Roy discusses the validity of transcendent experiences and the reasons why they can be considered non-illusory.

In this book, Louis Roy takes account of the fact that, in the last fifty years, numerous people in the secularized West have responded yes to surveys that asked, “Are you aware of having had an experience during which you felt in the presence of a dimension or a reality very different from ordinary human life?” Are such experiences mere illusions? Some thinkers, like Feuerbach and Freud, believed so. Are such experiences encounters with God? Karl Barth, a great Protestant theologian, did not think much of their worth. On this issue, psychologists and theologians are divided. Roy argues that those experiences are valid, that they possess a real potential, and that they can open their recipients to a genuine wisdom. He reports on eight narratives, spells out their constitutive elements, classifies them into four categories—aesthetic, ontological, ethical, and interpersonal—and suggests criteria to assess their concrete authenticity. Thus, this book will appeal to educated readers interested in spirituality, philosophy of religion, psychology, literature, theology, and pastoral ministry.

Transcendent experience reveals the spiritual nature of consciousness and opens spiritual reality to those willing to embrace it with an open mind. Liberation marks a turning point in your journey through life as a spiritual being and begins an even more powerful personal transformation whereby you can let the normal egoistic way of viewing the world fall away to be replaced with a clear view that can only be described as empty and marvelous... an emptiness that reveals the spiritual nature of consciousness and your true nature as a spiritual being which is of course, simply marvelous! When you can look at the world without labeling or judging it you can see it in its original "suchness", unclothed in concepts and ideas that exist only in the human mind. When you see the world with the eyes of a child all things are new again and you will find your own spiritual foundation is filled with comfort and joy.

'A MASTERPIECE' Susan Cain How to realise your full potential and live your most creative life. When psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman first discovered Maslow's unfinished theory of transcendence, sprinkled throughout a cache of unpublished journals, lectures, and essays, he felt a deep resonance with his own work and life. In this groundbreaking book, Kaufman picks up where Maslow left off, unraveling the mysteries of his unfinished theory, and integrating these ideas with the latest research on attachment, connection, creativity, love, purpose and other building blocks of a life well lived. Kaufman's new hierarchy of needs provides a roadmap for finding purpose and fulfillment - not by striving for money, success, or "happiness," but by becoming the best version of ourselves, or what Maslow called self-actualization. While self-actualization is often thought of as a purely individual pursuit, Maslow believed that the full realization of potential requires a merging between self and the world. We don't have to choose either self-development or self-sacrifice, but at the highest level of human potential we show a deep integration of both. Transcend reveals this level of human potential that connects us not only to our highest creative potential, but also to one another. With never-before-published insights and new research findings, along with exercises and opportunities to gain insight into your own unique personality, this empowering book is a manual for self-analysis and nurturing a deeper connection not only with our highest potential but also with the rest of humanity.

The opioid crisis arose in part due to the attempt to relieve chronic pain. Meeting a huge need, this is the authoritative presentation of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) for chronic pain and opioid use. MORE is one of the few evidence-based treatments shown to simultaneously reduce opioid use and/or addiction, pain, and co-occurring emotional distress. MORE integrates mindfulness training with principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy and positive psychology. In a convenient large-size format, the book provides everything needed to set up and run MORE groups. Treatment developer Eric L. Garland supplies session-by-session guidelines, sample scripts, clinical pointers, guided practices, and psychoeducational resources, including 16 reproducible handouts that can be photocopied or downloaded.

Atheism as a belief does not have to present intellectual credentials within academia. Yet to hold beliefs means giving reasons for doing so, ones which may be found wanting. Instead, atheism is the automatic default setting within the academic world. Conversely, religious belief confronts a double standard. Religious believers are not permitted to make truth claims but are instead forced to present their beliefs as part of one language game amongst many. Religious truth claims are expected to satisfy empiricist criteria of evidence but when they fail, as they must, religious belief becomes subject to the hermeneutics of suspicion. This book explores religious experience as a justifiable reason for religious belief. It uniquely demonstrates that the three pillars of critical realism - ontological intransitivity, epistemic relativity and judgemental rationality - can be applied to religion as to any other beliefs or theories. The three authors are critical realists by philosophical position. They seek to establish a level playing field between religion and secular ideas, which has not existed in the academic world for some generations, in order for reasoned debate to be conducted.

Protestant theology and culture are known for a reserved, at times skeptical, attitude to the use of art and aesthetic forms of expression in a religious context. In Transcendence and Sensoriness, this attitude is analysed and discussed both theoretically and through case studies considered in a broad theological and philosophical framework of religious aesthetics. Nordic scholars of theology, philosophy, art, music, and architecture, discuss questions of transcendence, the human senses, and the arts in order to challenge established perspectives within the aesthetics of religion and theology.

Neuroscience, Selflessness, and Spiritual Transcendence conveys the manner by which selflessness serves as a neuropsychological and religious foundation for spiritually transcendent experiences. The book combines neurological case studies and neuroscience research with religious accounts of transcendence experiences from the perspective of both the neurosciences and the history of religions. Chapters cover the subjective experience of transcendence, an historical summary of different philosophical and religious perspectives, a review of the neuroscience research that describes the manner by which the brain processes and creates a self, and more. The book presents a model that bridges the divide between neuroscience and religion, presenting a resource that will be critical reading for advanced students and researchers in both fields. - Creates a common focus on selflessness as a reliable construct for use by all disciplines interested in the basis of spiritual experience - Links neuroanatomical data with religious texts from multiple faith traditions to describe the necessity of selflessness for spiritual experience and transformation - Highlights disorders in neurological functioning that result in disorders of the self

Filling a gap that exists in most traumatology literature, The Posttraumatic Self provides an optimistic analysis of the aftermath of a traumatic event. This work appreciates the potentially positive effects of trauma and links those effects to the discovery of one's identity, character, and purpose. Wilson and his distinguished contributors explore the nature and dynamics of the posttraumatic self, emphasising human resilience and prompting continued optimal functioning. While taking into consideration pathological consquences such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the authors study the impacts a traumatic event can have on one's inner self, and they help the victims transform such an event into healthy self-transcendent lifecycles. The Posttraumatic Self will help victims and healers transform the way they deal with the complexities of trauma by making important connections that will allow for healing and growth.

Many therapists and counselors find themselves struggling to connect the research on the psychology of religion and spirituality to their clinical practice. This book will address this issue, providing a valuable resource for clinicians that will help translate basic research findings into useful clinical practice strategies. The editors and chapter authors, all talented and respected scholar-clinicians, offer a practical and functional understanding of the empirical literature on the psychology of religion and spirituality of, while at the same time outlining clinical implications, assessments, and strategies for counseling and psychotherapy. Chapters cover such topics as religious and spiritual identity, its development, and its relationship with one’s personality; client God images; spiritually transcendent experiences; forgiveness and reconciliation; and religion and spirituality in couples and families. Each concludes with clinical application questions and suggestions for further reading. This book is a must-read for all those wishing to ground their clinical work in an empirical understanding of the role that religion and spirituality plays in the lives of their clients.