PROFESSOR • AUTHOR • SPEAKER

Dana Sawyer is professor emeritus of philosophy and world religions at the Maine College of Art & Design. He has written biographies of Aldous Huxley and Huston Smith, two famous perennialists and early explorers with psychedelic substances. His most recent books are an analysis of The Transcendental Meditation Movement for Cambridge University Press (2023), and The Perennial Philosophy Reloaded for Monkfish (2024).

Areas of Focus & Teaching

Dana’s primary expertise is in Hinduism and Buddhism, but for more than twenty years his work has focused on comparative mysticism, theories of the “perennial philosophy,” and the value of psychedelic experiences in the study of mysticism.

Perennial
Philosophy

Philosophy
of Religion

Mystical & Psychedelic
Experiences

Consciousness
Studies