Author: Mike Jay
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300257945
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments--in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. From Sigmund Freud's experiments with cocaine to William James's epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.
Psychonauts
Author: Mike Jay
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300271514
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind A New Yorker Best of the Week Pick “Jay is a leading expert on the history of Western drug use, and Psychonauts is the latest in a series of excellent studies in which he has investigated the roots of a kind of psychoactive exploration that we tend to associate with the nineteen-fifties and sixties.”—Clare Bucknell, New Yorker “Captivating. . . . A welcome reconsideration of the role drugs play in life, medicine, and science.”—Publishers Weekly Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments—in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. From Sigmund Freud’s experiments with cocaine to William James’s epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300271514
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind A New Yorker Best of the Week Pick “Jay is a leading expert on the history of Western drug use, and Psychonauts is the latest in a series of excellent studies in which he has investigated the roots of a kind of psychoactive exploration that we tend to associate with the nineteen-fifties and sixties.”—Clare Bucknell, New Yorker “Captivating. . . . A welcome reconsideration of the role drugs play in life, medicine, and science.”—Publishers Weekly Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments—in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. From Sigmund Freud’s experiments with cocaine to William James’s epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.
THE PSYCHONAUT'S JOURNEY
Author: Leoniv Revok
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1445792311
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 38
Book Description
This manual describes a powerful new technique for empowering your and your fellow psychonauts explorations of the Mind and the Cosmos. Shared Interactive Visualisations is a technique that is reminiscent with active imagination, pathworking or guided visualisation but is collective and interactive. Connect your imagination to that of your team mates and embark on a quest to seek out and explore strange new worlds and life forms.You are invited to a journey that will change the way you perceive the Universe!
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1445792311
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 38
Book Description
This manual describes a powerful new technique for empowering your and your fellow psychonauts explorations of the Mind and the Cosmos. Shared Interactive Visualisations is a technique that is reminiscent with active imagination, pathworking or guided visualisation but is collective and interactive. Connect your imagination to that of your team mates and embark on a quest to seek out and explore strange new worlds and life forms.You are invited to a journey that will change the way you perceive the Universe!
Psychonauts Official Strategy Guide
Author: Tim Bogenn
Publisher: BradyGames
ISBN: 9780744005325
Category : Video games
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
BradyGames' Psychonauts Official Strategy Guide includes the following: WALKTHROUGH WITH AREA MAPS - important locations and items are indicated! REAL WORLD ITEM LOCATOR - for those who don't need a walkthrough, but want help finding every item! BASIC BRAINING -- learn everything from basic controls to earning badges! AND MORE -- character information and cheats! Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, & PC Genre: Action/Adventure This product is available for sale in North America only.
Publisher: BradyGames
ISBN: 9780744005325
Category : Video games
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
BradyGames' Psychonauts Official Strategy Guide includes the following: WALKTHROUGH WITH AREA MAPS - important locations and items are indicated! REAL WORLD ITEM LOCATOR - for those who don't need a walkthrough, but want help finding every item! BASIC BRAINING -- learn everything from basic controls to earning badges! AND MORE -- character information and cheats! Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, & PC Genre: Action/Adventure This product is available for sale in North America only.
Liber Null & Psychonaut
Author: Peter J. Carroll
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1633412482
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
“The most original and probably the most important writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley."—Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Prometheus Rising and other works Peter Carroll’s classic work has been profound influence on the Western magical world and on the practice of chaos magick in particular. In Liber Null and Psychonaut, Carroll presents an approach to the practice of magic that draws on the foundations of shamanism and animism, as well as that found in the Greek magical papyri, the occult works of Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley, and the esoteric meditative practices of classical India and China. Also very much at work in the text are 20th century scientific ideas of quantum physics and chaos theory. The result is a profoundly original work of magical studies that also includes a selection of extremely powerful rituals and exercises for committed occultists with instructions that lead the reader through new concepts and practices to achieve Carroll’s definition of magic itself: the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of infinity. This Weiser Classics edition is a thoroughly revised republication of Liber Null and Psychonaut, first published by Weiser in 1987, and includes a new foreword by Ronald Hutton, a leading authority on modern witchcraft and paganism.
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1633412482
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
“The most original and probably the most important writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley."—Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Prometheus Rising and other works Peter Carroll’s classic work has been profound influence on the Western magical world and on the practice of chaos magick in particular. In Liber Null and Psychonaut, Carroll presents an approach to the practice of magic that draws on the foundations of shamanism and animism, as well as that found in the Greek magical papyri, the occult works of Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley, and the esoteric meditative practices of classical India and China. Also very much at work in the text are 20th century scientific ideas of quantum physics and chaos theory. The result is a profoundly original work of magical studies that also includes a selection of extremely powerful rituals and exercises for committed occultists with instructions that lead the reader through new concepts and practices to achieve Carroll’s definition of magic itself: the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of infinity. This Weiser Classics edition is a thoroughly revised republication of Liber Null and Psychonaut, first published by Weiser in 1987, and includes a new foreword by Ronald Hutton, a leading authority on modern witchcraft and paganism.
Psychonaut
Author: Psychonaut Journals
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781070728674
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122
Book Description
Psychedelic sketch book for hallucinogenic experiences, trips, and exploring consciousness This Psychedelic sketch Journal for psychonauts is the perfect gift for any trippers or trip sitters looking to record and share (or keep private) their psychedelic experiences with hallucinogenic substances. This colourful psychonaut notebook is for psychedelic adventurers to record their mind altering experiences, trips, new thoughts and feelings while taking heroic doses and paths of deep self exploration. This 120 page journal has been designed specifically for those who are drawing or sketching under the influence of psychoactive substances. Pages have been designed specifically by trippers, for trippers. Create artwork like never before with this tripping sketch pad for all. Perfect gift journal for artist friends, family and loved ones who use psychedelics to enhance their lives and state of consciousness. Sketch journal with 120 pages. The tie dye journal cover was designed for someone that is an advocate for psychedelic substances that also likes to show off some their art with this trippy cover design. These substances were made to be used, and to better us as people, and this notebook is here to help you spread the good word that may come with these experiences. It is also suitable for those who enjoy organic chemistry and the synthesis of these substances. Soft cover perfect bound Tie Dye Trippy Psychonaut cover 120 pages of sketch pape Printed on medium thickness premium white paper Perfect for markers, pens and pencils 6x9 inch - perfect size for easy transportation
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781070728674
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122
Book Description
Psychedelic sketch book for hallucinogenic experiences, trips, and exploring consciousness This Psychedelic sketch Journal for psychonauts is the perfect gift for any trippers or trip sitters looking to record and share (or keep private) their psychedelic experiences with hallucinogenic substances. This colourful psychonaut notebook is for psychedelic adventurers to record their mind altering experiences, trips, new thoughts and feelings while taking heroic doses and paths of deep self exploration. This 120 page journal has been designed specifically for those who are drawing or sketching under the influence of psychoactive substances. Pages have been designed specifically by trippers, for trippers. Create artwork like never before with this tripping sketch pad for all. Perfect gift journal for artist friends, family and loved ones who use psychedelics to enhance their lives and state of consciousness. Sketch journal with 120 pages. The tie dye journal cover was designed for someone that is an advocate for psychedelic substances that also likes to show off some their art with this trippy cover design. These substances were made to be used, and to better us as people, and this notebook is here to help you spread the good word that may come with these experiences. It is also suitable for those who enjoy organic chemistry and the synthesis of these substances. Soft cover perfect bound Tie Dye Trippy Psychonaut cover 120 pages of sketch pape Printed on medium thickness premium white paper Perfect for markers, pens and pencils 6x9 inch - perfect size for easy transportation
1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
Author: Tony Mott
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1844037150
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 1773
Book Description
In fewer than fifty years videogames have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, but which are the best games, the ones you must play? This action packed book presents the best videogames from around the world - from 80's classic Donkey Kong to Doom, Frogger and Final Fantasy. Covering everything from old favourites to those breaking new ground, these are the games that should not be missed. Video game expert Tony Mott presents 1001 of the best video games from around the world and on all formats, from primitive pioneering consoles like Atari's VCS to modern-day home entertainment platforms such as Sony's PlayStation 3. 1001 VIDEO GAMES defines arcade experiences that first turned video gaming into a worldwide phenomenon such as Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac-Man - games that made the likes of Atari, Sinclair and Commadore household names. It also includes the games that have taken the console era by storm from Nintendo Wii to Sony Playstation and beyond - games of the modern era that have become cultural reference points in their own right including multi-million selling series such as Halo, Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil. For aficionados this is a keepsake - charting the highlights of the past fifty years giving them key information for games they must play. For those just discovering the appeal of gaming this extensive volume will provide everything they need to ensure they don't miss out on the games that revolutionized this overwhelmingly popular medium.
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1844037150
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 1773
Book Description
In fewer than fifty years videogames have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, but which are the best games, the ones you must play? This action packed book presents the best videogames from around the world - from 80's classic Donkey Kong to Doom, Frogger and Final Fantasy. Covering everything from old favourites to those breaking new ground, these are the games that should not be missed. Video game expert Tony Mott presents 1001 of the best video games from around the world and on all formats, from primitive pioneering consoles like Atari's VCS to modern-day home entertainment platforms such as Sony's PlayStation 3. 1001 VIDEO GAMES defines arcade experiences that first turned video gaming into a worldwide phenomenon such as Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac-Man - games that made the likes of Atari, Sinclair and Commadore household names. It also includes the games that have taken the console era by storm from Nintendo Wii to Sony Playstation and beyond - games of the modern era that have become cultural reference points in their own right including multi-million selling series such as Halo, Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil. For aficionados this is a keepsake - charting the highlights of the past fifty years giving them key information for games they must play. For those just discovering the appeal of gaming this extensive volume will provide everything they need to ensure they don't miss out on the games that revolutionized this overwhelmingly popular medium.
Idlewild
Author: Nick Sagan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101643277
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
“GRIPPING . . . the kind of book you simply don’t want to stop reading.”—Neil Gaiman He calls himself Halloween. He is a unique student attending a most prestigious boarding school—the Idlewild Immersive Virtual Reality Academy. While his body sleeps, his mind interacts with those of his fellow students under the tutelage of the enigmatic artificial intelligence known as Maestro. An inexplicable energy surge has damaged the IVR and fragmented Halloween’s mind. Convinced this anomaly was deliberately triggered to kill him, Halloween is desperate to recover his memories—only to discover a devastating revelation about his true existence. “Idlewild builds, not just in tension but in what it demands from the reader, ending up as a dark exploration of hidden realities.”—The Guardian “Sagan provides plenty of suspense and perfectly captures the angry adolescent solipsism that makes kids into hackers and superheroes.”—Entertainment Weekly
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101643277
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
“GRIPPING . . . the kind of book you simply don’t want to stop reading.”—Neil Gaiman He calls himself Halloween. He is a unique student attending a most prestigious boarding school—the Idlewild Immersive Virtual Reality Academy. While his body sleeps, his mind interacts with those of his fellow students under the tutelage of the enigmatic artificial intelligence known as Maestro. An inexplicable energy surge has damaged the IVR and fragmented Halloween’s mind. Convinced this anomaly was deliberately triggered to kill him, Halloween is desperate to recover his memories—only to discover a devastating revelation about his true existence. “Idlewild builds, not just in tension but in what it demands from the reader, ending up as a dark exploration of hidden realities.”—The Guardian “Sagan provides plenty of suspense and perfectly captures the angry adolescent solipsism that makes kids into hackers and superheroes.”—Entertainment Weekly
Drink Spiking and Predatory Drugging
Author: Pamela Donovan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137575174
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
This book analyses common perceptions about drink-spiking, a pervasive fear for many and sometimes a troubling reality. Ideas about spiked drinks have shaped the way we think about drugs, alcohol, criminal law, risk, nightspots, and socializing for over one hundred and fifty years, since the rise of modern anaesthesia and synthetic 'pharma-ubiquity'. The book offers a wide-ranging look at the constantly shifting cultural and gender politics of 'psycho-chemical treachery'. It provides rich case histories, assesses evolving scientific knowledge, and analyses the influence of social forces as disparate as Temperance and the acid enthusiasts of the 1960s. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the book will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of criminal law, forensic science, public health, and social movements.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137575174
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
This book analyses common perceptions about drink-spiking, a pervasive fear for many and sometimes a troubling reality. Ideas about spiked drinks have shaped the way we think about drugs, alcohol, criminal law, risk, nightspots, and socializing for over one hundred and fifty years, since the rise of modern anaesthesia and synthetic 'pharma-ubiquity'. The book offers a wide-ranging look at the constantly shifting cultural and gender politics of 'psycho-chemical treachery'. It provides rich case histories, assesses evolving scientific knowledge, and analyses the influence of social forces as disparate as Temperance and the acid enthusiasts of the 1960s. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the book will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of criminal law, forensic science, public health, and social movements.
Plants of the Gods
Author: Richard Evans Schultes
Publisher: Healing Arts Press
ISBN: 9780892819799
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers. • Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text. • Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world. • Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents. Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.
Publisher: Healing Arts Press
ISBN: 9780892819799
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers. • Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text. • Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world. • Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents. Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.
Psychology of the Future
Author: Stanislav Grof
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791492389
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 366
Book Description
Summarizes Grof's experiences and observations from more than forty years of research into non-ordinary states of consciousness. This accessible and comprehensive overview of the work of Stanislav Grof, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology, was specifically written to acquaint newcomers with his work. Serving as a summation of his career and previous works, this entirely new book is the source to introduce Grof's enormous contributions to the fields of psychiatry and psychology, especially his central concept of holotropic experience, where holotropic signifies "moving toward wholeness." Grof maintains that the current basic assumptions and concepts of psychology and psychiatry require a radical revision based on the intensive and systematic research of holotropic experience. He suggests that a radical inner transformation of humanity and a rise to a higher level of consciousness might be humankind's only real hope for the future. "It's rare to find a textbook that is both extremely informative and enjoyable to read. Psychology of the Future has to be one of the first ones I've ever come across ... Each chapter brought an entirely new concept, theory, or method that was just as engaging as the previous one." — Dr. Tami Brady, TCM Reviews "This book is by a pioneering genius in consciousness research. It presents the full spectrum of Grof's ideas, from his earliest mappings of using LSD psychotherapy, to his clinical work with people facing death, to his more recent work with holotropic breathing, to his latest thoughts about the cosmological implications of consciousness research and the prospects for dealing with an emerging planetary crisis. Grof has always been one of the most original thinkers in the transpersonal field, and his creativity has kept pace with the maturity of his overall vision." -- Michael Washburn, author of Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective "Grof offers an outstanding contribution to the ever-growing debate about the nature of human consciousness and about the place of humankind in the cosmos. If more psychiatrists could be persuaded that human consciousness transcends the limitations of the physical brain, and instead is but an aspect of what may best be described as 'cosmic consciousness,' we could not only expect treatment modalities to change, but we could also anticipate the possibility of culture-wide rethinking of the basic presuppositions of modern cosmology, the cosmology that grounds Western institutions, ideologies, and beliefs about the nature of personhood." -- Michael E. Zimmerman, author of Contesting Earth's Future: Radical Ecology and Postmodernity Stanislav Grof, MD, is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness. He has been Principal Investigator in a psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia; Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University; and Scholar-in-Residence at the Esalen Institute. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, conducts professional training programs in holotropic breathwork, and gives lectures and seminars worldwide. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology and the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA). In 2007, he was granted the prestigious Vision 97 award from the Vaclav and Dagmar Havel Foundation in Prague. He is the author and editor of many books, including The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration; Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science; Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy; The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness; and Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution; all published by SUNY Press.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791492389
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 366
Book Description
Summarizes Grof's experiences and observations from more than forty years of research into non-ordinary states of consciousness. This accessible and comprehensive overview of the work of Stanislav Grof, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology, was specifically written to acquaint newcomers with his work. Serving as a summation of his career and previous works, this entirely new book is the source to introduce Grof's enormous contributions to the fields of psychiatry and psychology, especially his central concept of holotropic experience, where holotropic signifies "moving toward wholeness." Grof maintains that the current basic assumptions and concepts of psychology and psychiatry require a radical revision based on the intensive and systematic research of holotropic experience. He suggests that a radical inner transformation of humanity and a rise to a higher level of consciousness might be humankind's only real hope for the future. "It's rare to find a textbook that is both extremely informative and enjoyable to read. Psychology of the Future has to be one of the first ones I've ever come across ... Each chapter brought an entirely new concept, theory, or method that was just as engaging as the previous one." — Dr. Tami Brady, TCM Reviews "This book is by a pioneering genius in consciousness research. It presents the full spectrum of Grof's ideas, from his earliest mappings of using LSD psychotherapy, to his clinical work with people facing death, to his more recent work with holotropic breathing, to his latest thoughts about the cosmological implications of consciousness research and the prospects for dealing with an emerging planetary crisis. Grof has always been one of the most original thinkers in the transpersonal field, and his creativity has kept pace with the maturity of his overall vision." -- Michael Washburn, author of Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective "Grof offers an outstanding contribution to the ever-growing debate about the nature of human consciousness and about the place of humankind in the cosmos. If more psychiatrists could be persuaded that human consciousness transcends the limitations of the physical brain, and instead is but an aspect of what may best be described as 'cosmic consciousness,' we could not only expect treatment modalities to change, but we could also anticipate the possibility of culture-wide rethinking of the basic presuppositions of modern cosmology, the cosmology that grounds Western institutions, ideologies, and beliefs about the nature of personhood." -- Michael E. Zimmerman, author of Contesting Earth's Future: Radical Ecology and Postmodernity Stanislav Grof, MD, is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness. He has been Principal Investigator in a psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia; Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University; and Scholar-in-Residence at the Esalen Institute. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, conducts professional training programs in holotropic breathwork, and gives lectures and seminars worldwide. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology and the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA). In 2007, he was granted the prestigious Vision 97 award from the Vaclav and Dagmar Havel Foundation in Prague. He is the author and editor of many books, including The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration; Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science; Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy; The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness; and Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution; all published by SUNY Press.