Sacred Knowledge is the first well-documented, sophisticated account of the effect of psychedelics on biological processes, human consciousness, and revelatory religious experiences. Based on nearly three decades of legal research with volunteers, William A. Richards argues that, if used responsibly and legally, psychedelics have the potential to assuage suffering and constructively affect the quality of human life.
Richards's analysis contributes to social and political debates over the responsible integration of psychedelic substances into modern society. His book serves as an invaluable resource for readers who, whether spontaneously or with the facilitation of psychedelics, have encountered meaningful, inspiring, or even disturbing states of consciousness and seek clarity about their experiences. Testing the limits of language and conceptual frameworks, Richards makes the most of experiential phenomena that stretch our understanding of reality, advancing new frontiers in the study of belief, spiritual awakening, psychiatric treatment, and social well-being. His findings enrich humanities and scientific scholarship, expanding work in philosophy, anthropology, theology, and religious studies and bringing depth to research in mental health, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology.
- Table of Contents
- Foreword, by G. William Barnard
- Preface: One Discovery of Transcendence
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Note to the Reader
- Part I. Setting the Stage
- 1. The Death and Rebirth of Psychedelic Research
- 2. Orientation, Definitions, and the Limits of Language
- 3. Revelation and Doubt
- Part II. Mystical and Visionary Forms of Consciousness
- 4. Intuitive Knowledge
- 5. Approaches to Unitive Consciousness
- 6. New Perspectives on Time and Space
- 7. Visions and Archetypes
- Part III. Personal and Interpersonal Dynamics
- 8. The Interpersonal and the Mystical
- 9. Experiences of Meaninglessness, Despair, and Somatic Discomfort
- 10. Religious Conversion and Psychodynamic Experiences
- 11. Discipline and Integration
- 12. Reflections on Death
- Part IV. Present and Future Applications of Entheogens
- 13. Psychedelic Frontiers in Medicine
- 14. Psychedelic Frontiers in Education
- 15. Psychedelic Frontiers in Religion
- 16. Maximizing the Probability of Safety and Benefit
- Part V. Onward
- 17. Fears of Awakening
- 18. Entering Into a New Paradigm
- 19. Movement Into the Future
- Epilogue: A Concise Report of Insights from the Frontier Where Science and Spirituality Are Meeting
- Selected Bibliography
- A Hopkins Playlist for Psilocybin Studies (2008 Version)
- Untitled
- Subject Index
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