Who are we, and what is the nature of reality? Insights from scientists’ spiritually transformative experiences

ABSTRACT

To analyze the first-person phenomenological Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) of a sample of scientists and academics, the first-person phenomenological accounts of 40 scientists’ and/or academics’ Spiritually Transformative Experiences were analyzed with respect to their perceived changes in the nature of the personal self and the nature of reality. Eighty-five percent of experiencers described a dissolution of the boundaries of their personal self; this was experienced by 62.5% as a sense of boundless oneness, with the characteristics of pure unconditional love (45%). As to the nature of reality, 60% also experienced reality as unitive, and 47.5% of the experiencers described its essence as unconditional love, bliss, and luminosity (27.5%), with some describing it as filled with energy, intelligence and beyond time. For all individuals, the experiences were considered truly real. For those who have not had similar experiences, their ontological status remains an empirical question.

KEYWORDS:

• Consciousness
• spiritually transformative experiences
• (STEs)
• self
• reality
• love

Acknowledgements

We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ID number refers to the chapter in the Woollacott and Lorimer edited book; AM to the single case described by Facco, Lucangeli, and Tressoldi 2018; Extra to STEs collected by MW; and Taste to STEs retrieved on https://www.aapsglobal.com/taste.

Additional information

Funding

This study was not funded.

Notes on contributors

Patrizio Tressoldi

Patrizio Tressoldi PhD leads the Science of Consciousness Research Group, and is affiliated with the Studium Patavinum of Padova University, Italy. His main research interests are related to the study of Consciousness, and in particular to non-ordinary mental experiences. All his scientific outcomes are available in his two websites: www.patriziotressoldi.it and https://socrg.org.

Marjorie Woollacott

Marjorie Woollacott PhD is prior chair of the Department of Human Physiology, and member of the Institute of Neuroscience, the University of Oregon, USA. She is President of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences (AAPS), on the Science Advisory Committee of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), and Research Director for the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Her research includes rehabilitation medicine, meditation, spiritual awakening and end-of-life experiences.