Articles
What Is the ‘Unitive Mystical Experience’ Triggered by Psychedelic Medicines an Experience of? An Exploration of Aldous Huxley’s Viewpoint in Light of Current Data.
Abstract
A large body of research in the field of psychology currently points to a variety of therapeutic outcomes derived from psychedelically occasioned mystical experience. Moreover, additional research suggests that such benefits to mental and emotional well-being may depend directly upon the subjective mystical experience itself, rather than upon the substances that triggered it; for instance, research at Johns Hopkins indicates that higher scores on the MEQ30 or MEQ43 might be key predictors of larger therapeutic outcomes. However, the ‘elephant in the room’ often overlooked in psychological studies is this: What exactly is it about the content of the subjective experience that triggers such significant outcomes or, of deep interest philosophically speaking, what might the mystical experience be an experience of? Could it be that such experiences have a viable ontological referent instead of their being wholly subjective and if so, how might Aldous Huxley’s theory in this regard be weighed in light of current data? The essay includes close discussion of the debate regarding the nature of mystical experiences between Robin Carhart-Harris’ REBUS model (the experiences are wholly subjective, with no ontological referent) vs. Edward Kelly’s ROSTA model (contending an ontological referent need not contradict the science). The essay’s thesis is that Huxley’s viewpoint includes plausible and perhaps valuable insights that may help explain why and how that encounter has such profound therapeutic value.
Published in the Swiss-based, english language journal, Religions, for a special issue on mystical experiences edited by Sebastian Gab, 2022.
Redressing a Straw Man: Correcting Critical Misunderstandings of Aldous Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy
Abstract
This essay reinvigorates the Huxley/Osmond theory that psychedelic drugs can occasion a cross-cultural mystical experience characterized by a sense of “unity with ultimate reality.” It offers a long-overdue rejoinder to the position of Constructivist authors such as Steven T. Katz, Hans Penner, and Stephen Prothero that Aldous Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy is a defunct position. Specifically, the essay answers three erroneous charges: (1) that Huxley posited his viewpoint as the “core” or “essence” of religion, (2) that Huxley believed he was describing a set of universally shared religious beliefs, and (3) that Huxley’s position depends on a belief in—and the possibility of—a state of “pure consciousness.” In all cases, these charges will be shown to be erroneous. Moreover, it will also be argued that these claims are inaccurate for most forms of the Perennial Philosophy, and that the Perennial Philosophy is not a homogenous viewpoint, but rather a family of theories as are Existentialism, Postmodernism, and Idealism. The essay ends with a look at new directions for testing the Huxley/Osmond position, including with psychedelic drugs.
Published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, for a special issue on psychedelics edited by Anthony Bossis and Charles Grob, 2021.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00221678211024399
Whatever happened to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Beatles' guru, and the “TM” movement?
Abstract
This article redacts certain sections of the author's recent book on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. Specifically, it offers an updated overview—based on earlier studies—of the TM movement's development and what led to its enormous success, while also providing analysis of the movement using metrics gleaned from the academic study of new religious movements. The author places primary attention on assessing whether or not TM and its attendant philosophy constitutes a religion, and, based primarily on metrics offered by Bainbridge and Stark, argues that it is not only a religion but a variety of Neo-Hinduism. Attention is also given to the TM movement's deep appeal for the youth culture of the 1960s.
Published in Religion Compass, 2023.
https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec3.12482
Additional Publications
“Advaita Vedanta and Monistic Tantra: two sides of the same coin in Hindu tradition,”
TARKA: The Journal of Embodied Philosophy No. 7, Spring, 2023.
“What Is the ‘Unitive Mystical Experience’ Triggered by Psychedelic Medicines an Experience of? An Exploration of Aldous Huxley’s Viewpoint in Light of Current Data.”
Religions 13: 1061. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111061, 2022.
“Redressing a Straw man? Correcting critical misunderstandings of Aldous Huxley’s perennial philosophy,”
Journal of Humanistic Psychology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00221678211024399, July 2021.
“Huston Smith: A Look Back at the Man Who Wrote the Book on World Religions,”
Religious Studies Review Vol. 43, Issue 2, 141-143, June 2017. Houston: Wiley-Blackwell for Rice University, 2017.
Contribution entries on “Naga swamis” and “Shankaracaryas,”
The Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, Vol. “Hinduism and Tribal Religions, Arvind Sharma, Chief Editor. Springer (hardcover 2022, ISBN: 978-94-024-1188-1).
“Aldous Huxley and the Paranormal,” in Aldous Huxley Annual (vol.12/13, pp.341-353),
Bernfried Nugel, ed., the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies, University of Munster, Munster, Germany, 2014.
“Huston Smith Meets the Traditionalists,”
Parabola Magazine, Vol. 39, Number 3, 90-99, Fall, 2014
“Huxley, Heard and Huston: The Perennial Philosophy and the Future of Religion,”
Aldous Huxley Annual (Vol. 10/11, pp. 317-329), Bernfried Nugel, ed., the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies, University of Munster, Munster, Germany, 2012.
“The Man who Took Religion Seriously,” an essay summarizing the career of Huston Smith for Jeff Paine, ed.,
The Huston Smith Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012).
“Downeast Roshi”, a feature article on Zen Master Walter Nowick,
Tricycle, the Buddhist Review (New York, Spring 2009), article begins p.48.
“’The Ersatz of Suchness,’ Aldous Huxley and the Spiritual Importance of Art,”
Essays on Aldous Huxley, a book based on the Third International Symposium on Aldous Huxley, at Riga, Latvia, Aug. 2004. Muenster, Germany: the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies, 2007.
Essays on “Aldous Huxley” and “Brave New World,”
The Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics, M. Keith Booker, ed., London: Greenwood Press, 2005.
“Aldous Huxley’s Truth Beyond Tradition,”
Tricycle: the Buddhist Review (New York, Fall, 2003), featured article begins p. 33.
“The Monastic Structure of Banarsi Dandi Sadhus,”
Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context, Bradley Hertel and Cynthia Humes, eds. Wendy Doniger, chief editor of series (Buffalo, NY: SUNY Press, 1993. (This book was updated and republished in India with the same title, Delhi: Manohar, 1998).