Understanding Religious Experience
Peter Connolly [+–]
The Open University
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Peter Connolly (PhD) was, for many years, senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Chichester, England, where he taught courses on Ethics, Indian Religion and Psychology of Religion. He has also worked as an associate lecturer in both Psychology and Religious Studies with the Open University and has delivered many courses on the history and philosophy of yoga for a number of yoga training institutions. He is fascinated by all forms of altered states of consciousness, has trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and hypnosis, and experimented with psychedelic chemicals and a variety of meditation techniques, including Divine Light, Lam Rim, Sant Mat, Transcendental Meditation and Buddhist Vipassana, all of which offer interesting perspectives on the psychology of religious experience.
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
Table of Contents
Preliminaries
Acknowledgements [+–] vi
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
Introduction
Introduction [+–] 1-11
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
PART ONE
The variety of religious experiences Numinous Experiences Mystical Experiences Everyday Religious Experiences
PART TWO
Some cartographic accounts of religious experience Ken Wilber’s integral spirituality Roland Fischer’s cartography of ecstatic and meditative states My model of ASCs and spirituality 1. Religious Experiences and Trance States 2. Myths, Religious Rituals and Trance States
PART THREE
Loose Ends [+–] 121-151
Neurological Research ‘Authentic’ Religious Experience
End Matter
Notes [+–] 153-210
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
Bibliography [+–] 211-221
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
Index [+–] 223-225
This work seeks to answer a number of fundamental questions about religious experiences. It thus addresses issues such as what it is that makes such experiences ‘religious,’ whether some religious experiences are more ‘authentic’ than others and whether these experiences provide insights into otherwise inaccessible regions of reality or are products of the brains of those who have them. The author draws upon a number of scholarly perspectives in the course of this project, primarily phenomenological, philosophical and psychological ones, though research from other academic disciplines has also been incorporated.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781781797327
Price (Hardback)
£75.00 / $100.00
ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9781781797334
Price (Paperback)
£24.95 / $29.95
ISBN (eBook)
9781781797341
Price (eBook)
Individual
£24.95 / $29.95
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
£24.95 / $29.95
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
Publication
01/02/2019
Pages
232
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
students and scholars
Illustration
11 figures
