At the 1975 Winter Conference on Brain Research a series of workshops were held to discuss the role of the sensory environment in the etiology and therapy of brain dysfunction. The participants represented a broad range of disciplines ranging from basic neuro science through human development psychology. They were linked by a common belief that the role of the sensory environment in brain dysfunction had received insufficient attention. Each had made contributions to this question in their own respective disciplines and it was hoped that this meeting would provide an opportunity for cross fertilization and synthesis. From these workshops this book evolved. Its production would have been impossible without the help of many people. Anna Taylor's flexibility allowed the holding of a larger than normal workshop, while the authors bore up well under editorial pressure to meet deadlines. Linda Coleman and Phyllis Straw provided excellent support from Plenum while Therese Linden gave editorial assistance. Valarie Munden, Rosemary Schmele, and Estelle Hoffman did an excellent job of typing. RNW was supported by a Fellowship from the Foundations' Fund for Research in Psychiatry. As always, our families provided continuous support and encouragement. To all these people and more we say thank you. Roger N. Walsh M.D., B.Med.Sc., Dip.Psychol., Ph.D. William T. Greenough, Ph.D."

"Essential Spirituality beautifully articulates the benefits of spiritual living in the material world."–Dan Millman, author, Everyday Enlightenment and The Way of the Peaceful Warrior"Deceptively simple. Its power is rooted not only in Dr. Walsh’s formidable intellectual capacity to deal effectively with a vast body of religious literature but in his own deep spiritual practices in a multitude of disciplines over many years. An important contribution."–Ram Dass, author, Be Here Now "An absolute masterpiece . . . Essential Spirituality is helpful to both the unseasoned and seasoned seeker. The writing is deep, simple, and clear yet at the same time poetic and musical. A must read."–GERALD G. JAMPOLSKY, M.D. author, Love Is Letting Go of Fear

"Energetic, engaged, and occasionally electrifying. . . . The field of spiritual books has been looking for its own Lewis Thomas or Carl Sagan, and I believe Roger Walsh may be that one."–KEN WILBeR, author, One Taste and A Brief History of Everything

Based on over twenty years of research and spiritual practice, this is a groundbreaking and life-changing book. In his decades of study, Dr. Roger Walsh has discovered that each of the great spiritual traditions has both a common goal and seven common practices to reach that goal: recognizing the sacred and divine that exist both within and around us. Filled with stories, exercises, meditations, myths, prayers, and practical advice, Essential Spirituality shows how you can integrate these seven principles into one truly rewarding way of life in which kindness, love, joy, peace, vision, wisdom, and generosity become an ever-growing part of everything you do.

Reveals how psychedelics can facilitate spiritual development and direct encounters with the sacred • With contributions by Albert Hofmann, Huston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Charles Tart, Alexander “Sasha� Shulgin, Brother David Steindl-Rast, and many others • Includes personal accounts of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment as well as a 25-year follow-up with its participants Modern organized religion is based predominantly on secondary religious experience--we read about others’ extraordinary spiritual encounters with God but have no direct experience ourselves. Yet there exist powerful sacraments to help us directly experience the sacred, to help us seek out the meaning of being human and our place in the universe, and to help us see the sacred in the world that surrounds us. In this book, more than 25 spiritual leaders, scientists, and psychedelic visionaries examine how we can return to the primary spiritual encounters at the basis of all religions through the guided use of psychedelics. With contributions by Albert Hofmann, Huston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Charles Tart, Alexander “Sasha� Shulgin, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Myron Stolaroff, and many others, this book explores protocols for ceremonial and spiritual use of psychedelics, including LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and MDMA, and the challenges of transforming entheogenic insights into enduring change. It examines psychoactive sacraments in the Bible, myths surrounding the use of LSD, and the transformative ayahuasca rituals of Santo Daime. The book also includes personal accounts of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment as well as a 25-year follow-up with its participants.

In "Higher Wisdom," 14 eminent thinkers offer their fascinating anecdotes, invaluable knowledge, and hard-won wisdom--the culmination of 50 years of research and reflection--on the subject of psychedelics, one of the most intriguing and challenging topics of our time. "A reminder of the remarkable promise and peril of what are broadly called psychedelics."--Ken Wilber, author of "A Brief History of Everything."

In one of the first attempts to bring an integral dimension to sociology, Ken Wilber introduces a system of reliable methods by which to make testable judgments of the authenticity of any religious movement. "A Sociable God" is a concise work based on Wilber's "spectrum of consciousness" theory, which views individual and cultural development as an evolutionary continuum. Here he focuses primarily on worldviews (archaic, magic, mythic, mental, psychic, subtle, causal, nondual) and evaluates various cultural and religious movements on a scale ranging from egocentric to ethnocentric to worldcentric to Kosmic. By using this integral view, Wilber hopes, society would be able to discriminate between dangerous cults and authentic spiritual paths. In addition, he points out why these distinctions are crucial in understanding spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness. In a lengthy new introduction, the author brings the reader up to date on his latest integral thinking and concludes that, for the succinct and elegant way it argues for a sociology of depth, "A Sociable God" remains a clarion call for a greater sociology.

For half a century psychedelics have rumbled through the Western world, seeding a subculture, titillating the media, fascinating youth, terrifying parents, enraging politicians, and intriguing researchers. Not surprisingly, these curious chemicals fascinated some of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century, fourteen of whom were interviewed for this book. Because no further human research can be done, these researchers constitute an irreplaceable resource. Higher Wisdom offers their fascinating anecdotes, invaluable knowledge, and hard-won wisdom--the culmination of fifty years of research and reflection on one of the most intriguing and challenging topics of our time.