While meditation may be ideal for some individuals, others with poorly developed ego structures may be harmed by engaging in intensive spiritual practices designed to dissolve the boundaries of the ego, according to Seymour Boorstein, M.D.. A psychoanalyst and editor of Transpersonal Psychotherap...

One can approach understanding the mind-body connection through many disciplines, such as dance, massage, biofeedback, martial arts, yoga, etc. Eleanor Criswell, Ed.D., psychologist and managing editor of Somatics, points out that this body of traditions suggests enormous, untapped possibilities ...

Logically, the Self is pure awareness which transcends all of the objects of perception. Swami Dayananda is a member of the Order of Sanyasins, or spiritual renunciates. He suggests that we often confuse this true self, which is awareness itself, with the objects of awareness--such as our own bod...

We all limit ourselves by attachment to old attitudes and outworn ideas. James Fadiman, Ph.D., author of Be All That You Are, offers several techniques to help us recognize and discard such attitudes and set goals for the changes we desire. A distinguished humanistic psychologist, Dr. Fadiman is ...

Through quieting the mind we become aware of our unconscious tensions and the act of awareness itself serves to heal those tensions. Buddhist teacher of Vipassana (mindfulness) meditation, clinical psychologist and author of Living Masters of Buddhism and A Clear Forest Pool, Jack Kornfield, Ph.D...

The Tibetan lamas are specialists in understanding the "bardo" planes of the afterlife. Ole Nydahl is among the first westerners to be trained as a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master. Philosopher and author of Entering the Diamond Way, Nydahl describes the mind as a pure, limitless field where ou...

Ole Nydahl a trained Tibetan Buddhist meditation master in the Kagyupa tradition, takes us step by step through the teaching--first quieting the mind, then focusing on four motivations for meditation, and finally taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. He also discusses the signif...

Higher states of consciousness and the notion of the superconscious mind have great implications for our identity as human beings. According to Kevin Ryerson, the superconscious mind is that part of us which is in direct contact with God. Ryerson is a noted intuitive consultant and trance channel.

Changes in the human brain and nervous system can result from intensive spiritual disciplines. The late Lee Sannella, M.D., author of Kundalini: Psychosis or Transcendence?, devoted many decades to the exploration of spiritual paths. "Kundalini" refers to energy coiled at the base of the spine wh...

The average human is functioning in an unawakened state, according to Russian philosopher and mystic George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Psychologist Kathleen Speeth, Ph.D., author of The Gurdjieff Work and Gurdjieff: Seeker of the Truth, was raised by parents who were students of Gurdjieff, whom she met...

The underlying cause of most social and personal problems is lack of mindfulness. Psychologist Charles Tart, Ph.D., author of States of Consciousness and Waking Up, discusses how difficult it is to translate meditative awareness to the problems of daily life. He describes the training methods of ...

Countless factors can mitigate against self-observation in Western society. Charles Tart, Ph.D., noted psychologist and author of Waking Up, suggests we begin by learning to focus on seemingly trivial details such as bodily sensations. Through repeated and diligent practice, he says, the process ...

Our normal waking state of consciousness can be likened to being "asleep" in comparison to other states of awareness we might attain. In this intriguing discussion, psychologist Charles Tart, Ph.D., author of Altered States of Consciousness and Waking Up, suggests that we can begin to "wake up" b...

The late Irina Tweedie is the author of Daughter of Fire, a diary of her intensive spiritual training in India with a Hindu Sufi master. In this moving and personal interview, Mrs. Tweedie, who was a Sufi teacher in London, describes the bliss, peace and love--and the despair, hatred and loneline...

The Sufis are inheritors of a tradition which has influenced many world religions. Their work, which involves dreams, altered states of consciousness and teaching stories, is to further the evolution of humanity by offering deep intuitive training to select individuals. The late Mrs. Irina Tweedi...

Meditation practices can lead to permanent changes in awareness of the self and the transcendence of the ego. Shinzen Young is an ordained Buddhist Monk and scholar of Buddhism. After about a year of meditative practice, he says, one establishes open access to a realm of altered states of awarene...