New psych research: mystical experiences

PsyPost via MSN, 3/19/22; Pat Macpherson, Ananda (DBM), Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to Come to Terms with a Deeply Spiritual Experience | Psychology Today Canada

New psychology research links mystical experiences to heightened spiritual intelligence

Then there was no duality at all.

New research published in the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice provides evidence that mystical experience is a spiritual rather than a wholly pathological phenomenon.

The study found that women who reported having mystical experiences tended to also have greater spiritual intelligence.

I had to slay naga-dragons in my visions.

Mystical experiences, which are characterized by feelings of unity [universal oneness or nonduality], ineffability, peace and joy, and alterations in one’s sense of time and space, have been regarded as a correlate of psycho-pathological conditions such as schizophrenia [or hallucinations].

But the new findings indicate that there is another side to such experiences.

Daiga Katrīna Bitēna (researchgate.net)

“My personal interest in this subject began as early as 2012, when I experienced my first mystical experience and other altered states of consciousness soon after,” explained study author Daiga Katrīna Bitēna of Rīga Stradiņš University in Latvia.

“At that time, I was a person without any knowledge of the existence of altered states: I had no significant contact with religion, spirituality, esotericism, or similar thinking.

Consequently, these states of transcendent consciousness surprised me as absolutely unprepared.

“On the one hand, they evoked really divine feelings and made me apprehend things I had never encountered before, but on the other hand, experiencing them made me question my mental health.” More