The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology - Vol. 25.1 (1993) PDF

Volume 25
Number 1, 1993
The art of transcendence: An introduction to common elements of

transpersonal practices 1
Roger Walsh & Frances Vaughan
Transpersonal psychology research review:

Psychospiritual dimensions of healing 11
David Lukoff, Robert Turner
& Francis G. Lu
Reflections of shaktipat: Psychosis or the rise of kundalini? A case study 29

Jon Ossoff
The physio-kundalini syndrome and mental illness 43

Bruce Greyson
Death and near-death: A comparison of Tibetan and Euro-American experiences 59

Christopher Carr
REVIEW
The transpersonal: Psychotherapy and counseling. Rowan
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EDITORIAL Miles A Vich, editor
STAFF
James Fadiman, Sonja Margulies,
John Welwood, associate editors
Ken Wilber, consulting editor
Paul M. Clemens, technical editor
Michael S. Hutton, assistant editor
Francis G. Lu, David Lukoff, research review co-editors
FIELD Marcie Boucouvalas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

EDITORS Jack Engler, Schiff Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jacques Maquet, University of California, Los Angeles
BOARD OF Medard Boss, University of Zurich, Switzerland

EDITORS J .F. Bugental, Santa Rosa, California
James Fadiman, Menlo Park, California
Viktor Frankl, University of Vienna, Austria
Daniel Goleman, New York, New York
Alyce M. Green, Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas
Elmer E. Green, Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas
Stanislav Grof, Esalen, Big Sur, California
Herbert V. Guenther, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Stanley Krippner, San Francisco, California
Lawrence LeShan, New York, New York
John Levy, San Francisco, California
Sonja Margulies, Sunnyvale, California
Michael Murphy, San Rafael, California
Huston Smith, Syracuse University, New York
Charles T. Tart, University of California, Davis
Frances E. Vaughan, Tiburon, California
Miles A. Vich, Palo Alto, California
Thomas N. Weide, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Roberto Assagioli (1888-1974) Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)

Hubert Bonner (1901-1970) Gabriel Margulies (1931-1981)
Alister Brass (1937-1987) Abraham H. Maslow (1908-1970)
Charlotte Buhler (1893-1974) Walter N. Pahnke (1931-1971)
Robert Hartman (1910-1973) Chogyam Trungpa (1939-1987)
Sidney M. Jourard (1926-1974) Alan Watts (1915-1973)
Anthony J. Sutich (1907-1976), founding editor, 1969-1976

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 1, 1993
THE JOURNAL OF TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Editors note iv TABLE

OF CONTENTS
The art of transcendence: An introduction to
common elements of transpersonal practices 1
Roger Walsh & Frances Vaughan
Transpersonal psychology research review:

Psychospiritual dimensions of healing 11
David Lukoff, Robert Turner & Francis G. Lu
Reflections of shaktipat: Psychosis or

the rise of kundalini? A case study 29
Jon Ossoff
The physio-kundalini syndrome and mental illness 43

Bruce Greyson
Death and near-death: A comparison of Tibetan

and Euro-American experiences 59
Christopher Carr
Book review 111
Books noted 113
Books our editors are reading 114
About the authors 116
Abstracts 117
Back issues 119

editors note With this issue, the Journal begins its twenty-fifth year of contin
uous publication. For any periodical this would be a notable
achievement, but perhaps of more significance for JTP is the
degree to which the field of transpersonal psychology has devel
oped since this Journal was first published in 1969.
Roger Walsh and Frances Vaughans opening article exemplifies

this. They draw on both the oldest wisdom traditions and contem
porary transpersonal explorations. Their presentation recognizes
historical roots and an expanding body of new contributions to the
art and technology of transcendence.
The growing range and depth of transpersonal topics is also

evident in Lukoff, Turner and Lus Research Review of Psycho
spiritual Dimensions of Healing. They include an announcement
of the recent acceptance of a new clinical category, Religious or
Spiritual Problem, for problems not attributable to a mental
disorderan indication of how much professional thinking is
moving in these directions.
When JTP first appeared, the Western psychological and psychi

atric literature was without any significant mention of kundalini,
or near-death experiencesalthough these phenomena were rec
ognized outside of psychology. Now, kundalini case material is
accumulatingas Ossoff's dramatic and detailed report illus
trates. Also, comparison-group research is refining similarities
and differences, as shown by Greysons study of psychiatric
patients, Near-Death Experiencers and control subjects.
About the time J T P first appeared, Tibetan Buddhists were begin

ning to teach in the West. Interest in the Tibetan books of the dead
and meditation training drew increasingly serious attention.
When, a decade later, Euro-American Near-Death Experience
reports appeared in the research literature, some parallels were
seen with the Tibetan materials. Work in these areas has now
progressed such that anthropologist Christopher Carr believes a
genuine comparison can be made. His careful study, drawing
crossculturally from different psychologies and world views,
could not have been done twenty-five years ago. Today, however,
his research, and that of the many authors who have appeared in
this Journal, is part of a wave of cultural change that has ever-
increasing ramifications.
THE ART OF TRANSCENDENCE:
AN INTRODUCTION TO
COMMON ELEMENTS OF
TRANSPERSONAL PRACTICES
Roger Walsh
Irvine, California
Frances Vaughan
Mill Valley, California
We must close our eyes

and invoke a new manner of seeing . . .
a wakefulness that is the birthright of us all,
though few put it to use.
(Plotinus, 1964)
When historians look back at the twentieth century, they may

conclude that two of the most important breakthroughs in Western
psychology were not discoveries of new knowledge but recogni
tions of old wisdom.
First, psychological maturation can continue far beyond our ar

bitrary, culture-bound definitions of normality (Wilber, 1980;
Wilber et al., 1986). There exist further developmental possibilities further
latent within us all. As William James put it, most people live, developmental
whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted possibilities
circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small
portion of their possible consciousness. . . . We all have reservoirs
of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.
Second, techniques exist for realizing these reservoirs of life or

transpersonal potentials. These techniques are part of an art and
technology that has been refined over thousands of years in hun
dreds of cultures and constitutes the contemplative core of the
The authors would like to thank all those who contributed to the writing of this
article, especially Sonja Margulies, K.en Wilber and Bonnie LAllier.
The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1 1

worlds great religious traditions. This is the art of transcendence,
designed to catalyze transpersonal development (Walsh, 1990;
Walsh & Vaughan, 1993). As such it is based on two fundamental
assumptions about the nature and potentials of the mind.
The first assumption is that our usual state of consciousness is

suboptimal. In fact, it has been described in terms such as clouded,
distorted, dreamlike, entranced and largely out of control. This has
been recognized by psychologists and mystics of both East and
West (Huxley, 1945; Mikulis, 1991; Tart, 1986). For Freud (1917)
it was the culture-shaking recognition that man is not even master
in his own house ... his own mind, that echoed the Bhagavad
Gita's despairing cry two thousand years earlier:
Restless (the) mind is,

So strongly shaken
In the grip of the senses:
Gross and grown hard
With stubborn desire.........
Truly, I think
The wind is no wilder.
(Prabhavananda & Isherwood, 1944)
In the words of Ram Dass (1975), we are all prisoners of our own
mind. This realization is the first step on the journey to freedom.
Or as Pir Vilayat Khan put it even more succinctly, The bind is in
the mind.
training The second assumption is that although the untrained mind is

catalyzes clouded and out of control, it can be trained and clarified, and this
transpersonal training catalyzes transpersonal potentials. This is a central theme
potentials of the perennial philosophy. For Socrates:
In order that the mind should see light instead of darkness, so the entire
soul must be turned away from this changing world, until its eye can
bear to contemplate reality and that supreme splendor which we call
the Good. Hence there may well be an art whose aim would be to affect
this very thing (Plato, 1945).
Likewise, according to Ramana Maharshi (1955), All scriptures

without any exception proclaim that for salvation mind should be
subdued.
Although practices and techniques vary widely, there seem to be

six common elements that constitute the heart of the art of transcen
dence: ethical training, concentration, emotional transformation,
redirection of motivation, refinement of awareness, and the cultiva
tion of wisdom. The purpose of this paper is to provide a synoptic
introduction to the art of transcendence and its common elements in
the hope of stimulating appreciation, research and practice of them.
2 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1

SIX COMMON ELEMENTS
Ethics
Ethics is widely regarded as an essential foundation of trans

personal development. However, contemplative traditions view
ethics, not in terms of conventional morality, but rather as an
essential discipline for training the mind. Contemplative introspec
tion renders it painfully apparent that unethical behavior both stems
from and reinforces destructive mental factors such as greed and
anger. Conversely, ethical behavior undermines these and culti
vates mental factors such as kindness, compassion and calm. Ulti
mately, after transpersonal maturation occurs, ethical behavior is
said to flow spontaneously as a natural expression of identification
with all people and all life (Radhakrishnan, 1929). For a person at
this stage, which corresponds to Lawrence Kohlbergs (1981) high
est or seventh stage of moral developmenta stage that Kohlberg
felt required transcendent experienceWhatever is . . . thought
to be necessary for sentient beings happens all the time of its own
accord (Gampopa, 1971).
Attentional Training
Attentional training and the cultivation of concentration are re

garded as essential for overcoming the fickle wanderlust of the
untrained mind (Goleman, 1988). As E.F. Schumacher (1973)
observed of attention, No topic occupies a more central place in all the
traditional teaching; and no subject suffers more neglect, misunder fickle
standing, and distortion in the thinking of the modem world. wanderlust
of
Attentional training is certainly misunderstood by Western psy the
chology, which has unquestioningly accepted William James cen- untrained
tury-old conclusion that Attention cannot be continuously sus mind
tained (James, 1899/1962). Yet James went further: The faculty
of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention over and over
again is the very root of judgement, character and will. No one is
compos sui if he have it not. An education which would improve
this faculty would be the education par excellence. ... It is easier
to define this ideal than to give practical direction for bringing it
about (James, 1910/1950). Here, then, we have a stark contrast
between traditional Western psychology, which says attention can
not be sustained, and the art of transcendence, which says that
attention can and must be sustained, if we are to mature beyond
conventional developmental limits.
Being able to direct attention at will is so important because the

mind tends to take on qualities of the objects to which it attends
(Goldstein, 1983). For example, thinking of an angry person tends
The Art of Transcendence 3

to elicit anger while thinking of a loving person may elicit feelings
of love. The person who can control attention can therefore control
and cultivate specific emotions and motives.
Emotional Transformation
Ethical behavior and attentional stability facilitate the third element

of the art of transcendence: emotional transformation. There appear
to be three components to emotional transformation.
The first is the reduction of destructive emotions such as fear and

anger, a process which is well known in mainstream Western
therapy. Of course, what is implied here is not repression or sup
pression but rather clear awareness of such emotions and con
sciously relinquishing them where appropriate.
The second component is the cultivation of positive emotions such

the as love, joy and compassion. Whereas conventional Western thera
cultivation pies have many techniques for reducing negative emotions, they
of have virtually none for enhancing positive emotions such as these.
positive In contrast, the art of transcendence contains a wealth of practices
emotions for cultivating these emotions to an intensity and extent undreamed
of in Western psychology. Thus, for example, the Buddhists com
passion, the Bhaktis love, and the Christians agape are said to
reach their full flowering only when they unconditionally and
unwaveringly encompass all creatures, without exception and
without reserve (Kongtrul, 1987; Singer, 1987).
This intensity and scope of positive emotion is facilitated by a third

component of emotional transformation: the cultivation of equa
nimity. This is an imperturbability that fosters mental equilibrium
and as such it helps emotions such as love and compassion to
remain unconditional and unwavering even under duress. This
capacity is analogous to the Stoics apatheia, the Christian
Fathers divine apatheia, the Buddhists equanimity, the contem
porary philosopher Franklin Merrell-Wolffs high indifference,
the Hindus samatva which leads to a vision of sameness, and the
Taoist principle of the equality of things, which leads beyond
the trouble of preferring one thing to another.
Motivation
Ethical behavior, attentional stability and emotional transformation

all work together, along with practices such as meditation, to
redirect motivation along healthier, more transpersonal directions.

The net effect is a change in the direction, variety and focus of
motivation as well as a reduction in its compulsivity.
Traditionally it is said that motivation becomes less scattered and

more focused; the things desired become more subtle and more
internal. Desires gradually become less self-centered and more
self-transcendent with less emphasis on getting and more on giv
ing. Supportive findings from contemporary research suggest that
psychological maturity is associated with a shift from egocentric to
allocentric (concern for others) motivation (Heath, 1983).
Traditionally this motivational shift was seen as purification or

as giving up attachment to the world. In contemporary terms it
seems analogous to movement up Maslows (1971) hierarchy of
needs, Arnold Toynbees process of etherealization, the means
for, and result of, a life-style of voluntary simplicity (Elgin, 1981),
and the means for reaching the philosopher Kierkegaards goal in
which purity of heart is to will one thing.
In addition to redirecting motivation, the art of transcendence

involves reducing its compulsive power. The result is said to be a
serene disenchantment with the things of the world which no longer
exert a blinding fascination or compulsive pull. This is the Buddhist
nibbidda and the yogic viraga and is the basis of the Athenian
philosopher Epicurus claim that the way to make people happy is
not to add to their riches but to reduce their desires. This claim is the
explicitly formulated in the Buddhas Third Noble Truth which reduction
states that the end of craving leads to the end of suffering. of
compulsive
The reduction of compulsive craving is therefore said to result in a craving
corresponding reduction in intrapsychic conflict, a claim now sup
ported by studies of advanced meditators (Walsh, 1993; Wilber et
al., 1986).
This is not to imply that redirecting motives and relinquishing

craving is necessarily easy. In Aristotles estimate, I count him
braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his
enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self (Schindler
& Lapid, 1989).
Refining A wareness
The great wisdom traditions agree that in our usual untrained state
of mind, awarenessboth perceptual and intuitiveis insensitive
and impaired: fragmented by attentional instability, colored by
clouding emotions, and distorted by scattered desires. Accordingly

we are said to mistake shadows for reality (Plato) because we see
through a glass darkly (St. Paul), a reducing value (Aldous
Huxley), or narrow chinks (Blake).
The fifth element of the art of transcendence, therefore, aims to

refine awareness. Perception is to be rendered more sensitive, more
accurate, and more appreciative of the freshness and novelty of
each moment of experience. Likewise, intuitive capacities, usually
blunted or blinded, are to be cultivated (Vaughan, 1979). One of the
primary tools for this is meditation.
Meditators notice that both internal and external perception be

comes more sensitive, colors seem brighter, and the inner world
becomes more available. These subjective experiences have re
cently found experimental support from research, which indicates
that meditators perceptual processing can become more sensitive
and rapid, and empathy more accurate (Murphy & Donovan, 1988;
West, 1987; Shapiro & Walsh, 1984; Walsh & Vaughan, 1993).
As the psychiatric historian Henrie Ellenberger (1970) observed,

to The natural tendency of the mind is to roam through the past and
keep the future; it requires a certain effort to keep ones attention in the
one's present. Meditation is training in precisely that effort. The result is
attention a present-centered freshness of perception variously described as
in mindfulness (Buddhism), anuragga (Hinduism), the sacrament of
the the present moment (Christianity), the draught of forgetfulness
present in which one forgets the past and comes anew into each present
moment (Steiner), and characteristic of self-actualizers (Maslow,
1971). Refinement of outer perception is said to be accompanied by
a refinement of inner intuitive capacities. Contemporary research
ers report finding introspective sensitization (West, 1987) where
as ancient wisdom traditions speak metaphorically of the develop
ment of an inner perceptual organ or the opening of an inner eye:
the eye of the soul (Plato), the eye of the heart (Sufism), the eye of
the Tao (Taoism), the third eye (Tibetan), or the Western philoso
phers nous or intellectus. For an excellent review see Hustom
Smith (1993).
When we see things clearly, accurately, sensitively and freshly, we

can respond empathically and appropriately. Thus both ancient
wisdom traditions and modem psychotherapies agree with Fritz
Peris (1969), the founder of Gestalt therapy, that Awareness per
seby and of itselfcan be curative.
Wisdom
The sixth quality cultivated by the art of transcendence is wisdom.

Traditionally, wisdom is regarded as something significantly more

than knowledge. Whereas knowledge is something we have, wis
dom is something we must be. Developing it requires self-transfor
mation. This transformation is fostered by opening defenselessly to
the reality of things as they are, including the enormous extent of
suffering in the world. In the words of the Psalms, this is the
recognition that our lives are only toil and trouble; they are soon
gone, our years come to an end like a sigh (Psalm 90 HRS). Who
can live and never see death? (Psalm 89 HRS).
In our own time it is existentialism that has emphasized this recog

nition most forcefully (Yalom, 1981). With its graphic description
of the inevitable existential challenges of meaninglessness, free
dom and death it has rediscovered aspects of the Buddhas First
Noble Truth which holds that unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) is an
inherent part of existence. Both existentialism and the wisdom
traditions agree that, in the words of Thomas Hardy (1926), if a
way to the Better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst.
Whereas existentialism leaves us marooned in a no-exit situation of

heightened awareness of existential limits and suffering, the art of
transcendence offers a way out. For existentialism, wisdom con the
sists of recognizing these painful facts of life and accepting them art
with authenticity, resoluteness (Heidegger), and courage (Tillich). of
However, for contemplative traditions this existential attitude is a transcendence
preliminary rather than a final wisdom and is used to redirect offers
motivation away from trivial, egocentric pursuits toward the con a way
templative practices that lead to deeper wisdom. Deeper wisdom out
recognizes that the sense of being marooned in a no-exit situation
of limits and suffering can be transcended through transforming the
self that seems to suffer (Vaughan, 1986). This transformation
springs from the development of direct intuitive insightbeyond
thoughts, concepts or images of any kindinto the nature of mind,
self, consciousness and cosmos. This insight is the basis for the
transrational liberating wisdom variously known in the East as
jnana (Hinduism),prajna (Buddhism), or ma'rifah (Islam), and in
the West as gnosis or scientia sacra. And with this liberation the
goal of the art of transcendence is realized.
DISCUSSION
These, then, seem to be six essential, common elements, processes

or qualities of mind that constitute the heart of the art and technol
ogy of transcendence. Of course different practices and traditions
focus more on some processes than on others. For example, Indian
philosophy divides practices into various yogas (Feuerstein, 1989).
All of them acknowledge ethics as an essential foundation. Raja
yoga emphasizes meditation and the training of attention and
awareness; Bhakti yoga is more emotional and focuses on the

cultivation of love; Karma yoga uses work in the world to refine
motivation, and Jnana yoga hones the intellect and wisdom.
However, the capacities of mind developed by the art of transcen

dence are highly interdependent and the development of one fosters
the development of others. This interdependence has long been
recognized by both Eastern and Western philosophers who held
that every virtue requires other virtues to complete it (Murphy,
1992, p. 558). Therefore, to the extent a tradition is authenticthat
is, capable of fostering transpersonal development and transcen
dence (Wilber, 1983)to that extent it may cultivate and balance
these elements of the art of transcendence. Hopefully it will not be
long before this art is better appreciated and its study and practice
are widespread.
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TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
RESEARCH REVIEW:
PSYCH OSPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS
OF HEALING
David Lukoff
San Francisco, California
Robert Turner
Francis G. Lu
Since the last Research Review (Lukoff, Turner & Lu, 1992),
which focused on the psychoreligious dimensions of healing, there
have been significant developments on several fronts. In the diag
nostic nomenclature, the medical and psychiatric establishments,
and the media, spirituality has been acknowledged as an important
aspect of a persons well-being. Most encouraging for trans-
personally-oriented clinicians is the acceptance by the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) Task Force on DSM-IV of the pro religious
posed new Z Code (formerly V Code) category entitled Religious and
or Spiritual Problem (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1992). Although spiritual
revision of the definition and official acceptance by the APA Board problems
of Trustees is still pending, it seems likely that, for the first time, not
this important diagnostic classification manual used in the United attributable
States, Canada, and abroad will acknowledge religious and spiri to a
tual problems that are not attributable to a mental disorder. mental
disorder
Within the medical establishment, religious and spiritual forms of
healing were also acknowledged in the prestigious New England
Journal of Medicine. Eisenberg, Kessler, Foster, Norlock, Calkins
and Delbanco (1993) documented that the frequency of use of
The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Lisa Dunkel, M.L.S., Uni
versity of California, San Francisco, in conducting the computerized bibliographic
searches used in the preparation of this article.

unconventional therapies in the United States is far higher than
previously reported. One in three respondents (34%) reported using
at least one unconventional therapy in the past year. In addition,
Roughly 1 in 4 Americans who see their medical doctors for a
serious health problem may be using unconventional therapy in
addition to conventional medicine for that problem (p. 251).
Several of the unconventional therapies were psychospiritual in
nature (e.g., spiritual healing, prayer, homeopathy, energy healing,
and imagery).
Similarly, an increasing number of presentations addressing reli

gious or spiritual issues in clinical practice are being made at the
American Psychiatric Association Annual Meetings. In 1993, there
were at least a dozen workshops, courses and symposia in the
scientific program. Topics included: Religious Issues in Resi
dency Training, Transpersonal Psychiatry, Existential and
Spiritual Issues in PTSD Treatment, and a Practicum on Spiritual
Issues in Treatment.
increasing In the scientific literature, there also seems to be increasing recog

recognition nition of the relevance of religiosity and spirituality to mental
in health. Since the last Research Review on psychoreligious dimen
the sions of healing, we became aware that Larson, Hohmann, Kessler,
scientific Meador, Boyd and McSherry (1988) published a study entitled
literature The Couch and the Cloth: The Need for Linkage in a widely-
distributed journal of the American Psychiatric Association.
Larson, Sherrill, Lyons, Craigie, Thielman, Greenwold and Larson
(1992) also published a report in the American Journal of Psychia
try showing the positive relationship between religious commit
ment and mental health. Mathews and Larson (1992) compiled an
extensive bibliography of research on religious and spiritual sub
jects. In the clinical arena, there have also been publications ad
dressing religious and spiritual issues in psychotherapy; for ex
ample, the book Sacred Landscapes (Randour, 1993) contains case
studies and essays on this subject, and Spiritual Dimensions of
Healing is a comprehensive cross-cultural examination of this
topic.
Finally, the media has extended awareness of these issues to the

population at large. In addition to the extensive coverage given to
the New England Journal of Medicine article discussed above, the
media also targeted religious and spiritual aspects of healing in
television shows, magazine articles and newspaper articles. Bill
Moyers five-part television series on Healing and the Mind
brought these issues into the living rooms of millions. Newsweek
(January 6, 1992) featured a cover article entitled Talking to God:
An intimate look at the way we pray. The New York Times
published a report on changes in how Therapists see religion as an
aid, not illusion (Goleman, 1991).

This review article, the second of a three-part series, addresses the
psychospiritual dimensions of healing. While there is no consensus
as to the boundaries between religiosity and spirituality, we con
tinue to adhere in this review to the distinction most frequently
drawn between them in the literature. Religiosity refers to adher
ence to the beliefs and practices of an organized church or religious
institution (Shafranske & Malony, 1990, p. 72). Spirituality de
scribes the transcendental relationship between the person and a
Higher Being, a quality that goes beyond a specific religious
affiliation (Peterson & Nelson, 1987).
Considering that we recently reviewed research on mystical experi

ences in a previous Research Review (Lukoff & Lu, 1988), and that
studies on meditation have been comprehensively reviewed by
Murphy and Donovan (1988), we have focused on the topics of
a
mystical experience and meditation in this review. Although they
search
are clearly related to psychospiritual dimensions of healing, we
chose to focus on less well-known aspects, including the spiritual of
Medline,
ity of the general public and mental health professionals, phenom
PsychlNFO,
enology of psychospiritual life, assessment of spirituality, social
Religion Index
dimensions of psychospiritual health, and treatment of psycho
and
spiritual problems. To obtain journal references, we conducted a
authors sources
computerized search of the literature contained in Medline, Psych-
INFO, and the Religion Index. Books were located through a
search of the reference lists in these articles, and through the
authors acquaintance with them.
SPIRITUALITY OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
In the previous Research Review (Lukoff et al., 1992), we ab

stracted research documenting the existence of a religiosity gap
between the general public and mental health professionals. Mental
health professionals place far less importance on religion than do
the general public and patient populations. Psychiatrists and psy
chologists are relatively uninvolved in religion, and 50-60% de
scribe themselves as atheists or agnostics in contrast to 1 -5% of the
population. However, the studies abstracted below indicate that
there is not a comparable spirituality gap between the experi
ences, beliefs and practices of mental health professionals and
those of the public.
Shafranske, E. P. & Gorsuch, R. L. (1984). Factors associated with

the perception of spirituality in psychotherapy. Journal of Transper
sonal Psychology, 16(2), 231-41.
Method: A survey was sent to 1400 members of the California State

Psychological Association. The return rate was 29%. Findings: While
only 23% of the sample reported themselves to be committed to a
Transpersonal Psychology Research Review: Psychospiritual Dimensions of Healing 13

traditional religious institution, 33% indicated that they were involved
in an alternative spiritual path that was not part of a religious institu
tion. The psychologists indicated a high level of agreement with the
statement: Spirituality has direct relevance to my personal life. The
authors concluded that while these psychologists were less religious in
terms of affiliation and participation in traditional religious institutions
than the general population, most perceived spirituality as important in
their lives. However, the context in which this spirituality is experi
enced, i.e., the form of participation, and the belief orientation, is found
primarily outside mainstream religion (p. 237).
Shafranske, E. P. & Malony, H. N. (1990). Clinical psychologists

religious and spiritual orientations and their practice of psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy, 27, 72-78.
Method: A sample of 1000 randomly selected psychologists from the

APA Division of Clinical Psychology were sent a 65-item question
naire. 409 were returned. Findings: While only 18% agreed that
organized religion was the primary source of their spirituality, 51%
characterized themselves as following an alternative spiritual path
which is not a part of an organized religion. Spirituality was reported
to be personally relevant by 65% of the psychologists. The authors
concluded: The findings . . . and the limited training which clinicians
report to receive, point to the need for the profession to reflect upon its
fundamental attitudes towards religion and spirituality (p. 78).
In the Allman, de la Roche, Elkins and Weathers (1992) study

abstracted below, 64% of the psychologists surveyed responded
none when asked how many religious services they attended per
month, but 66% rated spirituality as important or very impor
tant. This study also found that 50% of the psychologists reported
personally having a mystical experience, which is significantly
higher than the 30-40% incidence of mystical experiences in the
general population (Lukoff & Lu, 1988).
Another survey (Bergin & Jensen, 1990) of psychiatrists, psycholo

gists, social workers and marriage and family counselors found that
68% endorsed the item indicating that they: Seek a spiritual
understanding of the universe and ones place in it. The authors
concluded: There may be a reservoir of spiritual interests among
therapists that is often unexpressed due to the secular framework of
professional education and practice (p. 3). They named this phe
nomenon spiritual humanism and indicated that it could provide
the basis for bridging the cultural gap between clinicians and the
more religious public.
phenomenology of psychospiritual life
The long tradition of phenomenological exploration of religious

and spiritual experience includes such turn-of-the-century classic

studies as Buckes (1961) Cosmic Consciousness and James
(1961) The Varieties of Religious Experience. Ottos (1923) The
Idea of the Holy is also a seminal study, and more recent works
have been published by Jung, Maslow, Wilber, and Grof. Most of
these were theoretical; only recently have empirical techniques
been brought to bear on this subject. Below is one example of an
empirical methodology applied to the phenomenology of psycho
spiritual lifein this case involving children.
Coles, R. (1990). The spiritual life of children. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin.
Method: The author described his approach as contextual; it aims to

learn from children as they go about their lives: in the home, the
playground, the classroom, the Hebrew school or Sunday school (p.
342). He combined elements from several human science methodolo
gies. For example, he engaged in participant-observation by conduct
ing his study in both public and private places. For example, in his
work with Hopi children, he began his study in a school, but even after
6 months, the children were taciturn, almost sullen in interactions with
him. Finally a Hopi mother told him the children would always behave
that way in the school; he needed to go to their homes: When I went to
Hopi homes, there was no sudden miracle. But . . . within a month or
two the children did seem altogether different. They smiled; they
initiated conversations; they pointed out to me places that mattered to
them . . . they gave me some memorable thoughts that crossed their
minds (p. 25). He also incorporated in-depth, unstructured phenom
enological interviewing, but often let the interviewee take the initia
tive: I let the children know as clearly as possible, and as often as
necessary, what it is I am trying to learn, how they can help me (p. 27).
In addition, he utilized content analysis to uncover themes that recur in
the interviews. Finally, he also collected and analyzed 293 samples
of artwork drawn in response to his request for children to draw a
picture of God. His research is notably cross-cultural with Hopi,
Chicano, Afro-American, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian (as well as
other groups) represented. Findings: This book is rich with vignettes
illustrating childrens views and experiences of God and spirituality
and their ways of understanding the ultimate meaning of their lives.
Individual chapters addressed the face of God, the voice of God,
psychological themes, visionary moments, Christian, Jewish, Islamic,
and secular soul-searching (by which he means outside of an organized
churchwhat we are calling spiritual in this review). Coles seemed
able to get at the heart of these childrens spiritual lives. A portion of a
conversation with a 10-year-old Hopi girl he had known for almost two
years nicely illustrates the nature of his approach:
The sky watches us and listens to us. It talks to us, and it hopes we are
ready to talk back. The sky is where the God of the Anglos lives, a
teacher told us. She asked where our God lives. I said, I dont know.
I was telling the truth! Our God is the sky, and lives wherever the sky
is . . .
Did she explain the above to the teacher?

No.
Why?
Bccauseshe thinks God is a person. If Id told her, shed give us that

smile . . . that says to us, You kids are cute, but youre dumb; youre
differentand youre all wrong! (p. 25).
Other phenomenological studies of the manner in which children

think of, artistically represent, and in their minds address God
are Visions of Innocence (Hoffman, 1993), The Childrens God
(Heller, 1986) and Picturing God (Belford, 1986).
ASSESSMENT OF SPIRITUALITY
Most of the instruments that purport to measure spirituality would

be considered measures of religiosity by the definition used in this
review. With the notable exception of the Spiritual Orientation
Scale, the scales described below contain many items involving
experiences with or beliefs about God. Scales were included in this
review if they used the term God in a non-denominational way that
is not oriented toward the beliefs of any particular sect. Of course,
by virtue of the use of theistic terminology, the scales below would
be most appropriate for members of Judaeo-Christian or Islamic
faiths, but could also be used to assess the spirituality of non
members who had mono-theistic orientations. They would not be
as sensitive to the spirituality of members of non-theistic paths
(e.g., Buddhism) or of pagans who believe in multiple deities.
Other scales were excluded from this review because they specifi
cally address Christian religiosity (e.g., Mobergs [1984] Spiritual
Well-being Questionnaire.) (See Butman [1990] for a review of
instruments for assessing religious development.)
The first scale to be reviewed, the Spiritual Orientation Inventory

(SOI), specifically attempted to be sensitive to the spirituality of
those not affiliated with traditional religion.
Elkins, D., Hedstrom, L., Hughes, L., Leaf, J., & Saunders, C. (1988).
Toward a humanistic-phenomenological spirituality. Journal of Hu
manistic Psychology, 28(4), 5-18.
Method: The authors began by interviewing five persons whom they

considered to be highly spiritual. The interviewees gave support to a
nine-dimension model of spirituality including: Transcendence, Mean
ing and Purpose in Life, Mission in Life, Sacredness of Life, Material
Values, Altruism, Idealism, Awareness of the Tragic, and Fruits of
Spirituality. The interviewees ratings of items led to a first draft of the
scale that contained 157 Likert-like items evaluating the subjects
relationship with a transcendent, spiritual dimension and about the
experience of sacredness in their life. The term God was not used in

the items. A validity study in which the ratings of 24 adults nominated
by a panel as highly spiritual were compared with scores of 96
graduate students in psychology led to the final version with 85 items.
Reliability (alpha) was reported to range from .75-.94 on the nine
scales. Findings: In the original study, the scores of the 24 highly
spiritual persons were significantly higher than the scores of the 96
graduate students on 8 of the 9 scales (all but Idealism). (Copies of the
SOI can be obtained by writing Sara Elkins, 33442 Cape Bay Place,
Dana Point, CA 92629.)
This scale has also been used in some doctoral dissertations. Smith
(1991) compared the scores of 172 polio survivors with 80 non-polio
subjects. Her prediction that the polio survivors would have higher
scores was confirmed. The full-scale score was significantly higher,
as were scores on 8 of the 9 scales (again all but Idealism). Another
study by Lee and Bainum (1991) compared 13 hospice workers
with 23 hospital nurses. The prediction that the nurses dealing with
death would score higher on the SOI was also confirmed.
The Mystical Experience Scale, which addresses a more specific

aspect of psychospiritual life, was developed with considerable
attention to psychometric principles. It has been used in numerous
studies investigating both religiosity and spirituality (see Lukoff &
Lu [1988] for a review).
Hood, R. (1975). The construction and preliminary validation of a

measure of reported religious experience. Journal for the Scientific
Study of Religion, 14, 29-41.
Method: Utilizing the conceptual categories for mysticism postu

lated by Stace (1960), the author developed 108 items divided into
eight categories: ego quality, unifying quality, inner subjective quality,
temporal/spatial quality, noetic quality, ineffability, positive affect,
and religious quality. This pilot version was administered to several
groups to refine the scale. The scale was reduced to 32 core statements,
four for each category, based on item-to-whole consistency coeffi
cients and other considerations. The scale was then administered to
300 college students. Findings: The results were subjected to a factor
analysis which suggested two factor scales. Scale 1 (20 items) mea
sured general mysticismnamely, an experience of unity, temporal
and spatial changes, inner subjectivity and ineffability. This scale was
not restricted to religion and thus referred to a broad type of mysticism.
Scale 2 (12 items) measured the subjects tendency to view intense
experiences within a religious framework.
The next scale to be reviewed, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale

(SWBS) appeared in Ellison (1983) and Paloutzian and Ellison
(1982). It has become the most widely used instrument for assess
ing spiritual well-being, second only to Allport and Rosss (1967)
Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale in the number of
research articles that it has generated. The SWBS consists of 20
Likert items, 10 of which address the religious dimension of ones

relationship to God, and 10 of which deal with a social/existential
dimension of a persons adjustment to him/herself, their commu
nity, and their surroundings. Ellison and Smith (1991) published a
review of research conducted with the SWBS from 1982-1990.
Studies have examined its relationship to physical well-being,
adjustment to physical illness, health care, psychological well
being, relational well-being, and several religious variables. The
richness of these findings supported the validity of the SWBS as a
measure of spiritual well-being. Kirschling and Pittman (1989)
found high reliabilities of .95, .94, and .84 on the spiritual well
being (overall score), existential well-being, and religious well
being scales respectively. However, Ledbetter, Smith, Fischer,
Vosler-Hunter and Chew (1991) reviewed 17 SWBS studies and
found that with religious samples, the SWBS does have ceiling
effects, and thus cannot differentiate amongst spiritually active
individuals. In addition, Ledbeter et al. (1991) also questioned the
two-factor conceptualization of the SWBS. They administered the
scale to two religious samples and factor analyzed the results:
The fit was quite poor for both the one- and two-factor models.
Although the two-factor model was superior to the one-factor model,
neither model provided a good conceptualization of the factor structure
of the SWBS in these samples. These results suggest that contrary to
Ellisons two factor conceptualization, and a postulated general factor
model, the SWBS may be factorily complex. This complexity makes
interpretation of scores ambiguous (p. 94).
One noteworthy application of this scale focused on adults with

life-threatening illness.
Kaczorowski, J. M. (1989). Spiritual well-being and anxiety in adults

diagnosed with cancer. The Hospice Journal, 5(3-4), 105-14.
Method: The author wanted to compare the level of anxiety in highly

spiritual persons and in less spiritual persons confronting life-threaten
ing illness. In a correlational study, the SWBS and the State-Trait
Anxiety Inventory (which differentiates between transitory and char
acteristic anxiety) were administered to 114 adults who had been
diagnosed with cancer. Findings: A correlation of -.44 was obtained
between the SWBS and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in the whole
sample (p<.001). This significant inverse association was found re
gardless of the influences of gender, age, marital status, diagnosis, and
length of time since diagnosis. These results supported the theory that
persons with high levels of spiritual well-being have lower levels of
anxiety. The authors concluded: The hospice community is chal
lenged to undertake studies of the spiritual dimension and its healing
potential.
Significant within the spiritual assessment literature is the attention

given to this area by the nursing profession. In comparison with
physicians, nurses have traditionally adopted a more holistic per
spective towards patients, viewing them as a balance of body.

mind, and spirit. Their awareness of the spiritual dimension in
caring for patients was particularly apparent in the accepted nurs
ing diagnostic classification system (Carpenito, 1983), which in
cludes categories for spiritual concerns, spiritual distress, and spiri
tual despair. In addition to numerous articles addressing guidelines
for spiritual assessment (Peterson & Nelson, 1987; Soeken &
Carson, 1987; Stoll, 1979), there has even been research examining
the extent to which nurses assess their patients spiritual needs.
Boutell, K. A. & Bozctt, F. W. (1990). Nurses assessment of patients

spirituality: Continuing education implications. Journal of Continuing
Education in Nursing, 21(4), 172-76.
Method: To determine the extent to which nurses assessed patients

spiritual needs and the indicators of spirituality used in the assessment,
the Boutclls Inventory for Identifying Nurses Assessment of Pa
tients Spiritual Needs was developed. This is a 76-item survey divided
into: (1) demographic data; and (2) five sections involving the methods
of data gathering that nurses use to determine patients' spiritual needs,
religious practices, and need for additional spiritual support. The
Inventory was sent to 817 nurses eligible to practice nursing in Okla
homa, yielding 238 useable questionnaires. Findings: 34% of the
nurses reported that they often or always assessed their patients
spiritual needs, and 38% did so occasionally. The remainder (28%)
seldom or almost never did. These findings indicate that the majority of
nurses assessed their patients spiritual needs to a considerable extent.
Two factors that were found to determine whether nurses carried out a
spiritual assessment were patient acuity and setting. The components
of spirituality most commonly assessed were fears of medical proce
dures, sources of inner strength, feelings of hope, and religious prac
tices related to surgery and/or death. Least frequently assessed were
integration (the unifying force in self) and transcendence (rising above
worldly values). The authors concluded that in-service education and
CE programs in the area of spirituality are needed, with older, more
experienced nurses as well as psychiatric nurses playing a central role.
Below we describe five additional scales that have not received as

extensive field testing as the ones above. Most have been devel
oped for specific types of patients, including recovering alcoholics,
hospitalized adolescents, terminally ill adults, and persons experi
encing extraordinary events (e.g., near-death experiences and UFO
encounters).
Brown, H. P. & Peterson, J. H. (1991). Assessing spirituality in

addiction treatment and follow-up: Development of the Brown-
Peterson Recovery Progress Inventory (B-PRPI). Alcoholism Treat
ment Quarterly, 8(2), 21 -50.
Method: The authors set out to design an instrument to assess spiri

tual practices associated with recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA). Based on lengthy interviews with seven members of AA, they
constructed a Likert scale questionnaire with 60 items covering behav
iors, cognitions, attitudes, and chemical usage. It was administered to

36 AA members who rated the importance of each item to recovery and
to 12-step spirituality. Based on these results, a final version of the B-
PRPI with 53 items was created. Findings: The B-PRPI was adminis
tered to additional AA members, and scores were not found to be
correlated with length of sobriety. However, it was significantly corre
lated with the Beck Depression Inventory, the Tennessee Self-Concept
Scale, Scales K, D, Pt, Sc, A, and Es of the MMPI, and six scales of the
Profile of Mood States. Pre/post scores of 15 patients in a treatment
program showed significant change. In addition, the authors found a
remarkable consistency in our subjects reported use of a broad range
and large number of spiritual practices.
Corrington, J. E. (1989). Spirituality and recovery: Relationships

between levels of spirituality, contentment and stress during recovery
from alcoholism in A A. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, (5(3/4), 151-
65.
Method: This study explored the relationships between four vari

ables: (I) time in AA; (2) level of spirituality; (3) level of contentment;
and (4) stressors encountered in the past year. Three separate measure
ment instruments were administered to 30 volunteers from AA meet
ings in Columbia, Maryland. The Spirituality Self-Assessment Scale
(SSAS), a 35-item questionnaire designed by Whitfield (1984, 1993),
was used to measure an individuals level of spiritual experience and
his/her level of spiritual awareness. Questions covered the physical,
emotional, and mental aspects of spiritual experience, with an empha
sis on the emotional. The Hudson Generalized Contentment Scale and
the Life Events Scale were used to assess level of contentment and
level of stressors encountered in the preceding year, respectively.
Findings: Regression analysis revealed a direct relationship between
the level of spirituality and the level of contentment with life, regard
less of the amount of time in AA. This suggested that the amount of
time in AA is not as important as what an individual does with that time
in relation to spirituality during recovery. Additional findings sug
gested that continued attendance at AA meetings could provide an
effective stress management program for recovering alcoholics. (The
most current SSAS can be ordered by calling (800) 851-9100; ask for
Whitfield, 1993.)
Silber, T. J. & Reilly, M. (1985). Spiritual and religious concerns of

the hospitalized adolescent. Adolescence, 20(11), 217-23.
Method: The authors created a Spiritual and Religious Concerns

Questionnaire (SRQ) with 17 items in order to study the concerns of
medically hospitalized adolescents. It was not piloted or evaluated for
reliability or validity. Findings: More seriously ill adolescents had
higher scores than less ill subjects. Weekly administrations of the SRQ
showed that almost 50% of the adolescents with severe, perhaps fatal,
illness experienced marked intensification of their spiritual concerns.
Kass, J. D., Friedman, R., Leserman, J., Zuttermeister, P. C. &

Benson, H. (1991). Health outcomes and a new Index of Spiritual
Experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30(2), 203-11.

Method: To explore the relationship between spiritual experiences,
life purpose and satisfaction, and improvement in physical health, the
Index of Spiritual Experience (INSPIRIT) was developed. This scale
measured two characteristic elements of core spiritual experiences
(i.e., reported spiritual experiences described in more concrete terms
than a belief in God). Those two elements are (1) a distinct event and
a cognitive appraisal of that event which resulted in a personal convic
tion of Gods existence (or of some form of Higher Power as defined
by the person), and (2) the perception of a highly internalized relation
ship between God and the person (i.e., that God dwells within com
bined with a feeling of closeness to God). The study sample consisted
of 83 adult outpatients in a behavioral medicine program where pa
tients were taught to elicit the relaxation response in a 10-week treat
ment program for the stress-related components of illness. In addition
to the INSPIRIT scale, subjects were given the Medical Symptom
Checklist, the Inventory of Positive Psychological Attitudes to Life,
and the Religious Orientation Inventory. Findings: The INSPIRIT
scale showed a strong degree of internal reliability and concurrent
validity. Multiple regression analyses showed a relationship between
core spiritual experiences and (1) an increase in life purpose and
satisfaction, (2) an increase in a health-promoting attitude, and (3) a
decrease in frequency of medical symptoms. In addition, data sug
gested that elicitation of the relaxation response may facilitate an
increased occurrence of core spiritual experiences.
Reed, P. (1987). Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospital

ized adults. Research in Nursing and Health, 10, 335-44.
Method: Using three groups of 100 adults matched on age, gender,

education and religious background, two hypotheses were examined:
(1) terminally ill hospitalized adults indicate a greater spiritual aware
ness than nonterminally ill hospitalized adults and healthy non-
hospitalizcd adults; and (2) spiritual perspective is positively related to
well-being among terminally ill hospitalized adults. All 300 partici
pants completed the Spiritual Perspective Scale (SPS), Index of Well-
Being, and other questions. The SPS is a 10-item Likert questionnaire
assessing the extent to which spirituality permeates an individuals life
and he/she engages in spiritually-related interactions (e.g, talking with
family or friends about spiritual matters). Findings: The results from
planned comparisons supported the first hypothesis, and a low but
significant correlation lent support to the second hypothesis. In addi
tion, differences among groups on recent change in spiritual views
were examined. A significantly larger number of terminally ill adults
indicated a change toward increased spirituality than did nonterminally
ill or healthy adults.
Ring, K. (1992). The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, UFO

Encounters, and Mind at Large. New York: William Morrow & Co.
Methods: Having established himself as one of the worlds foremost

authorities on near-death experiences (Ring, 1984), Ring took his
research a step further by exploring the surprising parallels between
UFO encounters and near-death experiences (NDEs). He initially

focused on factors that predispose certain individuals to having ex
traordinary experiences like UFO encounters and NDEs. The first
factor he examined, using his Psychophysical Change Inventory, was
the psychophysical changes following an extraordinary encounter.
Then he revised his Life Change Inventory (LCI) from Heading To
ward Omega (1984) to explore belief and values shifts following
extraordinary encounters. The LCI is a 50-item questionnaire that
examines 9 principal value clusters: (1) appreciation for life; (2) self
acceptance; (3) concern for others; (4) concern for impressing others;
(5) materialism; (6) concern with social/planetary issues; (7) quest for
meaning; (8) spirituality; and (9) religiousness. Findings: Ring uncov
ered a similar psychological profile for individuals experiencing both
UFO encounters and NDEs. He called this profile the encounter-
prone personality, characterized by (1) a sensitivity to non-ordinary
realities, (2) a history of childhood abuse and trauma, and (3) a
dissociative tendency closely linked to psychological absorption. He
then documented the startling similarities in the aftereffects produced
by UFO encounters and NDEs: (1) a similar pattern of psychophysical
transformation occurred in both UFO encounters and NDEs; (2) both
UFO encounters and NDEs lead to a similar kind of spiritual transfor
mation. The latter is characterized by greater altruism, social concern,
appreciation for life, self-acceptance, concern for others, quest for
meaning, and spirituality, and a decrease in materialism. Finally, he
concluded his book with several chapters exploring the collective
implications of extraordinary experiences, particularly with regard to
global ecology and the evolution of consciousness.
SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF PSYCHOSPIRITUAL HEALING
Some research has targeted the social dimensions of healing, focus

ing on spiritual support, healing groups, and the role of spirituality
in family crisis resolution.
Maton, K.I. (1989). The stress-buffering role of spiritual support:

Cross-sectional and prospective investigations. Journal for the Scien
tific Study of Religion, 28(3), 310-23.
Method: The relationship of spiritual support (perceived support

from God) to well-being was examined in two high and low life-strcss
samples: (1) in recently bereaved (high stress) and less recently be
reaved (low stress) parents attending Compassionate Friends mutual
help groups; and (2) in college freshman who had experienced three or
more uncontrollable, stressful life events (high stress) and those who
had experienced two or fewer such events (low stress) during the
previous six months. A three-item spiritual support measure assessing
emotional, intimacy and faith aspects of spiritual support was used in
both studies. Social support variables were also assessed, allowing a
comparison of the relative predictive utility of the two different do
mains of perceived support. Findings: With demographic variables
controlled, regression analyses indicated that: (1) spiritual support was
inversely related to depression and positively related to self-esteem for
high life-stress (recently bereaved) parents; and (2) in a prospective,

longitudinal analysis controlling for pre-college depression, spiritual
support was positively related to personal-emotional adjustment for
first-semester college freshman in the high life-stress group. Spiritual
support was not significantly related to well-being for low life-stress
subsamples.
Glik, D. C. (1988). Symbolic, ritual and social dynamics of spiritual

healing. Social Science and Medicine, 27(11), 1197-1206.
Method: The investigator spent two years conducting participant-

observation research among members of 30 healing groups in the
Baltimore metropolitan area. She attended group meetings and healing
rituals, administered a questionnaire to members, and also conducted
in-depth interviews with 23 leaders of these groups. Findings: Groups
were categorized into two types: 1) Christian, Pentecostal, or charis
matic healing groups (CHGs); and 2) New Age or metaphysical
healing groups (MHGs). Both groups were small (6-15 members) and
were informally rather than formally organized. Both had a family-like
atmosphere. However, in the CHGs, the structure of the organization
was more authoritarian and stratified, with the leader in control of
events. In contrast, the MHGs were more democratic and spontaneous
with members helping in the conduct of rituals and the healing of
others. MHDs had more matriarchal leadership patterns (10 of 13
leaders were women), whereas all except one of the CHGs were led by
men. The CHGs had ideologies based on Fundamentalist, Pentecostal
or neo-Pentecostal movements. MHGs ideologies were more syn
cretic, having their origins in Spiritualist, New Age, New Thought,
theosophical, occult or shamanistic traditions. Symbols and myths
used in the healing rituals of the CHGs involved the death of Jesus and
his subsequent resurrection. A variant of this myth appeared in the
MHGs as the Souls journey toward enlightenment, a belief derived
from Eastern traditions. Generally CHG rituals were noisy, dramatic,
and expressive . . . including Bible reading, group prayer, hymn sing
ing, and sermons lead by the healer. . . . Members of MHGs attempt to
tune in to a transcendent reality, usually through meditation prac
tice. . . . Other commonly used techniques in these groups were
guided imagery or visualization, chanting, or therapeutic touch (pp.
1202-3).
Hall, C. M. (1986). Crisis as opportunity for spiritual growth. Journal

of Religion and Health, 25(1), 8-17.
Method: Longitudinal life history data from 200 crisis families and
200 non-crisis families were examined to specify the influence of crisis
conditions on spiritual growth. Data were collected from in-depth
interviews conducted over a several year period and covering three
generations of family members. Findings: Results indicated that the
most substantial impact of crisis intervention occurred in families
where one or more family members reoriented their lives according to
spiritual values. This reorientation process involved a shift in focus
away from the familys previously-held perception that they were
victims of social or emotional circumstances. A more universal view,
which included transcendent realities, provided these people with a
frame of reference that allowed them to cope with the objectively

difficult empirical conditions of their existence. This new-found em
phasis on spiritual values appeared crucial in enabling these people to
experience more productive and satisfying lives. These findings sug
gest that a crisis may produce constructive changes in life orientation
and become an important catalyst in reordering personal values.
TREATMENT OK PSYCHOSPIRITUAL PROBLEMS
In this last area to be reviewed, we have chosen articles covering

the treatment of mystical experiences, the similarities and differ
ences between spiritual directors and psychotherapists, a psycho
therapy case of spiritual emergency, the use of biofeedback with
Navajo substance abusers, and the role of spirituality for profes
sionals working with the terminally ill.
Allman, L. S., de la Roche, O., Elkins, D. N. & Weathers, R. S.

(1992). Psychotherapists attitudes towards clients reporting mystical
experiences. Psychotherapy, 29(4), 564-69.
Method: Questionnaires were sent to 650 members of the American

Psychological Association to assess therapists attitudes toward clients
who report mystical experiences. The return rate was 44%. In addition
to demographic data, the survey included a Likert scale measuring
attitudes toward mystical experience and a scale to assess the thera
pists diagnostic judgments of mystical experience on a continuum
from possibly psychotic to probably not psychotic. Findings: The
therapists reported that among the 20,670 clients seen in the preceding
12 months, 4.5% had reported a mystical experience during the previ
ous year; 67% of the therapists had seen at least one such client during
that period. On the diagnosis scale, humanistic/existential therapists
were less likely than behavioral, cognitive and psychodynamic thera
pists to rate clients who had mystical experiences as psychotic. Fur
thermore, therapists who rated spirituality as important were less likely
to view their clients mystical experiences as pathological.
Ganje-Fling, M. A. & McCarthy, P. R. (1991). A comparative analy

sis of spiritual direction and psychotherapy. Journal of Psychology and
Theology, 19(I), 103-17.
Method: One hundred psychotherapists from a state psychological

organization and 100 spiritual directors from retreat centers were sent
surveys. Fifty psychotherapists and 68 spiritual directors responded.
Findings: There was considerable overlap in the techniques, topics of
discussion, and outcome evaluation methods employed by both the
psychotherapists and spiritual directors. The goals seemed to be the
most distinct; that is, the purpose of psychotherapy is psychological
growth, and the purpose of spiritual direction is spiritual growth. There
was no significant difference between the two groups in their reported
use of self-disclosure, open and closed questions, advice, confronta
tion and interpretation. However, the spiritual directors reported using
more meditation, prayer, and silence. Both groups deal with psycho
logical issues, but spiritual directors more often address spiritual is

sues. There was no difference between the groups in receiving psycho
therapy, but the spiritual directors had received spiritual direction
significantly more often. While all of the psychotherapists had re
ceived degrees in psychology, only 3% of the spiritual directors had.
Conversely, none of the psychotherapists had received training or
formal education in spirituality or theology.
Hendlin, S. J. (1985). The spiritual emergency patient: Concept and

example. In E. M. Stem (Eds.), Psychotherapy in the religiously
committed patient, pp. 79-88. New York: Haworth Press.
Method: The author presents a case study including the history,

symptoms, and treatment of a 32-year-old man in a spiritual emer
gency. Both severe depression and suicidality were present. Findings:
The patient had been participating in a spiritual group that practiced
intense meditation. His commitment to the group led to marital diffi
culties. Hendlins treatment addressed the clients problem as a depres
sive disorderbut within a spiritual framework. Treatment began with
meetings 4 times a week and were gradually reduced to twice a week
after 3 months. The therapy focused on aspects of his spiritual experi
ences, and his meditation practice was changed to one that was more
grounding. Marital therapy was initiated after about 100 hours of
individual therapy. The crisis was resolved without any acting out of
the suicidal ideation and the patient reported less depression. He was
able to resume his business and re-connect with family.
Other case studies illustrating the treatment of spiritual issues in

clinical work include Grof and Grof (1989), Lukoff (1991), Lukoff
and Everest (1986), Podvoll (1990), and Nelson (1990).
Kelley, M. (1991). Brainwave biofeedback for substance abuse: The

development of a Navajo alcohol abstinence empowerment program.
Sedona, AZ: Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health.
Method: Twenty Navajo patients on an in-patient substance abuse

unit were given biofeedback training involving two 45-minute sessions
per day, averaging a total of 35 training sessions. Theta and alpha
brainwaves were monitored and the patients were given feedback
tones through headphones. Previous research had shown that many
alcoholic patients have low alpha and theta frequency brainwaves.
Findings: The author reported that the Navajo patients found the
biofeedback training to be compatible with their beliefs and practices,
especially since techniques such as breath patterning and meditation
were, or still are, important components of some Navajo medicine
way techniques (p. 13). In addition, to increase the acceptance and
effectiveness of the brainwave training, patients were encouraged to
keep protection feathers on their laps, and the faint smell of blessing
way sage smoke permeated the treatment room. During the follow-up
period of 4 months, 15 of the 20 patients reported no alcohol usage.
Four could not be located, and one relapsed. Eighty percent of the
patients showed significant improvements of at least 15% increase in
wave amplitude or synchrony over their baseline EEG measurements
in either theta or alpha ranges. Scores on the Beck Depression Inven

tory also improved, but the absence of a comparison group does not
allow this finding to be attributable to the biofeedback training. During
the 8-month trial, more than 13 Navajo therapists expressed interest in
learning these procedures. (Copies of the report are available from the
author: P. O. Box 2163, Sedona, AZ, 86336.)
Millison, M. B. (1988, March/April). Spirituality and the caregiver:

Developing an underutilized facet of care. American Journal of Hos
pice Care, 37-44.
Method: In order to examine the role that spirituality plays for the
caregiver, open-ended interviews were conducted with eight care
givers (two physicians, two nurses, two social workers, and two
clergy); all were experienced in working with the terminally ill. Each
respondent was asked to discuss his/her own spirituality, describe how
he/she thought that it might impact patients being treated, and to give
examples where spirituality was a factor in treatment. Findings: All
respondents acknowledged the heightened spirituality experienced
. . . as a result of their work with the terminally ill, and the impact that
it has upon the patient. . . . [They] felt they received more from their
patients than they were able to give.
CONCLUSION
This Research Review completes the second part of our three-part

series addressing various dimensions of healing. We have been
impressed by the scope and accelerating interest in these topics by
researchers. Although we have considered studies conducted since
1980, most of the articles abstracted are from the past five years. By
focusing on methodologies and instruments appropriate for study
ing transpersonal experiences, we hope that these reviews will
facilitate further exploration of these crucial domains of human
existence.
In addition to the psychoreligious and psychospiritual dimensions,

there is another dimension that falls outside of these two categories.
Experiences such as UFO encounters, out-of-body experiences,
and paranormal phenomena, which in many cases are associated
with healing and/or transformation, have challenged us to consider
a new category. In conformance with the most recent literature, we
have settled on the term anomalous experience as the most
inclusive, yet with the fewest theoretical assumptions and pejora
tive connotations. In our next Research Review, we will examine
Anomalous Experiences and Healing.
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Street, San Francisco, California 94109.

REFLECTIONS OF SHAKTIPAT:
PSYCHOSIS OR THE RISE OF
KUNDALINI? A CASE STUDY
Jon Ossoff
Glen Oaks, New York
None of us had ever seen anything like it. It seemed to go on and on.
Bouncing, hopping, springing off her feet, she seemed motivated
by some external force, driven. The breath rapid, drawn in and out
in quick machine-gun bursts, her fingers clicking, snapping in
stereotypic movements over and over again. The eyes rolled back
and in, the whites showing, then the hopping would take over again.
Later we all tried to shrug it off as just another strange psychotic

reaction. After all, it was Friday and a long Labor Day weekend
was beginning. But by Tuesday, after returning to the hospital, my
suspicions had turned to certainty. This woman was not psychotic, just
and what we had witnessed on Friday was not a psychotic episode, another
but was in fact, a Kundalini Awakening. strange
psychotic
There was nothing extraordinary about her, nothing to suggest reaction?
other than another patient brought to our admission unit due to an
acute psychotic episode. They come in all the time: four, five,
sometimes eight each weektheir stories thematically similar
too much crack cocaine, refusing to take their anti-psychotic medi
cation, picked up by the police on the streets, assaulted somebody.
And so, initially, I assumed it was the same with her.
There were some differences. She (I will call her Rosita) was from
Mexico, in her early thirties, pretty, slim, carelessly dressed,
brought to the psychiatric center for bizarre behavior. It was
reported she was running about a hotel without clothing, after
having attended a conference in New York three days before. The
report also stated she said people from other planets were after her.
Rosita had no previous hospitalizations (very rare for the patients

we see). It was also reported she had not slept in three days and was
confused. Selectively mute was also noted and with good reason.
Rosita did not speak even in response to simple questions posed in
Spanish and not even to her boyfriend who visited her that first day.
She continually looked at him and at me but appeared so with
drawn, so lost as to be nearly catatonic.
Her boyfriend was naturally concerned. He spoke English halt

ingly, but well enough to address most questions. He stated she had
never had a psychiatric problem such as this. Yes, she had been
depressed on and off beginning ten years ago when her father
died, but she had never needed or seen a therapist, had never even
taken any medication, and had certainly never been so, so, well,
look at hershe does not even know me!
Any drug, alcohol use?
No.
Anything stressful, frightening, traumatic recently?
Again he just shook his head and sighed. The psychiatrist told him
it we would try to stabilize her so that she could fly home to Mexico
seemed City as soon as possible, where she could then receive more psychi
she atric treatment if necessaryand at this time, it certainly appeared
had necessary. It seemed at the very least she had undergone a brief
undergone reactive psychosis in response to some stress or event or combina
a brief tion of events of which she (and apparently everyone else) was
reactive unaware.
psychosis
Rosita seemed to look at me continually. Her mouth had a kind of
rigidity to it, open yet frozen to one side, and on several occasions
she made an effort to formulate words but could not.
Her psychiatrist had ordered anti-psychotic medication to help

reduce the withdrawal, the possible hallucinations, and Rosita had
received her first injection that morning. In fact, when her boy
friend had visited, he had expressed concern Rosita was becoming
worse, stated she had been better the day before and wondered if
she were overmedicated. He was reassured she had been exactly
like this since admission, and, in any case, one dose would not
cause such a change in behavior. At this point he thanked us, told
Rosita he would call her later that day and departed.
Rosita looked at me, then went back into the larger patient area. She
appeared no better and no worse than when she came into the unit
some fifteen hours before. I left her, assumed other duties, then
went to lunch.

When I came back onto the ward, I was greeted with loud noises,
jostling, harried voices, nothing completely out of the ordinary for
this unit, but worthy of investigation nonetheless. There in a hall
way I observed Rosita hopping, bounding upright, springing into
walls, with an attendant at her side, doing her best to intervene.
Rosita did not appear to be trying to harm herself, but was seem
ingly unable to control her own trajectory. The movements ap
peared other directed, as if they arose spontaneously and not of
her own volition. My attention was drawn to her hands. They were
at shoulder level, and her fingers were making quick thumb-fore-
finger and thumb-middle finger connections in rapid succession.
Her eyes were rolled back in her head and looking either at the
ceiling or the upper bridge of her nose. Her breathing was very fast,
and short bursts could be heard emanating from her mouth.
This experience went on for twenty to twenty-five minutes. There

were four or five of us with her, and we attempted to hold her,
protect her from hitting into walls. At one point she held my hand
for support, for reassurance, but the bounding and quick breathing
continued, and, after a minute or so, she pushed my hand away so
she could resume the repetitive finger movements using both
hands.
The staff was understandably baffled (myself included) and discus

sion ran the gamut from psychomotor seizure to drug reaction. It the
was quickly determined that the small drug injection five hours staff
before could not have induced these effects. Seizures, the doctor was
informed us, would not last this long. As for malingering, it seemed understandably
out of the question that a person would fake an episode such as this. baffled
The chief psychiatrist commented, during the episode while the
hand movements were observed and Rositas eyes were rolled up
and in, It seems shes performing some kind of ritual.
The chief psychiatrist decided to give Rosita an anti-anxiety agent

to calm her.1 When the injection proved slow to act (Rosita contin
ued to bounce, banging into walls), a physical restraint device (in
which arms and legs are immobilized in their natural positions
while a patient lies on a bed) was ordered to prevent Rosita from
inadvertently harming herself.
By this time her body had taken on a kind of thrashing motion and
attempts to have her lie down on a mattress were met by a forceful
spring-like action in which she arched her back, propelled herself
onto her feet and in one motion began hopping, bouncing again.
She was unbelievably strong for a woman 5' 2" and about 105 lbs.!
With the help of the injection, the physical restraint, which she
appeared to accept almost gratefully (most patients who are in a
Reflections of Shaktipat: Psychosis or the Rise of Kundalini? A Case Study 31

psychotic state will fight the restraint, at least, initially), and a very
compassionate, Spanish-speaking laundry worker who soothed her
continually, Rosita became calm.
Within ten minutes the physical restraint was removed and she
drank five to six glasses of water, two glasses of juice, and two cans
of a nutritional supplement (she had not eaten much since admis
sion). Her body and dress were drenched in sweat, her breathing
was restful, and finally, mercifully, she drifted off to sleep.
This was Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. At 4:30 p.m. she was sleeping
soundly, and the clinical staff went home. As a psychologist in
mental health for over fifteen years, one learns necessarily to leave
the job at the job. But this case, this woman, this experience,
continued to inhabit my thoughts during the long weekend. The
chief psychiatrist had also been concerned and had checked on
Rosita over the weekendto find her quiet and calm.
On Tuesday, after going through the routine of morning, new

Transformed admissions and meetings, I was somewhat surprised to find an
was attractive, well-dressed woman enter my office, smile, and ask if
not she could sit down. Transformed was not too strong a word.
too
strong How are you? I began.
a
word Fine.
You certainly look like youre doing a lot better than last week.
I feel better, thanks. Her voice was strong, and, although there
was a clear Spanish accent, she was articulate and appeared to have
at least a command of English, although somewhat limited.
She began again. I feel good, I think, IIdont know, I.
I waited. She obviously wanted to tell me something. She shook her

head slightly and shrugged. I thinksometime, maybeSh
Shaktipat.
Excuse me?
Yes, you know it? She smiled somewhat uneasily. My own

surprise obviously was making her uncomfortable, and she did not
know how this would be taken.
Shaktipat? Now it was in a form of a question she asked. A part of

me felt astonishment at her use of this term, but the other part felt

like it was being filmed for a Candid Camera episode. One more
time, I figured, I better be sure.
Did you say S-H-A-K-T-I-P-A-T?
Si, I mean, yes. And she half laughed.
I smiled. You know of Kundalini-Shaktipat?
Si, yes.
I felt my brain, my consciousness, literally shift gears; then in a

split second, Friday became crystal clearRosita had undergone a
Premature Kundalini Awakening (PKA).
Much has been written about kundalini and Kundalini Awakening,

especially during the past ten to fifteen years, and yet there seems to Rosita
be little consensus on its characteristics. Depending on which had
scientific researcher, guru, swami, practitioner is read or heard, we undergone
learn kundalini is positive, negative, in the brain, in the spine, a
energy, beyond energy, healthy, abnormal, terrifying, exhilarating, Premature
biological, spiritual, ascending, descending, prana (life-force), Kundalini
consciousness, pathological, curative. My own view is that it is all Awakening
of these.
Kundalini is often translated in Sanskrit as she who is coiled and

represents the psycho-biospiritual energy which, according to tra
ditional Indian metaphysics, lies dormant in most human beings at
the base of the spine. Carl Jung, in a talk given some fifty years ago,
remarked it would take a millennium or more for analysis to
awaken kundalini, if ever.
Indian philosophy symbolizes the cosmic energy or Creative Intel

ligence of the universe as bi-polar with the consciousness aspect
(male) or Shiva residing in the head (brain) and the dynamic
potential for manifestation (female) or Shakti lying at the base of
the spine.
Between these two poles are a series of powerful energy points or

wheels called chakras (five or seven depending on Buddhist or
Hindu belief) and a central channel, sushumna, which connects
them along a vertical axis. As kundalini is stimulated, it ascends the
sushumna, opening these chakras, producing a myriad of supra-
ordinary experiences. It is believed by many who engage in prac
tices intended to awaken kundalini, that they will succeed in
attaining this supra-ordinary state of functioning and eventually
experience enlightenment. It is said that prior to enlightenment,

practitioners may have consciousness-expanding experiences in
cluding, but not limited to, increased intuition, clairvoyance, and a
progressive expansiveness of compassion.
Currently, there are a number of spiritual teachers who offer and/or

claim to open up a persons kundalini through the process of
Shaktipat, or the awakening of Shakti Energy located at the base of
the spine. This procedure is done by meditation, touch, or simply
being in the same room as the teacher. Adherents believe this
process rapidly advances personal growth and spiritual evolution.
Sannella (1976), a psychiatrist, attempted to dissolve some of the

mystique and provide a scientific foundation for anecdotal ac
counts of kundalini awakening. After studying a number of per
sonal reports, including some like Rositas where the patient had
been diagnosed psychotic, and after presenting cross-cultural evi
dence for the kundalini phenomenon, he observed,
. . . a process of psychophysiological transmutation most usefully

viewed as awakening of the kundalini is indeed a reality. . . . This
process is part of an evolutionary mechanism and that as such it must
not be viewed as a pathological development . . . rather . . . the
kundalini process is an aspect of human psychospiritual unfolding that
is intrinsically desirable (Sannella, 1987, p. 11).
an The present paper is not offered as a restatement of theories and

attempt research into the kundalini experience, but rather is an attempt to
to place one womans experience within this paradigm.
place
one If Sannella is correct, i.e., if the kundalini process is both desirable
womans and evolutionary, then why does it appear that many undergoing
experience this experience must struggle so desperately within it, and why do a
within few appear to be even psychotic?
this
paradigm Gopi Krishna (1971), whose autobiography, Kundalini, the Evolu
tionary Energy in Man, chronicled his own hellish kundalini awak
ening, explains:
The awakening of kundalini, whether effected by yoga practices or

spontaneously, is almost always attended by certain abnormal condi
tions of the body and the mind. It takes months and even years for the
sadhaka [practitioners] to adjust themselves to the flow of the new
pranic [life force] energy in the body (White, 1990, p. 242).
He also declares, It is easy to understand that a sudden change in

the bioenergetic economy of the body can never be smooth or
occur without causing severe psychosomatic disturbances in the
whole system (Krishna, 1990, p. 243). These psychosomatic dis
turbances are as much a part of the kundalini energy being blocked
in its path by physiological stress built up by overuse or misuse of

our own nervous system, as by our psychophysiological system
attempting to incorporate the new energy.
Sannellas view is similar:
The pathway of the kundalini can be blocked anywhere along its

upward trajectory. We can look upon these blockages as stress points.
Thus, in its ascent, the kundalini causes the central nervous system to
throw off stress. This is usually associated with the experience of pain.
When the kundalini encounters these blocks, it works away at them
until they are dissolved . . . . It appears to act of its own volition,
spreading through the entire psychophysiological system to effect its
transformation (Sannella, 1976, p. 31).
The emphasis on stress release in Sannellas description is indeed

revealing insofar as it brings to mind the focal point of the entire
practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM), whose founder,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, has repeatedly emphasized the puri
ficatory, stress release function of TM.
In other words, human physiology is a self-regulating system

capable of purifying itself and dissolving stress when afforded the a
opportunity. However, this release of stress may, at times, be self
achieved only by the surrender of the physiology to the stress regulating
release process. This process can be quite powerful, even appear system
violent, hence the reports in the past of strange movements, as
sumed positions, cries and screams, breathing alternations, and
psychic disturbances.
When kundalini awakens, one invariably feels some involuntary

movements of the body, which begin with trembling and shaking . . .
and the body gets uncontrollable . . . breath is forcibly exhaled o u t . . .
the whole body becomes so active that you are unable to sit still, your
hands and legs stretch out forcibly, the body squatted on the floor
cross-legged begins to jump from place to place like a frog . . . (Tirtha,
1990).
The above description certainly describes much of what occurred

in Rositas case of Premature Kundalini Awakening (premature
because it triggered a host of symptoms she was unable to handle or
assimilate smoothly at the time).
Applying, to some degree, Sannellas categories of experiences

that derive from the kundalini experience and help differentiate it
from the other psychological or emotional imbalances, I observed
the following:
1. Motor signs and symptoms, including spontaneous stimulations

of gross muscle movements and breathing alterations. In Rositas
case, I refer to the spontaneous hopping (like a frog), the springing

off her feet, and the exaggerated arching of her back during one
particular series of movements. I propose that this intense arching
was a non-volitional activity directly intended to facilitate stress
release at the source of kundalini activityat the base of the spine.
In Eastern terminology such spontaneous movements are called

kriyas and are physical purificatory movements initiated by the
awakened kundalini. Kriyas purify the body and nervous system
and help the person tolerate greater levels of energy (Muktananda,
1979, p. 52).
Rosita was also initiating spontaneous gestures with her hands,

primarily thumb and forefinger, thumb and middle finger. These
gestures or mudras are specifically designed to help lock in
greater energy and create more prana during meditation. Later, the
following week, when I asked Rosita about the mudras, she re
vealed she did not remember learning them and could not repro
duce them!
applying 2. Unusual breathing patterns. During the episode Rosita was

Sannella's doing a very fast breathing exercise, one of many known as
categories pranayama, prana (breath or life force) ayama (extension). These
of rapid breathing episodes known as Bhasrica in kundalini-triggered
experience experiences, occur frequently and spontaneously. Rosita did recall
learning several pranayama techniques previously.
3. Other phenomena include sensory and subjective interpretive

experiences, aspects of which Rosita also confirmed.
She complained of pain in her abdomen, following the completion

of the motor stage, often holding her stomach, while resting on the
mattress provided. In this regard, it is fascinating to note the !Kung
bushmen of Africa describe an apparently similar energy as N/UM
which resides in the pit of the stomach, and often causes pain when
it heats up.
Psychologically, there were features which could be explained

using either the prevailing Western medical model or the current
proposed paradigm. She was confused from the time of admission,
her thinking was certainly slowed, and a profound detachment was
noted. However, it is important to keep in mind that following the
physiological expression of the kundalini process on that Friday
afternoon, there was a significant improvement in all of these areas.
As I sat with her in my office, any doubts that still lingered

evaporated rapidly. At the same time, I felt a frustration and
personal disappointment, almost a kind of betrayal at my own
blindness, my inability to go beyond, to transcend the psychiatric

explanation of her experience until she uttered the magic word,
Shaktipat. I also wondered to what degree we in the mental health
field are so hemmed in by our training or cultural perspective,
that we view events in an unvarying way. In other words, if this is a
psychiatric center, then she must be psychotic! The opposite sce
nario is also likely. Ive been in meditation courses where individu
als with serious emotional disorders pass for evolved.
As my conversation with Rosita continued I asked her who was her

guru. When she gave the name, more pieces of the picture fell
nicely into place. Rositas guru is a very powerful Siddha Yogi who
gives Shaktipat to her disciples. She also is said to ask her followers
to participate in meditations of long duration, which are not always
initially beneficial for individuals with very sensitive nervous sys
tems or psychological imbalances.
It was following this gurus conference, which Rosita had been

attending, that she began acting bizarre. Rosita could not tell me
exactly when she became confused, nor could she remember what
had taken place the previous Friday.
Because of numerous difficulties encountered by Westerners, a

number of teachers have stopped giving Shaktipat, realizing inex
perienced meditators or seekers simply could not handle it.
It is my contention that during the conference Rosita received

Shaktipat and shortly thereafter had the beginnings of a Premature Shaktipat
Kundalini Awakening, manifesting as excitability, hypermobility, and
inability to sit still, mental confusion, in short, bizarre behavior. Premature
When she was removed from the premises, the stimuli that had Kundalini
helped trigger the experiencethe meditations, pranayama, the Awakening
meetings, were of course, also no longer present. The kundalini
energy thus subsided, but left in its place an exhausted, spent,
frightened woman who, with a history of some degree of depressive
illness, withdrew into a protective shell. It may also be that the
body, sensing danger due to an exhausted nervous system, had the
capacity to, in a word, shut itself down to revitalize and reenergize.
The kundalini energy may be positive in the long term, but the body
senses it cannot transform itself in a two- or three-day period, so it
inhibits the process to gain rest and prevent collapse.
In Rositas case, the physical continuation of the experience re

sumed after approximately four days of rest and then went on until
the chemical restraint (injection) was given that Friday afternoon. It
is not clear to what extent our interventions interrupted or inhibited
the kundalini process; certainly enough of the self-purification did
take place to enable us to witness the change in Rosita beginning
that Tuesday.

Over the next four days I spent one to two hours a day with Rosita.
Our relationship, from my perspective, alternated between psy-
chologist-client and guide-seeker. I told her quite frankly, I felt
she had had a PKA. I also told her I did not believe she was
psychotic, and I remember the relief in her face as I told her.
Because her English was not perfect, I often repeated words and
asked her to do likewise so we could be sure of our communication.
Our sessions ranged from metaphysical to traditional therapy. Even

though she was clearly not psychotic, I felt her depression that had
begun ten years before had not been resolved. She mentioned how
it had lifted three years before when she began her practice of
Siddha Meditation, but also agreed she did at times feel down.
Rosita did have some prior Siddha Yoga training and also Reichian
counseling at her home in Mexico. During our sessions she stated
nothing like this had ever happened to her before, and that in
previous meditation she had felt calmness, a pleasant alteration of
mood, sometimes a spiritual sense of self, but nothing in the order
of the physiological or mental reaction in response to her Shakti
pat.
advised I advised her to seek therapy at home, since it was clear that any
to seek emotional imbalance would, of course, not only hinder her own
therapy personal growth, but would, I felt, cause another rough ride if the
at PKA resumed. And her constitution, being prone to depression
home an emotional mood rather than thought disorderwould lead one
to assume that a PKA would manifest as an emotional, acting-out,
rather than a cerebral or cognitive experience.2
She was curious, but frightened about what she had done Friday.
I assured her she did nothing wrong or bad, that the episode was
cleansing, that many others had had similar experiences (I showed
her a few books), and that it would lead to emotional-spiritual
growth. I paraphrased a quote from Sannella (1987):
Symptoms caused by the physio-kundalini will disappear spontane

ously over time. Because we are dealing essentially with a purificatory
or balancing process and since each person represents a finite system,
the process is self-limiting (p. 111).
On a more practical level, there were two approaches I utilized.
First, I suggested she refrain from meditation for at least three

months to allow the body and mind to assimilate the experiences, as
well as the psycho-physiological changes she had gone through.
Second, I briefly mentioned Ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine,

and explained as simply as I could the three principles governing

the body: vata, pitta, kapha. I told her that vata, or the principle of
movement in the body, could become over-stimulated and lead to
an assortment of ills similar to the PKA. I therefore suggested a
number of routines to help reduce vata. I gave her a list of foods, a
diet. I suggested she follow it for three to six months. Simply stated,
warm, heavy, non-dry foods, unctuous foods, non-leafy vegetables,
rice, breads, pasta, citrus fruits, poultry, if she wished, etc. I also
listed certain spices that she would benefit from. I could not
recommend herbs because neither of us knew where to purchase
them in Mexico. 1 taught her a simple, non-forced alternate nostril
pranayama technique designed to balance the left and right chan
nels of the body (ida, pingala) and pacify vata. Also, I suggested to
Rosita that she do Abhyanga or a daily oil massage using sesame oil
as an effective means to pacify vata. She was also instructed to
exercise moderately, since exercise would ground her in her
body and reduce the likelihood of dissociation, or spaciness.
Throughout all of this particular session, I played Gandharva Veda

music softly in the background. Gandharva Veda is classical Indian
music that is played at different times of the day, specifically in
accordance with the biological rhythms of the human physiology.
Rosita listened attentively through all this and, at the end of my
presentation, said I refuse to give up apples. (Apples are on the
no-no list of foods!) We both laughed and compromised, allowing
for three to four apples per week rather than her unusual two per
day.
During our sessions, Rosita mentioned several interesting facts.

She had participated in Reichian therapy at an ashram in Mexico several
and felt it was useful to her growth. This was quite revealing to me interesting
insofar as a clinic in Berkeley, California that treats PKA utilizes facts
Reichian therapy quite extensively to help individuals experiencing
PKA.
Rosita also professed an interest in astrology and spoke about

having the sensation, while at our hospital, of the specific planetary
energies being in her fingers. When asked which planets corre
sponded to each successive finger she correctly identified the
planet with the finder associated with it in astrology. I thought back
to the hospital admission note which was written as people from
other planets were after her, an obvious misunderstanding on the
part of that admitting physician who misread her statement of the
planetary associations.
Rosita also stated she was told by an astrologer that her kundalini
had opened at age five, so, out of curiosity I decided to do a Jyotish
(Indian astrology) chart on her. It is a fascinating charta royal
yoga (quite powerful) in the first house. In addition, her kundalini
opening at age five, her onset of depression in 1981, and her current

PKA all occurred during Rahu (very intense influence) periods, and
Rahu is in the sign of Scorpio, the sign which controls the lower
sexual divisions, and where kundalini resides.
In summary, I should note that the other members of the clinical

team listened with interest, curiosity, and not a little bemusement at
my clinical feelings regarding Rosita. Rositas psychiatrist (a spiri
tually knowledgeable Indian woman), after evaluating her, agreed
with me and concluded that the patient was confused, depressed,
but clearly not psychotic and stated this case certainly fit the bill
as a PKA if there ever was one. Also, a social worker who shares a
similar world view was quite receptive and helped me to generate
new ideas through discussion.
How many people have been misdiagnosed as psychotic in the past

misdiagnoses because of a kundalini awakening? We can only speculate. I be
because lieve that the number is quite low, but, of course, even one is too
of a many. Had I known Rosita was in the throes of a PKA at the time,
kundalini could I have spared her the injection and restraint? I believe she
awakening desperately needed our help, and she certainly could have suffered
injury by inadvertently crashing into a wall, or by driving herself
into a collapsed state of exhaustion, as seemed possible at the time.
Looking back on it, I believe she feels we did the best we could and
treated her with respect and compassion. This case also illustrates
the current limits of our knowledge and the need for greater diver
sity in both diagnosis and treatment.
One week after Rosita was brought to us, she went home with her
familytired, curious, mystified, a little confused, and having
been through two weeks few of us will ever comprehend, much less
experience. She thanked us for everything and left.
A month down the road, I sit writing this, while Tagores Gitanjali,
reverberates softly,
At this time of my parting, wish me good luck, my friends! The sky is

flushed with the dawn and my path lies beautiful. Ask not what I have
with me to take there. I start on my journey with empty hands and
expectant heart (Tagore, 1913).
And our own journey as helpers, healers, therapists, begins the

same way.
POSTSCRIPT
Two months following the completion of this article, I received a

long correspondence from Rosita at her home in Mexico. The four-
page letter was in Spanish, quite detailed and quite coherent. She

thanked me (and the hospital staff) for helping her through her
difficulties. She was quite introspective and reflective, comment
ing that what had happened to her seemed to have happened in
another time and place (not in a dissociative manner but as one who
has been through many emotional changes in a brief period of
time). In fact, she mentioned that she felt she had been through five
years of psychoanalysis all in the past several months, from con
vention to hospital to home. Rosita stated she was meditating again
and was looking for a therapist as well. No occurrences of
kundalini-induced physiological arousal or mental confusion had
reappeared. Rosita was not taking any medication, but did ask what
herbs might be suggested for her. The overall tone of the letter was
hopeful, optimistic, and showed broad awareness, the awareness of letter
one who is in the midst of emotional change, but who has a grasp of was
who she is and what steps she must take to continue her evolution hopeful,
and development. optimistic
and
Last spring, following the completion of this article, I had the showed
privilege of presenting this case to Vasant Lad, Director of the broad
Ayurvedic Institute, New Mexico and former director of Ayurvedic awareness
Medicine in Poona, India. He listened as I described the episode,
the patients behavior and her subsequent recompensation, nodding
knowingly, and even finishing several of my own descriptions
before I had completed them. The information was absolutely
familiar and natural to him, and it was then obvious to me, that if
nothing else, this was a case of PKA if the criteria of Ayurvedic and
Vedic knowledge were applied.
NOTES
1The first medication at 8 a.m. the day of the episode (and the first medication for the
patient) was Haldol 5mgs IM, five and a halfhours before the episode of kundalini.
The physicians all felt this dose was not sufficient to cause the reaction seen at 1:30
- 1:45 p.m. when the PKA began. During the episode described, the anti-anxiety
agent given to help calm her was Haldol 5mgs, Ativan 2mgs IM. No diphenhy-
diamine (Benadryl) was given since the doctor did not view physiological reaction
as phenothiazine-related in nature. The doctors ordered the Haldol since they
assumed the reaction was psychotic in origin. The chief psychiatrist, who was there
for the entire episode, stated the reaction was definitely not related to phenothiazine
or seizure.
2It is unlikely her reaction was hysterical or less than authentic given her past
history, since she had not had such hysterical reaction before. Rosita did not appear
to be in a dissociative state and, in discussing events with her later, she appeared
integrated and no evidence of a dissociative disorder, psychogenic fugue, or isolated
depersonalization disorder was discovered.
REFERENCES
Krishna, G. (1971). Kundalini: Evolutionary energy in man. Berkeley:

Shambhala.

Krishna, G. (1990). The phenomenon of kundalini. In J. White (Ed.),
Kundalini: Evolution and enlightenment. New York: Paragon House.
Muktananda. (1979). Kundalini: The secret of life. Ganeshpuri, India:
Gurudev Siddha Peeth.
Sannella, L. (1976). KundaliniPsychosis or transcendence? (self-pub
lished).
Sannella, L. (1987). Kundalini experience: Psychosis or transcendence?
Lower Lake, CA: Integral Publishing.
Tagore, R. (1913). Gitanjali. New York: Macmillan.
Tirtha, S. V. (1990). Signs of awakened kundalini. In J. White (Ed.),
Kundalini: Evolution and enlightenment. New York: Paragon House.
White, J. (Ed.) (1990). Kundalini: Evolution and enlightenment. New
York: Paragon House.
Requests for reprints to: Jon Ossoff, 263-20 73rd Avenue, Glen Oaks, New York
11004.

THE PH YSIO-KUNDALINI SYNDROME
AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Bruce Greyson
Farmington, Connecticut
In Eastern spiritual traditions, the biological mechanism of both

individual enlightenment and evolution of the species toward
higher consciousness is called kundalini, a potential force that once
awakened can produce a variety of mental, emotional, physical,
and spiritual effects. The ancient yogic texts described a life energy
present in all living beings called prana. Kundalini was described
as a normally dormant mechanism or organizing principle that
could be activated or awakened under certain conditions, to a
strengthen or purify an individuals prana, transforming its effects normally
upon the individual. dormant
mechanism
Kundalini has been held responsible for life itself (Krishna, 1972), or
the sexual drive, creativity, genius, longevity, and vigor (Krishna, organizing
1975), and our evolution toward an ultimate, magnificent state of principle
consciousness (Krishna, 1974b). The dormant kundalini is said to
be situated at the base of the spine (Muktananda, 1974; Kason et al.,
1993), and when aroused can travel upwards along the spinal cord
to the brain, where it can stimulate a dormant chamber of the brain
(the brahma randhra), leading to biological transformation and
immensely expanded perception (Krishna, 1972, 1975).
THE PHYSIO-KUNDALINI SYNDROME
Itzhak Bentov (1977), a biomedical engineer who studied the

physiological effects of altered states of consciousness, concluded
This article is based in part on a presentation at the First Annual Symposium of the
Kundalini Research Network, Watsonville, CA, June 18, 1992. The author grate
fully acknowledges the help of Kenneth Ring, Ph.D. and Barbara Harris, R.T.T.,
Ms.T., in developing the Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index questionnaire used in
this study.

that the normal biological evolution of the human nervous system
could be accelerated under certain circumstances, triggering a
predictable sequence of physiological stresses on the body that he
described as a progressive sensory-motor cortex syndrome. While
Bentov acknowledged that the concept of kundalini involves spiri
tual forces and effects beyond these physiological symptoms, he
proposed a limited mechanical-physiological portion of the kunda
lini syndrome as a useful working model.
This intentionally simplistic model, which Bentov called the

physio-kundalini syndrome, describes a characteristic anatomic
progression of sensory and motor symptoms. While classical eso
teric literature envisioned kundalini as rising from the base of the
spine up through the head (Krishna, 1971; Muktananda, 1974),
Bentov speculated that the physio-kundalini symptoms could result
from an electrical polarization spreading along the sensory and
motor cortices, in turn induced by acoustical standing waves in the
cerebral ventricles. Some kundalini scholars maintain that the
physio-kundalini concept oversimplifies kundalini and ignores the
critically important spiritual evolutionary features that define that
process; others maintain further that the physiological symptoms
may not represent kundalini activation at all, but rather a less
profound effect of bioenergy or prana (Greenwell, 1990; Kieffer,
in press; Scott, 1983).
Nevertheless, Lee Sannella (1987), a psychiatrist and ophthalmolo

Bentov's gist who has encountered patients presenting with problems attrib
physio-kundalini utable to kundalini activation, views Bentovs physio-kundalini
syndrome syndrome as the best available model. Observing that the classical
as kundalini process is inexplicable in terms of Western medical
best science, Sannella proposes that we employ the physio-kundalini
available model to study (and treat patients suffering from) the physiological
model dimension of the kundalini experience. Most Western health pro
fessionals familiar with kundalini now have gained their under
standing of the concept through Bentovs neurophysiological
model and Sannellas elaboration in medical terminology of the
implications and symptoms of the physio-kundalini syndrome
(Greenwell, 1990).
KUNDALINI AND THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE
Some investigators in the field of consciousness and near-dcath

studies have suggested that the significance of the near-death expe
rience (NDE) may be its role as a catalyst for human evolution
(Grey, 1985; Grosso, 1985; Ring, 1984). They view the reported
mental, physical, and spiritual after-effects of NDEs as indications

of an accelerated development in near-death experiencer (NDErs)
of intuitive functioning on a different order, and as similar to
changes traditionally reported by people awakening to a higher-
order state of consciousness. If those speculations are correct, then
near-death experiencers might be expected to show signs of
kundalini awakening.
Kenneth Ring (1984) was the first Western consciousness re

searcher to speculate in detail about the role of kundalini in near
death experiences. He presented anecdotal evidence of similarities
between kundalini awakenings and the common after-effects of
NDEs. More recently, seeking more objective evidence of kunda
lini among NDErs, he embedded nine kundalini items in a 60-item
inventory of psychophysical changes administered to 74 NDErs
and to a control group of 54 subjects who expressed interest in
NDEs but never had one themselves. He found that the NDErs
acknowledged an average of 36% of the kundalini items, while the
control subjects acknowledged an average of 11% of those same
items (Ring, 1992). Ring proposed two possible explanations of the
association between kundalini and the NDE: 1) kundalini is the proposed
energy underlying the near-death experience, and thus every NDE explanations
is an indication of an aroused kundalini, or 2) the NDE is one of of
many possible triggers that can stimulate a kundalini awakening, association
but doesnt necessarily do so in every case. between
kundalini
Margot Grey (1985) also points out the similarities between classi and
cal kundalini awakenings and core NDEs, including their com the
mon precipitation by temporary cessation of heartbeat and respira NDE
tory activity. She concludes that similar physiological mechanisms
operate in both NDEs and kundalini phenomena, and that both are
manifestations of the same evolutionary force. Describing the theo
retical mechanism for the link between kundalini and NDEs, Gene
Kieffer (in press) has argued that in a near-death situation kundalini
attempts a last-ditch, life-saving effort by empowering and direct
ing the bodys prana to flow directly into the dying brain; this
overwhelming rush of potent energy produces the visions and other
phenomena typical of NDEs.
I recently examined the occurrence of physiological aspects of

kundalini in NDErs as described by Bentov (1977) and Sannella
(1987). Using a 19-item questionnaire developed for that study to
elicit physio-kundalini symptoms, I compared the responses of a
sample of 153 NDErs with those of two control samples: 55
individuals who had come close to death but not had NDEs, and
113 individuals who had never come close to death. The NDErs in
that study acknowledged a mean of 7.6 out of 19 physio-kundalini
symptoms, significantly more than the mean of 4.6 symptoms
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome and Mental Illness 45

acknowledged by each of the two control groups, supporting the
impression that kundalini awakening is more common among
NDErs than among nonNDErs (Greyson, in press).
This association between kundalini and nearly dying is by no

means a recent discovery. While Eastern traditions have developed
elaborate lifelong practices and life-styles with the intent of awak
ening kundalini, they have also claimed that when the brain is
deprived of oxygen, kundalini may actually rush to the brain in an
effort to sustain life. In fact, one bizarre and unusual yoga sect
practiced suffocation by tongue-swallowing in the hope that
kundalini would rush to their brains and produce enlightenment
(Dippong, 1982), a practice that may have a Western counterpart in
la petite mort, in which a considerable number of adolescents die
each year seeking orgasmic initiation by asphyxiation (Kieffer, in
press; Rosner, 1987).
This theoretical arousal of kundalini by life-threatening crisis has

traditionally been regarded by Eastern philosophers as dangerous
(Krishna, 1975). According to those sources, kundalini should only
be awakened by a gradual process under the guidance of someone
who has first-hand experience with it; otherwise, a kundalini awak
ening in a body and soul not properly prepared can produce nega
tive effects, including psychosis.
KUNDALINI AND MENTAL ILLNESS
classical Because the ancient traditions provided gurus to supervise kunda

literature lini awakenings, the classical literature did not dwell on the prob
did lems of these phenomena. It was assumed that enlightenment,
not developed in the proper context and with proper guidance, though it
dwell may be difficult, would lead to good outcomes. However, contem
on the porary Western culture typically provides neither proper context
problems nor proper guidance, so that the earliest indications of kundalini
activity may lead to major disruptions in functioning that are often
confused with psychotic disorders (Grey, 1985; Krishna, 1975;
Sannella, 1987). Because near-death experiences often occur with
out preparation or warning, NDErs facing the chaos and change of
kundalini awakening may seek professional counseling (Green
well, 1990). Therapists unfamiliar with kundalini phenomena,
however, may misinterpret clients symptoms as reflecting an un
derlying mental illness (Bentov, 1977).
Greenwell (1990) describes clients undergoing the kundalini pro

cess who seek therapy because they feel disengaged from their
former sense of self, engage in irrational behavior, see visions,
make involuntary movements usually associated with mental ill

ness, and suffer physical pains and changes. She lists one of the
effects of kundalini awakening as psychological and emotional
upheaval, including intensification of unresolved psychological
conflict, fear of death or insanity, overwhelming mood swings,
heightened sensitivity to others moods, confusion, ritualistic or
impulsive behavior, insomnia, uncharacteristic intense sexual
drives, gender identity issues, seeing lights or hearing sounds,
indecisiveness and boundary issues, grandiosity, and trance-like
states of consciousness.
Gopi Krishna claimed countless cases of spontaneous kundalini

awakening lead to insanity or less severe mental illness: Apart
from psychosis, there are also many people in whom the awaking of
kundalini leads to neurosis and other psychic disorders. They lead
an imbalanced life without crossing the border into the territory of
the incurably insane (1974a, p. 149). Bentov (1977) estimates that
25 to 30 percent of institutionalized schizophrenics may be experi
encing kundalini phenomena.
Unlike Krishna (1974a, 1975), Bentov (1977), and Sannella

(1987), Sri Aurobindo (1971) believed that kundalini in itself
would not induce psychosis in a previously healthy individual, but assumptions
that a constitutionally weak nervous system already predisposed to about
emotional problems might decompensate under the stress of psychosis
kundalini awakening. Psychotic decompensation following kunda in
lini awakening may be less common in Asian cultures, where kundalini
proper preparation and mental discipline are prerequisites for yogic literature
training, than in the West, where ancient preparatory (and screen
ing) practices are not available and where, for example, kundalini
could be as likely to be awakened by an accidental near-death event
in an unprepared individual (Greenwell, 1990).
Greenwell (1990) notes that the more drastic psychological effects

of kundalini awakening, such as hallucinations, may lead therapists
unfamiliar with the phenomenon to consider it a psychosis, neuro
logical disorder, or manic-depressive illness. She suggests that
kundalini has been linked to psychosis because some kundalini
symptoms appear similar to a psychotic break and because thera
pists lack other diagnostic categories in which to categorize halluci
natory experiences. Like Aurobindo, however, she does not believe
that kundalini or inappropriate treatment of it can cause psychosis,
or that spiritual components of psychosis are necessarily evidence
of kundalini awakening. Rather, she suggests that spontaneous
kundalini awakening in individuals with borderline or narcissistic
pathology may precipitate psychosis, or that weak ego boundaries
or disturbed energetic phenomena in psychosis may activate physi
ological processes similar to those of kundalini, leading to confu
sion between the two.

Certainly some kundalini phenomena resemble, at least in descrip
tion, symptoms of schizophrenia. For example, hearing internal
voices, a kundalini manifestation, resembles auditory hallucina
tions, a schizophrenic symptom; becoming locked into unusual
positions (postures), another kundalini manifestation, resembles
catatonic rigidity, another schizophrenic symptom; the kundalini-
related experience of sudden, intense mood swings for no reason
resembles the schizophrenic symptom of inappropriate affect; and
thoughts speeding up or slowing down in kundalini awakening
resemble the formal thought disorder of schizophrenia. But while
those symptoms may be common to both kundalini and schizophre
nia, they alone are insufficient to delineate either condition. In
actuality the overlap between these two conditions is quite limited
if the entire constellation of their symptoms is considered.
Such typical physio-kundalini phenomena as pockets in the body of

extreme temperature, changes in breathing, specific localized
pains, expanding beyond the body, out-of-body experiences, deep
ecstatic tickles, internal lights or colors, and an ascending anatomic
progression of symptoms are not characteristic of schizophrenia.
On the other hand, such typical schizophrenic phenomena as delu
sions, deteriorating hygiene, social isolation, lack of energy, inco
herent speech, illogical thoughts, bizarre behavior, and deteriorat
ing social role functioning are not necessarily seen in kundalini
awakenings.
the Thus the relationship between kundalini and mental illness in

kundalini general and psychosis in particular remains controversial. Some
and authors have asserted that kundalini awakening, or inappropriate
mental treatment of it, is a frequent cause of psychosis; while others
illness maintained that mental illness occurs only in individuals predis
relationship posed to it or already suffering from borderline or narcissistic
remains pathology prior to a kundalini awakening. And finally, some have
controversial suggested that the ego weakening characteristic of psychosis might
promote either true kundalini awakening or some lesser psycho
physiological energy phenomena that mimic kundalini.
The purpose of this study was to explore indications of kundalini

awakenings in an unselected sample of psychiatric patients. In the
interest of conceptual simplicity, quantifiability, and replicability,
the physio-kundalini syndrome was used as an indicator of kunda
lini awakening. I administered the Physio-Kundalini Syndrome
Index to a sample of patients consecutively admitted to an inpatient
psychiatric unit, and compared their responses to those of previ
ously collected control groups. As a comparison group of individu
als who had shown definite signs of kundalini arousal, the previ
ously collected data sample of near-death experiencers was used;
and for a comparison group of normal individuals who had not
shown signs of kundalini phenomena, the two control groups from

the study of NDErs were combined, as those groups yielded identi
cal low basal rates of physio-kundalini symptoms, presumably that
of the general population.
METHOD
Instrument and Subjects
A 19-item Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index was added to the

admission diagnostic interview for all patients admitted to the
inpatient psychiatric unit of the University of Connecticut Health
Center for a 6-month period. This questionnaire, developed for an
earlier study of physio-kundalini symptoms in NDErs and de
scribed elsewhere (Greyson, in press), includes items exploring
motor, somatosensory, audiovisual, and mental phenomena, and
permits answers of yes, no, or not sure in response to ques
tions as to whether the subject ever experiences each of 19 symp
toms. In tabulating the results, no and not sure answers are both
regarded as negative responses. Documentation of the validity and
reliability of this physio-kundalini questionnaire is not yet avail
able.
During the 6-month period of this study, 138 patients were able to
provide coherent and usable responses to the questions on the
Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index. Of these 138 subjects, 39 patients,
(28%) were male and 99 (72%) female. Their mean age was 34.0 NDErs,
years (SD=11.2, range= 17-68 years). and
control
subjects
Data Analysis compared
Subjects responses were compared to the responses of (a) a sample

of 153 NDErs studied previously (mean age 50.3 years, SD= 13.2,
range=22-82 years), a group that reported a high rate of physio-
kundalini symptoms, and (b) control subjects in that previous
study, who showed a lower rate of physio-kundalini symptoms,
assumed to be the baseline rate in the general population. As noted
above, the two control groups in the study of NDErs55 subjects
who had come close to death without having had NDEs and 113
subjects who had never been close to deathproduced identical
response rates. Therefore, for the present comparison, those two
groups were combined and collectively treated as a normal control
sample of 168 individuals (mean age 48.8 years, SD=13.9, range
=20-86 years).
The primary hypothesis to be tested was that the study sample of

psychiatric patients would acknowledge fewer physio-kundalini
symptoms than did the previously studied sample of NDErs, a

population known to have experienced kundalini awakenings; and
that these psychiatric patients would instead acknowledge a num
ber of physio-kundalini symptoms comparable to that reported by
the control sample. The difference between the number of symp
toms acknowledged by these psychiatric patients and the NDErs
was evaluated by t-test, as was the difference between the number
of symptoms acknowledged by the psychiatric patients and the
normal control sample.
Assuming a significant difference between these groups on the

entire 19-item Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index, a secondary
focus of this study was whether particular symptoms of physio-
a kundalini would better differentiate psychiatric patients from
secondary NDErs or normal controls. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate
focus the differences between the proportion of psychiatric patients ac
of this knowledging each individual symptom and the proportion of
study NDErs and control subjects acknowledging that symptom. Since
these nineteen symptoms might not be statistically independent, the
Bonferroni procedure was used to correct for interdependence of
these tests. Accordingly, p<.0026 was chosen as the criterion for
significance for each of these individual chi-square tests, which
would yield a significance level of p<.05 for the nineteen tests
considered together.
RESULTS
Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index
The 138 psychiatric patients acknowledged a mean of 4.9 (SD=

3.6) of the 19 physio-kundalini symptoms. That number was sig
nificantly fewer than the mean of 7.6 symptoms (SD=4.7) acknowl
edged by the 153 NDErs (/=5.47, df=289, /?<.0001); and it was
statistically indistinguishable from the mean of 4.6 symptoms
(SD=3.5) acknowledged by the 168 control subjects (7=0.53,
#=304, n.s.).
These psychiatric patients, therefore, did not report a high inci

dence of physio-kundalini symptoms, as did the NDErs, but re
ported the same average number of these symptoms as did the
control sample. Given this difference between the psychiatric pa
tients and the NDErs, an analysis of individual physio-kundalini
symptoms follows.
Motor Physio-Kundalini Symptoms
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index included four items that

could be considered motor symptoms. Ones body assuming and
50 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. I

maintaining strange positions for no apparent reason was reported
by 14 patients, or 10 percent of the sample. That was neither
significantly less than the 17 percent of NDErs who reported this
symptom (=2.32), nor significantly more than the 2 percent of
control subjects reporting it (=8.56).
Ones body becoming frozen or locked into strange positions and

immovable was reported by 21 patients, or 15 percent. That also
was neither significantly less than the 20 percent of NDErs who
reported this symptom (=0.69), nor significantly more than the 6
percent of control subjects reporting it (= 6.16).
Ones breathing spontaneously stopping or becoming rapid, shal

low, or deep for no apparent reason was reported by 40 patients, or
29 percent. Again, that percentage was neither significantly less
than the 39 percent of NDErs who reported this symptom ( =2.55)
nor significantly more that the 20 percent of control subjects re
ported it (=2.70).
Finally, spontaneous involuntary bodily movements were reported

by 50 patients, or 36 percent. Once again, that percentage was not
symptom (=1.17), and was almost identical to the 38 percent of
Thus the psychiatric patients reported all four motor physio- motor
kundalini symptoms at frequencies between those of the NDErs physio-
and control samples (or almost identical to the control sample, in kundalini
the case of involuntary movements). However, differences in the not more
rates of these motor symptoms did not differentiate the patients common
from either the NDErs or the control subjects. That is, motor in NDErs
physio-kundalini phenomena arc not significantly more common in than in
NDErs than in these psychiatric patients, but neither are they more patients
common in the patients than in control subjects.
Somatosensory Physio-Kundalini Symptoms
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index included six items that

could be considered somatosensory symptoms. A spontaneous
deep ecstatic tickle or orgasmic feeling was reported by 17 patients,
or 12 percent of the sample. That was significantly less than the
37 percent of NDErs who reported this symptom (=21.49,
p<0001), and statistically indistinguishable from the 15 percent of
Physical sensations starting in the feet, legs, or pelvis, and moving

up the back and neck to the top of the head, down the forehead, over
the face, then to the throat, and ending in the abdomen were

reported by 21 patients, or 15 percent. That also was significantly
less than the 37 percent of NDErs reporting this symptom (=
16.86, p<.0001), and statistically indistinguishable from the 19
percent of control subjects reporting it (=0.53).
Extreme sensations of heat or cold moving through the body for no

reason were reported by 57 patients, or 41 percent. That was not
significantly less than the 54 percent of NDErs reporting this
symptom (=4.42), but it was significantly more than the 21
percent of control subjects reporting it (=l 2.32, p<.0004).
Moving pockets of bodily heat or cold being extreme enough to

burn or otherwise affect someone else or an inanimate object were
reported by 3 patients, or 2 percent. That percentage was statisti
cally indistinguishable from both the 10 percent of NDErs report
ing this symptom (=6.02) and the 2 percent of control subjects
reporting it (=0.03).
frequency of Pains in specific parts of the body that begin and end abruptly for no
somatosensory apparent reason were reported by 58 patients, or 42 percent. That
physio- also was statistically indistinguishable from both the 59 percent of
kundalini NDErs reporting this symptom (=8.16) and the 51 percent of
symptoms control subjects reporting it (=1.90).
Finally, tingling, vibration, itching, or tickling on the skin or inside

the body for no apparent reason was reported by 57 patients, or 41
percent. Again, that was statistically indistinguishable from both
the 58 percent of NDErs who reported this symptom (= 7.66) and
the 51 percent of control subjects who reported it (=2.67).
Thus some somatosensory physio-kundalini symptoms, such as

spontaneous orgasmic sensations and ascending anatomic progres
sion of sensations, are reported significantly more often by NDErs
than by psychiatric patients, who report those symptoms as seldom
as do control subjects. On the other hand, psychiatric patients
reported unexplained isolated temperature changes as often as did
the NDErs, and significantly more often than did the control
sample. Other somatosensory symptoms showed no differences
between the three groups, perhaps because they are either too rare
in any group, as with temperature changes so extreme as to bum
other people, or too common in all groups, as with spontaneous
unexplained pains and tingling or vibratory sensations.
Audiovisual Physio-Kundalini Symptoms
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index included four items that

could be regarded as audiovisual symptoms. Internal noises, such

as whistling, hissing, chirping, roaring, or flutelike sounds were
reported by 28 patients, or 20 percent of the sample. That was
symptom (=14.87, p<.0001), and statistically indistinguishable
from the 24 percent of control subjects reporting it (=0.57).
Internal voices were reported by 26 patients, or 19 percent. That

also was significantly less than the 46 percent of the NDErs who
reported this symptom (=22.57, p<.0001), and statistically indis
tinguishable from the 29 percent of control subjects reporting it
(=3.83).
Internal lights or colors illuminating parts of the body were re

ported by 6 patients, or 4 percent. Again, that percentage was
symptom (=13.28, p<.0003), and statistically indistinguishable
from the 7 percent of control subjects reporting it (=0.07).
Thus with the exception of internal lights bright enough to illumi

nate a dark room, which was very rare among all groups, the
audiovisual physio-kundalini symptoms were significantly more
common among NDErs than among psychiatric patients, who re
ported them as seldom as did control subjects.
Mental Physio-Kundalini Symptoms
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index included five items that

could be regarded as mental symptoms. Observing oneself, includ five
ing ones thoughts, as if one were a bystander while activities go on items
as usual, was reported by 30 patients, or 22 percent of the sample. regarded
That was significantly less than the 55 percent of NDErs who as
reported this symptom (=30.60, p<.0001), and statistically com mental
parable to the 33 percent of control subjects reporting it (=3.88). symptoms
Sudden, intense ecstasy, bliss, peace, love, devotion, joy, or cosmic

unity for no apparent reason was reported by 47 patients, or 34
percent. That also was significantly less than the 76 percent of
NDErs who reported this symptom (=49.67, p<.0001), and statis
tically comparable to the 51 percent of control subjects reporting it
(=7.79).
On the other hand, sudden intense fear, anxiety, depression, hatred,

or confusion for no apparent reason was reported by 88 patients, or
64 percent. That was statistically comparable to the 52 percent of
NDErs who reported this symptom (=4.40), and significantly
more than the 35 percent of control subjects reporting it (=26.07,
p<.0001).

Thoughts spontaneously speeding up, slowing down, or stopping
altogether were reported by 77 patients, or 56 percent. That per
centage was neither significantly less than the 61 percent of NDErs
who reported this symptom (=0.73), nor significantly more than
the 40 percent of control subjects reporting it (=7.08).
Finally, experiencing oneself as physically larger than the body, as

expanding beyond the material body boundary, was reported by 30
subjects, or 22 percent. That also was not significantly less than the
31 percent of NDErs who reported this symptom (= 2.96), nor
significantly more than the 19 percent of control subjects reporting
it (=0.19).
Thus watching oneself from a distance, or witness conscious

ness, and sudden unexplained positive emotions were signifi
cantly more common among NDErs than among the psychiatric
patients, who reported them as seldom as did control subjects. On
the other hand, sudden unexplained negative emotions were as
common among the psychiatric patients as among NDErs, and
more common than among the control sample. Changes in thought
processes and the greater body experience were quite common
among all groups, and did not differentiate among them.
DISCUSSION
incidence These data do not support anecdotal suggestions that kundalini

of phenomena are common in mental illness. In fact, an unselected
physio- sample of psychiatric inpatients reported an incidence of physio-
kundalini kundalini symptoms no different than a normal control sample, and
symptoms significantly fewer kundalini phenomena than did a comparison
in group of near-death experiencers.
patients
no These findings contradict the assertions of some authors that large
different numbers of institutionalized psychiatric patients suffer from misdi
than in agnosed kundalini awakenings (Bentov, 1977; Krishna, 1974a).
controls While it is possible that some individuals with awakened kundalini
may be mislabeled by therapists unfamiliar with the phenomenon,
this study suggests that psychiatric patients are no more likely to
experience kundalini awakening than the general public.
These data also bolster the claim that kundalini is a nonpathological

force that produces a unique pattern of physiological and psycho
logical effects. The low incidence of kundalini symptoms in psy
chiatric patients contradicts the notion that kundalini may be a
product of the imagination or of suggestion in individuals with ego
deficits.

Kundalini among Psychotic Patients
This studys sample of psychiatric patients was drawn from con

secutive admissions to a general inpatient psychiatric unit, and
included individuals with a variety of problems and diagnoses,
including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, personality disor
ders, and substance abuse, as well as schizophrenic, manic, and
organic psychoses. It might be argued that kundalini phenomena
mimic psychotic symptoms which are not necessarily common in a
general inpatient psychiatric sample. That raises the question of
whether a limited sample comprised only of psychotic patients
would acknowledge as many physio-kundalini symptoms as do
NDErs.
To test this hypothesis, a post hoc analysis was performed on the

responses of psychotic patients to the Physio-Kundalini Syndrome a
Index. Of the 138 patients in this study, 15, or 11 percent of the post
sample, carried a diagnosis of some nondepressive psychotic disor hoc
der. These 15 patients, whose diagnoses included schizophrenia, analysis
bipolar disorder, organic hallucinosis, and psychotic disorder not of
otherwise specified (atypical psychoses), as a group reported a psychotic
mean of 3.2 of the 19 physio-kundalini symptoms (SD=3.1). Thus patients
patients with psychoses actually acknowledged even fewer physio-
kundalini symptoms than did the larger sample of psychiatric
patients. Though the sample of psychotic patients was small, they
did not report any physio-kundalini symptom more often than did
the larger sample of psychiatric patients.
This finding held true for those symptoms that specifically may be
thought to mimic psychotic symptoms. Internal voices, for ex
ample, were reported by 20 percent of the psychotic patients, as
compared with 19 percent of all the patients and 46 percent of the
NDErs; becoming locked into a certain position was reported by 13
percent of psychotic patients, as compared with 15 percent of all the
patients and 20 percent of the NDErs; spontaneous changes in
thought processes were reported by 40 percent of the psychotic
patients, as compared with 56 percent of all the patients and 61
percent of the NDErs; and unexplained negative emotions were
reported by 47 percent of the psychotic patients, as compared with
64 percent of all the patients and 52 percent of the NDErs.
Discriminative Value of Physio-Kundalini Items
Thus, as pathological as some of them may sound, a number of

physio-kundalini symptoms are reported significantly more often
by near-death experiencers than by psychiatric, and particularly

psychotic, patients. Seven of the 19 physio-kundalini items, includ
ing three of the four audiovisual symptoms, were significantly
more common among NDErs than among psychiatric patients:
spontaneous orgasmic sensations, ascending anatomic progression
of sensations, internal noises, internal voices, internal lights or
colors, watching oneself as if from a distance, and sudden positive
emotions for no apparent reason. These seven items then may be
useful indicators in differentiating kundalini awakening from men
tal illness.
Two items were as common among these psychiatric patients as

various among the comparison group of NDErs, and more common than
item among the control sample: unexplained heat or cold moving
discriminations through the body, and sudden, negative emotions for no apparent
among reason. Thus, those symptoms, while they may be a part of the
the physio-kundalini syndrome, also appear to be associated preferen
groups tially with mental illness.
Eight items were reported by psychiatric patients with a frequency

midway between those of NDErs and the control subjects, without
differing significantly from either: assuming strange positions,
becoming locked into position, changes in breathing, spontaneous
involuntary movements, spontaneous unexplained pains, tingling
or vibrating sensations, unexplained changes in thought processes,
and experiencing oneself as larger than the physical body. Thus
these symptoms appear to be too common among psychiatric pa
tients and the general population to be useful indicators of kunda
lini awakening. Likewise, two items, bodily heat or cold so extreme
as to bum or affect others and internal lights bright enough to
illuminate a dark room, were so rare among all three groups as to be
useless in differentiating kundalini awakening from other condi
tions.
CONCLUSION
In summary, symptoms of the physio-kundalini syndrome are re

ported far more often by individuals known to have experienced
kundalini awakening than by psychiatric, and particularly psy
chotic, patients. Furthermore, certain specific physio-kundalini
symptoms can be identified as being particularly helpful in differ
entiating kundalini awakening from mental illness.
Psychologist David Lukoff (1985) has recommended that psy

chotic symptoms in the context of kundalini experiences be diag
nosed not as schizophrenia but as mystical experience with psy
chotic features, with the implication that this condition may have a
positive outcome if treated with alternative therapeutic strategies.
More recently, Lukoff and psychiatrists Francis Lu and Robert

Turner formally proposed and had accepted for the next revision of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders a new
diagnostic category of psychoreligious or psychospiritual prob
lem, in the class of problems that may appropriately be a focus of
professional attention or treatment even though they are not attrib
utable to a mental disorder (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1992). This
study, in differentiating kundalini from mental illness, has gener
ated data supporting that proposal. It may also help stimulate
caregivers to develop new and different techniques for assisting
individuals seeking help with kundalini phenomena.
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Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030-2103.

DEATH AND NEAR-DEATH:
A COMPARIS ON OF TIBETAN AND
EURO-AMER ICAN EXPERIENCES
Christopher Carr
Tempe, Arizona
This article explores two intertwined subjects related to death. First

is the variation in near-death experiences (NDEs) of contemporary
Americans of European descent within the United States. Second is
the similarities and differences between Euro-American near-death
experiences and death experiences (DEs) as understood by Tibetan
Buddhist lamas and yogis of the eighth to eleventh centuries a.d.,
and described in the Tibetan books of the dead. By taking a broad
view that examines both intracultural and crosscultural variations
in death-related experiences, the nature and several causes of these
experiences are more readily inferred. This approach especially
helps to clarify the effect of learned culture on the content and
structure of death-related experiences.
The comparative analyses and data patterns presented here further furthering
our understanding of near-death and death in four ways. First, they understanding
suggest that NDEs and DEs vary systematically in their core of
content and structure among cultures with diverse world views. near-death
This finding accords with other crosscultural studies of NDEs and
(Counts, 1983; Pasricha & Stevenson, 1986; Schorer, 1985). It death
contrasts with some early research that suggested the core elements in
of NDEs are invariant (Ring, 1985, p. 48) or very similar (Moody, four
1975, pp. 111-28) crossculturally. ways
Second, these comparisons, and published literature, suggest that

multiple factors cause or affect the content and structure of a NDE.
These factors pertain to multiple phenomenological levels: per-
My deepest thanks go to Barbara Strauss, Barbara Laishley, Bryan Cuevas a

blessed teacher, Larry Epstein, Sogyal Rinpoche, Ken Ring, Sandy Sorge, Linda
Ware, and Donna Burns. Each helped me along essential paths that led to this article.

sonal circumstance of death and life history, age-gender class,
subculture, culture, and pan-human psychology and neurophysiol
ogy. It appears that known variability in NDEs cannot be explained
by and reduced to any single causal mechanism. This view con
trasts with some previous attempts to interpret NDEs in primarily
biological (e.g., Rodin, 1980), cultural (e.g., Zaleski, 1987), psy
chological (e.g., Noyes & Kletti, 1976), archetypal psychological
(e.g. Grosso, 1983), or parapsychological (e.g., Ring, 1980) terms.
Third, the comparisons suggest that only some of the systematic

differences in NDEs and DEs among cultures are learned. This
contrasts with the view that NDEs are culturally-constructed nar
rative wholes or dramas, inseparably enmeshed within and
shaped by culturally learned linguistic categories, beliefs, world
views, and social religious imagination (Zaleski, 1987, pp. 195-
99). It also contrasts with the ideas that NDEs are the product of
wishful thinking or expectations about death based on learned
cultural beliefs (Matlock, 1989, p. 169; Moody, 1975; DeSpelder &
Strickland, 1983, p. 403). To explain apparently unlearned sys
tematic crosscultural variation in NDEs and DEs, two alternative
models are offeredone depth-psychological and one positing the
experience of nonordinary realities.
Finally, the comparisons give insight into the possible nature of

insight death, including the general content and spatial structure of
into nonordinary realities perceived in the death space, the dynamics
the of the boundaries between these perceived realities, the general
possible sequence of the death process, and some of its apparent, most
nature general purposes and meanings. The comparison also suggests
of some fundamental, apparent properties of time, space, and the
death human body and consciousness in the death space. Most basi
cally, the comparison suggests that, at least for Euro-Americans
and Tibetans, the death space is much like life in its essential
functioning and meaning: it is a set of realities or states of con
sciousness for learning, growing, and healing through choice and
integration.
Similarities between Euro-American NDEs and the death process

described in Tibetan books of the dead have been pointed out
previously (Becker, 1985; Moody, 1975; Sogyal, 1992). However,
comparisons have usually been informal, in contrast to the formal
analysis of content and structure presented here. An exception is
Epsteins (1989) related analysis of the similarities between Ti
betan das-log experiences (NDEs) and Euro-American NDEs.
This article begins with a dissection of Euro-American NDEs into

several dimensions of variability and discussion of their different
causes. Next, the Tibetan DE described in Tibetan books of the

dead is characterized. As a context for comparing the Euro-Ameri
can and Tibetan experiences, some basic world view assumptions
in contemporary Euro-American Christianity and Mahayana Ti
betan Buddhism are summarized. Finally, Euro-American NDEs
and Tibetan descriptions of DEs are compared for similarities and
differences in their content and structure, and several explanations
of these are offered. The overall direction of the paper is from a
discussion of variability to the elucidation of possible universals in
the dying and death processes.
A basic assumption that underlies this comparison of near-death

and death experiences is that the two phenomena are closely related
in their function and dynamics, and that the NDE is the beginning
of the death process. Similarities found in the content and sequence
of NDEs and DEs, as well as similarities of NDEs to deathbed
visions (Osis & Haraldsson, 1977), support this view.
NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AMONG EURO-AMERICANS:

MULTIPLE CAUSES AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Early studies of Euro-American NDEs (Moody, 1975; Ring, 1980; early

Sabom, 1982) differ in approach from this study in three ways. studies
First, they aimed at constructing a general archetypal model of of
NDEs and defining their possibly universal, core features, rather NDEs
than exploring their variation and sources of variation. Moodys differ
(1975, pp. 21-23) and Rings (1980, pp. 102-03) models of se from
quences of NDE events, and Rings (1980, pp. 32-33) scaling of this
events to measure the relative depth of a NDE are each idealized study
composite summaries. This approach was reasonable at the time,
since typological description almost always precedes the study of
variance in developing sciences. Second, early studies focused
more on the content (imagery, sensations), affective tone, and
meaning of NDEs than the sequencing and spatial structuring of
events. Finally, places in the landscape of the perceptions of
the dying (e.g., in-the-body, out-of-the-body, tunnel, void, another
world) were confounded with events at those places (e.g., feeling
peaceful, seeing the Light, life review, greetings by messengers),
rather than distinguished. Both were labelled features of NDEs.
This equation inhibited the study of consistency and variation in the
structure of NDEs, as separate from consistency and variation in
their content.
The alternative approach that is used here to study NDEs conceptu

ally, though not statistically, follows an analysis-of-variance de
sign. In this strategy, variation rather than uniformity is the focus,
multiple dimensions of variation are defined, and different combi
nations of sources of variation for different dimensions are sought.
Death and Near-Death: A Comparison of Tibetan and Euro-American Experiences 61

Taking this approach, recent literature shows that contemporary
Euro-American NDEs vary significantly along seven different di
mensions. These are: which (1) general classes of places and (2)
general classes of events are experienced, (3) the specific form of
places and events, (4) the sequence with which events and (5) the
sequence with which places are experienced, (6) the affective tone
of experiences, and (7) their cognitive-sensory characteristics. For
at least the dimension of sequence, it is essential to analyze sepa
rately events and places in order to reveal patterning. Also, the
different dimensions appear to be attributable to different sets of
causal factors. These factors include the personal circumstance of
death, ones personal life-history and system of meaningful sym
bols, age and gender, varying responses of the other world to the
person having the NDE, culture or subculture-specific learned
beliefs and symbols, culture-specific perceptions or projections
that are not learned, and pan-human biology (see Table 1).
TABLE 1
SOURCES OF VARIATION IN EURO-AMERICAN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES
Dimension of Variation
Cause of Which Which Specific Sequence Sequence Affective Cognitive-

Variation General General Form of of of Tone of Sensory
Classes of Classes of Places Events Places the Character
Places are Events are and Experience istics
Experienced Experienced Events
circumstances
of death:
depth of experience + + + +
as a function of
closeness or
perceived
closcncss to death
intent (suicide/ sometimes sometimes sometimes
nonsuicide)
cause of trauma ? ? ?
personal life- + ? ?
history and
personally
meaningful symbols
age and gender + +
personally varying ? ? ? ?
responses of the
other world to the
NDlir
learned, subculture or + + + ? ? + +
culture-specific
beliefs and symbols
culturc-spccific ? ? + ? ? + +
perceptions not
learned
pan-human + + ?
biology

Circumstances of Death
Three factors that constitute circumstances of death are known to

cause systematic variation among Euro-American NDEs in the
general classes of events and places that are experienced and in
affective tone. These are (1) the depth to which the NDE pro
ceeded, as a function of how close the person came to death or
perceived they came to death, and perhaps the duration of the
trauma, (2) whether the NDE arose from an attempt at suicide, and
(3) whether the NDE occurred during childbirth under anesthesia.
Regarding the first factor, Moody (1975, pp. 17, 24) noted that
persons who have been resuscitated after having been thought or
pronounced clinically dead by their doctors tend to have more
dramatic NDEs, i.e., NDEs with a fuller sequence of events, than
persons who only came close to physical death. Stevenson et al.
(1989, p. 52) and Noyes and Kletti (1976) qualified Moodys
finding, concluding from empirical data that a persons perception
of their closeness to death, rather than their actual closeness to
death, may be more essential to precipitating NDE features (see
also Gabbard et al., 1981; Greyson, 1983; Ring, 1980, pp. 87, 90).
Moody (1975, p. 24) also noted that persons who were thought to
be dead a longer time had more complete NDEs. Ring (1979) found
in a sample of 102 cases that events and places that are later in relation
Moodys archetypal sequence were experienced by Euro-Ameri- to
cans in systematically decreasing frequency: feeling of peace depth
(60%); out-of-body experience (37%); entering a dark tunnel or of
void (23%); seeing the Light (16%), and entering the Light (10%). progression
In other words, the chance of occurrence of an event or place in an
NDE and the range of events or places experienced appears to be
closely related to the depth of progression in the process.
Some NDEs arising from suicide attempts differ substantially in

the general classes of places and events that are experienced, and
their affective tone, compared to NDEs caused by all other modes
of trauma. Nonsuicide Near Death Experiencers (NDErs) who
experience a dark, vast void tend to find it black and peaceful
and/or pleasant, e.g., warm or velvety (Ring, 1980, pp. 55-
56). In contrast, some suicide attempters report entering a gray,
murky haze that is confusing or an unpleasant or awful
limbo state (Moody, 1975, p. 143; Ring, 1980, pp. 118, 122).
Whereas the former may be a common experience and symbol of
transition between altered states of consciousness or nonordinary
realities (see below), the latter is reminiscent of the ambivalent
mental state that precipitates some suicide attempts (see case in
Ring, 1980, p. 122). A person who attempted suicide may also
repeatedly re-experience the problematic issue that led to the at
tempt, causing them to feel trapped (Moody, 1977, p. 45). Occa
sionally, suicide attempters report terrifying figures (Giovetti,

1982, p. 12) or unsettling hallucinatory images (Ring, 1980, p.
124). Also, the Light may play a more stern, teaching, warning role
with uncomforting messages (e.g., No one cares about you . . . . It
is your job to care for yourself) rather than being a source of
overwhelming love (Morse, 1990, pp. 159, 161). However, it ap
pears that most suicide attempters have NDEs similar to typical
Euro-American NDEs in their core experiences, the frequency of
occurrence of core experiences, their affective tone, and their
proportional rate of occurrence (Ring & Franklin, 1981).
A small percentage of women who have NDEs during childbirth

under anesthesia are reported to have disturbing NDEs, based on a
small sample (Greyson & Bush, 1992, p. 104). The distressing
experiences include eternal emptiness, being mocked, and a sense
of all of life being an illusion.
Other circumstances of near-death have been reported to affect the

content and cognitive-sensory qualities of Euro-American NDEs,
but require verification. Noyes and Slymen (1979) found the NDEs
of the seriously ill to have more mystical kinds of experiences,
those of survivors of drowning to be visually enhanced, and those
of survivors of falls and car accidents to be more depersonalized.
Greyson (1991, pp. 52, 55) states that having a life review is far
more common when near-death comes suddenly and unexpectedly,
and that hellish experiences tend to be associated with greater
physiological brain malfunction.
Personal Life-history
variations Euro-American NDEs vary from person to person in the specific

in forms in which general classes of events and places are experi
specific enced. Table 2 shows some of the great range of variants reported
forms for certain features in the NDEs of adults and children (including
suicide attempters with positive experiences). One probable source
of such variations is the life history of the person, the symbolic
associations of forms with meanings and affects that accrue over
their life, and the relative intensity of those affects. This hypothesis
has not been tested.
To say that symbolic associations accrued over a lifetime determine

a part of the content of a NDE, on first appearance, supports the
broader interpretation that NDEs in part are the projection of
personal expectations or wishful thinking. However, the alterna
tive, nonordinary reality interpretation of the NDEthat it is an
experience of other realities that varies from person to person and
that it is in part orchestrated by other than the personalso is
consistent with the data in Table 2. Supporting the nonordinary
reality explanation is a study made by Lindstrom (n.d.) of deathbed

TABLE 2
Variants in the form of events and places in Euro-American NDE s .
Noise Before or While Leaving the Body

buzzing inside head, ringing, click, roar, banging, whistling, wind, whooshing
sound in ears, wind bells in the distance, majestic music
The Tunnel
tunnel, rectangular tunnel, round tunnel turning into square, tube, cylinder, well,
sewer, tunnel with concentric circles, tunnel with colored ridges, enclosure,
trough, narrow v-shaped trough, impenetrable dark valley, cone-shaped space,
funnel
The Dark Void
void, vacuum, cave, swirling black clouds, black, gray water, whitish grayish
sandish haze, velvety, safe, protected, warm, a lot of pinpricks of light, lights at a
distance, shiny sparkles all over, down
The Non-Physical Body
Form: globular version of human body with appendages, without appendages,
amorphous cloud, without eyes, no bodypure consciousness, point of
consciousness, little ball of energy
Constitution: mist, wispy, cloud, smoke-like, vapor, transparent, transparent but
not really, cloud of colors, orange-yellow-blue/indigo, no colors, white,
glowing composed of light, energy pattern, charged, weightless, airy like a
feather, piece of paper blown upward, words cant describe, density but as
waves, no temperature, comfortable warmth
Senses: heightened vision, hearing, occasionally smell and taste, no touch, no
pressure, zoom up and back with vision
Mobility: can move quickly from place to place, passes through solids, timeless,
time speeded up
Consciousness: can read others thoughts, no vocabulary to thoughts picked up,
speak to greeters with the mind
Border or Transition To the Light
door, fog, waterline on a beach, loading dock, rainbow bridge across the sky,
beautiful glowing arch, canopy of blue and silver rain
The Lights Form
Color: white, crystal clear, yellowish white, amber, very blight, very harsh, very
bright but also very soft, does not hurt to stare at it, doesnt block out the
background surrounding it, surrounded by blackness, its rays do not
penetrate the tunnel, sparkles around it
Constitution: cant see through it
Form: totally encompassing, rectangular, huge beam, a glowing cloud
Quality: loving, warm, accepting, kind, safe, joy, comfort, pleasure, euphoric,
calming, relief, beauty, irresistible magnetic attraction, perfect understand
ing, complete knowledge, perfect love, overwhelming compassion, fun,
delicious
Communication: direct thought transfer, no language, a voice
The Border between This World and the Other World
lake, river, body of water, grey mist, door, door without a knob, fence across a
field, field of flowers, a line, a line intuited but not perceived, a green plank, a
cliff, a waterfall, edge of the tunnel with a sea of light beyond, a box with a green
and red button for choosing to live or to die
Descriptions are from Moody (1975), Morse (1990), Ring (1980), Ring and
Franklin (1981).

visions. She points out that those relatives who may greet the dying
have two common characteristics: their appearance may be a sur
prise to the dying, yet they are those who are best suited for
providing comfort for the dying in accordance with their history of
family relations.
Age and Gender
These two factors appear to affect the general classes of events, but
not places, that Euro-Americans experience. Children are less
likely than adults to perceive deceased relatives (Bush, 1983;
Greyson, 1991, p. 54). This is expectable, given the short length of
life of a child and the small numbers of deaths of relatives that a
differences child normally would experience compared to an adult. Children
in also report life reviews less frequently than adults (Bush, 1983;
experiences Greyson, 1991,p. 54;Morse, 1990,p. 140), which may again relate
of to their limited length of life. In these ways, age acts as an aspect of
children personal life-history and as a causal factor. The motifs reported by
and some children (Morse, 1990) also appear to be more fairy-taleish
adults and colorful than those described by adults. Here, age acts as an
aspect of subculturally learned beliefs and symbols as a causal
factor. Finally, females have been found more often than males to
experience meetings with other people (Sabom, 1982). This may in
part reflect the fact that females, more so than men, tend to be
taught to be relationship-oriented, versus individuated and achieve-
ment-oriented, in Euro-America society (Gilligan, 1982, pp. 8-17).
Personal Variations in the NDE Sequence
NDEs range widely among persons not only in the specific forms of
places and events that are experienced, but also in the sequence with
which these features occur. In describing sequence variations, it is
essential that places be discriminated from events at places. This
is necessary because, among Euro-Americans, it appears that the
places that are experienced occur in a consistent sequence (Figure 1;
Table 4 below), whereas events do not. Of the places experienced,
only the tunnel and void may occur in several sequential positions
and optionally. This variation is expectable in that the tunnel and
void may be the minds alternative representations of transitions
between states or levels of consciousness or nonordinary realities
(Ring, 1980, p. 238), of which a deep NDE can have several. The
tunnel is a crossculturally universal symbol of transition (e.g.,
Blackmore & Troscianko, 1989) and is frequently experienced as
such in shamanic journeys (Eliade, 1964; Hamer, 1980), holotropic
breathwork (Scherer, 1990), and spiritual healing (Brennan, 1988, p.
68).1 The sequence of places shown in Figure 1 is found in all cases
of NDEs reported by Moody (1975) and Morse (1990).

FIGURE 1
Sequences of Places Experienced in Near Death Experiences
Places experienced as a consistent sequence in Euro-American NDEs. General

ized, without exceptions, from all cases described in Moody (1975) and Morse
(1990). Any given NDE may include only some of the places in the sequence.
in the body
dark void 1, before view the body (optional)
transitional structure I, by which exit the body: tunnel (optional)
out of the body
border/decision point 1, after out of the body (optional)
transitional structure 2, by which move from the place of the body after exiting it
to the other world or the Light: e.g. tunnel, void, path, river
border/decision point 2, before seeing the other world or the Light: e.g.. gate,
wall, door (optional)
landscape of the other world and/or the Light before the point of no return
border/decision point 3: the point of no return
landscape of the other world beyond the point of no return
transitional structure 3, by which reenter the body (rarely perceived)
in the body
In contrast, many events can occur in any of several places,

leading to greater variation among persons in the sequence of
events than the sequence of places experienced. For example,
deceased relatives may be seen before the NDEr leaves his or her
body (e.g., Moody, 1975, p. 55), soon after leaving the body (e.g.,
Moody, 1975, p. 56), within the tunnel (Serdahely, 1989, p. 56), or
in the other world (e.g., Moody, 1975, pp. 74, 76; Ring, 1985, p.
37). The Light (as opposed to figures of light) may be seen before
the NDEr leaves his or her body (e.g., Moody, 1975, p. 24; Morse,
1990, pp. 123-24, 129); after leaving the body but before passing
through a tunnel or void (e.g., Moody, 1975, pp. 24,62-63,75,139-
40; Morse, 1990, p. 121), after passing through a tunnel or void
(e.g., Morse, 1990, pp. 40, 95, 120, 141, 153, 155), in the other

world (Morse, 1990, p. 153), or perhaps in more than one place
(Ring & Franklin, 1981, p. 202).2
Such variations among persons in the sequence of experienced

events cannot easily be attributed to personal life history and
accrued symbolic associations, or to personal expectations or wish
ful thinking. A simpler explanation is the nonordinary realities
interpretation of the NDE. The NDE is thought to be an interactive
journey through other realities that is produced by the responses of
the other world to the NDEr as well as the NDErs own decisions.
Subculture-specific, Learned Belief
Learned spiritual beliefs that vary among subcultures of the Euro-

American tradition, such as religious denomination or whether a
learned person is an atheist, are thought to not affect the general or specific
beliefs kinds of events or places that Euro-Americans perceive in NDEs.
and Beliefs are thought to affect only the interpretations of perceptions
interpretations (Moody, 1975, p. 59; Ring, 1979; 1985, pp. 45-47). Thus, typically,
the Light may be interpreted as God, Jesus, an angel (Moody, 1975,
pp. 59, 62; Ring, 1980, pp. 57-60), or perhaps a relative (Ring &
Franklin, 1981, p. 202). The tunnel may be interpreted as the Valley
of the Shadow of Death (Moody, 1975, p. 34). However, some
Euro-American cases do show that perceptions as well as interpre
tations of events or places vary with belief. For example, the Light
has been perceived as Jesus in much detail (Ring, 1980, p. 59), or as
a wonderfully kind face (Morse, 1990, p. 124). This intra-cul-
tural variation is reasonable, given analogous crosscultural varia
tions in perceived places and events that accord with cultural world
view and belief, as will be shown later.
Pan-human Biology
Various pan-human physiological and neurological factors have

been hypothesized to cause one or more core features of NDEs
features presumed to be invariant across cultures. The factors are
well summarized and critiqued by Groth-Mamat and Schumaker
(1989, p. 121), Ring (1980, pp. 210-17), and Greyson and Bush
(1993). They include cerebral anoxia and hypercarbia, disruption
of oxygen transfer at the enzymatic level, phosphenes, limbic lobe
dysfunction, trauma-triggered endorphin production associated
with limbic lobe activation, temporal lobe dysfunction, and sensory
isolation.
The most embracing and well-documented neurophysiological ex

planation of NDEs is trauma-produced electrical stimulation of the

Sylvian fissure of the right temporal lobe. Artificial stimulation of
various areas of the Sylvian fissure has been shown by several
researchers (Morse, 1990, pp. 102-10; Penfield, 1958) to allow and/
or produce most core features of NDEs in Euro-American and
Chilean populations. The features experienced include leaving the
body, seeing dead friends and relatives, zooming up a tunnel, seeing
God, having a panoramic life review, and hearing beautiful music.
One possible interpretation of these data is that the Sylvian fissure

acts as a neurophysiological program that provides the biological
foundation or capacity for having core NDE features, and perhaps
is responsible for the consistent sequence of places within Euro-
American NDEs. The specific events, places, and affective tone of
an NDE would derive from personal life-experience memories, as
well as stored, culturally learned beliefs and symbols, which are
loaded into and structured by the neurophysiological program Sylvian
upon trauma. An analog would be the pan-human neurophysiologi fissure
cal foundation for conceptualization, symbolization, and the gen interpretation
eral grammatical structure of languages that the inferior parietal
lobule and other parts of the brain provide (Blakeslee, 1991;
DAquilli, 1972; Pinker, 1991), as distinguished from the cultur
ally-learned content and specific structure of a language. Alterna
tively, or in complement, the Sylvian fissure might act as the organ
that opens or closes a persons consciousness to the nonordinary
reality of the death space. An analog would be the pan-human
neurophysiological foundation for the opening of the mind to
nonordinary realities during trance induction (Winkelman, 1986).
Other factors that are responsible for consistency in Euro-Ameri

can NDEs, though they contribute to variation crossculturally,
include culture-specific learned beliefs and symbols, and culture-
specific perceptions or projections that are not learned (Table 1).
The effects of these factors become apparent in the following
comparison of Euro-American NDEs to Tibetan DEs as described
in Tibetan literature and known as the books of the dead.
THE DEATH EXPERIENCE IN THE TIBETAN BOOKS OF THE DEAD
Historical Sources of the Books of the Dead
The Tibetan books of the dead are a series of orally transmitted

accounts and written texts of the more interpretive Mahayana
Buddhist tradition, and specifically its northern, mystical, Vajra-
yana or Tantric path to instantaneous enlightenment (Nielsen et
al., 1988, pp. 221, 247-50; Evans-Wentz, 1960, pp. lxvi, lxxxv;
Lodo, pp. xii-xiii). These books describe the dying, between-life,
and rebirth processes, as revealed through enlightened lamas.

The books of the dead derive from several variant schools of
thought in Mahayana Tibetan Buddhism (Lauf, 1989, pp. 3-12).
The two most central, to which most other sects can be associated,
are the rNying-ma-pa school and the dGe-lugs-pa school. These
two schools correspond to two different waves of transmission of
Indian Buddhism to Tibet during the eighth and eleventh centuries
a.d. (Nielsen, et al., 1988, pp. 247-50; Snelgrove & Richardson,
1980). The rNying-ma-pa and dGe-lugs-pa schools each have their

own, somewhat varying accounts of the death process.
Several written versions of books of the dead, of both schools of

several Buddhist thought, have been translated into English. The text that is
versions most well-known in the West is Evans-Wentzs (1935, 1960)
of translation, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which comprises only
books seven of the seventeen chapters of the entire work, the Bardo thos-
of grol chen-mo, from the rNying-ma-pa school. This text focuses on
the the intermediate experiences of between-life and rebirth (the
dead Chos-nyid and Srid-pa 7 Bardos). A similar but less well-known
work is Fremantle and Trungpas (1975) translation of the Bardo
thos-grol chen-mo. Also less consulted is Lama Lodos (1982)
summary of texts about the dying experience (Chi-kha 7 Bardo),
and rebirth (Srid-pa 7 Bardo). From the dGe-lugs-pa tradition, Lati
and Hopkins (1985) have translated texts that describe the entire
process from dying through rebirth. Information from Evans-
Wentzs, Lama Lodos, and Lati and Hopkins translations, of both
traditions, is synthesized here and compared to Euro-American
NDEs.
The existence of several Tibetan Buddhist accounts of death con

trasts with traditional Tibetan lore and the popular American view,
including the view given in literature on NDEs (e.g., Moody, 1975,
pp. 119-22) that there is only one book of the dead, the Bardo thos-
grol chen-mo. It is attributed to the rNying-ma-pa yogi, Padma-
Sambhava, who brought Tantric Buddhism to Tibet.3
Purpose of the Books of the Dead
The views of death presented in the books of the dead are said to
derive from enlightened yogis and lamas who, through their medi
tative practices, remembered past lives, between-deaths, and re
births. The information also is said to come from enlightened lamas
who were reborn with a conscious stream of awareness of their past
lives, deaths, and rebirths (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. liv).
The books of the dead were written in order to guide the religiously
less-well trained person through the dying, death, and rebirth pro
cesses so that he or she might grow during them and be reincarnated
with greater awareness and a better life in this world or in one of the

higher planes of consciousness. A book of the dead was read to the
dying and deceased person by their guru, a lama, or a brother over
a period of usually 28 to 49 days (Becker, 1985, p. 15) to remind the
person of their nature as human, what they were experiencing, and
the means by which they might grow in consciousness. Bardo thos-
grol chen-mo literally means liberation by hearing on the after
death plane.
In the ideal case of the person who had intensively practiced yogic
meditation during life, it was hoped that they might be guided to
recognize that everything in life and death is illusory in being
dualistic, so that they might become an enlightened Buddha. In the
case of a person less proficient at meditation, it was hoped that they
might be guided through the death and rebirth processes with an
unbroken stream of consciousness. This would allow them to
consciously remember their past lives and learned lessons in their
next life. This liberating process is called the transference. It was
achieved through a practice called Phowa, in which the life-force is
moved out through the top of the head, used in conjunction with the
reading of a book of the dead (Lodo, 1987, pp. 9-10).
The books of the dead also taught the living how to grow in
consciousness during life and to prepare in life for growth during
death. This is so because the death process described in the books of
the dead is analogous to and serves as a model for Tantric medita
tion (i.e., deity yoga or Highest Yoga Tantra of the dGe-lugs-pa
school; the Dzogchen Tantra of the rNying-ma-pa school) during
life (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 90; Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 69-73).
According to these teachings, Tantric meditation is the quickest Tantric
path to liberation, allowing a capable person to become an enlight meditation
ened Buddha in one lifetime. At the same time, Tantric meditation as
serves as preparation for death and liberation during death. Specifi preparation
cally, it is thought preferable for a person to die in the neutral M
meditative state of Samadhi practiced in life, because the quality of death
ones between-life experience and next life depends on the quality
of ones mind and the form of desires being thought at the point of
death (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. xv; Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 8-10).
This relevance of the books of the dead to life is clear from the
accurate usage of the term, bardo. In the West, bardo is com
monly and mistakenly used to refer to only the period between
livesthe intermediate state. However, it more accurately refers
to any of six analogous, constantly changing, transitional, illusory,
dualistic realities or states of consciousness: waking, dreaming,
profound meditation, dying, experiencing Reality between lives,
and rebirth (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. lxi; Lodo, 1987, pp. 1-2; Lati &
Hopkins, 1985, p. 20; Sogyal, 1992, pp. 11, 342-49). Enlighten
ment, or liberation, is possible at any juncture in any of these bardos
through similar means, including practices described in the books

of the dead, because all of the bardos share the fundamental quality
of being transitional. In other words, thought in the bardos is not, in
actuality, continuous, and the natural mind of Clear Light can be
unveiled at any moment of transition through a shift in ones
awareness.
Overview of the Dying and Death Processes
Tibetan books of the dead, in combination, describe the nature of

three of the bardos. First is the Chi-kha'i Bardo of dying and the
initial moment of death. In this state, the earthly body and coarser
aspects of mind dissolve and the pure consciousness of the
natural, discarnate, quiescent mindthe Clear Lightbreaks into
consciousness, or dawns, and is experienced. There is the oppor
tunity to unite with it to manifest the state of absolute Mind beyond
duality, called Dharma-kaya (Evans-Wentz, 1960, pp. 90, 96;
the Sogyal, 1992, p. 343), i.e., Perfect Enlightened Buddhahood,
state Voidness, or Oneness. Second is the Chos-nyid Bardo of
of between-life. In this state, the deceased experiences having a psy
absolute chically projected body resembling their previous physical body.
Mind They perceive karmically-produced, projected, dualistic polarities
beyond of the unconscious mindthe Peaceful and Wrathful Buddhas and
duality knowledge-holding deities. Third is the Srid-pa 7 Bardo of be
tween-life and rebirth. In this state, the deceased experiences hav
ing a psychically projected body composed of subtle matter and
resembling their earthly body of either their former or next life.
This body is called the enjoyment, desire, smell-eater or
seeker of existence body (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 52, 55). In
the Srid-pa 7 Bardo, the deceased desires and searches for a more
substantial earthly body, leading to rebirth. During this search, the
deceased faces increasingly more terrifying, karmically-produced,
desire-based projections. Vajrayana Buddhism teaches that all of
these experiences, save Dharma-kaya, are illusory, being thought-
form projections of the dualistic mind. So, too, are the other bardo
states of waking, dreaming, and meditation. This point is relevant
to interpreting crosscultural variation in NDEs and DEs as states of
consciousness (see below).
The 'Chi-kha 7 and Chos-nyid Bardos are essentially a sequence of

tests of a persons understanding of and meditative experience in
the nature of Reality and the nature of ones true Self, beyond the
ego-self. The tests are learning experiences that provide the
person opportunities to grow in awareness of Reality and the Self.
At the same time, the tests sort persons according to their devel
opment into seven different vertically positioned planes of reality
or consciousness, which define the quality of their between-life and
next life experiences. The planes of reality are Buddhahood (nir
vana, in Evans-Wentzs older terms) and the six lower, dualistic

levels, or lokas, of this world of samsara: those of the gods/
devas (heaven), titans, humans, animals/brutes, unhappy
ghosts, and hell. In this way, the Buddhist death process implicitly
maintains the purity of different realities in the cosmic system, as
does the death process explicitly in the world views of many other
cultures (e.g., Budge, 1960; Isaacs, 1980, pp. 228-29; Neumann,
1990; Pasricha & Stevenson, 1986; Plato, 1953; Swedenbourg,
1966; Zaleski, 1987), through a judgment or other means.
Learning and sorting occur in the following manner. In the 'Chi-

kha'i and Chos-nyid Bardos, over a series of days, the person
experiences levels of their consciousness, from their highest or
essential Mind to lower aspects of their mind, which manifest
karmically accrued latencies. Each aspect of mind is perceived as a
light or as a Buddha emitting a light from his heart. If the person
recognizes one of the lights early in the first eight days of the
sequence as an aspect of themselves and can hold fast to it mentally,
they may dwell at the pleasant level of consciousness of that light each
indefinitely as a Bodhisattva, with a good chance to progress to aspect
Buddhahood/Nirvana. On the other hand, the person might be of
frightened and run from a light, or be attracted to a duller, simulta mind
neously perceived light of a lower level of consciousness that is
manifests karmically accrued latencies and that is associated with perceived
one of the planes of samsara. Or the person might be confused and as a
not be able to hold on mentally to the light. In these cases, the light
person experiences progressively lower and darker levels of their
consciousness until some familiar level is reached. They have a
remaining between-life experience and rebirth at that level of
consciousness.
In the 'Chi-kha 7, Chos-nyid, and Srid-pa 7 bardos, being free of a

body, a persons consciousness is flexible. This allows the reader of
a book of the dead to guide the deceased through the above tests
and the three bardos in hopefully a more conscious way, so that the
deceased might grow. Consciousness in the three bardos is fre
quently symbolized in Tibetan literature by a red-hot iron bar,
which is malleable until it cools and solidifies into form at concep
tion (Lodo, 1987, p. 48).
The rNying-ma-pa and dGe-lugs-pa schools of Tibetan Buddhism

differ in their descriptions of the dying and death processes in four
primary ways. (1) The rNying-ma-pa school believes that, after the
dissolution of the earthly body and coarser aspects of mind, the
Clear Light dawns twice for the common person. In dGe-lugs-pa
descriptions, the Clear Light appears only once. (2) The Chos-nyid
bardo of the Peaceful and Wrathful Buddhas and knowledge-
holding deities is described in only the rNying-ma-pa school.
(3) Both the rNying-ma-pa and dGe-lugs-pa schools hold to a
model of dying whereby the process of dissolution of the earthly

body and coarser aspects of the mind produces a sequence of
experiences (e.g., seeing mirages, smoke, sparks) that culminate in
the dawning of the Clear Light, which is death. This forward
dissolution is then experienced in reverse order, leading to the
reaggregation of a more subtle, between-life body. However,
according to the rNying-ma-pa school, dissolution and reaggrega
tion occur only once, in the Chi-kha'i and Chos-nyid bardos,
respectively. According to the dGe-lugs-pa school, dissolution
occurs in the 'Chi-kha 7 bardo and reaggregation in the Srid-pa'i
Bardo, followed by up to six more small deaths of dissolution and
reaggregation in the Srid-pa 7 Bardo. The last death leads to
physical rebirth. (4) In the rNying-ma-pa school, the subtle body of
the deceased in the Chos-nyid and Srid-pa 7 Bardos is thought to
have a form similar to the previous earthly body. In the dGe-lugs-
pa school, the subtle body in the Srid-pa 7 Bardo is thought by
some to have a form similar to the future earthly body. Others hold
four that early subtle bodies of the deceased have a form similar to the
differences previous earthly body, whereas later subtle bodies have a form
between similar to the future earthly body (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, p. 55).
the These four differences between the two schools are pointed out
two below as information about the books of the dead is summarized
schools and integrated.
The Dying and Death Processes
Dying and the Chi-kha 7 Bardo. The process of transition be

tween the waking bardo in life and the Chi-kha 7 Bardo is de
scribed in detail in dGe-lugs-pa texts translated by Lati & Hopkins
(1985) and less fully by Lodo (1987) in the rNying-ma-pa tradition.
In essence, dying involves the sequential dissolution of the sev

eral life-bearing winds and then the several aspects of mind. The
life-bearing winds, which range from breathed air to subtler cur
rents of energy, perform the bodily functions and serve as the
mounts for consciousness. The dissolution of a coarser wind
allows a subtler wind to manifest, both externally as physiological
signs of dying and internally as a perception.
The dissolution of the first four winds, which are associated with
the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air, respectively bring
the appearance of mirages, smoke, sparks within smoke, and a
sputtering butter-lamp to the dying persons mind (Lati & Hopkins,
1985, pp. 16-17). Alternatively, they bring the sequential appear
ance of female Buddhas and colors associated with the elements
(Lodo, 1987, pp. 3-4). Kinesthetically, the four dissolutions bring
the feelings that everything is falling apart from earthquakes, being
flooded by water, burning, and then being blown away by winds
(Lodo, 1987, pp. 4-5). The fifth through seventh dissolutions in

volve the sequential opening of the seventh, second and third, and
fourth chakras (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 42-43). These openings
allow the gathering of winds at the heart, the downward migration
of ones male essence (the white drop, or bindu) obtained from
ones fathers semen, the upward migration of ones female es
sence (the red drop, or bindu) obtained from ones mothers blood,
the meeting of these essences in the heart, and, consequently, the
simultaneous dissolution of coarser to subtler aspects of mind (Lati
& Hopkins, 1985, pp. 13-20, 30). During the fifth through seventh
dissolutions, the thirty-three coarse conceptions, the forty mid
dling conceptions, and the seven more subtle conceptions of the
mind dissolve. Some examples of these conceptions include lack of
desire, sorrow, fear, thirst, shame, pride, heroism, depression, and
laziness. Lodo (1987, p. 5) calls the coarse, middling, and subtle
conceptions angers, desires, and kinds of ignorance. As the coarse,
middling, and subtle conceptions dissolve, the dying person respec
tively perceives a vacuity sequentially filled with white light, red
light, and thick darkness. These are called the subtle minds of
white appearance, red appearance and black near-attainment
(Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 38-41). The white light of the fifth
dissolution is slightly dualistic. Thus, it seems to correspond in
form, though not its order of appearance, to the Light perceived in
Euro-American NDEs. The white light is believed to occur when the
breathing has stopped yet the persons consciousness is still within eight
their physical body. The thick darkness of the seventh dissolution dissolutions
has an analog in the dark void in Euro-American NDEs. The eighth
dissolution involves the coming to rest of all but the most subtle
life-bearing winds and transforming of the drops. These processes
bring the dawning of the nondualistic Clear Light. The appearance
of the Clear Light is often likened to the dawning of a crisp, open
autumn sky in Buddhist literature. However, in the Bardo thos-grol
chen-mo, the Clear Light is also called the dazzlement and is
likened to a vibrant landscape in springtime (Evans-Wentz, 1960,
p. lxxiii). This metaphor resembles some Euro-American NDErs
descriptions of the portal to heaven, yet so do some descriptions
of some planes of the Srid-pa'i Bardo much later in the death
process (Lodo, 1987, p. 46; see below). The appearance of the
Clear Light constitutes the actual point of death and begins the
'Chi-kha 'i Bardo (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, p. 45).
A person may remain more or less conscious through the above

dying process, depending on how practiced they are in yogic
meditation. Skillful meditators are said to experience a swoon
a temporary loss of consciousnessduring the second half of the
dawning of the mind of near-black attainment (Evans-Wentz,
1960, pp. 29,44; Lati & Hopkins, 1985, p. 44). Their consciousness
is regained with the dawning of the Clear Light. For the common
person, the swoon extends throughout the entire period during
which the mind of near-black attainment is revealed and the Clear

Light dawns, lasting about three and a half days (Evans-Wentz,
1960, p. 93). It is said that the Clear Light dawns, but is not
perceived. Thus, the person is unaware that they are making a
transition between life and death and awakes to the next, Chos-
nyid Bardo, not knowing that they have died. Analogously, some
Euro-American NDErs do not think that they are dying and out of
their body, initially, when having an out-of-body experience.
The books of the dead teach that each of the transitions between the
bardos of waking, experiencing reality, and rebirth (Evans-Wentz,
1960, p. 29), as well as before and after the bardo of sleeping and
dreaming (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, p. 20), are constituted by the
forward dissolution and then reaggregation into a physical, subtle,
or dream-body, as relevant. Thus, each bardo is separated from
others by a swoon. This belief concords well with the occurrence of
the dark void in Euro-American NDEs, its occurrence in multiple
possible positions within a NDE (Figure 1), and the interpretation
of the void as the minds representation of a transition between
states of consciousness (Ring, 1980, p. 238).
Ideally, as the Clear Light dawns, the guru of the deceased or a

ideally, lama, who has meditatively been tracking their progress, reads to
the them the portions of a book of the dead that describe this experience
guru and its meaning. The person is reminded of their meditative prac
or tices, told that they and the Light are inseparable, and encouraged
a lama to recognize the Light as their true self and unite with it so as to
reads create Dharma-kaya and be liberated. However, most persons, if
to they witness the Clear Light at all, cannot do this because they lack
them practice in Tantric meditation and have not learned how to focus
their mind. Ego thoughts, karmically produced thoughts, or weep
ing relatives may distract the deceased. Also, the deceased may
simply be confused as to whether they are living or dead (Evans-
Wentz, 1960, p. 157). Thus, a small quiver occurs inside the
persons body, the very subtle life-bearing wind and consciousness
passes from the heart through any of several exits to the outside,
and the Clear Light fades (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, p. 49; but see
Lodo, 1987, p. 11).
In the rNying-ma-pa tradition (Evans-Wentz, 1960, pp. 97-101),

the person experiences a second Clear Light, somewhat dimmed by
their karma, about a mealtime later. At this stage, attaining
Buddhahood/Nirvana by uniting with the Light is still possible.
The Chos-nyid Bardo. Following the dawning of the Clear Light,

for those who do not perceive it or recognize it or cannot hold fast
to it, the dissolution process is reversed. The deceased awakens to
either the Chos-nyid Bardo, according to the rNying-ma-pa tradi
tion, or the Srid-pa'i Bardo, according to the dGe-lugs-pa tradition.

The person perceives himself to have a subtle body similar in form
to that in their previous life.
In the Chos-nyid Bardo, the deceased experiences karmically-

produced apparitions, i.e., predispositions of their mind due to their
past actions. These are the Peaceful deities from ones heart (fourth
chakra), the Knowledge-holding deities from ones throat (fifth
chakra), and the Wrathful deities from ones brain (sixth chakra)
(Lodo 1987, p. 40). These deities are experienced over fourteen
days.
The first apparitions to appear are the five Peaceful Buddha deities
in divine (Tantric) embrace with their consorts and accompanied
by their Bodhisattva retinues. The Buddhas arise one by one, and
then jointly in a mandala configuration with other deities, over six
days. Each represents a realm of the mind, which is associated
with a different cardinal direction and element. Each Buddha emits
from its heart a light of a different color which flows into the heart
of the deceased.4 Each light represents a different form of wisdom,
which is the antidote to one of the five psychological poisons of
ignorance, anger, pride, greed, and jealousy, respectively (Lodo,
1987, pp. 29, 35). One or more alternative, duller lights associated
with various planes of samsara and poisons appear simultaneously
with each Buddha. The person thus has the opportunity to choose the
between and merge with higher or lower levels of their conscious person
ness and to grow in consciousness with the meditative guidance of is
their guru or lama. With these lights also come the sounds of a encouraged
thousand thunders, which the person is told are their own and to
therefore, need not be frightened. The person is encouraged by their merge
guru or lama each day to merge their consciousness with the their
perceived Buddha, that they might obtain Buddhahood and spend consciousness
their remaining, between-life time in the peaceful, divine realm of
mind associated with that Buddha.
On the seventh day, the person perceives fifty-two Knowledge-

holding deities who send forth various colored lights. The Knowl-
edge-holding deities are neither peaceful nor wrathful (Lodo, 1987,
p. 37). Also perceived is the alternative duller light of the plane of
animals. The person thus again faces a choice between states of
mind. They are encouraged to merge with one of the Knowledge-
holding deities, that they might spend their remaining, between-life
time in one of the samsaric heavens (pure Paradise Realms or pure
lands) associated with that deity.
Those who cannot identify with the Peaceful Buddha deities are
next confronted with the blood-drinking Wrathful deities for seven
days. First appear the five Wrathful Buddha deities, one by one, in
divine embrace or dancing with their consorts. Each Wrathful

Buddha is the dark side of one of the Peaceful Buddhas. The
Wrathful Buddhas appear in the same order as their Peaceful
counterparts. The person is instructed to recognize these, too, as
aspects of their consciousness, and to unite with them. In merging
with a Wrathful Buddha, the person will obtain Buddhahood and
spend their remaining, between-life time in the peaceful, divine
realm of mind associated with the Peaceful counterpart of the
Wrathful Buddha. In running away, the person will only fall into
deeper and more terrifying levels of the intermediate state. The
analog to this process in contemporary psychosynthesis and arche
typal depth psychology is meeting and integrating ones shadow,
the dark sides of ones anima and animus, ones inner critic, and
ones various demons. On the thirteenth and fourteenth days, the
person who has not recognized the darker sides of themselves
represented by the Wrathful Buddhas perceives fifty-eight other
appearance Wrathful deities (including eight Gaurima, eight Takenma, four
of doorkeepers and twenty-eight Wang Chuk Ma). If these are not
the recognized, then all of the Wrathful deities appear jointly as the Lord
Lord of Death. The Lord of Death dismembers the person, who, despite
of great pain, cannot die. This symbolizes the difficulty of extinguish
Death ing the lesser, ego-self as the person clings to this self-image.
The Srid-pa 7 Bardo. In the rNying-ma-pa tradition, those who

have not recognized or been able to unite with the lights or deities
of the Chi-kha'i or Chos-nyid Bardos, or who have fled them in
fear, owing to their bad karma, plunge to the lower and lower levels
of consciousness of the Srid-pa'i Bardo. The Srid-pa'i Bardo is a
twilight-like, hazy state of consciousness not unlike the gray,
murky, confusing void described by some Euro-American
NDErs who have attempted suicide (see above; also Sogyal, 1992,
pp. 328-29). Also, many of the experiences of the deceased in this
bardo have analogs in positive Euro-American NDEs. The follow
ing description of the Srid-pa'i Bardo is summarized from Evans-
Wentz (1960), unless indicated otherwise.
In the Srid-pa'i Bardo, the person finds that they have a body
similar in form to that in their previous life, but of extraordinary
powers. All senses are heightened. The person is capable of travel
ing instantly wherever they wish, passing through solids, and
shape-shifting (Evans-Wentz, 1960, pp. 158-59). Yet the person
does not realize they are dead. The person sees his or her home and
relatives in mourning and tries to contact them and convince them
that he or she is still alive. When communication is impossible and
the person feels like an outcast, the person comes to realize for the
first time that they are dead.
Being pure consciousness, which the person has not yet learned
how to calm and control, they are unable to rest in one place. The
person visits their old haunts but is not able to loiter. They are

blown in various directions as is a leaf by fierce blasts of snow or
rain-filled windsthe winds of their own karma. They see appari
tions, hear threatening voices that say strike, slay, and terrifying
loud noises like mountains crumbling, angry overflowing seas, and
roaring fires (i.e., the four elements). The person runs to the edge of
deep, fearful precipices, and feels like they are being squeezed into
the cracks of a rock. All of these experiences are aspects of the
persons mind (e.g., anger, lust, stupidity). The person desires to
enter a body and tries to get into bodies repeatedly, but finds them
frozen, cremated, or decomposed.
The person is then judged by the Lord of Death and two Geniuses
(guardian beings) who count out the persons good and bad deeds
with white and black pebbles. Lying about ones deeds is not
possible because the Lord of Death, who is symbolic of ones guilt,
looks into the Mirror of Karma, where ones deeds are vividly
reflected, which is symbolic of ones memory. The Lord of Death
then again dismembers the person who, despite intense pain, cannot
die. This situation represents the difficulty that ones ego has in
dealing with the dark sides of oneself.
Next, the person sees their own funeral and division of inheritance.
Interference in these matters will cause the person to be born in the
plane of unhappy ghosts or Hell. In contrast, those who have
accumulated good karma have delightful experiences throughout rebirth
the Srid-pai Bardo. For example, they may experience being and
inside a heavenly palace, in a tall building or on a throne (Lodo, colors
1987, p. 46). Finally, as rebirth approaches, colors associated with associated
the six planes of samsara shine from them. The person is attracted with
to the color of the plane in which they are to be reborn and samsara
experiences entering a corresponding landscape, such as a heav
enly palace, a lovely garden, a place of natural beauty, a cave, or a
heap of burning wood (Lodo, 1987, p. 46). The persons subtle
body fades and takes on the color of that plane of rebirth.
Importantly, as the person passes through lower and lower levels of

the Chos-nyid and Srid-pa'i Bardos, there is a change in the means
by which release can be obtained from experiences in those levels
into more pleasant levels or states of mind. Knowledge of the Self
and meditation are effective in the first thirteen days of the Chos-
nyid Bardo. Devotion, faith, and prayer are effective when facing
the Lord of Death on the fourteenth day. Remembering compassion
is effective in the Srid-pa'i Bardo. This sequence expresses the
relative values that Tibetan Buddhism places on knowledge/dis
crimination, meditation, devotion, and love as different paths to
Oneness. Likewise, the Peaceful deities of the Chos-nyid Bardo
that first appear are Buddhas that represent the highest realms of the
mind, whereas later come the Knowledge-holding deities from the
lower throat and heart centers. The relative values placed by Ti

betan Buddhism on the various paths to Oneness differ from those
expressed in Christianity and Euro-American NDEs (see below).
In the final phases of the Srid-pa'i Bardo, the person comes to enter
a womb and is reborn. There are several more or less desirable means
for entering a womb. These are beyond the scope of this article.
Contrasting with the above, rNying-ma-pa description of the Srid-

pa'i Bardo, which is given in Evans-Wentz (1960) and Lodo
(1987), is the brief dGe-lugs-pa view presented in Lati and Hopkins
(1985, pp. 19, 49-51). In this version, the Srid-pa'i Bardo lasts
anywhere from a moment to seven days, during which the person in
their smell-eater body searches for odors for nourishment and an
appropriate womb for rebirth. The form of the smell-eater body is
the similar to either the previous or future earthly body of the deceased
search (see above). If the person does not find an appropriate birthplace by
for the end of seven days, they undergo a small death of forward
a dissolution and reaggregation and are reborn into a second Srid-
birthplace pa'i Bardo. The search for a birthplace continues. The cycle of
search, death, and rebirth is repeated up to seven times, i.e., forty-
nine days, until an appropriate birthplace is found.
MAHAYANA TIBETAN BUDDHIST AND CONTEMPORARY

EURO-AMERICAN CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEWS
As preparation for understanding differences between Euro-Amer

ican NDEs and Tibetan bardo experiences in their tone and content,
it is necessary to summarize some basic ways in which Mahayana
Tibetan Buddhist and contemporary Euro-American, Christian
world views differ. At least some of the systematic contrasts be
tween Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan bardo experiences corre
late with differences in culturally learned world views.
The characterizations of Tibetan Buddhist and Christian world

views drawn here are derived more so from the basic teachings,
spiritual vehicles and experiences, and deeds of their founders and/
or early followers, which are the essential cornerstones of the
traditions, than from subsequent theological interpretations and
creeds. These essentials are more likely to relate to Euro-American
NDEs and Tibetan bardo experiences.
Christianity is a very diverse religion (Smith, 1986, p. 409; Nielsen

et al., 1989), having many sects with differing beliefs about the
nature of death and the cosmos, and having changed through time
in these beliefs. However, the essentials of the traditionspecifi
cally the primary teachings of Christ and the spiritual experiences
of the Apostles and early Christians (Smith, 1986, pp. 412-33)

are also among the central themes of various liberal Christian
movements in America today and over the last few decades. It is
these essential Christian themes within this recent period that are
most appropriate to our study, because this is the time from which
the Euro-American NDEs examined here are drawn. Temporal
correspondence of the studied NDEs and beliefs is necessary if the
various possible synchronic and diachronic, evolutionary relation
ships between culturally learned world views, expectations, per
ceived near-death experiences, and interpreted experiences are to
be untangled (Peay, 1991; Ring, 1985).
There are two fundamental ways in which Tibetan Buddhism and

contemporary Euro-American Christianity differ and which are
reflected in bardo experiences and NDEs. These are the different
emphases placed on (1) meditation and knowledge of the self and
reality versus love of others, and (2) karma and moral judgment
versus forgiveness.
Meditation, Knowledge, and Love
All of the major world religions offer perennial wisdoms on the

nature of life, reality, and the self. Among these is the existence of
an essential state of Oneness (e.g., the Hindu Brahman, the Bud
dhist Dharma-kaya, the Judeo-Christian God, the Sufi Hidden
Essence) that transcends the dualism and separations of this mate
rial world in time and space. Each of the major religions also offers five
a series of paths for participating in or achieving Oneness. These paths
include the Paths of Knowledge, Meditation or Contemplation,
Love, Devotion, and Service. In Hinduism, these five paths are
classified as the four yogas, literally means for yoking or joining
with Oneness. They include the Jnana yoga of intellectual dis
crimination, the Raja yoga of meditation, the Bhakti yoga of heart
felt love and devotion to a deity and/or other humans, and the
Karma yoga of work and service in the world (Nielsen et al., 1988;
Walsh, 1989).
Although each of the major world religious traditions considers

each of the five paths to Oneness, the different traditions emphasize
the different paths to varying degrees. Also, emphases have shifted
within traditions as they have developed through time. In the
starkest contrast, it can be said that Mahayana Tibetan Buddhism
focuses on the paths of knowledge and meditation, whereas con
temporary Christianity focuses on the path of essential, uncondi
tional love. This contrast can be seen as follows.
The most fundamental teaching of Buddhism, Buddhas First

Noble Truth, is that life is suffering, duhkha. Suffering includes

both physical and psychological pain. It derives from the egos
(relative minds) resistance to changethe egos desire-based at
tachments to things of life that are essentially impermanent. Suffer
ing also derives from the egos self-grasping and self-cherishing
nature, when in fact the self is impermanent. Third, suffering
originates in unenlightened perception of things within categories
and as separate rather than as essentially one. Finally, suffering
derives from the chains of interdependent actions that link persons
and animals to each others misdeeds and suffering.
Being ultimately mental-perceptual in nature, suffering can be

overcome by awakening to and coming to know the nature of the
self and reality. The most fundamental vehicle for this transforma
tion is experiencing the Oneness of the absolute mindthe Clear
Light, Ground Luminosity, or Rigpa (Sogyal, 1992, pp. 47,259-61,
342-44). This is achieved primarily through the Paths of Meditation
and Knowledge, rather than the Path of Love.
Love is recognized in Tibetan Buddhism through the practice of

compassion: the empathic identification with the suffering of oth
ers. Like meditation, compassion is an essential means that Bud
dhism uses to face suffering and find Oneness. Through compas
sion for the other and then all sentient beings, attention is shifted
away from the self-cherishing, self-grasping, divisive nature of the
ego (Sogyal, 1992, pp. 189-90) to the greater Whole. The practice
of extending loving kindness to others, i.e., the path of Love, is
one means for developing compassion (Sogyal, 1992, pp. 195-96).
The Bodhisattva epitomizes this practice. Ultimately, however,
compassion developing compassion requires a mental shift in understanding
requires and perception, which can be achieved through reframing practices
mental such as mirroring and empathy, and which requires meditation (e.g.
shift Levine, 1987; Sogyal, 1992, pp. 196-202). The absolute mind must
be unveiled and Oneness experienced through meditation for a
fully compassionate relationship to be realized and suffering to be
overcome. Even a good heart can be obscured by the confusion of
the mind. Meditation disarmors the heart of the relative minds
illusions and allows sincere compassion to rise. Thus, in Buddhism,
the journey of the heart is envisioned as a part of the path of
knowledge and meditation, rather than as the primary path of
transformation.
In contrast to Tibetan Buddhisms emphasis on meditation, Christi

anity emphasizes essential, unconditional love, or what early Chris
tians called agape, as the path to Oneness. Love recieved from God
and extended toward all neighbors regardless of their qualities
(Smith, 1986, p. 415) is the primary vehicle for altering ones
perception of reality and overcoming separation. Christs ministry
was founded on his overwhelming love for people and deeds of
loving kindness, including healing and counselling, which drew his

followers to him (Smith, 1986, pp. 412-14). The Buddhas ministry
emphasized right mindfulness and righ absorption (i.e., meditation)
as fundamental to right knowledge, aspiration, speech, behavior,
livelihood, and effort (Smith, 1986).
The difference between Tibetan Buddhism and essential Christian

ity in their emphasis on paths toward Oneness is directly reflected
in their broadest views of the nature of reality. In Buddhism,
ultimately the one true reality is Mind, the formless unconditioned
Truth and Light of Dharma-kaya (Becker, 1985, p. 6; Sogyal,
1992, pp. 342-43). In a contrasting focus in Christianity, Gods
infinite Love is central. The universe is basically friendly and
safe in that God provides each person their needs through His love
(Smith, 1986, p. 417), which is the source from which a Christian
can love and help all others unconditionally. This loving warmth
and safety of the Christian cosmos is one reason for the joy that is
said to have pervaded the lives of early Christians (Smith, 1986, p.
428). A loving and joyful cosmos is also emphasized in some
contemporary, New Age Christian movements and in older, charis
matic Christian sects.5 The greater warmth and safety of reality and
life in the essential Christian world view compared to that of
Tibetan Buddhism is manifested directly and in several ways in
Euro-American NDEs compared to the experiences described in
Tibetan books of the dead and das-log literature (Epstein, 1982).
Karma, Judgment, and Forgiveness
A second and related way in which Tibetan Buddhism differs from

essential and contemporary Christianity is in its concern about
karma. Karma literally means action. The law of karma says in what
part that the quality of ones future in this life and other lives, you
including the nature of ones moral being, depends to a great extent will be
on ones current actions. What you will be is what you do now, the is
Buddha said (Sogyal, 1990, pp. 92-93). Thus, karma conceptually what
links the quality of a persons naturetheir moral characterto you do
their actions. By extension, the concept allows the judgment of a now
person by their deeds. Thus, in the books of the dead, the Lord of
Death judges a person by showing them their good and bad deeds in
the Mirror of Karma. Finally, as a motivator of behavior, the concept
of karma is, in part, at the practical level, linked to fear and guilt.
In contrast, contemporary Christianity focuses on forgiveness as a

vehicle for manifesting unconditional love to the other, regardless
of their actions. This includes Gods forgiveness of all humans,
who have already been saved through the Christ. Thus, the person
is conceptually separated from his or her deeds and can be loved
and accepted unconditionally rather than judged. Smith (1986, pp.
428-30) holds that release from the burden of guilt about ones self

worth and release from fear of death, which are the correlates of
Gods forgiveness, are primary reasons for the joy said to epitomize
the early Christians.
The distinction of Christianitys emphasis on Gods forgiveness

and loving acceptance from Tibetan Buddhisms emphasis on
karmas fear-inducing judgment is directly reflected in differences
between Euro-American NDEs and the DEs reported in the Tibetan
books of the dead (see below).
Over the course of the history of Christianity in Europe and

America, the Churchs interpretation and common mans view of
the nature of death and salvation has shifted, with judgment and
fear varying in their importance (Aries, 1981). These ideational
shifts generally correspond to the level of fear versus love ex
pressed in European otherworld journeys and NDEs of the vari
ous periods (Zaleski, 1987). These changes are beyond the scope of
this paper.
In sum, Tibetan Buddhism and contemporary Euro-American

Christian thought in the United States differ in their emphasis on
conceptions of the ultimate nature of the universe as Mind or Love,
contrasts in the paths to Oneness on which they focus, in the relationship of a
in persons nature to their actions, and in the roles of judgment and
culturally- forgiveness in the dynamics of the cosmos. These contrasts in
learned culturally-learned world views are expressed in the tone and some
world of the content of Euro-American NDEs compared to the experi
views ences described in the Tibetan books of the dead and 'das-log
literature.
EURO-AMERICAN NEAR-DEATH AND TIBETAN DEATH

COMPARED
Limitations to the Comparison
A comparison of Euro-American NDEs to Tibetan DEs described

in the books of the dead can be insightful, but only if the nature and
limitations of the comparison are clearly understood. First, whereas
Euro-American accounts of NDEs are personal descriptions that
come as close to phenomenological experience as words allow,
accounts of DEs in Tibetan books of the dead may be more distant
from phenomenological experience. The books of the dead most
probably derive from an oral tradition to which many persons
contributed over many generations (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 77).
The tradition was probably shaped by pre-Buddhist indigenous
Bon beliefs, cultural diffusion, and politico-religious motivation
(Becker, 1985; Nielsen, 1988) before being set in writing. Thus, the

processes of idealization through the creation of a composite sum
mary of death, stylization within established cultural metaphors,
and selective editing or re-emphasis, each could have led to reli
giously defined descriptions of Tibetan DEs that may no longer fit
well with individual phenomenological experience. This limitation
has been emphasized in the interpretation of other oral and literary
traditions describing otherworld journeys (Epstein, 1982; Zaleski,
1987).
A second limitation to the comparison is that only a few summaries

of Tibetan DEs are available for study, in contrast to the many
individual variations in Euro-American NDEs. Some differences
between the Tibetan and Euro-American experiences are expect
able simply from the lack of recorded detail on Tibetan DEs.
A third qualification is that phenomena of possibly distinct origin

and function are being compared: near-death experiences and sup
posed death experiences. However, similarities presented below in
the content and sequence of Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan
DEs lend support to the view that the NDE is the beginning of the
death process. Moreover, Ring (1984, pp. 258-59) holds that Euro-
American NDEs may be a spiritual means for raising human con
sciousness in our era, which is similar to the intent of the death
process in Tibetan Buddhist belief.
Fourth, accounts of Euro-American NDEs describe, at most, only

the beginning of death processes, whereas the Tibetan books of the
dead describe entire death processes. Consequently, one can expect
some phenomena in the Tibetan accounts to not be present in
accounts of Euro-American NDEs: specifically, those events and an
places beyond the point of no return. Thus, any comparison of the asymmetrical
content of Tibetan and Euro-American experiences must be asym comparison
metrical. There can only be a search for the occurrence of phenom
ena experienced by Tibetans among the phenomena experienced by
Euro-Americans, not vice versa. This method is used here.
Finally, the sample of NDEs used to make the comparison is not

representative of age, sex, occupation, or other demographic cat
egories within the Euro-American population. Instead, the sample
is comprised of previously published, example NDEs that authors
have characterized as typical, common variants, unusual vari
ants or deep (Tables 2 - 4). The sample thus maximizes the
diversity of kinds of experiences considered and is unlikely to be
representative of the relative frequencies of kinds of experiences.
This is acceptable because the analysis focuses on similarities and
differences in the occurrence, not the relative frequencies, of vari
ous kinds of experiences had by Euro-Americans and described for
Tibetans.

Similarities in Content
Table 3 provides an asymmetrical comparison of Tibetan DEs to

Euro-American NDEs. Common and rare characteristics of Euro-
American NDEs, as discussed by several researchers, and their
possible and probable analogs in the Tibetan DE are listed, row by
row.
Some kinds of perceptions are more clearly shared among the

experiences of Euro-Americans and Tibetans. If NDEs are inter
preted as the beginning of death processes, then these commonali
ties would stand as candidates for crosscultural universals in the
death process. The most clearly shared places include: (1) one or
more dark voids, sometimes filled with sparkles, (2) another world
that takes the form of a natural landscape that is filled with light,
vibrant in color, and perhaps flowered, (3) a palace or perhaps a city
of light within the other world, and (4) a realm of bewildered
spirits. The third and fourth features do not occur commonly in
the Euro-American NDEs and occur in Tibetan DEs only among cer
most tain individuals, depending on their karma (Lodo, 1987, p. 46).
clearly
shared The most clearly shared perceived events include: (1) hearing loud
places noises such as a wind or roar early in the death process; (2) seeing
and religious figures like Buddhas or Jesus; (3) seeing a white or gold
events Light that is separate from oneself, defining a dualistic state of
consciousness; (4) merging with a brilliant Light so as to create a
sense of Oneness or Dharma-kaya\ (5) a life review/judgment; and
more generally, (6) events that reveal near-death and death to be
learning processes.
Many cognitive, emotional, and sensory experiences are shared

among Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs. These include: (1)
the realistic quality of the experience; (2) heightening of some or all
of the senses; (3) transcendent peace, which is felt by only those of
good karma in Tibetan DEs; (4) a sense of floating weightlessly in
space or being blown around by a wind; (5) the sense, sometimes,
of being controlled in movement by outside forces; (6) the ability at
other times to make decisions that control events; (7) initial emo
tional detachment followed later by (8) emotional involvement; (9)
leaving the physical body as a disembodied consciousness, for
some Euro-Americans (Ring, 1980, p. 225); (10) finding oneself in
a subtle body resembling ones earthly body, for some Euro-
Americans (Moody, 1975, p. 42); (11) a desire to get back into
ones physical body, for some Euro-Americans; several qualities
and capabilities of the subtle body, including (12) an ability to pass
through solids; (13) an ability to move over great distances quickly;
and (14) a telepathic ability to read the thoughts of the living; (15)
causing (16) a feeling of loneliness not being able to talk to humans
on earth; (17) an inability to lie during the life review/judgment;

(18) a sense of time being altered to nonexistent; (19) a sense of
space being altered to nonexistent; and (20) feeling pulled back to
earth by emotional attachments or desires.
Explanations of Similarities within an Evolutionary Perspective
Four explanations, singly or more probably in combination, may

account for these crossculturally shared and perhaps universal
perceptions. Different sets of explanations may apply to different
shared traits. These explanations are (1) the biological, which
evokes pan-human neurophysiological factors; (2) the depth psy
chological, which posits a pan-human, collective unconscious
filled with archetypal motifs; (3) the experiential, which evokes
pan-human worldly experiences; and (4) the nonordinary reality
explanation, which posits the experience of pan-human non
ordinary realities.
To fully appreciate the role of these explanations in understanding

potential crosscultural uniformities in the content of NDEs and the
DEs, it is essential to see that the factors that each explanation role
evoke bear the same fundamental relationship to cultural world of
view, which also influences the content of NDEs and DEs. This these
relationship is an evolutionary one. Specifically, each explanation explanations
posits fundamental kinds of raw experiencesbiological, depth
psychological, worldly reality, or nonordinary realityto which all
humans are subject in life and/or death. These experiences serve in
life as the basis and inspiration for the social creation and evolution
of world views, beliefs, and linguistic categories. The contents of
these raw experiences are elaborated and modified as they are
expressed and given meaning through language, lore, craft, dance,
and other cultural expressions in a developmental process. Certain
contents are probably also disregarded through cultural and linguis
tic selection processes. Thus, in life and at death/near-death, funda
mental raw experiences come to he perceived through the filters of
cultural world views and beliefs that originated in and may he
continuously buttressed by, but may no longer be one-for-one maps
of, those same raw experiences (Goodman, 1988, pp. 170-71;
Leary, 1964; Roberts & Owen, 1988, p. 612). Culture as ideation
both originates in and modifies the perception of basic experiences,
be they biological, depth psychological, worldly experiential, and/
or nonordinary reality in origin. Moreover, if such basic experi
ences shift systematically through time, one can expect persons and
social groups to adjust their world views and beliefs to accord with
those experiences to some degree (e.g., Zaleski, 1987 in relation to
Aris, 1981).
For example, it is well documented that raw, biologically and

hallucinogenically based phosphene visual patterns can be cultur-

TABLE 3
G eneral characteristics of Euro-American NDEs'
compared to death experiences described in Tibetan books of the dead, regardless of sequence
Present in Euro-Ameriean Analogous Phenomenon in

Near-Death Expericnccs: the Tibetan Books of the Dead:
Places Experienced
in the body in the body
totally dark void when leaving the body. or... dark-filled void, the mind of black near-attainment,
'Chi-kha 7 Bardo
dark void filled with little sparkling lights when smoke filled with sparks, third dissolution
leaving the body, or... of the Chi-kha 7 Bardo
tunnel when leaving the body
out of the body, in vicinity of the corpse deceased sees relatives mourning body, own
funeral, Srid-pa 7 Bardo
*realm of bewildered spirits deceased sees vague, ghostly images of other dead
persons in twilight, hazy Srid-pa 7 Bardo
*border after one leaves one's body
void or tunnel to the light or another world dark-filled void, the mind of black near-attainment,
'Chi-kha 7 Bardo
border before the light
border before another world
another world of light and beauty pure Paradise realms, Chos-nyid Bardo
meadow
flowers the Clear Light of the 'Chi-kha 'i Bardo resembles a
dazzlement produced by an infinitely vibrant
landscape in springtime (Evans-Wentz, 1960. p.
lxxiii); lovely garden in Srid-pa i Bardo (Lodo,
1987, p. 46)
*crystal or marble palace heavenly palace in Srid-pa 'i Bardo (Lod, 1987,
p. 46)
*city of light
Events Experienced within Places
hears oneself pronounced dead deceased sees relatives mourning body
hears a loud noise (e.g.. roaring wind, buzzing, deceased experiences earthquakes, floods, and
ringing) winds in first through fourth dissolutions of Chi-
kha 'i Bardo; sounds of 1000 thunders with the
Wrathful deities in Chos-nyid Bardo (Lodo,
1987, p. 37); sounds of crumbling mountains,
roaring fire, fierce winds, overflowing seas in
Srid-pa 7 Bardo (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 162)
leaves body without a distinct location of exit deceaseds very subtle wind and mind leave
by floating out as a consciousness or going body from heart through crown of head (ideal),
through a tunnel middle of brow, car, nose, eye, mouth, urinary
passage, or anus, which determines the plane of
rebirth (Evans-Wentz ,1960, p. lxix; Lod, 1982,
p. 11; Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 49, 53-54)
views own body from the side and above deceased sees relatives mourning body
greeted by spirits, guides, or religious figures
greeted by deceased relatives, friends
see deceased relatives, friends, who are not greeters
see spirits, guides, religious figures who are not many Buddhas and deities seen in Chos-nyid Bardo,
greeters see above
sees brilliant, golden, white, or multicolored light, dualistic, white-filled void, the mind of white
which is dualistically perceived (Might appearance, fifth dissolution, 'Chi-kha 7 Bardo
dichotomy retained)
simultaneous appearance of the 6 peaceful
Buddhas, then 52 Knowledge-holding deities
shining forth various colored lights in a mandala,
Chos-nyid Bardo simultaneous shining of the 58
Wrathful deities, then all Wrathful deities as
Lord of Death, Chos-nyid Bardo
communicates with a brilliant light
merging with a brilliant light merging with the Clear Light or any of Peaceful,
Wrathful, or Knowledge-holding deities
life review judgment by Lord of Death, two Geniuses
events reveal that near-death is a learning process events reveal that death is a learning process

*saved from death by a supernatural rescue,
e.g., a light, voice, hand
jerked back into ones body suddenly
Cognitive, Emotional, Sensor), and Kinesthetic Characteristics
real, versus dreamlike, quality deceased commonly believes the apparitions in the
bardos to be exterior reality, is frightened and
runs from them
the experience that cannot really be communicated
in words because there arc not earthly
experiences like it
crisp logic without emotions involved commonly is frightened, confused; scattering
thoughts because intellect is now separate from
the body (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 164)
thoughts speeded up
heightened, clear senses of vision, hearing, motion all five senses heightened
lack of taste, smell, touch, most kinesthetic all five senses present plus sense of heat
sensations (deceased feels like burning, third
brightly illuminated or colorful environment dissolution, Chi-kha'i Bardo)
soon after leaving the body
sense of transcendent peace, calm, and well-being feels great misery and terror, indifference,
after leaving the body and throughout the NDE or pleasure, according to karma, in Srid-pa'i
Bardo
lack of pain intense, unending pain as dismembered by Lord of
Death, Chos-nyid, Srid-pa'i Bardos; squeezed
into cracks of rocks, Srid-pa'i Bardo
sense of floating in space, weightlessness blown around like a leaf, Srid-pa'i Bardo
sense of being controlled in movement by blown around like a leaf by winds of karma, Srid-
outside forces pa'i Bardo
able to make own decisions and control events, choice in how to react toward the Clear Light
e.g., to advance no farther and deities in 'Chi-kha'i, Chos-nyid Bardos,
choice guided by reading book of the dead to
deceased; less choice for persons of poor karma
in Srid-pa'i Bardo
emotional detachment from earthly body and emotional detachment initially while
events as if all is natural, initially, in out- experiencing the swoon of the seventh
of-body experience and eighth dissolutions
emotional involvement (feelings of love, bliss) emotional involvement later: commonly
later, in the presence of the Light frightened in Chos-nyid, Srid-pa'i Bardos,
emotionally involved in distribution of
inheritance
mental detachment from earthly body and events;
no judgment
lack of recognition of own earthly body, at first deceased recognizes own body, Srid-pa'i Bardo
leaves physical body as disembodied deceased experiences the Chi-kha'i and Chos-nyid
consciousness; a more subtle body resembling Bardos as disembodied consciousness; perceives
physical body apparently develops later a more subtle body resembling the physical body
(Ring, 1980, p. 228) in Srid-pa'i Bardo
experience being consciousness without a body experiences being consciousness without a body
during out of body experience as perceives the Clear Light of Chi-kha'i Bardo
experiences having a new body, sometimes experiences psychically-projected, subtle
resembling physical body desire body resembling physical body, in
Chos-nyid, Srid-pa'i Bardos (Evans-Wentz,
1960, pp. 30, 156)
*desire to get back in ones body, subsequently deceased desires and seeks another body when sees
own and weeping relatives
no evidence of a silver cord connecting the no mention of silver cord connecting the
physical and new body during out-of-body physical and subtle bodies
experience (Ring, 1980, p. 52)
ability to pass through solids ability to pass through solids in subtle body, Srid-
pa'i Bardo
ability to move over great distances quickly ability to move over great distances quickly in
subtle body, Srid-pa'i Bardo
no data on reflectivity of the subtle body subtle body castes no shadow and is not reflected in
water (Lod, 1987, p. 21)
ability to read the thoughts of the living ability to read the thoughts of the living (Lati &
Hopkins, 1985, p. 10)
inability to contact the living inability to contact the living, Srid-pa'i Bardo

feel lonely and isolated from the living feel lonely and isolated from the living, Srid-pa'i
Bardo
*ability to feel the emotions of the living
inability to lie during life review inability to lie during judgment in Srid-pa'i Bardo
time speeded up or slowed down sequences of days in the bardos correspond to
sequences of thoughts
ordinal-scale time sequences of days in the bardo correspond to
timelessness while with the light sequences of thoughts
space extended or infinite space infinite for those who merge with the Clear
Light and create Dharma-kaya
ordinal-scale space
loss of sense of space while with the light
telepathic thought transference with otherworldly
personages
experiences ecstatic, overwhelming love, joy in
the presence of the light
experiences all universal knowledge, revelation
in the presence of the light
precognitive information on personal events
precognitive information on world events
clarification on what truly matters in ones life
in the presence of the light
multiple events of ones life are reviewed sequential counting of ones good and bad
simultaneously like a hologram deeds by geniuses during judgment
emotional detachment from reviewed events of deceased attempts to lie when judged; dismember
ones life ment by Lord of Death causes intense pain
*emotional involvement in reviewed events of deceased attempts to lie when judged; dismember-
ones life ment by Lord of Death causes intense pain
*ability to select reviewed events of ones life
hears heavenly music
*smells heavenly flowers
reluctant to return to ones body
sometimes pulled back emotionally by loved ones commonly attracted to mother or father-to-be while
on earth in Srid-pa'i Bardo, leading to rebirth
pulled back by basic desires for life, family pulled back by desire for a body in the Srid-pa'i
Bardo
regarded as abnormal by others
when they tell their experience
1Most characteristics are compiled from Greyson (1991), Groth-Marnat and Schumaker (1989), Moody (1975,
1977), Noyes and SIymen(1979), Ring (1980, 1984, pp. 36-38, 83). Asterisks indicate rarely occurring features of
Euro-American NDEs. Squares indicate similarities between Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs.
ally elaborated into world views, beliefs, and art styles, which, in
turn, filter and frame the interpretation of such experiences during
shamanic journeying (Lewis-Williams & Dowson, 1988; Reichel-
Dolmatoff, 1987). The shamanic journey has many analogs to
the death process. Similarly, Hallowell (1940) ethnographically
documented that the convictions of the Canadian Berens River
Saulteaux Indians about the afterlife were based largely on ac
counts of the nonordinary reality experiences of persons who were
considered to have died and returned, whatever the primary cause
of those NDEs.
This evolutionary perspective on the relationship between funda

mental raw experiences and world view has three implications.
First, one can expect the four explanations to account for only the
most fundamental features of NDEs and DEs that are potentially
shared crossculturally, not the detailed contents that may or may
not be shared. Details are more likely to relate to cultural ela-

boration and selection. For example, one or more of the four
explanations might better account for perceiving a natural, vibrant,
otherworld landscape, generally, than the detailed content of the
landscape.
Second, and following from the first, the biological, depth psycho
logical, experiential, and nonordinary reality explanations comple
ment rather than contradict explanations that focus on world view
and enculturation. Specifically, the explanations that NDEs are
culturally-constructed experiences (Zaleski, 1987) or are the prod
uct of learned expectations (DeSpelder & Strickland, 1983, p. 403)
are incomplete. They do not address the origin of the content of
cultural constructions in fundamental raw experiences. They also
do not consider the complex feedback relationships that may exist
between raw experience, world view and expectation, and percep
tions filtered by world view, as world views evolve or experiences
shift. For example, Ring (1985) has documented that NDEs cur
rently are a source of personal, spiritual evolution; Peay (1991), in
turn, shows how these experiences and persons are shifting Euro-
American views of death.
A third implication of the evolutionary perspective is that NDEs

and DEs can be expected to sometimes waiver from the learned
expectations and world view of the experiencer. This is so because
evolving world views and beliefs are not one-to-one descriptions of
raw experience. In fact, this partial lack of correspondence is what
one finds, as documented below. This supports the contention that
explaining NDEs solely as culturally constructed experiences or as
projections of learned expectations is an incomplete explanation.
The biological explanation. One explanation of the features that pan

are shared among Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs is pan human
human neurophysiology and the biology of death. Experiencing neuro-
visual fields of color and light, the dark void, bodily sensations physiology
such as weightlessness and infinite spaciousness, and hearing loud
noises are examples of shared traits that more obviously might have
correlates in biological processes. Hearing loud noises was thought
by Bardo thos-grol chen-mo commentator Evans-Wentz (1960, pp.
237-43) to be a pan-human, physiologically based phenomenon
associated with the dissociation of consciousness from the body
rather than a spiritual-parapsychological phenomenon. In contem
porary psychological studies, Grof (1985, pp. 93-95) has attributed
hearing analogous loud noises at the beginning of deep altered
states of consciousness to the biological correlates of a shift in
awareness from exterior reality to realities of the unconscious
psyche.
A notable dissimilarity between the Tibetan and Euro-American

experiences which is unexpected, given pan-human biology, is the

experience of moving through a tunnel. Cerebral anoxia is one
known trigger of tunnel vision. The structure of the visual cortex
has been suggested as the cause of the tunnel form (Blackmore &
Troscianko, 1989). Yet the tunnel experience is not described in the
Tibetan DE or published das-log experiences (Epstein, 1982).
The depth psychological explanation. A second possible expla

nation of the experiences shared in Euro-American NDEs and
Tibetan DEs is the psychological projection and subsequent cultur
ally and personally filtered perception of pan-human, archetypal
content of a collective unconscious (Jung, 1960, 1971a, 1971b)
upon dying and death. Possible examples of this explanation in
clude the archetype of day/consciousness experienced as a white or
gold light; the archetype of night/unconscious experienced as a
dark void; the archetypes of the Wise Old Man, Great Father, or
Hero clothed as culture-specific, religious characters; the arche
types of Growth and Learning experienced as a life review/judg
ment and as a realization of the nature of near-death or death.
The Tibetan books of the dead, themselves, offer this interpretation

of the dying and death process. Entities experienced during the
Chi-kha'i, Chos-nyid, and Srid-pa'i Bardos are said to be nothing
illusions, more than the unfolding and projection of ones own essential
hallucinations, Mind, or the dualistic content of the limited mind, as thought-
apparitions forms. All of these experiences are held to have no real existence
outside of and separate from oneself. They are called illusions,
hallucinations, and apparitions in being projections falsely
separated from oneself and in being produced by and filtered
during their perception by personal and broader karmas (Evans-
Wentz, 1960, pp. 31-32).
The experiential explanation. A third explanation of the shared

traits is pan-human worldly experience. Universal, repeated, emo
tionally loaded experiences in the biophysical and social world,
which have been psychologically idealized over many generations
and populations, were hypothesized by Jung (1971a) to be the
causes of psychological archetypes. Universally shared worldly
experiences would thus be part of any depth psychological explana
tion of crossculturally shared death or near-death perceptions as
archetypes of the collective unconscious.
At the same time, pan-human worldly experience can be evoked

independent of pan-human archetypes as an explanation of some
features shared by Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs. Near
death and death may simply bring the projection and perception of
personally idealized worldly experiences that have been general
ized through their repeated experience, cognitive classification,
and filtering by cultural-linguistic categories and world views.
Some of these experiences would be shared by all humans. For
92 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. 1993, Vol. 25, No. I

example, the experience of night is shared by all humans and could
be projected and perceived in idealized form upon death as a dark
void for all persons in all societies, with personal and/or culture-
specific idealization. It would not be necessary to posit an arche
typal Night Void. Similarly the personally and/or culturally ideal
ized sun and day might be projected and perceived upon death as a
white or golden light.
The nonordinary reality explanation. This explanation holds that

similarities occur between Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs
because, upon death or near death, all humans experience the same
nonordinary, exterior reality, although perceived through varying
personal and cultural filters. Any of the shared experiences listed
above might be explained in this manner. Additionally, this expla
nation requires the persistence, in near-death and death, of certain
common qualities of the human condition, which are evoked when
interacting with nonordinary reality. Examples of these qualities
are feeling lonely upon not being able to communicate with living
loved ones and emotional attachment to ones body.
On the Metaphysical Nature of Death
If one assumes that a NDE is the beginning of a death process, then

the observed crosscultural similarities in Table 3 may reveal some some
fundamental properties of death. First, consciousness at death is fundamental
similar enough to consciousness during life that the experiencer has properties
difficulty recognizing that they have shifted realities (see also Ring, of
1980, pp. 82-83). This concords with the Tibetan Buddhist belief death
that all of the bardos, including life, dying, between-life, rebirth,
meditation, and dreaming, are fundamentally similar in their dual
istic structure and in having a continuous time-space structure in
appearance.
Second, the death space is like life in that it is in part an active

classroom for learning. Lessons in death may vary among cultures
(see below), just as they vary among cultures in life, but the
heuristic quality of death remains constant.
Third, the death process, like life, involves choice, which is the
basis for both learning and the creation of personal experience. This
is not a conclusion one would draw from popular views of the Euro-
American NDE, which unfortunately caricaturize it as a more
passively and mechanically experienced process.
Fourth, one fundamental, possibly universal lesson of the death

process is to accept both light and darkness from the point of view
of light. Euro-Americans see both their light and dark deeds in their
life review (e.g., Moody, 1975, p. 67) within the caring love of the

Light. The Tibetan books of the dead encourage the deceased to
recognize both the Peaceful and Wrathful deities as aspects of
themselves. The Tibetan books of the dead go further than the
Euro-American NDE by encouraging the deceased not simply to
accept darkness, but to psychologically integrate it and overcome
the duality of light and darkness by merging with the Wrathful
deities. The reward for this is the state of consciousness associated
with their Peaceful counterparts.
Fifth, the initial phases of death are peaceful, in part as a result of

emotional detachment (see also Ring, 1980, pp. 91-92). These
seven phases include experiencing a dark void and the out-of-body expe
fundamental rience for most Euro-Americans and the period of swoon for
properties Tibetans. In later phases of death, the emotions reappear. For
example, Euro-Americans experience overwhelming love and bliss
in the presence of the Light and sometimes are pulled back by
bonds of love to earthly loved ones. Most Tibetans experience fear
in the Chos-nyid and Srid-pa 7 Bardos and may be reborn through
emotional attractions to visions of their future parents.
Sixth, human desires, as distinct from and causing the emotions,

manifest in later phases of death. These include desires for life, a
body, having a family, and other reasons for rebirth or being
pulled back.
Seventh, death is initially experienced by consciousness disembod

ied: the Euro-American out-of-body experience and Tibetan experi
ence of the Clear Light. Only as death progresses is a more subtle,
immaterial body perceived. The qualities and capabilities of this
body are very similar in the Tibetan and Euro-American cases (Table
3), and resemble descriptions of the nature of ghosts in parapsy-
chological literature (Ring, 1980, pp. 220-32) and crosscultural lore.
Differences in Content and Their Explanation
Some of the differences between Euro-American NDEs and the

Tibetan DE (Table 3) provide insight into the effect of learned
cultural world views and beliefs upon these experiences. The fun
damental and perhaps surprising conclusion to be drawn is that not
all differences in the death/near death experience that vary system
atically between cultures are learned. Some systematic differences
do not relate to differences in either world view or expectation.
Instead, they may reflect innate differences in culture-specific
levels of the collective unconscious or to differences in the
nonordinary realities that are experienced.
Certain differences between Euro-American NDEs and the Tibetan

DE clearly concord with and may be derived from differences

between learned Christian versus Buddhist world views and be
liefs. These include: (1) the Light, Jesus, angels, and other figures
of light seen by Euro-Americans compared to the Buddhas and
deities experienced by Tibetans; (2) the typically golden color of
the Light seen by Euro-Americans (Ring, 1980, p. 56) compared to
the Clear Light seen by Tibetans; and (3) the heavenly music heard
by some Euro-Americans but not by Tibetans. These differences in
experiences may derive from differences in world views, which are
internalized over life and then psychologically projected and per
ceived during the dying process.
Other differences between Euro-American NDEs and the Tibetan

DE also seem, on first appearance, as though they might derive
from differences between learned Christian versus Buddhist world
views and beliefs but, on deeper examination, do not. As discussed
above, Mahayana Tibetan Buddhism differs from contemporary
Christian thought in the emphasis of its vision of the universe as
ultimately Mind moreso than Love. Also, it focuses on the Paths of
Knowledge and Meditation over the Path of Love as the vehicles
for overcoming separation and attaining Oneness. Finally, it as
sumes karma and judgment, rather than forgiveness, to be the
dynamics of the cosmos that motivate personal spiritual growth.
These distinctions in world view clearly concord with the follow
ing modal differences between Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan
DEs. (1) The Light in Euro-American NDEs brings the message world
that love, and secondarily growing in knowledge, are the lessons of view
life. In contrast, Tibetan DEs emphasize growing in knowledge distinctions
about the nature of the self and reality. (2) The Light is identified as and
love and knowledge by Euro-Americans whereas the Clear Light is modal
the projected, natural, discarnate, quiescent Mind for Tibetan Bud differences
dhists. (3) The Light brings ecstatic love and bliss to the Euro-
American, whereas the Tibetan may not recognize or be attracted to
the Clear Light and may fear other deities associated with lights of
various colors. (4) Euro-Americans have constructive, supportive
life reviews whereas a spiritually untrained Tibetan has a judgment
ending in dismemberment. (5) Euro-Americans are often greeted or
guided through near-death by loving and supportive relatives or
friendly spirits whereas the Tibetan is left alone in death to chal
lenging tests. (6) Euro-Americans are sometimes pulled back
to earth by bonds of love to survivors whereas the spiritually
untrained Tibetan is reborn as a result of primal desires, which are
conceptions of the mind.
Closer examination shows that these six systematic crosscultural

differences do not, however, derive from differences in learned
world view and belief, at least for Euro-Americans. This is so
because Euro-Americans vary personally and subculturally in their
particular beliefs and expectations about the above features of the
afterlife, yet the above features are nevertheless experienced al

most uniformly across Euro-Americans. Specifically, and first,
many Euro-Americans still retain vestiges of the Roman Catholic
belief, of the Late Middle Ages (Aries, 1981), that death involves
some kind of judgment and weighing of the soul. A recent Gallup
survey (Sheler, 1991), which found that about 60% of Americans
currently believe in hell, implies that a large percentage of Ameri
cans believe in some kind of assessment of the soul. Yet, to date, no
Euro-American NDE has been reported in the research literature to
involve a judgment or weighing. Instead, supportive life reviews in
the context of love are usually experienced. Second, some Euro-
Americans also retain vestiges of the Roman Catholic belief of the
Late Middle Ages that death involves some kind of battle or
pull between good and evil forces for the individual. This
view contrasts with each of the six features enumerated above,
which focus on death as an experience of love. Third, most survi
features vors of surcease suicide, who expect to end all consciousness and
experienced pain through death (DeSpelder & Strickland, 1983, pp. 353-54),
almost nonetheless have NDEs typical of the Euro-American, which may
uniformly include a life review in the context of the love and compassion of
across the Light. Fourth, children, who have been enculturated to believe
Euro- that angels will take them away at death, see unexpected spirits:
Americans angels without wings (DeSpelder & Strickland, 1987, p. 463;
Morse, 1990, pp. 6-9,29). The same is reported among the deathbed
visions of children (Barrett, 1926). Fifth, children who have been
raised in families with other than contemporary Christian beliefs
nevertheless can have NDEs typical of contemporary Christians. For
example, a Euro-American child brought up in the Eastern philoso
phies nevertheless had a NDE in which he saw God as an old man
with a beard (Morse, 1990, p. 54). A Mormon child was conducted to
Jesus by an angelic-like guardian spirit; such guardians are not a part
of Mormon beliefs (Morse, 1990, pp. 6-7). Thus, the explanation that
expectations based on Christian world view and beliefs about death
are the origin of features of Euro-American NDEs that are uniform
within the culture, yet differ from the Tibetan DE, is not bom out for
some features. Other explanations must be found.
Two alternative explanations logically arise. These minimally would

explain the six systematic crosscultural differences just considered,
but could also apply to the other three mentioned previously.
A depth-psychological explanation. This explanation holds that

those systematic differences between Euro-American NDEs and
Tibetan DEs that do not derive from differences in world view and
expectation are projections of innate contents of a hypothetical
level of the unconscious psyche that varies from culture to culture
or culture area to culture area. Such a culture-specific, collective or
group unconscious would be distinct from Jungs (1971a, 1971b)
pan-human, collective unconscious in its more limited geographic-
demographic expanse and in the specificity of its imagery content.

It would contain the mythological personages and core themes of a
culture or culture area that are specific expressions or upwellings
of more general archetypes from the pan-human collective uncon
scious (Johnson, 1974, pp. 1-6; 1983, pp. xiii, 2-3). The Buddhas,
Jesus, angels, and core cultural themes of Knowledge and Love
would be examples. A similar culture-specific, collective level of
the mind, which is projected outward individually as shared illu
sion, is inferred in Mahayana Buddhism (Becker, 1985, p. 15).
Thus, in this explanation, births in different cultures bring minds
with different innate content which, at death, are projected outward
and perceived as different external realities.
A nonordinary or bands-of-reality explanation. An alternative

explanation of the systematic differences found between Euro-
American NDEs and Tibetan DEs is that members of these two
cultures participate in different hypothetical bands of external
reality that extend not only through life, but into death. Birth within
different cultures would offer different paths in both life and death. different
A person would be bom into and live in a culture that poses certain paths
issues and alternative solutions, requires certain decisions, and thus in
emphasizes a certain range of lessons, providing opportunities for both
personal growth in certain areas. This band of reality and its lessons life
would extend into death. Thus, for example, Euro-Americans and
learning the Path of Love in life also learn it at near-death as they death
are greeted by loving and supportive relatives or spirits. Tibetans
learning the Paths of Knowledge and Meditation in life and death
are not so greeted.
The idea that persons of different cultures participate in different

bands of reality, which have different content and which constrain
experience differently, is supported by several kinds of research on
altered states of consciousness. Goodman (1988, 1990) found that
different postures used by shamans and meditators in different
cultures systematically evoke different kinds of trance experiences
in motif and theme even today when the postures are taken by
contemporary Euro-Americans in rattle-induced trance. For ex
ample, if one journeys in the posture of the Bear Spirit of the
nineteenth-century Northwest Coast Indian shaman, this evokes
the experience (Goodman, 1990, pp. 20, 100-106, 168-175) of
ones body or head being split open, and the receiving of a flow of
healing energy. In contrast, journeying in the posture of the West
African Bijogo evokes a death and rebirth experience. Different
body postures appear to serve as doorways to different bands of
reality pertinent to different cultures of different places and times.
For Goodman (1988, pp. 46, 170), these realities vary systemati
cally with the habitat and evolutionary type of the society.
The idea of distinct bands of reality that are culture or culture-

area specific is similar to Sheldrakes (1981, pp. 71-74) concept of

biological species which are kept distinct by different morphoge
netic fields. In both the conceptions of cultural bands of reality and
biological species, material forms, activities, and experiences in
life are constrained within set ranges and set trajectories of growth
and evolution.
The depth psychological and nonordinary reality explanations of

the systematic differences found between Euro-American NDEs
and the Tibetan DE have been presented above as though they are
logical alternatives. This duality corresponds to the Western philo
sophical distinction between inner psychological reality, which
may be projected and perceived, versus outer reality which is
perceived and filtered through mental constructs. However, this
distinction is unnecessary from the point of view of some philoso
phies. The Tibetan books of the dead teach that outer and inner
reality are truly one, that outer reality is the objectification of
mindsimply ones own thought-forms (Evans-Wentz, 1960, pp.
31-32). For example, the Peaceful and Wrathful deities are at once
projections of the psyche and real (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. xxxvii).
Plains Indian philosophies teach that outer reality is simply the
mirror of the inner self (Storm, 1972, pp. 4-27). In Jungian
psychology, outer reality ultimately mirrors inner psyche, and this
can cause synchronicities in life. The oneness of inner and outer has
also been posited as the esoteric premise behind some of Christs
most essential teachings, such as I am my brothers keeper and
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
In sum, some systematic differences in the content of Euro-Ameri

differences can NDEs and Tibetan DEs concord with differences in the learned
in world-view and beliefs of these cultures. These systematic differ
content ences in experience may derive from different projected expecta
of tions about death that relate to world-view and belief. Alterna
NDEs tively, these different experiences may derive from differences in
and DEs the nonordinary realities engaged during dying by Euro-Americans
concord versus Tibetans, and may have served as the bases for development
with of the differing world-views of Euro-Americans from Tibetans.
differences Data do not clarify which of these explanations is most appropriate.
in
world-view At the same time, some of the contents of Euro-American NDEs
that differ systematically from Tibetan DEs clearly do not concord
with and derive from learned Euro-American beliefs about the
afterlife, because these vary personally and subculturally. Experi
ences do not necessarily meet learned expectations. This finding
may be used to suggest the existence of an innate, culture-specific
collective level of the unconscious psyche, or of culture-specific
bands of reality that extend through life and death, or both, which
are then experienced at near-death and possibly death. Some differ
ences between Euro-American Christian and Tibetan Buddhist
world-views may have developed in relation to, but only approxi

mating experiences deriving from, this level of the psyche or these
bands, leading to some experiences that do not follow from belief
or expectation, as documented in the Euro-American case.
The above dissection of Euro-American NDEs into possibly cultur

ally learned components, and unlearned, depth-psychological or
nonordinary reality components counters Zaleskis (1987, pp. 195-
99) view of NDEs and how they are to be understood. Zaleski
holds, first, that all aspects of NDEs are culturally constructed, in
that through their telling and retelling, they are shaped by culturally
learned linguistic categories and beliefs. Second, she takes NDEs to
be personal narrative wholes or dramas that, being enmeshed
in and expressed through cultural categories, cannot be decom
posed into elements of varying origin. These two characterizations
of NDEs are not empirically supported here by the discrimination
of unlearned, possibly depth-psychological or nonordinary reality
aspects of NDEs from their possibly culturally learned aspects.
Moreover, coming to understand the various sources of the ele
ments of NDEs does not necessarily deny their personal, social, or
pan-human meaningfulness, as Zaleski (1987, p. 198) argues.
Similarities and Differences in Structure
Here, Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs will be compared for

two aspects of their structure: (1) specific similarities and differ
ences in the sequencing of places and events that are perceived; (2) comparison
more general, fundamental properties of perceived places as alter of
nate realities and the essential relationships between them. two
aspects
Sequencing. Table 4 compares Euro-American NDEs to Tibetan of
DEs for the sequencing of their places and events. Allowing for structure
differences in content, a common general sequence is found: (1)
being in the body; (2) hearing a loud noise apparently while con
sciousness dissociates from the body; (3) experiencing a dark void,
sometimes filled with small sparkles; (4) being out of the body, in
the form of disembodied consciousness or within a new, subtle
body; (5a) dealing with earthly issues such as realizing one is dead,
sometimes wanting to get back into ones body, and seeing/visiting
the living; (5b) experiencing a being (i.e., the Light, the Lord of
Death) that is omniscient; (5c) having a life review or judgment; (6)
seeing another world; and (7) being pulled back to earth to continue
life or for rebirth because of emotional attachments or desires.
Experiences 5b and 5c are reversed relative to experience in the two
sequences. However, even within Euro-American NDEs, experi
ence 5b of seeing the Light, varies greatly in its sequential position.
It is significant that these similarities arise, despite the fact that a

near-death process is being compared to a supposed death process.

TABLE 4
Typical sequence of places and selected events experienced in deep Euro-American NDEs compared to
the sequence in the Tibetan books of the dead1
Euro-Americans Tibetan Books of the Dead
in the body with ordinary consciousness in the body with ordinary consciousness
hear a loud noise before/while leaving the body, appearance of mirages, smoke, sparks in smoke,
as consciousness withdraws from bodily senses sputtering butterlamp. or four female Buddhas;
(roaring wind, buzzing, ringing) feeling of falling apart from earthquakes, being
flooded, burning, blown by winds
the dualistic white light (mind of white appearance)

a dualistic red light (mind of red increase)
dark void while leaving the body (optional) a dark void (mind of black near-attainment)
nondualistic Clear Light of natural mind
secondary, dimmer Clear Light
sense of transcendent peace, well-being
associated with the void
tunnel by which leave the body (optional)
out of the body out of the body
sees own body from a distance,

experiences being simply consciousness or having
a new, ethereal body with heightened senses and
extraordinary powers
dealing with earthly issues:
desire to re-enter own body by some as a first-
order response
realization of being dead
sees the living; experiences the inability to
communicate with the living; feeling alone
greeted by deceased relatives, friends, guides
border to further progress (optional)
void or tunnel to the light and/or another world
border to further progress (optional)
the golden, white, or multicolored light (dualistic) appearancc of Peaceful, Wrathful, and Knowledge-
holding deities; Lord of Death in Chos-nyid
Bardo, each bearing lights of various or multiple
colors
life review with the light judgment by the Lord of Death in Chos-nyid Bardo
sounds of 1000 thunders with Wrathful Deities in

Chos-nyid Bardo
twilight, hazy Srid-pa'i Bardo
realization of new body with extraordinary powers
and heightened senses
dealing with earthly issues:
seeing the living mourn
experiencing the inability to communicate
with the living; feeling alone
realization of being dead
visiting old haunts, blown by winds of karma
seeing threatening apparitions,
hears loud noises like mountains crumbling,
overflowing seas, roaring fires
unpleasant body sensation of being squeezed into
cracks
desire and attempt to re-enter own or others bodies
seeing another world of light and beauty pure Paradise realms, Chos-nyid Bardo
pulled back to earth by emotional attachments seek rebirth because of emotional attachments or
or desires desires
1Squares indicate the same or similar positioning of places or events in the sequence of Euro-American NDEs and
Tibetan DEs.

This gives greater confidence to the assumption made above, that
the near-death experience is simply the beginning of the death
process. In turn, this supports the validity of the fundamental,
metaphysical properties of death outlined above.
The similar sequencing of Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs

also suggests that the sequential model of dying posed by the
Tibetan books of the dead may hold crossculturally. This model
includes the several steps of the forward dissolution of the
earthly body and coarser aspects of the mind followed by reaggre
gation into a subtle body (see above). Shared experiences 1-4
pertain to the dissolution and reaggregation processes. The shared
experiences include a swoon or dark void, which Tibetan Bud
dhistsspiritually untrained and skilled meditators alikeare said
to experience and which common Euro-Americans might also be
expected to perceive. Not shared is witnessing the dawning of the
nondualistic Clear Light, which only skilled Tantric meditators are
said to perceive and which common Euro-Americans would thus
not be expected to perceive. At the same time, reaggregation into a
subtle body upon leaving the physical body is a perception that is
inconsistently reported for Euro-Americans (see Moody, 1975, p.
42 versus Ring, 1980, p. 225).
Fundamental properties of alternate realities. Several more gen

eral structural similarities are found between Euro-American the
NDEs and Tibetan DEs. First, the boundary between consciousness boundary
during life while in a body and consciousness during dying and is
death while outside a body, is directionally biased. The dying or directionally
deceased can see and hear the living for extended periods of time, biased
but generally not vice versa. Among Euro-Americans, survivors
sensing a deceased person is quite common but the duration of the
experience is usually brief (Longman et al., 1988). Among Tibet
ans, survivors have been reported to sense 'das-log experiencer
(Epstein, 1982), but the typical frequency and duration of such
events is unclear.
A second structural similarity between Euro-American NDEs and

Tibetan DEs is that the boundary between consciousness during life
while in a body and consciousness during dying and death while
outside a body is differentially permeable to different modes of
sensation. The dying or deceased can see and hear the earthly realm
but not touch it in most cases. Longman et al. (1988) reports for a
sample of Euro-Americans that survivors sense a deceased loved
one through touch in only about 10% of all cases of some kind of
sensing. Epstein (1982) cites only a couple of cases where Tibetan
survivors sensed a das-log experiencer by their touch.
Third, the life and after-death planes are perceived to be positioned

vertically. Most Euro-Americans who experience moving through

a tunnel have the sense of moving upward toward the Light.
Similarly, the six Tibetan Buddhist lokas or planes of conscious
ness in this world of samsara are said to be positioned vertically.
Vertical positioning of nonordinary realities is posited almost uni
versally in the cosmology of shamanic cultures (Eliade, 1964, pp.
259-79), which formed the foundations for the cosmologies of
contemporary world religions that also posit this. In shamanic
cosmologies, the shaman commonly is said to journey to the Lower
Worlds through a tunnel (Hamer, 1980), or to ascend to the Upper
Worlds via analogous structures such as the world pillar, world
tree, world ladder, cosmic mountain, cosmic rainbow, stairs, a
cord, a vine, or a chain (Eliade, 1964, pp. 487-92).
Fourth, in both Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs, percep

tions of time and space are radically altered. Ring (1980, pp. 96-97)
reports that the modal response of core Euro-American NDErs
about how they experienced time and space is that these did not
exist. A small percentage of respondents experienced the speeding
up or slowing of time and the extension of space.
how However, these statistics do not distinguish how perception may

perception change through the events of a NDE. NDErs describe being out of
may the body and perceiving the earthly world, moving through a
change tunnel, and perceiving another world, as though they were operat
through ing within a three-dimensional spatial system with a horizon line,
the or at least a sense of the vertical. It is in the presence of and when
events merging with the Light that the NDEr typically speaks of losing all
of a sense of space or feels space is infinite. Similar variation is de
NDE scribed in the Tibetan books of the dead. The Tibetan DF.r sees
visual fields of color during the first through eighth dissolutions of
dying and the 'Chi-khai Bardo, and the presence of deities within
fields of color during the Chos-nyid Bardo, rather than three-
dimensional landscapes with a horizon line and sense of space, or
personages within landscapes. However, during the Srid-pa'i
Bardo, the DEr perceives the earthly world or another world within
a three-dimensional spatial system. Thus, perceptions of space shift
through Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs.
In contrast to the sense of space, the sense of duration of time is

transformed more pervasively in both Euro-American NDEs and
Tibetan DEs. Euro-Americans frequently comment on their loss of
sense of the duration of time while in the dark void, in the tunnel,
out of their body, in the Light, and in the other world. The Bardo
thos-grol chen-mo (Evans-Wentz, 1960) mentions that days of
the bardos are not earthly days, but correspond to separate thoughts
that vary in earth time.
Fifth, space can be experienced without time, but not vice versa.
For example, while out of their body, Euro-Americans experience

the earthly realm and another world as three-dimensional land
scapes with a horizon line, but may be unable to estimate durations
of time within these realms. In the earthly realm, NDErs may
experience the ability to travel anywhere in a moments thought, as
if time does not exist or is greatly compacted (Moody, 1978, pp. 46,
52). So, too, may Tibetans in the Srid-pai Bardo (Evans-Wentz,
1960, p. 159). Thus, space appears to be a more fundamental dimen
sion of psychological experience than time. This property makes
sense, for humans normally track time through changes observed in
space. This psychological experience contrasts with Einsteins rela
tive model of the universe, where time and the three dimensions of
space are considered equally fundamental dimensions.
Sixth, in both Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs, time and

space as known on earth are not simply either present on a uniform,
continuous scale or are entirely absent. Both can exist on an in-
between, ordinal scale of measurement.
By ordinal-scale time is meant that events are experienced in a

sequence or order, but each with unclear duration and an unclear ordinal-scale
duration between them. Thus, a Euro-American often can report time
the sequence with which events took place in many segments of a
NDE, but is unable to estimate the total duration of the NDE or these
events (e.g., Moody, 1975, p. 49; Ring, 1980, p. 96). Only when in
the presence of or merged with the Light may the Euro-American
experience a complete absence of time. A simultaneous or nearly-
simultaneous life review in the presence of the Light (Moody, 1975,
pp. 64-65) is an example of this absence of sequential time.
This characterization of some parts of Euro-American NDEs as

being sequential and perceived on an ordinal scale whereas other
parts are perceived as simultaneous, contrasts with Rings charac
terization ofNDEs as holographic. Ring (1980, pp. 235-37) posits
that the entire core NDE, not simply experiences in the presence of
the Light, occurs simultaneously. He also suggests (personal com
munication, 1993) that supposedly ordinal-scale perceptions of
time may actually reflect the necessary sequencing that occurs in
narrative descriptions of simultaneously experienced NDEs. Nei
ther of these interpretations seem to accord with the varying nature
of time perceived over the course of some individuals NDEs.
Tibetan DEs also appear to have both sequential, ordinal-scale

segments and simultaneous segments. The first six dissolutions
during dying, the appearance of the Peaceful, Wrathful, and other
deities in the Chos-nyid Bardo, and the many events of the Srid-
pa'i Bardo are reported as sequential experiences. Their experience
on an ordinal rather than uniform, continuous scale is clearly
described: days of the Chos-nyid and Srid-pa'i Bardos corre
spond to separate thoughts that vary in earth time. In contrast, the

period of swoon, during the perception of the dark void and some
times the Clear Light, is described as a timeless, thoughtless state
from which the person awakes (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 29).
The changing nature of time through Tibetan DEs is supported by

other descriptions of it (Lati & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 69-73) which
liken the death process and Tantric meditation to each other.
Tantric meditation begins with sequential mental imaging. Only in
its culmination, when the Clear Light of the natural, quiescent mind
is revealed, is there experience without sequences of thought and,
thus, without a sense of time.
Finally, support for the existence of ordinal-scale time more gener

ally is found in the lore of Australian Aborigines and perhaps the
experiences of clairvoyants. The Aborigines speak of two kinds of
time: the passing time of daily life and the Great Time of the
Dreamtime, the time of Creation. Events in the Great Time have
sequence but cannot be dated (Brennan, 1988, p. 23). In a possibly
similar manner, clairvoyants have been found to experience two
kinds of time: ordinary linear time and a time in which events are
witnessed in a sequence but from a point of view of being and
experiencing the sequential flow (LeShan, 1966).
ordinal- By ordinal-scale space is meant that places are experienced in a

scale directional sequence, but each with an unclear expanse and an
space unclear distance between them. In both Euro-American NDEs and
Tibetan DEs, ordinal-scale space is experienced when the dying or
deceased travel almost instantaneously to wherever their thoughts
are directed. Direction is sensed, but the distance travelled is
unclear. Euro-Americans may experience this when having an out-
of-body experience (e.g., Moody, 1978, pp. 46, 52). The Bardo
thos-grol chen-mo describes this as one of the capabilities of the
desire body in the Srid-pa'i Bardo (Evans-Wentz, 1960, p. 159).
The experiences of ordinal-scale time and ordinal-scale space are

not limited to the near death or death processes. Transformation of
uniform, continuous-scale time or space into ordinal-scale time or
space is an ability attributed to some shamanic practitioners. Time
may be expanded or space may be squeezed or folded with
great mental concentration so that the shaman can physically tra
verse space more quickly than would be possible under ordinary
conditions. The famous Apache shaman, Geronimo, is reported to
have lengthened nights in order to allow himself and his band to
travel greater distances and escape from the pursuing U.S. military
(Debo, 1976, p. 145). The now deceased San Carlos Apache medi
cine man of Peridot, Arizona, Philip Cassadore, reported to ethnog
rapher Dr. Elizabeth Brandt that Geronimo also folded space to
escape (Brandt, personal communication, 1993). An anonymous

ethnographer of high professional credentials also reported to me
the details of experiencing space folding on several occasions with
a contemporary Apache shaman.
Thus, time and space are not experiences that simply exist, as
ordinarily experienced, or otherwise do not exist. In-between
experiences of time and space are possible. These range from (1)
the uniform, continuous-scale time and space of ordinary reality to
(2) expanded or contracted continuous-scale time and space to (3)
ordinal-scale space and time with directions and sequences but
unclear distances or durations to (4) simultaneous, apparently holo
graphic existence without time or space.
In sum, comparing the structure of Euro-American NDEs and

Tibetan DEs reveals some fundamental, perhaps crossculturally fundamental,
uniform properties of the dying and death process. These include perhaps
the several steps of the forward dissolution of the earthly body crossculturally
and coarser aspects of the mind followed by reaggregation into a uniform
subtle body, the directionally biased and differentially permeable properties
nature of the boundary between consciousness inside and outside of of the
the body in regard to the senses, the perceived vertical positioning dying and
of nonordinary realities experienced during death, and the chang death
ing nature of space and time through the death process. Many of the process
properties described above concord with the experiences of mystics
and meditators (Ring, 1980, pp. 218-52) as well as traditional
shamansthe first mappers of the death space. These properties
are readily accepted in the Tibetan Buddhist world view, where the
bardos of life, death, and meditation each come to be seen as having
the same essential qualities as ones consciousness expands.
CONCLUSION
This article has explored variations in near-death and death experi

ences, both to reveal their multiple causes and to suggest some of
the general contents, properties, and meanings of the death space.
The Euro-American NDE is a composite phenomenon that is not

fully explainable by any one cause. Multiple factors may affect the
content and/or structure of a Euro-American NDE, and possibly
death in general. These belong to multiple phenomenological lev
els and include: personal circumstances surrounding death or near
death; ones personal life-history and system of meaningful sym
bols; age and gender; culture and subculture-specific learned be
liefs and symbols that are projected and/or filter perceptions; cul
ture or culture-area specific projections or bands of reality that are
not learned; and pan-human levels of consciousness, worldly expe
riences, and/or aspects of nonordinary reality.

Learned beliefs about death concord with and probably determine
some of the content of Euro-American NDEs, as well as Tibetan
DEs. However, some systematic differences between death-related
experiences in these two cultures are clearly not the product of
enculturation. Two possible causes of these experiences include the
projection of a culture-specific, collective level of the unconscious
psyche at near-death and death, and/or participation in culture-
specific bands of external reality that extend through life and
death. Moreover, the causal relationship between belief systems
and death-related experiences is one of feedback and evolution:
ideation originates in, yet also modifies, the perception of basic
experiences at near-death and death, be those basic experiences
biological, depth psychological, worldly experiential, and/or non
ordinary reality in origin. NDEs and DEs cannot adequately be
understood as solely cultural constructs or wholes that are not
reducible to elements of varying origin (Zaleski, 1987).
It appears that Euro-American NDEs and Tibetan DEs share cer

tain general kinds of places (e.g., a dark void, naturalistic other
world) and events (e.g., perceiving a nondualistic Light, having a
life review/judgment), as well as cognitive, emotional, and sensory
characteristics (e.g., quickness and clarity of thought, transcendent
peace, heightened senses). Time, space, and the capabilities of the
subtle body and consciousness are also altered in similar ways in
Euro-American and Tibetan experiences.
it Most basically, it appears that the death space, at least for Euro-
appears Americans and Tibetans, is much like life in its essential purposes,
that functioning, and meanings. It would appear that the death space is a
the reality for learning, based on choice, and offering opportunity for
death growth. Although specific lessons may vary personally and cultur
space ally, there may remain in death more essential human adventures:
is to accept darkness with light from the point of view of light and to
much integrate both, and to deepen both our capacity to love and our
like understanding of reality and the self. Significantly, acceptance,
the integration of opposites, love, and knowledge-based understanding
life are among the most fundamental prerequisites for healing, for
space making whole again (Levine, 1987). Death, like life, may bring an
opportunity for the learning, growing, and healing for which, it
may be said, we all take birth.
NOTES
1Shaman in traditional cultures commonly journeyed to the Lower World(s) by
initially following a root, animal burrow, or crack in the earth downward, or by

diving into a body of water or a hole called the jaws of the earth or a smoke hole,
each of which might become a tunnel. Sometimes shaman traveled through the
tunnel with a nish or by flying, as in Euro-American NDEs, and emerge in a
Lower World landscape (Eliade, 1964, pp. 202, 204; Hamer, 1980, pp. 32-37).

The dark tunnel is also thought to be the interior of the body in the views of
traditional shamanism, contemporary alternative healing, and some contemporary
Christian philosophy. A shaman might journey into the dark-tunnel interior of a
patients body to find and diagnose an illness (Hamer, 1980, p. 152). The Sioux and
other American Indians envisioned the body as a tube through which Great Spirit
could be channeled (Mails, 1978, p. 100; 1991). The alternative healer, Brennan
(1988, p. 68), holds the tunnel experience in NDEs to be the soul going up the body
along the primary energy axis of the spine and leaving the body in the bright light of
the crown chakra. The channelled Christian philosopher, Emmanuel (Rodegast &
Stanton, 1989, p. 137), says the tunnel experience is the transition of the soul from
inside to outside the body when the soul has remained in the body longer than is
necessary after the body begins to die. It is said to be optional; a more timely and
direct release circumvents the tunnel experience.
2The variations that are found among Euro-American NDEs in the sequential
positions in which events occur suggests that Rings (1980, p. 32) weighted score
coefficient for scaling the depth of a NDE may not be a consistent measure. The
coefficient uses the occurrence of both events and places to measure the progress
that a person made through a NDE, whereas the occurrence of only places may be a
more appropriate framework for assessing progress.
3Tradition holds that one book of the dead, the Bardo thos-grol chen-mo was
composed in the eighth century a . d . by Padma-Sambhava (Guru Rinpoche). Padma-
Sambhava was a Tantric yogi who introduced Vajrayana Buddhism to native
Tibetans who practiccd other (perhaps Bon) beliefs; he supervised the building of
the first Buddhist monastery there. As the originator of the rNying-ma-pa tradition,
Padma-Sambhava supposedly hid his various texts, including the book of the dead,
to be revealed at a more appropriate time. According to tradition, Karma-Glingpa
then discovered some of Padma-Sambhavas texts, including the Bardo thos-grol
chen-mo, in 1326.
4Thc flow of light from a Buddhas heart to the heart of the deceased symbolizes the
compassionate nature of enlightenment. This compassion arises from the realization
that all sentient beings suffer.
5For example, in one New Age Christian philosophy, love is the deepest reality
and ones true nature. The universe is friendly and filled with joy rather than
suffering (Rodegast & Stanton, 1987, pp. 15, 144,202).
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Requests for reprints to: Christopher Carr, Associate Professor, Dept, of Anthropol
ogy. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402.

Rowan, John. The transpersonal: Psychotherapy and counseling. BOOK.
London: Routledge, 1992. $15.95, 238 pp. REVIEW
Those who know John Rowan, a major figure in British humanis

tic psychology, will know that he is widely read, has written on Roger Walsh
areas as diverse as motivation, ego and gender issues, and brings
together multiple intellectual streams. They will be expecting his
book on psychotherapy to be similarly broad-ranging and their
expectations will be met.
The Transpersonal covers a large number of areas and transper

sonal thinkers and clinicians. Rowan draws most especially on
William James, Roberto Assagioli, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow,
Stanislav Grof, Frances Vaughan and especially Ken Wilber. He
covers a large number of topics including the mens and womens
movements, visualization, major transpersonal clinical practitio
ners, and critiques of transpersonal psychology. His bibliography
is extensive and broad.
Yet the book can also be frustrating since, although it covers

many topics, it often does not cover them in depth. To begin with,
the definition of transpersonal is a narrow one and Rowan says
that the transpersonal is the shallows of mysticism. He there
fore views the province of transpersonal psychology as the subtle
realms (sambhogakaya) and effectively excludes from consider
ation the vast range of deeper mystical, spiritual and causal trans
personal phenomena. While there is a rationale for focusing on
the subtle experiences in psychotherapy, the attempt to limit the
field to these experiences makes it significantly narrower than
many researchers think of it.
Some topics are discussed too briefly to be useful. For example,

among the criticisms of transpersonal psychology, behaviorism
and materialism receive a single paragraph. Yet materialism is
perhaps our cultures dominant metaphysics and usually denies
the value and validity of transpersonal phenomena. The Chris
tian critique gets two paragraphs. But Rowan presents it as the
Christian critique, with no acknowledgment that there are vast
numbers of Christian viewpoints ranging from some fundamen
talists who regard a transpersonal experience as the work of the
devil, to some liberal Christians who are very sympathetic to
transpersonal phenomena and concepts.
Similarly, although meditation receives several pages, only one

small area of meditation and its application are considered. No
mention at all is made of the several hundred research studies
done on it.
Book Reviews 111

There is a curious combination of excellent criticism of various
myths popular in some humanistic and transpersonal circles,
coupled with a remarkably uncritical acceptance of other, equally
questionable claims, that at the very least require detailed, careful
analysis. For example, Rowan rightly points to the problem of the
lack of critical thinking in some circles, e.g., the uncritical accep
tance of the hundredth monkey phenomenon and of the therapeu
tic effectiveness of psychic surgery. He also gives an excellent
summary of the Senoi dream mythology whereby workshops
abound in Senoi dreamwork even though the Senoi have never
heard of the practices they supposedly originated.
However, he then goes on to make claims which are perhaps

equally questionable and, if advocated, need to be very carefully
supported. Consider, for example, the unsupported claim that
there is consciousness in the fetus before there is a brain to have
that consciousness (p. 208).
Likewise, among leading practitioners of transpersonal psycho

therapy he devotes a section to Lisa Saan who does soul-directed
therapy and who states that experienced psychotherapists who
have died are eager to help less experienced psychotherapists who
are still alive. Whether the dead psychotherapists are any wiser
for having died, whether death necessarily qualifies them as
transpersonal therapists, and how much they charge are not men
tioned. Its enough to make one a behaviorist!
There are also more subtle issues. For example, Rowan also
profiles Jean Bolen among leading transpersonal therapists,
largely on the basis of her books, Goddesses in Every Woman and
Gods in Every Man. There is no question that Bolens books have
proved very popular, but there is a question as to whether they are
dealing with transpersonal experiences or collective experiences.
Rowan also takes on Zen Buddhism which he says has a lot to

answer for, in my opinion, in leading people up the garden path in
this respect. All the Zen people seem to go on about this same
ideathat enlightenment is a once-for-all, all-or-nothing thing.
Yet this is a popular misconception which overlooks the centu-
ries-Iong debate in Chan and Zen over sudden enlightenment
versus gradual enlightenment as well as the recognition that
there are stages and depths of enlightenment, as portrayed, for
example, in the second half of the Ten Oxherding Pictures.
As Harada Roshi comments (in Kapleaus The Three Pillars
of Zen) enlightenment is capable of endless enlargement.
Unfortunately, the insights offered in this book are offset by its
misconceptions.

Brueton, D. Many moons: The myths and magic, fact and fantasy of BOOKS
our nearest heavenly body. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. NOTED
Clift, J.D. Core images of the self: A symbolic approach to healing
and wholeness. New York: Crossroad, 1993.
Dobkin De Rios, M. Amazon healer: The life and times of an urban
shaman. Bridport, Dorset, England: Prism Press, 1992.
Estes, C. P. Women who run with the wolves: Myths and stories of
the wild woman archetype. New York: Ballantine, 1992.
Evans, D. Spirituality and human nature. Albany, NY: S.U.N.Y.
Press, 1992.
Faivre, A. & Needleman, J. Modern esoteric spirituality. Vol. 21 in
World Spirituality: An encyclopedic history of the religious
quest. New York: Crossroad, 1992.
Friedman, M. A heart of wisdom: Religion and human wholeness.
Albany, NY: S.U.N.Y. Press, 1992.
Goleman, D. & Gurin, J. Mind/body medicine: How to use your mind for
better health. Yonkers, NY: Consumer Reports Books, 1993.
Hendlin, S. J. When good enough is never enough. Escaping the
perfection trap. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1992.
Kilby, R. W. The study of human values. Lanham, MD: University
Press of America, 1993.
Kornfield, J. A path with a heart: A guide through the perils and
promises of spiritual life. New York: Bantam, 1993.
Leonard, L.S. Meeting the madwoman: An inner challenge for
feminine spirit. New York: Bantam, 1993.
Lorik, P. Superstitions. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Lowinsky, N.R. Stories from the motherline: Reclaiming the
mother-daughter bond, finding our feminine souls. Los Ange
les: Tarcher, 1992.
Lucas, W. Regression therapy: A handbook for professionals.
Volume 1: Past-life therapy: Volume II: Special instances of
altered state work. Crest Park, CA: Deep Forest Press, 1993.
May, R. M. Cosmic consciousness revisited: The modern origins
and development of Western spiritual psychology. Rockport,
MA: Element, 1993.
Miller, J. On suicide: Great writers on the ultimate question. San
Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992.
Montgomery, C.L. Healing through communication: The practice
of caring. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993.
Randour, M.L. Exploring sacred landscapes: Religious and spiri
tual experiences in psychotherapy. New York: Columbia Uni
versity Press, 1993.
Ramakrishna Rao, K. Cultivating consciousness: Enhancing human
potential, wellness and healing. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1993.
Ripinsky-Naxon, M. The nature of shamanism: Substance and func
tion of a religious metaphor. Albany, NY: S.U.N.Y. Press, 1993.
Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan book of living and dying. San
Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 1992.
Whitmyer, C. In the company of others: Making community in the
modern world. New York: Tarcher/Perigee, 1993.
Book Reviews 113

BOOKS OUR Maxwell, M. & Tschudin, V. Seeing the invisible: Modern reli
EDITORS ARE gious and other transcendent experiences. London: Penguin
READING Books, 1990.
. . . Marcie Boucouvalas
Hycner, R. H. Between person and person. Highland, NY: Gestalt

Journal, 1988/1991.
Gross, Z. A portrait of the person: A personality theory for the
clinician. Santa Monica, CA: Global Village Press, 1992.
Schneider, K. J. Horror and the holy: Wisdom teachings of the
monster tale. Chicago: Open Court, 1993.
... James F. T. Bugental
Trafford, A.P. The heroic path: One womans journey from

cancer to self-healing. Nevada City, CA: Blue Dolphin, 1993.
Nydahl, O. Teachings on the nature of mind. Nevada City, CA:
Blue Dolphin, 1993.
. . . Paul M. Clemens
Parman, S. Dream and culture. New York: Praeger, 1991.

Hatab, L. J. Myth and philosophy. LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1990.
Helman, C. G. Culture, health and illness (2nd Ed.). London:
Butterworth-Heinemann, 1990.
. . . Stanley Krippner
Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan book of living and dying. San

Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992.
Luke, H.M. Dark wood to white rose: Journey and transforma
tion in Dantes Divine Comedy. New York: Parabola, 1989.
Arrien, A. The four-fold way. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
. . . John L. Levy
Halifax, J. The fruitful darkness: Reconnecting with the body of

the earth. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
Stein, M. (Ed.). Mad parts of sane people in analysis. Wilmette,
IL: Chiron Publications, 1993.
Jamison, K. Touched with fire: Manic-depressive illness and the
artistic temperament. New York: Free Press, 1993.
. . . David Lukoff
Gunaratana, H. Mindfulness in plain English. Boston: Wisdom

Publications, 1992.
Sole-Leris, A. Tranquility and insight: An introduction to the
oldest form of Buddhist meditation. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Bud
dhist Publication Society, 1992.
Sayadaw, U. In this very life: The liberation teaching of the
Buddha. Boston. Wisdom Publications, 1992.
... Jacques Maquet

Kramer, J. & Alstad, D. The guru papers: Masks of authoritar
ian power. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic, 1993.
Lowinksky, N. Stories from the motherline. Los Angeles: Jeremy
Tarcher, 1993.
Mitchell, S. (Ed.). The enlightened heart. Berkeley, CA: Ten
Speed Press, 1992.
... Sonja Margulies
Appleyard, B. Understanding the present. New York: Double

day, 1993.
Hughes, R. Culture of complaint. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993.
Raine, K. India seen afar. New York: George Braziller, 1991.
... Huston Smith
Hixon, L. Great swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna. Boston:

Shambhala, 1992.
Hixon, L. Atom from the sun of knowledge. Westport, CT: Pir
Publications, 1993.
... Frances Vaughan
Poona, H. L. Wake up and roar (Vols. 1, 1992 & 2, 1993). Maui,

HI: Pacific Center Publishing, 1992, 1993.
.. . John Welwood
Books Our Editors Are Reading 115

ABOUT THE Christopher Carr, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Anthropology at
AUTHORS Arizona State University. Many of his publications are in archaeology
and cultural anthropology, and he has taught courses on world views and
practices of death and dying, and traditional healing arts. Through
community organizations he has counselled the dying and facilitated
bereavement groups. His private practice is in personal and spiritual
growth.
Bruce Greyson, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the

Inpatient Psychiatric Service at the University of Connecticut Health
Center. He is Director of Research and Past President of the International
Association for Near-Death Studies, and Editor of the Journal of Near-
Death Studies.
Francis G. Lu, M.D., is co-editor of the JTP Research Review section. He

teaches in the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San
Francisco, and is Chair, American Psychiatric Association Committee of
Asian-American Psychiatrists. His many publications include two JTP
articles in 1987, and four Research Review articles since 1988.
David Lukoff, Ph.D., is co-editor of the JTP Research Review section. He

teaches at Saybrook Institute, San Francisco, and is a clinical psycholo
gist at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in San Francisco. He
has authored four JTP articles, and the four Research Review articles.
Jon Ossoff M.A., works as a psychologist at a large New York state

psychiatric center. He has been a meditator and student of Eastern
philosophy since 1972. He has studied Ayurvedic Psychology with Dr.
Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute, New Mexico, and Ayurvedic
pulse diagnosis with both Dr. Lad and Dr. John Douillard at the
Maharishi Ayurvedic Center in Massachusetts.
Robert Turner, M.D., is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University

of California, San Francisco, and in private practice in San Francisco and
Los Gatos. His training includes an emphasis in Jungian, transpersonal
and esoteric psychology. He is currently coordinating a Training/Certi
fication Program in Spiritual Emergence Syndromes.
Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., a Past President of the Association for Trans

personal Psychology, is a psychologist in private practice in Mill Valley,
California, and on the Clinical Faculty, University of California Medical
School at Irvine. She has published in JTP (1973, 74, 78,79, 82, 91, 92)
and many other journals, and is the author of The Inward Arc and
Awakening intuition.
Roger N. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy and

Anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. He has published
previously in JTP (1977, 78, 79, 82, 89, 92) and authored many other
articles and books in transpersonal psychology and other fields including
neuropsychology, psychiatry and anthropology. He is the author of
Staying Alive: The Psychology of Human Survival and The Spirit of
Shamanism.

Carr, Christopher. Death and near-death: A comparison of Tibetan and ABSTRACTS
Euro-American experiences.Variation in the near-death experiences
of contemporary Euro-Americans suggests that different features of
NDEs are probably caused by different and sometimes multiple factors.
These include the personal circumstance of death, personal life-history
and personal systems of symbolic meaning, age and gender, culturally
learned beliefs and symbols, and pan-human biology. Detailed compari
son of NDEs to death experiences described in Tibetan books of the dead,
examined in relation to Euro-American Christian and Tibetan Buddhist
world views, also suggests that some variation in NDEs may be culture-
spccific but not learned. The comparison also gives insight into possible
crosscultural similarities and differences in death process, including
contents such as the events and places experienced and cognitive,
affective, and sensory qualities; their sequential structure; their mean
ings; and fundamental time, space, and other properties of the realities
perceived in death. Biological, depth psychological, experiential, and
nonordinary reality explanations, each drawn in relation to the process of
evolution of cultural world views, arc offered for understanding the
similarities and differences.
Greyson, Bruce. The physio-kundalini syndrome and mental illness.

Near-death and other transcendental experiences have been hypoth
esized to be related to the awakening of a biological energy known in
Eastern traditions as kundalini; and in fact near-death experiencers
(NDErs) acknowledge significantly more symptoms of the physio-
kundalini syndrome than do control subjects. Apparent phenomenologi
cal similarities between some kundalini manifestations and some symp
toms of mental illness have led to speculations that kundalini phenomena
may be a sign of mental illness, or conversely that kundalini arousal may
in some cases lead to mental illness. In this study, a sample of psychiatric
inpatients acknowledged as many physio-kundalini symptoms as do
control subjects, and significantly fewer than do NDErs, suggesting that
kundalini manifestations are not in fact related to mental illness.
Lukoff, David, Turner, Robert & Lu, Francis G. Transpersonal psy

chology research review: Psychospiritual dimensions of healing.This
is the second in a series of three research reviews focusing on dimensions
of healing. Spirituality, the topic of this review of healing research, is an
increasingly mentioned concept in therapeutic literature. Here, the au
thors survey in selected, detailed abstracts: Spirituality of the General
Public and Mental Health Professionals (2 abstracts); Phenomenology of
Spiritual Life (1 abstract); Assessment of Spirituality (10 abstracts);
Social Dimensions of Psychospiritual Healing (3 abstracts); Treatment
of Psychospiritual Problems (5 abstracts). They conclude with a favor
able impression of the scope and accelerating interest in these topics.
Forty-four references are cited. Their next research review focuses on
anomalous experiences and healing.
Ossoff, Jon. Reflections of shaktipat'. Psychosis or the rise of kundalini?

A case study.Presents a case study of a young woman brought to a
psychiatric center in distress, emotionally withdrawn and initially as
sumed to be psychotic. Unusual involuntary motor behavior and other
Abstracts 117
symptoms leads to changed diagnosis of premature kundalini awakening
(PKA), not an illness or psychosis. After one weeks appropriate treat
ment, the patient is released and contact after 2 months indicates no
recurrence.
Walsh, Roger N. & Vaughan, Frances. The art of transcendence: An

introduction to common elements of transpersonal practices.In a
synoptic overview, this paper examines assumptions and basic elements
in an art and technology of transcendence. Based on assumptions that 1)
our usual state of consciousness is suboptimal and 2) the untrained mind
can be trained and clarified to catalyze transpersonal potentials, the
authors present six common elements in the art of transcendence. Citing
historical and contemporary theory and practice, the authors describe
relevance and function of ethical training, attentional training, emotional
transformation, motivation, refining awareness, and wisdom.

BACK ISSUES OF THE JOURNAL OF TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
1969 Armor, T. A note on the peak experience and a transpersonal psychology.

Vol. 1 Assagioli, R. Symbols of transpersonal experiences. Maslow, A. The farther
No. I reaches of human nature. Maslow, A.H. Various meanings of transcendence.
Maven, A. The mystic union: A suggested biological interpretation. Murphy, M.H.
Education for transcendence. Sutich, A.J. Some considerations regarding Trans-
peronal Psychology.
No. 2 Harman, W. The new Copernican revolution. LeShan, L. Physicists and mystics:
Similarities in world view. Masi.ow, A.H. Theory Z. Pahnke, N. & Richards,
W.A. Implications of LSD and experimental mysticism. Sutich, A.J. The American
Transpersonal Association. Wapnick, K. Mysticism and schi7ophrenia.
1970 Blair, M.A. Meditation in the San Francisco Bay Area: An introductory survey.
Vol. 2 Criswell, E. Experimental yoga psychology course for college students: A progress
No. 1 report. Green, E., Green, A.M., & Walters, E.D. Voluntary control of internal
states: Psychological and physiological. Tart, C.T. Transpersonal potentialities of
deep hypnosis. Timmons, B., & Kamiya, J. The psychology and physiology of
meditation and related phenomena: A bibliography.
No. 2 Fadiman, J. The second Council Grove confcrence on altered states of consciousness.
Hart, J.T. The Zen of Hubert Benoit. Maslow, A.H. New introduction:
Religions, values, and peak experiences. Ram Dass. Lecture at the Menninger
Foundation: Part I.
1971 Goleman, D. Meditation as meta-therapy: Hypotheses toward a proposed fifth state

Vol. 3 of consciousness. Green, E.E. & Green, A.M. On the meaning of transpersonal:
No. 1 Some metaphysical perspectives. Ram Dass. Lecture at the Menninger Foundation:
Part II. Sutich, A.J. Transpersonal notes.
No. 2 Hendrick, N. A program in the psychology of human consciousness. Tart, C.T. A

psychologists experience with Transcendental Meditation. Tart, C.T. Scientific
foundations for the study of altered states of consciousness. Van Nuys, D. A novel
technique for studying attention during meditation. Weide, T.N. Council Grove III:
The third annual interdisciplinary conference on the voluntary control of internal
states.
1972 Goleman, D. The Buddha on meditation and states of consciousness. Part 1: The
Vol. 4 teaching. Groe, S. Varieties of transpersonal experiences: Observations from LSD
No. 1 psychotherapy. Sherman, S.E. Brief report: Continuing research on very deep
hypnosis. Sutich, A.J. Association for Transpersonal Psychology. Weide, T.N.
Council Grove IV: Toward a science of ultimatcs.
No. 2 Goleman, D. The Buddha on meditation and states of consciousness. Part II: A
typology of meditation techniques. Krippner, S. (ed.). The plateau experience:
A.H. Maslow and others. Richards, W., Grof, S., Goodman, L., & Kurland, A.
LSD-assisted psychotherapy and the human encounter with death.
Back Issues 119

1973 Grof, S. Theoretical and empirical basis of transpersonal psychology and psycho
Vol. 5 therapy: Observations from LSD research Ram Dass. Lecture at the Maryland
No. 1 Psychiatric Research Center: Part 1. Sutich, A.J. Transpersonal therapy.
Trungpa, C. An approach to meditation. Vilhjalmsson,G. V.,& Weide, T.N. The
first international transpersonal conference. Weide, T.N. Varieties of transpersonal
therapy.
No. 2 Clark, F.V. Exploring intuition: Prospects and possibilities. Katz, R. Education
for transcendence: Lessons from the !Kung Zhu/twasi. Nitya, Swami. Excerpts
from a discussion. Osis, K., Bokert, E., & Carlson, M.L. Dimensions of the
meditative experience. Ram Dass. Lecture at the Maryland Psychiatric Research
Center: Part II. Weide, T.N. Vallombrosa: A major transpersonal event.
1974 Campbell, I.A., & McMahon, K.M. Religious-type experience in the context of
Vol. 6 humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Casper, M. Space therapy and the Maitri
No. 1 project. Clark, F.V. Rediscovering transpersonal education. Crampton, M.
Psychological energy transformations: Developing positive polarization. Goleman,
D. Perspectives on psychology, reality and the study of consciousness. Kennett, J.
Translating the precepts. Redmond, H. A pioneer program in transpersonal
education. Timmons, B., & Kanellakos, D.P. The psychology and physiology of
meditation and related phenomena: Bibliography II. Watts, A. Psychotherapy and
eastern religion: Metaphysical bases of psychiatry.
No. 2 Bernbaum, E. The way of symbols: The use of symbols in Tibetan mysticism.
Frager, R. A proposed model for a graduate program in Transpersonal Psychology.
Jain, M., & Jain, K.M. The samadhist: A description. Kennett, J. On meditation.
Ring, K. A transpersonal view of consciousness: A mapping of farther regions of
inner space. Stat, D. Double chambered whistling bottles: A unique Peruvian
pottery form. Tarthanc; Tulku. The self-image.
1975 Augustine, M.J. & Kai.ish, R.A. Religion, transcendence, and appropriate death.
Vol. 7 Frager, R. & Fadiman, J. Personal growth in Yoga and Sufism. Kennett, J.,
No. 1 Radha, Swami, & Frager, R. How to be a transpersonal teacher without becoming a
guru. Ram Dass. Advice to a psychotherapist. Shultz, J.V. Stages on the spiritual
path: A Buddhist perspective. Simonton, O.C. & Simonton, S.S. Belief systems and
management of the emotional aspects of malignancy. Trungpa, C. Transpersonal
cooperation at Naropa.
No. 2 Deatherage, C. The clinical use ofmindfulness meditation techniques in short-term

psychotherapy. Garfield, C.A. Consciousness alteration and fear of death.
Goleman, D. Mental health in classical Buddhist psychology. Hendricks, C.G.
Meditation as discrimination training: A theoretical note. Maqiiet, J. Meditation in
contemporary Sri Tanka: Idea and practice. Wilber, K. Psychologia perennis: The
spectrum of consciousness.
1976 Capra, F. Modern physics and Eastern mysticism. Sutich, A.J. The emergence of
Vol. 8 the transpersonal orientation: A personal account. Tart, C.T. The basic nature of
No. 1 altered states of consciousness: A systems approach. Tarthang Tulku. A view of
mind. Vich, M.A. Anthony J. Sutich: An appreciation.
No. 2 Leslie, R.C. Yoga and the fear of death. Ram Dass. Freeing the mind. Ring, K.
Mapping the regions of consciousness: A conceptual reformulation. Singer, J. A

Jungian view of biofeedback training. Walsh, H.N. Reflections on psychotherapy.
Welwood, J. Exploring mind: Form, emptiness, and beyond. Williams, R.R.
Biofeedback: A technology for self-transaction.
1977 Erhard, W. & Fadiman, J. Some aspects of est training and transpersonal psy
Vol. 9 chology: A conversation. Keller, M. Henry David Thoreau: A transpersonal view.
No. 1 Welwood, J. Meditation and the unconscious: A new perspective.
No. 2 Anderson, R.M., Jr. A holographic model of transpersonal consciousness. Kohr,

R. I., Dimensionality in meditative experience: A replication. Ram Dass& Steindl-
Rast, B.D. On lay monasticism. Walsh, R.N. Initial meditative experiences: Part I.
Welwood, J. On psychological space.
1978 Murdock, M.H. Meditation with young children. Taylor, E.I. Psychology of
Vol. 10 religion and Asian studies: The William James legacy. Walsh, R. N. Initial
No. 1 meditative experiences: Part II. Washburn, M.C. Observations relevant to a unified
theory of meditation.
No. 2 Boals, G. F. Toward a cognitive reconccptualization of meditation. Green, A.M.&

Green, E.E. Some problems in biofccdback research. Walsh, R.N., D. Goleman, J.
Koknkield, C. Pensa, D. Shapiro. Meditation: Aspects of research and practice.
Welwood, J., F. Capra, M. Ferguson, J. Needleman, K. Pribram, H. Smith, F.
Vauchan, R. N. Walsh. Psychology, science and spiritual paths: Contemporary
issues.
1979 Kornfield, J. Intensive insight meditation: A phenomenological study. Meadow,

Vol. 11 M.J., Swami Ajaya, I.. Bregman, W.H. Clark, G. Green, S. Krippner, L.R.
No. 1 Rambo, K. Ring, C.T. Tart, K. Wilber. Spiritual and transpersonal aspects of
altered states of consciousness: A symposium report. Stensrud, R., & Stensrud, K.
The Tao of human relations. Welwood, J. Self-knowledge as the basis for an
integrative psychology. Wilber, K. A developmental view of consciousness.
No. 2 Boorstein, S. Troubled relationships: Transpersonal and psychoanalytic approaches.

Trungpa, C. Intrinsic health: A conversation with health professionals. Vaughan,
F. Transpersonal psychotherapy: Context, content and process. Walsh, R.N.
Emerging cross-disciplinary parallels: Suggestions from the neurosciences. Walsh,
R.N. Meditation research: An introduction and review. Welwood, J. Befriending
emotion: Self-knowledge and transformation. White, L.W. Recovery from alco
holism: Transpersonal dimensions.
1980 Bohm, D. & Welwood, J. Issues in physics, psychology and metaphysics: A conversa
Vol. 12 tion. Boucouvalas, M. Transpersonal psychology: A working outline of the field.
No. 1 Burns, D. & Ohayv, R. Psychological changcs in meditating Western monks in Thai
land. Drengson, A.R. Social and psychological implications of human attitudes
toward animals. Jamnien, Ajahn & Ohayv, R. Field interview with a Theravada
teaching master. Metzner, R. Ten classical metaphors of self-transformation.
Thomas, L.E. & Cooper, P.E. Incidence and psychological correlates of intense
spiritual experiences.
No. 2 Boorstein, S. Lightheartedness in psychotherapy. Brown, D.P. & Engler, J.

Stages of mindfulness meditation: A validation study. Langford, A. Working with
Cambodian refugees: Observations on the Family Practice Ward at Khao I Dang.
Back Issues 121

Murphy, M. The Esalen Institute Transformation Project: A preliminary report.
Welwood, J. Reflections on psychotherapy, focusing and meditation.
1981 Hidas, A. Psychotherapy and surrender: A psychospiritual perspective. Peters,

Vol. 13 L.G. An experiential study of Nepalese Shamanism. Smith, K. Observations on
No. 1 Morita therapy and culture-specific interpretations. Wilber, K. Ontogenetic deve
lopment: Two fundamental patterns.
No. 2 Amodeo, J. Focusing applied to a case of disorientation in meditation. Amundson, J.

Will in the psychology of Otto Rank. Earle, J.B.B. Cerebral laterality and
meditation: A review. Epstein, M.D. & Lieff, J.D. Psychiatric complications of
meditation. Goleman, D. Buddhist and Western psychology: Some commonalities
and differences. O'Hanlon, D.J., S.J. Integration of spiritual practices: A Western
Christian looks East.
1982 Anthony, D. The outer master as inner guide: Autonomy and authority in the process
Vol. 14 of transformation. Lieff, J. Eight reasons doctors fear the elderly, chronic illness
No. 1 and death. Vaughan, F. The transpersonal perspective: A personal overview.
Walsh, R. A model for viewing meditation research. Wortz, E. Application of
awareness methods in psychotherapy.
No. 2 Aitken, R. Zen practice and psychotherapy. Alpert, R./Ram Dass. A ten-year
perspective. Riedlinger, T.J. Sartres rite of passage. Speeth, K. On psycho
therapeutic attention. Welwood, J. Vulnerability and power in the therapeutic
process: Existential and Buddhist perspectives.
1983 Friedman, H.I., The self-expansive level form: A conceptualization and measure
Vol. 15 ment of a transpersonal construct. Grof, S. East and West: Ancient wisdom and
No. 1 modern science. Komito, D.R. Tibetan Buddhism and psychotherapy: A conversa
tion with the Dalai Lama. Lane, D.C. The hierarchical structure of religious visions.
Shapiro, D.H. Meditation as an altered state of consciousness.
No. 2 Boorstein, S. The use of bibliotherapy and mindfulness meditation in a psychiatric

setting. Gallegos, E.S. Animal imagery, the chakra system and psychotherapy.
Hastings, A. A counseling approach to parapsychological experience. Henderson,
B. Self-help books emphasizing transpersonal psychology; Are they ethical?
Henkin, W. Two non-ordinary experiences of reality and their integration. Kalff,
M. Negation of ego in Tibetan Buddhism and Jungian psychology. Murphy, M. &
Donovan, S. A bibliography of meditation theory and research: 1931-1983.
1984 Engler, J. Therapeutic aims in psychotherapy and meditation: Developmental stages

Vol. 16 in the representation of self. Komito, D.R. Tibetan Buddhism and psychotherapy:
No. I Further conversations with the Dalai Lama. Welwood, J. Principles of inner work:
Psychological and spiritual. Wilber, K. The developmental spectrum and psy
chopathology: Part I, Stages and types of pathology.
No. 2 Armstrong, T. Transpersonal experience in childhood. Asante, M.K. The African

American mode of transcendence. Epstein, M.D. On the neglect of evenly
suspended attention. Gross, R.M. The feminine principle in Tibetan Vajrayana
Buddhism: Reflections of a Buddhist feminist. Shafranske, E.P. & Gorsuch, R.I.,
Factors associated with the perception of spirituality in psychotherapy. Wilber, K.
The developmental spectrum and psychopathology: Part II, Treatment modalities.

1985 Boorstein, S. Notes on right speech as a psychotherapeutic technique. Metzner, R.
Vol. 17 Knots, ties, nets, and bonds in relationships. Scotton, B.W. Observations on the
No. 1 teaching and supervision of transpersonal psychotherapy. Sovatsky, S. Eros as
mystery: Toward a transpersonal sexology and procreativity. Thapa, K. & Murthy,
V.N. Experiential characteristics of certain altered states of consciousness.
Welwood, J. On love: Conditional and unconditional.
No. 2 Chinen, A.B. Fairy tales and transpersonal development in later life. Coleman, D.,
Smith, H. & Ram Dass. Truth and transformation in psychological and spiritual
paths. Lukoff, D. The diagnosis of mystical experiences with psychotic features.
Lukoff, D. & Everest, H.C. The myths in mental illness.
1986 Butcher, P. The phenomenological psychology of J. Krishnamurti. Knoblauch,

Vol. 18 D.L. & Falconer, J.A. The relationship of a measured Taoist orientation to Western
No. 1 personality dimensions. Rothberg, D. Philosophical foundations of transpersonal
psychology: An introduction to some basic issues. Russell, E.W. Consciousness
and the unconscious: Eastern meditative and Western psychotherapeutic approaches.
No. 2 Boorstein, S. Transpersonal context, interpretation, and psychotherapeutic tech

nique. Chinen, A.B. Elder tales revisited: Forms of transcendence in later life.
Epstein, M. Meditative transformations of narcissism. Fleischman, P.R. Release:
A religious and psychotherapeutic issue. Tart, C.T. Consciousness, altered states,
and worlds of experience. Welwood, J. Personality structure: Path or pathology?
1987 Dubs, G. Psycho-spiritual development in Zen Buddhism: A study of resistance in

Vol. 19 meditation. Teixeira, B. Comments on Ahimsa (nonviolence).
No. 1
No. 2 Chinen, A.B. Middle tales: Fairy tales and transpersonal development at mid-life
Davis, J. & Wright, C. Content of undergraduate transpersonal psychology courses.
Echenhofer, F.G. & Coombs, M.M. A brief review of research and controversies in
EEG biofeedback and meditation Lu, F.G. & Heming, G. The effect of the film Ikiru
on death anxiety and attitudes toward death Meadow, M.J. & Culligan, K.
Congruent spiritual paths: Christian Carmelite and Theravadan Buddhist Vipassana
Weimer, S. R. & Lu, F.G. Personal transformation through an encounter with death:
Cinematic and psychotherapy case studies.
1988 Chinen, A.B.; Foote, W.; Jue, R.W.; Lukoff, D. & Spielvogel, A. Clinical
Vol. 20 symposium: Challenging cases in transpersonal psychotherapy. Epstein, M. The
No. 1 deconstruction of the self: Ego and egolessness in Buddhist insight meditation.
Hiltunen, S.S. Initial therapeutic applications of Noh Theatre in drama therapy.
Pendzik, S. Drama therapy as a form of modern shamanism. Wilber, T.K.
Attitudes and cancer: What kind of help really helps?
No. 2 Cumulative index: The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Volumes 1-20, 1969-
1988. Contents listed by volume year. Alphabetical list of authors. Lukoff, D.
Transpersonal perspectives on manic psychosis: Creative, visionary, and mystical
states. Lukoff, D. & Lu, F. Transpersonal psychology research review: Topic:
Mystical experience. Vich, M.A. Some historical sources of the term transper
sonal. Wilbfr, K. On being a support person.
1989 Epstein, M. Forms of emptiness: Psychodynamic, meditative and clinical perspectives.
Vol. 21 Heery, M.W. Inner voice experiences: An exploratory study of thirty cases. Roberts,
No. 1 T.B. Multistate education: Metacognitive implications of the mindbody psychotech
nologies. Shapiro, D. Judaism as a journey of transformation: Consciousness, behavior,
and society. Walsh, R. What is a shaman? Definition, origin and distribution.
No. 2 Carlat, D.J. Psychological motivation and the choice of spiritual symbols: A case study.
Lukoff, D. & Lu, F.G. Transpersonal psychology research review: Topic: Computerized
databases, specialized collections, and archives. Nelson, P.L. Personality factors in the
frequency of reported spontaneous praeternatural experiences. Peters, L.G. Shamanism:
Phenomenology of a spiritual discipline. Schavrien, J.E. The rage, healing and daemonic
death of Oedipus: A self-in-relation theory. Serlin, I. A psycho-spiritual-body therapy
approach to residential treatment of Catholic religious.
1990 Epstein, M. Psychodynamics of meditation: Pitfalls on the spiritual path. Fox, W.

Vol. 22 Transpersonal ecology: Psychologizing ecophilosophy. Holden, J. & Guest, C. Life
No. 1 review in a non-near-death episode: A comparison with near-death experiences. Nelson,
P. The technology of the praetematural: An empirically based model of transpersonal
experience. Welwood, J. Intimate relationship as path.
No. 2 Hughes, D. & Melville, N. Changes in brainwave activity during trance channeling: A
pilot study. Lukoff, D., Zanger, R. & Lu, F. Transpersonal psychology research review:
Psychoactive substances and transpersonal states. Tart, C. Adapting Eastern spiritual
teachings to Western culture: A discussion with Shinzen Young. Waldman, M. Reflec
tions on death and reconciliation.
1991 Doblin, R. Pahnkes Good Friday experiment: A long-term follow-up and methodologi
Vol. 23 cal critique. Dubin, W. The use of meditative techniques in psychotherapy supervision.
No. 1 Mansfield, V. Looking into mind: An undergraduate course. Tart, C.T. & Deikman, A.J.
Mindfulness, spiritual seeking and psychotherapy.
No. 2 Lajoie, D.H., Shapiro, S.E. & Roberts, T.B. A historical analysis of the statement of
purpose in The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Montgomery, C.L. The care-
giving relationship: Paradoxical and transcendent aspects. Tart, C.T. Influences of
previous psychedelic drug experiences on students of Tibetan Buddhism: A preliminary
exploration. Vaughan, F. Spiritual issues in psychotherapy. Vigne, J. Guru and
psychotherapist: Comparisons from the Hindu tradition.
1992 Bogart, G.C. Separating from a spiritual teacher. Lajoie, D.H. & Shapiro, S.I. Defini
Vol. 24 tions of transpersonal psychology: The first twenty-three years. Lukoff, D., Turner, R. &
No. 1 Lu, F. Transpersonal psychology research review: Psychoreligious dimensions of healing.
McNamara, P. A transpersonal approach to memory. Shapiro, D.H. Jr. A preliminary
study of long-term meditators: Goals, effects, religious orientation, cognitions. Vich, M.A.
Changing definitions of transpersonal psychology.
No. 2 Hughes, D.J. Differences between trance channeling and multiple personality disorder on
structured interview. Loy, D. Avoiding the void: The lack of self in psychotherapy and
Buddhism. Stavely, H. & McNamara, P. Warwick Foxs transpersonal ecology: A
critique and alternative approach. Waldman, M., Lannert, J., Boorstein, S., Scotton,
B., Saltzman, L. & Jue, R.W. The therapeutic alliance, kundalini, and spiritual/religious
issues in counseling. Walsh, R.N. & Vaughan, F. Lucid dreaming: Some transpersonal
implications.

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Volume 25

The art of transcendence: An introduction to common elements of

Transpersonal psychology research review:

Reflections of shaktipat: Psychosis or the rise of kundalini? A case study 29

The physio-kundalini syndrome and mental illness 43

Death and near-death: A comparison of Tibetan and Euro-American experiences 59

Current year subscriptionsVolume 25,1993.

Back volumes: Volume 24 (2 issues) $24, $12 per issue.

Order from and make remittances payable to:

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology is indexed in

NOTICE TO Manuscript deadlines: Manuscripts may be submitted by any

All manuscripts, and an abstract of not more than 150 words,

BOOKS FOR Send to Editor, 345 California Avenue,

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology and the Association for Transpersonal

Copyright 1993 Transpersonal Institute

Scan & OCR by Shiva2012

Ken Wilber, consulting editor

Paul M. Clemens, technical editor

Michael S. Hutton, assistant editor

Francis G. Lu, David Lukoff, research review co-editors

FIELD Marcie Boucouvalas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

BOARD OF Medard Boss, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Roberto Assagioli (1888-1974) Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)

Anthony J. Sutich (1907-1976), founding editor, 1969-1976

Editors note iv TABLE

Transpersonal psychology research review:

Reflections of shaktipat: Psychosis or

The physio-kundalini syndrome and mental illness 43

Death and near-death: A comparison of Tibetan

Book review 111

Books noted 113

Books our editors are reading 114

About the authors 116

Back issues 119

Roger Walsh and Frances Vaughans opening article exemplifies

The growing range and depth of transpersonal topics is also

When JTP first appeared, the Western psychological and psychi

About the time J T P first appeared, Tibetan Buddhists were begin

We must close our eyes

When historians look back at the twentieth century, they may

First, psychological maturation can continue far beyond our ar

Second, techniques exist for realizing these reservoirs of life or

Copyright 1993 Transpersonal Institute

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1 1

The first assumption is that our usual state of consciousness is

Restless (the) mind is,

training The second assumption is that although the untrained mind is

Likewise, according to Ramana Maharshi (1955), All scriptures

Although practices and techniques vary widely, there seem to be

2 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1

Ethics is widely regarded as an essential foundation of trans

Attentional training and the cultivation of concentration are re

Being able to direct attention at will is so important because the

The Art of Transcendence 3

Ethical behavior and attentional stability facilitate the third element

The first is the reduction of destructive emotions such as fear and

The second component is the cultivation of positive emotions such

This intensity and scope of positive emotion is facilitated by a third

Ethical behavior, attentional stability and emotional transformation

4 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1

Traditionally it is said that motivation becomes less scattered and

Traditionally this motivational shift was seen as purification or

In addition to redirecting motivation, the art of transcendence