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In the Lap of the Mother: Gleanings from the Mother’s Agenda on Higher Integral Practice
No full text[blank]Mirra Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), known to her followers as The Mother, was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. [...] The experiences of the last thirty years of Alfassa\u27s life were captured in the 13-volume work The Agenda. (Wikipedia
Shifting the Paradigm: Ten Transformative Years with Stan Grof
No full textIn the years of 1977-86 Fritjof Capra was engaged in an intense exploration of the paradigm shift from a mechanistic to a holistic and ecological worldview. During those ten years, his frequent professional and personal encounters with Stan Grof exerted a major influence on his thinking, which he discusses in this talk
Stanislav Grof Response and Discussion with Audience - October 24, 2016
No full textStanislav Grof responds to evening presenters and audience question
Stanislav Grof Response II - October 24, 2014
No full textStan Grof\u27s Response (II) to early afternoon sessions on 10-24-201
Transpersonal Healing: Assessing the Evidence from Laboratory and Clinical Trials
Get PDFTranspersonal or distant healing intention (DHI) is one of the most commonly used forms of complementary and alternative healing. While it is popular, its efficacy is uncertain and the mechanism of action unclear. This article provides an overview of both the laboratory research and clinical trials of DHI, summarizing the state of the field. There appears to be support, based on controlled laboratory studies, for a transpersonal dimension to DHI. Results of randomized, controlled clinical trials are more equivocal. While results do not offer clear evidence to support DHI as an evidence-based modality, this provocative field reveals important epistemological and ontological implications for bridging science and spirituality
The Seasons of Wellbeing as an Evolutionary Map for Transpersonal Medicine
Get PDFThe four Seasons of Wellbeing (Discover, Transform, Awaken, and Integrate) refer to distinct rhythms, periods, and factors that influence the accessibility of an individual’s resources during the journey of life. Each season is explicitly and implicitly related to an individual’s experience, focus, and capacity for self-organizational states. Each can be used to understand, organize, and foster behavior change, positive growth, transformation, and human development. A genealogy of the seasons is described, emphasizing the empirical and theoretical foundations of Reorganizational Healing and its roots in models such as Grof ’s Systems of Condensed Experiences (or COEX Systems) and Wilber’s Integral Theory and Pre/Trans Fallacy. In the context of transpersonal medicine, the seasons offer a framework through which various levels and states associated with an individual’s growth can be mapped and utilized for personal evolution. In this context, seasons are applicable for practitioners and clients who have used transpersonal states to avoid painful emotions or difficult actions. The seasons can guide transpersonal medical clients on a path towards transpersonal being and integration of various states leading to a higher organizational baseline. As a practical tool, the seasons have pertinence in the development of “transpersonal vigilance,” a term defined in this article. The seasons offer resources to practitioners to support clients toward transpersonal being, in a reorganizationally informed or reorganizational way
From “Asian” to “Integral” Studies: A Brief Unexpurgated History of the California Institute
No full textIn this presentation, former CIIS faculty member, Academic Dean, and Academic Vice President will share his account of a thirty year span of CIIS history from the mid -1970s, following the passing of CIIS founder, Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, into the mid-2000s. He will describe some high and some low points of the Institute’s history over this 30-year period
Oscillating Brain and Non-Ordinary Consciousness
No full textThroughout his lifetime Stanislav Grof has made radically new discoveries about non-ordinary states of consciousness and profoundly expanded the domain of transpersonal psychology. Central to his observations were non-ordinary states of consciousness that were induced, either physiologically (e.g. during Holotropic Breathwork) or pharmacologically (e.g. by psychedelics). In this presentation I offer findings from spontaneous, non-induced non-ordinary states of consciousness, in illness and health, which shed additional light on the genesis and timing of these states. My key thesis is a proposition that we are often prone to experiencing non-ordinary states when the oscillating brain activity exceeds its normal range and the filtering activity of the brain abates. My data come from prospective observations of spontaneously emerging non-ordinary states in a large cohort of patients with recurrent mood disorders (bipolar and unipolar) and healthy controls (experiencing falling in love or spiritual emergence). In the studied population the peaks of oscillation create a potential for non-ordinary states; the non-ordinary states were not happening without these activating peaks. Applied to practice, monitoring of the brain oscillatory activity has made it possible to help in a number of abnormal mood states effectively and with less intervention. The approach may also be applicable to a timing of more productive psychotherapeutic and holotropic sessions.
History shows that radically new discoveries such as Stan’s take ages to become generally accepted; inertia of old paradigms is enormous. One possible way of facilitating a faster acceptance of the radically new may be via a bridge to the conservatively old: linking new understanding of expanded and non-local consciousness to more traditional neurobiological concepts and offering plausible mechanisms
Holotropic Medicine, Stan Grof’s Influence on MDMA Research
No full textThe current growth and success of MDMA clinical trials is part of Stan Grof’s legacy. Stan’s work inspired us to change the direction of our careers. What he and Christina taught us about trusting and supporting each individual’s healing intelligence formed the foundation of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in our research. We will discuss Stan’s influence on our work, summarize the design and results of MDMA clinical trials for posttraumatic stress disorder, and share quotes from research participants describing the profound effects of this “Holotropic” approach to healing
Mentoring Radical Trust and Nurturing Contribution
No full textOn the brink of the unknown, on the edge of a new paradigm, personally or professionally, we are not really sure of anything yet. On the verge of finding some new resource within ourselves, some new form or work we are creating, or on the tip of stepping outside our peers’ approval academically, nothing is certain except our own compelling call into uncharted territory. Stan Grof, in his own life, has modeled saying
‘Yes!’ to The Call to Adventure. At the heart of both of his theory and his practice, Stan has demonstrated complete trust in an Inner Healer. We can learn from the ways in which he has opened that gateway to the Hero’s Journey for others, nourishing seeds in individuals as well as in several whole fields of intellectual interest. With Stan’s attention and mentoring, many of those seeds have sprouted and flowered into contributions to humanity