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Cited by 6Philosophy and Theoretical ScienceStudy and Philosophy of ReligionParanormal Experiences and Beliefs

Does Mystical Experience Give Access to Reality?

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Marshall, Paul·2022·Religions
DOI 10.3390/rel13100983
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Abstract

Mystical experiences can bring an overwhelming sense that deeper realities have been contacted or that the everyday world has been apprehended as it truly is. Philosophical study of the experiences has not given much attention to their metaphysical significance, especially to the insights they may offer on fundamental issues such as the nature of reality, self, consciousness, and time. There are reasons for the neglect, and in the present article I consider two major theoretical obstacles to finding metaphysical significance in the experiences: a radical form of contextualism and a reductionist approach to neuroscience. With these obstacles addressed, there is room to consider how mystical experience and metaphysics can be brought into dialogue, a task facilitated by the contemporary resurgence of interest in alternatives to materialist metaphysics and a renewed interest in mystical experience encouraged by psychedelic research.

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  • Mindfulness meditation and psychedelics share a history of consciousness alteration, although mindfulness often evolves through gradual, focused practice while psychedelics induce altered states more rapidly.

    “Studies [52] suggest that MM and psychedelics share a history of consciousness alteration, although mindfulness often evolves through gradual, focused practice, while psychedelics induce altered states more rapidly.”

    From Mindfulness meditation and psychedelics: potential synergies and commonalities (2023) · cites this paper as [52]

    Section 4 (page unavailable) says psychedelics can trigger experiences similar to naturally occurring mystical experiences. It does not identify mindfulness meditation as the comparison, describe a shared history, or compare how quickly the two practices alter consciousness; searches for mindfulness and gradual versus rapid practice found no such passage. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Authors
Marshall, P.
Affiliations
Independent Researcher, Leeds LS16, UK
Corresponding author
Marshall, Paul
ORCID
Marshall, Paul
Venue
Religions
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-10-18
Volume
13
Issue
10
Pages
983
ISSN
2077-1444 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/rel13100983
OpenAlex
W4306769728
Cited by
6
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 3
FWCI
0.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Religions (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
Keywords
mystical experience, nature of reality, self, consciousness, time, contextualism, reductionism, neuroscience of consciousness, psychedelic research, philosophy of religion

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