mystical religious experience consciousness

books:

The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience (Theology and the Sciences)

7 reviews

Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1999

Heavy Reading--Excellent Results
The text of this book is difficult to work through. It is not designed for the light reader or the quick student. Taking twice as long to read this book was a drain, but the payoff was excellent. He does not simply give facts, but works to tie them together into a specific working hypothesis, which is yet to be proven. Yet he has asked the correct questions and cannot be faulted in not ...

Brain, Symbol & Experience: Towards a Neurophenomenology of Human Consciousness

2 reviews
Charles D. Laughlin, John McManus, ...

Shambhala, 1990

A must read! Connects ethnographic and neurological issues.
Drawing upon extensive ethnographic and anthropological research, the authors draw clear connections between cross cultural reports of transpersonal experiences and the neurological bases which give rise to them. Especially compelling is the authors treatment of symbols and their associated grounding in the cosmology of a culture. This book comes highly recommended, I only wish the ...

Why God Won't Go Away
Andrew, M.D./ D'Aquili, Eugene G./ Rause, Vince Newberg

Ballantine Books, 2002

Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief

77 reviews
Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, ...

Ballantine Books, 2001

Large hypotheses supported by small science
This book was an easily summarized quick read. 1. Research on Tibetan meditators and Nuns using HMPAO-SPECT nuclear imaging shows that blood flow to the "Orientation Association Area" (OAA) of the brain decreases during peak meditation states. This brain area, just in front of and on top of the "Primary Vision Area" computes our orientation with the space surrounding us. The hypothesis is ...