Download or read book Altering Consciousness history culture and the humanities Volume 2 Biological and psychological perspectives written by Etzel Cardeña and published by Abc-clio. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Altered consciousness is one of humanity's most mystical and life-altering aspects. These remarkable changes in mental state have understandably been a topic of general interest and scientific inquiry across time. Beyond simply satisfying our curiosity, however, studies focused upon altered consciousness can also bring valuable insights into our experience, biology, and culture. This unprecedented set of books will intrigue anyone interested in psychology, biology and neurology, science, history, arts and the humanities, and literature on consciousness, from general readers to scholar and researchers. An impressive collection of international contributors address altered states of consciousness from the perspectives of history, evolution, psychology, culture, literature, human biology, contemporary science, and society, seeking to illuminate the causes, effects, and meanings of altered consciousness. The first volume provides an introduction and centers on the importance of altered states in history, culture, and the humanities, while the second volume presents biological and psychological perspectives on altered consciousness and examines their potential for healing and pathology.
Download or read book Altering Consciousness written by Etzel Cardeña and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-05-18 with total page 838 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of altered states of consciousness (ASC) shows how their study is necessary to gain a fundamental understanding of human culture, history, and biology. Altered consciousness is one of humanity's most mystical and life-altering aspects. These remarkable changes in mental state have understandably been a topic of general interest and scientific inquiry across time. Beyond simply satisfying our curiosity, however, studies focused upon altered consciousness can also bring valuable insights into our experience, biology, and culture. This unprecedented two-volume set will intrigue anyone interested in psychology, biology and neurology, science, history, arts and the humanities, and literature on consciousness, from general readers to scholars and researchers. An impressive collection of international contributors address altered states of consciousness from the perspectives of history, evolution, psychology, culture, literature, human biology, contemporary science, and society, seeking to illuminate the causes, effects, and meanings of altered consciousness. The first volume provides an introduction and centers on the importance of altered states in history, culture, and the humanities, while the second volume presents biological and psychological perspectives on altered consciousness and examines their potential for healing and pathology.
Download or read book Altering Consciousness History culture and the humanities written by Etzel Cardeña and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Psychological Perspectives on Reality Consciousness and Paranormal Experience written by Tony Jinks and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-03 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores various explanatory frameworks for paranormal encounters. It opens with the story of an inexplicable human figure seen crossing a secluded hotel corridor, interpreted as a ghost by the sole witness. The subsequent chapters explore the three most important historical perspectives accounting for this and other types of paranormal experience. Each perspective is examined from first principles, with specific reference to what happened in the corridor, how it happened, why it happened, and who might be responsible. The first perspective considers the experience to be legitimate – to be something real – and various possibilities are presented that are grounded in the paranormal and parapsychological literature, among which a “ghost” is one putative explanation. In turn, the second perspective treats the experience as being wholly illegitimate. With reference to psychological theory, the ghost sighting is a product of erroneous consciousness. The third perspective is different yet again, and considers the sighting to be authentic, but argues that explaining the ghost requires a radical departure from conventional models of reality and consciousness. By contrasting these three paths, the book provides a valuable resource for readers interested in the philosophical and psychological origins of explanations for paranormal experiences, from the 19th century to the present. It will appeal to general readers in addition to students and scholars of parapsychology, anomalistic psychology, and consciousness studies.
Download or read book The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology written by Harris L. Friedman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-06-22 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE WILEY-BLACKWELL HANDBOOK OF Transpersonal Psychology “The new Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology is a necessity today. Many transpersonal psychologists and psychotherapists have been waiting for such a comprehensive work. Congratulations to Harris Friedman and Glenn Hartelius. May this book contribute to an increasingly adventurous, creative, and vibrant universe.” Ingo B. Jahrsetz, President, The European Transpersonal Association “The Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology is an outstanding, comprehensive overview of the field. It is a valuable resource for professional transpersonal practitioners, and an excellent introduction for those who are new to this wide-ranging discipline.” Frances Vaughan, PhD. Psychologist, author of Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions “Finally, the vast literature on transpersonal psychology has been collected in what is clearly the essential handbook for psychologists and others who have either too apologetically endorsed or too critically rejected what undoubtedly will define psychology in the future. If you are not a transpersonal psychologist now, you will be after exploring this handbook. No longer can one dismiss the range of topics confronted by transpersonal psychologists nor demand methodological restraints that refuse to confront the realities transpersonal psychologists explore. This is a marvelous handbook—critical, expansive, and like much of what transpersonal psychologists study, sublime.” Ralph W. Hood Jr., University of Tennessee, Chattanooga With contributions from more than fifty scholars, this is the most inclusive resource yet published on transpersonal psychology, which advocates a rounded approach to human well-being, integrating ancient beliefs and modern knowledge. Proponents view the field as encompassing Jungian principles, psychotherapeutic techniques such as Holotropic Breathwork, and the meditative practices found in Hinduism and Buddhism. Alongside the core commentary on transpersonal theories—including holotropic states; science, with chapters on neurobiology and psychometrics; and relevance to feminism or concepts of social justice—the volume includes sections describing transpersonal experiences, accounts of differing approaches to healing, wellness, and personal development, and material addressing the emerging field of transpersonal studies. Chapters on shamanism and psychedelic therapies evoke the multifarious interests of the transpersonal psychology community. The result is a richly flavored distillation of the underlying principles and active ingredients in the field.
Download or read book Altered States of Consciousness written by Marc Wittmann and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What altered states of consciousness—the dissolution of feelings of time and self—can tell us about the mystery of consciousness. During extraordinary moments of consciousness—shock, meditative states and sudden mystical revelations, out-of-body experiences, or drug intoxication—our senses of time and self are altered; we may even feel time and self dissolving. These experiences have long been ignored by mainstream science, or considered crazy fantasies. Recent research, however, has located the neural underpinnings of these altered states of mind. In this book, neuropsychologist Marc Wittmann shows how experiences that disturb or widen our everyday understanding of the self can help solve the mystery of consciousness. Wittmann explains that the relationship between consciousness of time and consciousness of self is close; in extreme circumstances, the experiences of space and self intensify and weaken together. He considers the emergence of the self in waking life and dreams; how our sense of time is distorted by extreme situations ranging from terror to mystical enlightenment; the experience of the moment; and the loss of time and self in such disorders as depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. Dostoyevsky reported godly bliss during epileptic seizures; neurologists are now investigating the phenomenon of the epileptic aura. Wittmann describes new studies of psychedelics that show how the brain builds consciousness of self and time, and discusses pilot programs that use hallucinogens to treat severe depression, anxiety, and addiction. If we want to understand our consciousness, our subjectivity, Wittmann argues, we must not be afraid to break new ground. Studying altered states of consciousness leads us directly to the heart of the matter: time and self, the foundations of consciousness.
Download or read book Consciousness Mattering written by Peter D. Hershock and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-12-14 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consciousness Mattering presents a contemporary Buddhist theory in which brains, bodies, environments, and cultures are relational infrastructures for human consciousness. Drawing on insights from meditation, neuroscience, physics, and evolutionary theory, it demonstrates that human consciousness is not something that occurs only in our heads and consists in the creative elaboration of relations among sensed and sensing presences, and more fundamentally between matter and what matters. Hershock argues that without consciousness there would only be either unordered sameness or nothing at all. Evolution is consciousness mattering. Shedding new light on the co-emergence of subjective awareness and culture, the possibility of machine consciousness, the risks of algorithmic consciousness hacking, and the potentials of intentionally altered states of consciousness, Hershock invites us to consider how freely, wisely, and compassionately consciousness matters.
Download or read book Transpersonal Ecosophy Vol 1 Theory Methods and Clinical Assessments written by Mark A. Schroll and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-01-24 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The image on the cover of this book represents the idea that brain state alterations at sacred sites allow us to re-experience memories that are woven into the morphogenetic fields of that place, an idea that originates with Paul Devereux's empirical enquiry into dreams at sacred sites in Wales and England. This books examines how this investigation provides us with a new way of understanding consciousness, and a new direction toward a reconciliation of the divorce between matter and spirit. We explore the work of David Lukoff, and Stanislav and Christina Grof, the connections between the varieties of transformative experience in dream studies, ecopsychology, transpesonal psychology, and the anthropology of consciousness, as well as the overlap between David Bohm's interpretation of quantum theory and Rupert Sheldrake's hypothesis of formative causation.
Download or read book Get Shown the Light written by Michael Kaler and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2023-10-13 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: the incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances. While many bands—including Cream, Pink Floyd, and the Velvet Underground—stretched out their songs with improvisations, no band was more identified with the practice than the Grateful Dead. In Get Shown the Light Michael Kaler examines how the Dead’s dedication to improvisation stemmed from their belief that playing in this manner enabled them to touch upon transcendence. Drawing on band testimonials and analyses of early recordings, Kaler traces how the Dead developed an approach to playing music that they believed would facilitate their spiritual goals. He focuses on the band’s early years, the significance of their playing Ken Kesey’s Acid Test parties, and their evolving exploration of the myriad musical and spiritual possibilities that extended improvisation afforded. Kaler demonstrates that the Grateful Dead developed a radical new way of playing rock music as a means to unleashing the spiritual and transformative potential of their music.
Download or read book Ecology Cosmos and Consciousness written by Mark A. Schroll and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-05-26 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ecology, Cosmos, and Consciousness is a pioneering work that attempts to shift current paradigms. Its editor and lead author, Mark A. Schroll, incisively identifies the problems humanity faces as a result of philosophies, sciences, and religious movements that ignore the importance of an earth-based focus of humanistic and transpersonal inquiry...The result is a transpersonal, post-modern, systems-oriented approach to cultural theory that is both provocative and well-argued, both visionary and practical, both scholarly and whimsical."
Download or read book Performance and Phenomenology written by Maaike Bleeker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-10 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a timely discussion about the interventions and tensions between two contested and contentious fields, performance and phenomenology, with international case studies that map an emerging twenty-first century terrain of critical and performance practice. Building on the foundational texts of both fields that established the performativity of perception and cognition, Performance and Phenomenology continues a tradition that considers experience to be the foundation of being and meaning. Acknowledging the history and critical polemics against phenomenological methodology and against performance as a field of study and category of artistic production, the volume provides both an introduction to core thinkers and an expansion on their ideas in a wide range of case studies. Whether addressing the use of dead animals in performance, actor training, the legal implications of thinking phenomenologically about how we walk, or the intertwining of digital and analog perception, each chapter explores a world comprised of embodied action and thought. The established and emerging scholars contributing to the volume develop insights central to the phenomenological tradition while expanding on the work of contemporary theorists and performers. In asking why performance and phenomenology belong in conversation together, the book suggests how they can transform each other in the process and what is at stake in this transformation.
Download or read book Tell My Mother I m Not Dead written by Trevor Hamilton and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2012-10-08 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book divides into two parts. The first is a personal narrative of the impact of the death of the author's son Ralph on him and his family and his efforts to see if there was any evidence for his continued existence (generated largely through visits to mediums) that a thinking person could take seriously. The second is an attempt to evaluate that evidence objectively (based on an extensive survey of current and past scientific research in the UK and the USA). The title reflects the inevitable tension between emotion and intellect in such an enquiry.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Christian Education written by George Thomas Kurian and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-05-07 with total page 1667 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity regards teaching as one of the most foundational and critically sustaining ministries of the Church. As a result, Christian education remains one of the largest and oldest continuously functioning educational systems in the world, comprising both formal day schools and higher education institutions as well as informal church study groups and parachurch ministries in more than 140 countries. In The Encyclopedia of Christian Education, contributors explore the many facets of Christian education in terms of its impact on curriculum, literacy, teacher training, outcomes, and professional standards. This encyclopedia is the first reference work devoted exclusively to chronicling the unique history of Christian education across the globe, illustrating how Christian educators pioneered such educational institutions and reforms as universal literacy, home schooling, Sunday schools, women’s education, graded schools, compulsory education of the deaf and blind, and kindergarten. With an editorial advisory board of more than 30 distinguished scholars and five consulting editors, TheEncyclopedia of Christian Education contains more than 1,200 entries by 400 contributors from 75 countries. These volumes covers a vast range of topics from Christian education: History spanning from the church’s founding through the Middle Ages to the modern day Denominational and institutional profiles Intellectual traditions in Christian education Biblical and theological frameworks, curricula, missions, adolescent and higher education, theological training, and Christian pedagogy Biographies of distinguished Christian educators This work is ideal for scholars of both the history of Christianity and education, as well as researchers and students of contemporary Christianity and modern religious education.
Download or read book Parapsychology written by Etzel Cardeña and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-07-25 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people have experienced such unusual phenomena as dreams that later seem to correspond with unforeseeable events, thinking of a long-lost friend just before he or she unexpectedly calls, or the ability to "feel" the presence of deceased loved ones. What many do not realize is that these types of experiences have been researched for more than a century by eminent scientists, including Nobel laureates. Most of these researchers have concluded that some of these phenomena do occur, although we are far from explaining them to everyone's satisfaction. This book is the first in almost 40 years to provide a comprehensive scientific overview of research in the field of parapsychology, explaining what we know and don't know about so-called psi phenomena, such as "telepathy," "precognition" or "psychokinesis." Contributors evaluate the evidence for these phenomena, accounting for factors such as selective memory, wish fulfillment and incorrect methods or analyses, in some cases offering psychological, physical and biological theories. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Download or read book Comparing Religions written by Jeffrey J. Kripal and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-04-29 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teaches students the art and practice of comparison in the globalizing world, fully updated to reflect recent scholarship and major developments in the field Comparing Religions: The Study of Us that Changes Us is a wholly original, absorbing, and provocative reimagining of the comparative study of religion in the 21st century. The first textbook of its kind to foreground the extraordinary or “paranormal” aspects of religious experience, this innovative volume reviews the fundamental tenets of the world’s religions, discusses the benefits and problems of comparative inquiry, explores how the practice can impact a person's worldview and values, and much more. Asserting that religions have always engaged in comparing one another, the authors provide insights into the history, trends, debates, and questions of explicit comparativism in the modern world. Easily accessible chapters examine the challenges of studying religion using a comparative approach rather than focusing on religious identity, inspiring students to think seriously about religious pluralism as they engage in comparative practice. Throughout the text, a wealth of diverse case studies and vivid illustrations are complemented by chapter outlines, summaries, toolkits, discussion questions, and other learning features. Substantially updated with new and revised material, the second edition of Comparing Religions: Draws from both comparative work and critical theory to present a well-balanced introduction to contemporary practice Explains classic comparative themes, provides a historical outline of comparative practices, and offers key strategies for understanding, analyzing, and re-reading religion Draws on a wide range of religious traditions to illustrate the complexity and efficacy of comparative practice Embraces the transcendent nature of the religious experience in all its forms, including in popular culture, film, and television Contains a classroom-proven, three-part structure with easy-to-digest, thematically organized chapters Features a companion website with information on individual religious traditions, additional images, a glossary, discussion questions, and links to supplementary material Comparing Religions: The Study of Us that Changes Us, Second Edition, is the perfect textbook for undergraduate students and faculty in comparative religion, the study of religion, and world religions, as well as a valuable resource for general readers interested in understanding this rewarding area.
Download or read book Hypnosis and meditation written by Amir Raz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research over the past decade has helped to demystify hypnosis and meditation, bringing these practices into the scientific and clinical mainstream. Yet, while hypnosis and meditation overlap on many levels, few scientific accounts have explored their complementary rapprochement. Despite cultural and historical differences, hypnosis and meditation share common phenomenology, cognitive processes, and potential therapeutic merits. This book provides a synthesis of knowledge concerning the bridging of hypnosis and meditation. The authors adopt a trans-disciplinary approach considering cultural, historical, and philosophical perspectives to elucidate contemporary questions in cognitive, neurobiological, and clinical science. The book explores the relationship between hypnosis and meditation in five progressive sections: Part 1 investigates historical, cultural, and philosophical issues to contextualize the scientific study of contemplative practices. Part 2 presents a range of views concerning the similarities and differences between hypnosis and meditation. Part 3 explores the psychological and cognitive mechanisms at work. Part 4 integrates recent brain imaging findings to unravel the neural underpinnings. Finally, part 5 examines how juxtaposing hypnosis and meditation can enhance clinical applications. Hypnosis and Meditation is a valuable resource to both specialists as well as interested lay readers, and paves the road to a more unified science of how attention influences states of brain, body, and consciousness.
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology written by Courtney M. Block and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-09-14 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Superbly organized and researched, this book by Block provides a comprehensive presentation about parapsychology." -Library Journal, Starred Review The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology covers the history of parapsychology, key international figures, and a decade-by-decade annotated bibliography of research. It includes find information on early psychical researchers from around the globe and how the work of those psychical researchers inspired the creation of the modern field of parapsychology. Alongside biographical entries about key figures are sketches of those at the center of psychical inquiry, like mediums and others who seemingly have the ability to manifest strange phenomena. The Encyclopedia covers the Spiritualism era which influenced early psychical inquiry and how it influenced psychical thought around the globe. More contemporary coverage includes biographical entries for current international researchers who continue to investigate the depths of psi phenomena. In order to provide comprehensive coverage of historical and modern research into psi phenomena, the Encyclopedia features a decade-by-decade bibliography of resources that highlight the shifting theories and experiments of the field, starting from the 1870s and going through the 2020s. This section includes a wide variety of research into topics such as psychokinesis, hauntings, poltergeists (also known as recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis), near-death experiences, extrasensory perception, remote viewing, and much more. Appendices provide information on international parapsychological research organizations and a quick start research guide. With information on key figures and research on an international scale, The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology provides an approachable yet comprehensive compendium of information.