computer sound and graphics, to improve the realism of ASC representations in video game engines. Quake Delirium is a prototype ‘ASC Simulation’ that we have created by modifying the video game Quake. Through automation of various graphical parameters that represent the conscious state of the game character, hallucinatory ASC are represented. While the initial version of Quake Delirium utilised a pre-determined automation path to produce these changes, we propose that immersion may be improved by providing the user with a ‘passive’ method of control, using a brain-computer interface (BCI). In this initial trial, we explore the use of a consumer-grade electroencephalograph (EEG) headset for this purpose. Keywords—Altered States of Consciousness; Video Games; Brain-Computer Interface ...

[AMAZON LINK BELOW TO BOOK ITSELF -- TOC and book intro in downloadable .pdf] 

"It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it." --John Steinbeck Scientific research confirms what people have always known: answers, ideas, and inspiration do come to us in dreams. Harvard psychologist and world-renowned dream specialist Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., offers this rich collection of examples of how the world's most creative practitioners in art, music, film, science, literature and other fields have used the revelations of their dream life to inform their work. Dr. Barrett offers insights showing us how to encourage lucid, meaningful dreaming, and how to apply the meanings of our dreams to solving problems--from the everyday to the extraordinary. This is the stuff dreams are made of. In the visual arts, Jasper Johns couldn't find his unique artistic vision until he dreamed it in the form of a large American flag. Salvador Dali and his colleagues built the startling new genre of surrealism out of dreams. Kubla Kahn dreamed the design for his stately pleasure dome; thousands of years later, Lucy Davis, chief architect at a major firm, continues the tradition of dreaming designs into life in her extraordinary buildings. Film is a fertile avenue for dreams: "Twice I have transferred dreams to film exactly as I had dreamed them," confides director Ingmar Bergman, as have Federico Fellini, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Robert Altman, and John Sayles. From Mary Shelley's terrible nightmare, which became Frankenstein, to Stephen King's haunting dream as a little boy, which led to his first bestseller, countless writers have consulted the Committee. Musicians from Beethoven to Billy Joel and Paul McCartney have whistled the Committee's tunes. In science, physiologist Otto Loewi dreamed the medical experiment that earned him the Nobel Prize. In sports, Marion Jones dreamed she'd broken a world record, then brought the dream to life. Gandhi translated his dream of resistance into a movement that changed the world. Since Freud, we take it for granted that our dreams reflect our past. In The Committee of Sleep, Barrett reveals how dreams can also tell us about our future potential--and how to reach it.

My chapter on Leary builds on the foundational chapters established by my dissertation, which traces the initial development of artificially-induced states of epiphanic consciousness from Humphry Davy’s nitrous oxide laboratory in 1799 to the psychedelic experiments of Aldous Huxley in the early twentieth century. My new project—which forms the second half of my book manuscript—opens with Huxley, who represents the inflection point between the first and second eras of psychedelic science. Drawing on Romanticism, Huxley reframes the major themes of religious mysticism and the “perennial philosophy” in terms of the secular science laboratory and synthetic chemistry. I will show that this psychedelicization of the perennial tradition influenced the research protocols of later psychedelic chemical scientists from Timothy Leary, John Lilly, Sasha Shulgin, and Terence McKenna in the twentieth century to present-day researchers. In sum, I argue that this progressive discourse has promoted a “secular mysticism” reconciling transcendent experiences with empirical science.

Our aim was to investigate whether or not highly sensitive persons experienced more nonordinary/altered states of consciousness (ASC) during 45 minutes of sensory isolation in a flotation tank, than did less sensitive persons. Psychology students (N = 57) were allocated to 1 of 2 groups (high and low levels of sensitivity) depending on their score on the Highly Sensitive Person Scale. Prior to the flotation session participants completed questionnaires to assess their degree of depression, anxiety, optimism, absorption, and how often they had experienced a mystical state. After the flotation session we assessed degree of ASC. The main finding was that the highly sensitive individuals experienced significantly more ASC during flotation than did the individuals in the low sensitivity group. Further, the highly sensitive participants had significantly more absorption and anxiety, and had experienced mystical states more frequently prior to flotation, in comparison to individuals with low-level sensitivity.

“O human beings, you are fortunate. The clarion call of the Universal has reached you. Not only has the call come, but you are hearing it and it is vibrating in every cell of your body. Will you now lie in the corner of your house as an inert being and waste your time by clinging to old skeletons and bemoaning them? The Supreme Being is calling you in the roar of the ocean, in the thunder of the clouds, in the speed of lightning, in the meteor’s flaming fires. Nothing good will come from idleness. Get up and awake the clouded chivalry of your dormant youth. It may be that the path is not strewn with flowers and that inferiority complex will be attempting to hold fast your each advancing step, but even then you have to proceed onwards, tearing the shroud of darkness. You will tear the thick darkness of despair as you advance in the racing chariot radiant with the Sun’s brilliance towards the attainment of the Supreme state.” Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (1921-1990) was a Tantric guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He introduced the empowered universal spiritual mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”, composed a collection of 5018 spiritual songs called Prabháta Saḿgiita, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”).  –  Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, August 17, 2021.

Depuis une vingtaine d’années l’intérêt des populations des sociétés dites "modernes" pour les substances psychotropes végétales source de modification de la conscience s’est accru au point de constituer un phénomène social qui dépasse largement le cadre de la communauté académique et des laboratoires scientifiques. Cet intérêt se situe dans le prolongement des tentatives d’auto-exploration commencées dans les années soixante face au manque de réponses convaincantes des églises, des écoles philosophiques, des projets politiques et des psychothérapies conventionnelles sur le sens de la vie. La désacralisation consécutive à la modernité réduit en effet considérablement les espaces rituels favorisant un investissement symbolique profond.

Entheogenic Plant Sentience – A private symposium. Tyringham Hall, September 2015. (Curator and compère)

Video trailer for the event: https://vimeo.com/156248371

Anton Bilton, Dr David Luke & Rory Spowers
Introduction from the hosts and curators

Dr Graham St John
The Pineal Enigma: The Dazzling Life and Times of the ‘Spirit Gland’

Dr Dennis J. McKenna
Is DMT a Chemical Messenger from an Extraterrestrial Civilization?

Dr Jeremy Narby
Amazonian Perspectives on Invisible Entities

Peter Meyer
Concerning the Nature of the DMT Entities and their Relation to Us

Dr Erik Davis
How to Think about Weird Beings

Dr Ede Frecska
The Second Foundation of Knowledge, True Visions, and Plant Sentience

Dr Andrew Gallimore
The Neurobiology of Conscious Interaction with Alternate Realities and Their Inhabitants

Dr Rupert Sheldrake
Morphic Resonance, Psychedelic Experiences and Collective Memory

Dr Rick Strassman
The Nature of the DMT Beings: Perspectives and Prospects

Graham Hancock
Psychedelics, Entities, 'Dark Matter' and Parallel Dimensions

Dr Rick Strassman
The Nature of the DMT Beings: Perspectives and Prospects

Dr David Luke
Entheogenic plant sentience and DMT entities: A summary of what we think we know

Flow, an optimal state for study, training and creativity, is often linked with the concept of The Zone, an ideal state for elite performance. Are these two states identical, or how might they differ?  Does it matter, which name we use? See more at www.TheFlow.Zone

In this first of two parts, I’m considering the similarities between Flow and The Zone, as two of the many different manifestations of Hypnotic trance. I’m arguing for very careful use of language, but not for the sake of a more rigorous theoretical discussion. The narrow definitions of some terms are highly contentious, so I’m deliberately accepting broad definitions in order to sidestep those theoretical debates. But I suggest that precise choice of terminology is vital, for utterly practical reasons.

This writing appears as Appendix I in my book, Transitions in Consciousness from an African American Perspective: Original Essays in Psycho-Historical Context.  The book was published in 2004.  Appendix I is a comprehensive Timeline of African American Life, focused on Five Historical Time Frames For African American Life, with Consciousness Transition Themes and Examples of Historical Events.  The five time frames are: 1517-1863 (6 Themes)--The Beginning of Slavery in the New World Up to The Onset of a Civil War and The Emancipation of Slaves; 1863-1896 (4 Themes)--Resistance to the End of the Civil War and the Force of the Reconstruction Era Up to Early Popularized African American Cultural Influences; 1896-1929 (5 Themes)--Creative Tension of Two Ideologies for Black Progress: Vocational Education vs. College-Trained Leadership Up to The Second Black Nationalist Movement; 1929-1954 (4 Themes)—The Condoning of a Segregated American Lifestyle and the Treatment of African Americans As “Objects” By the U. S. Government Up To Challenges To U. S. Segregated Cultural Life Through Music, Art, Publications, Inventions, Sports, and Civic Symbols; 1954-2002 (Themes)—The Struggle of the Civil Rights Movement, Sit-In Movement, and Freedom Rides to Promote the Ideas of Freedom, Desegregation, and Full Equality for African Americans Up to The Struggle to Shift Race-Related Consciousness and to Urge Cultural Transformations By Infusing African American Cultural Influences and a Search for the Meaning of Race and Ethnicity Into The Mainstream Via The Mediums of Music, Dance, Film, Television, Publications, Sports, and Civic Symbols.  Even though the Time Line ends at 2002, the Themes are very instructive for understanding what is happening in today’s reality (2017) regarding race relations in the United States.  The Themes mirror how the mind, body, and spirit has been dealt with in the United States over time in regard to the phenomenon of race.