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Cited by 147Psychedelics and Drug StudiesParanormal Experiences and BeliefsDeath, Funerary Practices, and Mourning

The psychedelic mystical experience in the human encounter with death

Pahnke, Walter N.·1969·Harvard Theological Review
DOI 10.1017/s0017816000027577
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Abstract

This Spring I received a long distance telephone call from Dean Samuel Miller, who invited me to give this year's Ingersoll Lecture on human immortality. Three days later, Dean Miller was dead. When I heard the sad news, I, as many of you no doubt, began to think about the way he had influenced me, especially during my theological training here at Harvard Divinity School. One of my most vivid memories was a point which he emphasized in his class on Religion and Literature. Sam Miller felt strongly that in our modern 20th century two of the most profound and important experiences of human life are becoming more and more insulated from everyday existence. These two experiences, birth and death, have the potential for affecting the character and quality of the rest of life. But in each instance, they are falling victim to modern technological efficiency and adding to the process of dehumanization rather than counteracting it.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s0017816000027577

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  • Some vestiges of self-awareness are preserved in most, if not all, psychedelic experiences.

    “Various authors have suggested that some vestiges of self-awareness are preserved in most, if not all, psychedelic experiences (Pahnke 1969; Shanon 2002)”

    From Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience (2017) · cites this paper as Pahnke 1969

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Authors
Pahnke, W. N.
Corresponding author
Pahnke, Walter N.
Venue
Harvard Theological Review
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1969-01
Volume
62
Issue
1
Pages
1-21
ISSN
  • 0017-8160 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-4517
DOI
10.1017/s0017816000027577
OpenAlex
W2166934228
Cited by
147
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
FWCI
2.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 15500 d)
Locations
Harvard Theological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
Keywords
psychedelic experience, mystical experience, death, human immortality, births, dehumanization, religion and technology, Samuel Miller, religion and literature

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