Mysticism And The Brain

spiritual experiences are extremely difficult to study, researchers have attempted to provide more
scientific evidence. More fascinating attempts involve brain-imaging studies, whereby scientists are
beginning to locate physiological markers of spiritual experiences. The new specialty of neuromysticism
seeks a scientific understanding of extraordinary mental states by examination of their neural activity.
Conceptually, it dates back more than a century, for William James (1902/1985) urged that
transcendental experiences be studied carefully and objectively to provide insights about the heights of
human potential. Though many theologians and some psychologists embraced this position, it seemed
virtually impossible to implement methodologically.

Neurotheology

Eugene d’Aquili and Andrew Newberg called their approach to the study of religious experiences
neurotheology, in reference to the use of neurological imaging techniques to study religious experiences
(d’Aquili & Newberg, 1999). In one study, they used a neuroimaging technology to record brain activity
in highly experienced Tibetan Buddhist monks while they were meditating. Research revealed that
specific areas of the brain were activated during deep meditative experiences. It is fascinating to note
that these are the cortical areas of the brain involved in creating a sense of self in conscious experience.

An Unusual Route to Transcendent Experiences

An unusual perspective on spirituality comes from Jill Bolte Taylor who recounted an unexpected route
to spiritual experiences. In 1996, she suffered a major stroke that interrupted many of the functions of
the left hemisphere of her brain. Unbelievably, this tragedy resulted in her experiencing what seems to
have been a mystical state of consciousness (Taylor, 2008). Because Taylor was a Harvard trained
neuroanatomist, she recognized the physiological processes affected. As she described her experience,
when the left-hemisphere functions of rationality, analysis, and language were silenced, what remained
were the right-hemisphere functions of awareness, openness, and life in the present.

Entheogens and Religious Experiences

physiological and biological processes are associated with spiritual experiences, then it is logical to
assume that biological interventions might produce experiences that resemble, or are identical to,
religious experiences. 6 Natural and synthetic substances used to foster religious experiences are called
entheogens (Roberts, 2006, 2016). In the 1960s, several studies investigated the use of certain drugs to
induce spiritual experiences (Pahnke & Richards, 1970).

Psychological Theories Of Religious Maturity

The relationship between religion and subjective well-being is robust and appears to be stable, it is also
obvious that not all religious involvement is conducive to well-being. It has been painfully true since
time immemorial that considerable harm has been done around the world in the name of religion. As a
result, psychologists examining religious beliefs have presented theories that address mature versus
immature types of religiousness or religiosity
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiousness

An early attempt to explore types of religiousness came from Gordon Allport. He contended that what
distinguishes healthy from unhealthy religiousness is motivation. To understand these differences, he
developed the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness (Allport & Ross, 1967), which he regarded
as polar opposites.

Stages of Religious Cognition

Other psychologists have examined how thinking about religious ideas, concepts, and stories develops
over the course of a lifetime and how challenges to our early religious ideas are resolved. Some theorists
have drawn inspiration from Piaget’s ideas on cognitive development. As one example, Fowler (1981)
developed an influential stage theory of faith development that changes throughout a person’s life.

Psychodynamic Perspectives on Religion

Psychodynamic theorists have explained the processes involved in creating a mature spirituality by
exploring our relationship to our unconscious. The view holds that unresolved psychological conflicts can
interfere with one’s awareness of spiritual needs or religious impulses. In essence, when people become
too preoccupied with a resolution of personal psychological issues or with self-focused goals, they are
distracted from recognizing the spiritual dimensions of life. From this perspective, what distinguishes
healthy from 547 unhealthy religiousness is the relationship to one’s unconscious—especially
concerning the use of defense mechanisms and other self-protective strategies

Carl Jung on Religion and Spirituality

Jung asserted that religion and spirituality are rooted in innate needs that drive us to find meaning in
life, to create a sense of wholeness or completeness, and to connect with something larger than our
individual selves. He distinguished between the personal and the collective unconscious. The personal
unconscious, similar to Freud’s notion of the unconscious, contains individual contents, in contrast with
the universal collective unconscious that contains psychological material shared by all humanity. The
latter consists of archetypes or “psychological instincts,” which are innate universal tendencies to
respond emotionally to environmental stimuli.

Perspectives on Morality and Ethics

The source of moral and ethical behavior has been of interest to psychologists since the earliest days of
the profession. Freud assumed that moral behavior depended on a strong ego to control innate forces
that would 548 otherwise drive us toward aggressive and sexual impulses. On the other hand, Adler,
Jung, Maslow, Rogers, and others assumed that people possessed innate tendencies toward moral and
ethical behavior that needed to be cultivated