Sensory Dots, No-Self, and Stream-Entry: The Significance of Buddhist Contemplative Development for Transpersonal Studies

Based on the author’s nearly 50 years of meditation, it is observed that as a given alternative state is accessed and used over the span of years, experiences and capacities within that state are not merely static but may themselves shift as a practitioner develops neuropsychologically. An ethnographer using a substance within the context of a cultural practice may gain helpful direct insights into that cultural practice, but the researcher may fail to realize that the state attained by a novice may be substantively different from that gained by an elder or shaman with years of experience in the practice. The author’s meditation led to insight that visual and other phenomenal experiences are constructed out of sensory particles, or sensory dots. This practice later led to a state in which pure awareness was aware only of itself, and to an experiential realization of the Buddhist teaching of no-self

Art and Spirit: The Artistic Brain, the Navajo Concept of Hozho, and Kandinsky’s “Inner Necessity”

Most traditional art forms around the planet are an expression of the spiritual dimension of a culture’s cosmology and the spiritual experiences of individuals. Religious art and iconography often reveal the hidden aspects of spirit as glimpsed through the filter of cultural significance. Moreover, traditional art, although often highly abstract, may actually describe sensory experiences derived in alternative states of consciousness (ASC). This article analyzes the often fuzzy concepts of “art” and “spirit” and then operationalizes them in a way that makes them useful for cross-cultural transpersonal research. The fact of the universally abstract nature of traditional art is analyzed and used as a clue to the function of art in expressing and penetrating to the spiritual domain. A “continuum of representational-associational abstraction” model is introduced and described. These concepts are then applied to the author’s experiences with Navajo art and the relation between art and the important Navajo philosophical concept of hozho (which may be understood as “beauty,” “harmony,” “unity”). A perspective on art and spirit is developed that essentially supports Wassily Kandinsky’s contention that abstract art is the expression of an “inner necessity” of spirit. The article argues for a greater sensitivity among researchers and theorists for the sublime nature of spiritual art.be induced by very different means, including contemplative practices and chemical substances, and yet have different after-effects. Taken together, these ideas lead to the cautious conclusion that some psychedelics can induce genuine mystical experiences sometimes in some people, and that the current tendency to label these chemicals as entheogens may be appropriate

The Ethno-Epistemology of Transpersonal Experience: The View from Transpersonal Anthropology

This paper introduces the topic of ethno-epistemology with regards to transpersonal experiences. The distinction between polyphasic and monophasic cultures is introduced and the interaction between a society’s world view and individual transpersonal experience is explained using the cycle of meaning model. A link to philosophical work on “natural epistemology” is made and the importance of the “projectability” of cultural theories of experience is discussed. The individual contributions to this special section of the journal are introduced

Mandalas, Nixies, Goddesses, and Succubi A Transpersonal Anthropologist Looks at the Anima

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Dreaming and Reality: A Neuroanthropological Account

In what sense is dreaming real to people of different cultures? How do they come to conclude that dreaming is real, and how do they use dreams to expand their knowledge and control of real events? The reader is introduced to dream anthropology and shown that there are universal patterns to how dreams are experienced, expressed, and used by societies. The distinction between monophasic and polyphasic cultures is described, the latter being the majority of societies that consider dreaming as being in some sense real. Neuroscience supports the notion that there is a natural realism behind the experience of reality in any and all alternative states of consciousness (ASC), and that whatever the ASC, there is a transcendental set of obduracies and affordances that condition the modeling, expression, and social interpretation of experiences, most especially those encountered in archetypal (or special) dreams

The Self: A Transpersonal Neuroanthropological Account

The anthropology of the self has gained momentum recently and has produced a significant body of research relevant to interdisciplinary transpersonal studies. The notion of self has broadened from the narrow focus on cultural and linguistic labels for self-related terms, such as person, ego, identity, soul, and so forth, to a realization that the self is a vast system that mediates all the aspects of personality. This shift in emphasis has brought anthropological notions of the self into closer accord with what is known about how the brain mediates self-as-psyche. Numerous examples from the ethnography of the self are given, as are neuroscience research reports on the structure of the self. Engagement with the self is seen as an essentially transpersonal one, as self-awareness penetrates the mysteries of the transcendental self

Experience, Culture and Reality: The Significance of Fisher Information for Understanding the Relationship between Alternative States of Consciousness and the Structures of Reality

The majority of the world’s cultures encourage or require members to enter alternative states of consciousness (ASC) while involved in religious rituals. The question is, why? This paper suggests an explanation for the culturally prescribed ASC from the view of Fisher information. It argues from the position, first put forward by Emile Durkheim in his magnum opus, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, that all religions are grounded in reality. It suggests that many of the structural elements of cultural cosmologies are similar and that the ritual induction of ASC may help to bring individual experience into greater accord with a pan-human eidetic cosmology, and thus with certain invariant attributes of reality. The necessity of this process is demonstrated by recourse to Fisher information. The paper shows how experiences generated during alternative states of consciousness may help to maintain a minimal level of realism in the interests of adaptation to what is in other respects a transcendental reality

Les artefacts de la connaissance. Une perspective biogénétique structurale du symbole et de la technologie

Les artefacts de la connaissanceUne perspective biogénétique structurale du symbole et de la technologieCet article propose une explication biogénétique structurale de la technique et de la technologie. Cette perspective repose sur la reconnaissance du fait qu'une des fonctions majeures du cerveau est la construction d'un système de modèles du monde. Ce système est appelé l'" environnement cognitif " (cognized environment) de l'organisme. En partant d'une théorie de l'évolution et du fonctionnement de l'environnement cognitif, on explore ici la relation entre, d'une part, l'accomplissement et l'expression symboliques des modèles neuraux et, d'autre part, les transformations matérielles qui constituent la technologie. Les boucles de rétroaction négative et positive qui relient l'environnement cognitif et les transformations technologiques du monde sont discutées. Les implications de cette perspective pour la compréhension des problèmes de la société moderne sont abordées.The Artefacts of KnowledgeA Biogenetic Structural Account of Symbol and TechnologyA biogenetic structural explanation of technique and technology is described. A major function of the human brain is conceived to be the construction of a system of models of the world. This system is called the organism's " cognized environment ". From a theory of the evolution and functioning of the cognized environment, the relationship between symbolic fulfilment and expression of neural models on the one hand, and material transformations resulting in technology on the other hand is explored. The negative and positive feedback loops between the cognized environment and technological transformations of the world are discussed, and the implications of this view to modern society are addressed.Charles D. Laughlin Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology Carleton University-Ottawa. Ontario Canada K1S 5B

Sensory dots, no-self, and stream-entry: The significance of buddhist contemplative development for transpersonal studies

Based on the author’s nearly 50 years of meditation, it is observed that as a given alternative state is accessed and used over the span of years, experiences and capacities within that state are not merely static but may themselves shift as a practitioner develops neuropsychologically. An ethnographer using a substance within the context of a cultural practice may gain helpful direct insights into that cultural practice, but the researcher may fail to realize that the state attained by a novice may be substantively different from that gained by an elder or shaman with years of experience in the practice. The author’s meditation led to insight that visual and other phenomenal experiences are constructed out of sensory particles, or sensory dots. This practice later led to a state in which pure awareness was aware only of itself, and to an experiential realization of the Buddhist teaching of no-self

Targeted Deletion of HIF-1α Gene in T Cells Prevents their Inhibition in Hypoxic Inflamed Tissues and Improves Septic Mice Survival

Sepsis patients may die either from an overwhelming systemic immune response and/or from an immunoparalysis-associated lack of anti-bacterial immune defence. We hypothesized that bacterial superantigen-activated T cells may be prevented from contribution into anti-bacterial response due to the inhibition of their effector functions by the hypoxia inducible transcription factor (HIF-1alpha) in inflamed and hypoxic areas.Using the Cre-lox-P-system we generated mice with a T-cell targeted deletion of the HIF-1alpha gene and analysed them in an in vivo model of bacterial sepsis. We show that deletion of the HIF-1alpha gene leads to higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, stronger anti-bacterial effects and much better survival of mice. These effects can be at least partially explained by significantly increased NF-kappaB activation in TCR activated HIF-1 alpha deficient T cells.T cells can be recruited to powerfully contribute to anti-bacterial response if they are relieved from inhibition by HIF-1alpha in inflamed and hypoxic areas. Our experiments uncovered the before unappreciated reserve of anti-bacterial capacity of T cells and suggest novel therapeutic anti-pathogen strategies based on targeted deletion or inhibition of HIF-1 alpha in T cells