Applied Mysticism
Studies of Meditation and Psychedelics in Secular Contexts
- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Examines how mystical practices and experiences are being applied in secular contexts today.
Today is an exciting time for mysticism. Interest in mysticism today often involves what Aldous Huxley called "applied mysticism"-that is, taking mystical practices and experiences out of their traditional contexts, where the focus was on the total transformation of the individual, and applying them (often within a secular framework) to help other people with more limited this-worldly problems, such as a person's well-being in society or general social change. Neuroscientists are taking mystical experiences seriously, studying meditators and psychedelic subjects to gain knowledge of how the brain works. Cognitive scientists are exploring mystical altered states of consciousness to expand the spectrum of consciousness states-in particular, whether there is a state of "pure" consciousness. Buddhist meditation is being taken out of its religious contexts and adapted by psychotherapists to help with problems such as depression or addiction. The use of psychedelics in psychotherapy is also gaining traction while New Age thinkers are extolling the alleged merger of post-Newtonian science with mysticism. Mystical ideas are being adapted to problems on the social level-for example, in "socially-engaged" Buddhism. This is the first book to explore all these varieties of applied mysticism together and to examine the current state of the field (with a focus on philosophical issues) in a readily accessible manner.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- 1 Mystical Experiences and the Neuroscientific Study of Meditators
- 2 Limitations on the Neuroscientific Study of Drug-Enabled Mystical Experiences
- 3 Pure Consciousness, Intentionality, Selflessness, and the Philosopher’s Syndrome
- 4 Triggers of Altered States of Consciousness Experiences
- 5 Cognitive Bias in Mysticism and Its Study
- 6 Mystical Experiences, Consciousness, and Inverse Multiple Realization
- 7 The Role of Mystical Experiences in Psychedelic Therapy and Research
- 8 Secular Mysticism
- 9 Quantum Mysticism: Science Meets Mysticism in the New Age
- 10 Applying Mysticism to Social Action Today
- Notes
- References
- Index
- Back Cover