Quantifying A Mystical Experience: Hallucinogenic Research Gets To Grips With Spirituality
The effects of psilocybin were so great among the group that approximately 30 percent said that the experience was the primary spiritually significant event of their lives, with approximately 70 percent rating it in their top 5. To put this into perspective, participants rated the experience alongside the birth of their first child, or the death of a parent. 2 years agoResearchers at Johns Hopkins have found that an active agent contained in “sacred mushrooms” can induce strikingly similar mystical experiences in different subjects; and the experiences seem to be descriptively identical to spontaneous epiphanies that people have reported for centuries. Preempting accusations of pseudoscience due to the nature and subject matter under investigation, the researchers emphasized that their experiments followed a strict and meticulous scientific methodology. Interestingly, the researchers observed that exposure to the hallucinogen had a residual effect on subjects, with reported positive changes in behavior often lasting for several months.The team also observed a residual benefit that the participants experienced months after the initial hallucinogenic experiments. After their drug induced mystical experience, 79 percent of subjects believed that their lives had become more satisfying; with many also believing that their overall mood and state of mind had been significantly improved. Friends, family and associates of the participants are said to have substantiated their claims in follow-up interviews conducted by the research team.
