Stanislav Grof Readings

1 Stanislav Grof Reading List Version 1.00 Stanislav Grof is a psychedelic researcher and co-founder of the school of Transpersonal Psychology. His approach to healing is to induce connection between the spiritual ego and bodily ego via the use Connection Supplements or his own Holotropic Breathwork technology. His specific modalities are psychedelic or psycholytic therapy. This puts him firmly in the company of centuries of shamanic healers who use various connection practices to induce healing and connection. He wrote a lot of great stuff, some of which is included below. “Technologies of the Sacred – Part One.” The International Journal of Humanities and Peace 14, no. 1 (1998): 64–69. I actually haven’t read this one because I’m having a hard time finding it. But, I’m sure its great. If anybody can point me in the direction of a copy, email mikes@athabascau.ca “Technologies of the Sacred Part Two.” The International Journal of Humanities and Peace 15, no. 1 (1999): 93–96. [download]. This is a great introduction to the study of Connection Experience, what Grof called transpersonal experiences or holotropic states. In this article, Grof introduces you to Transpersonal Psychology (TP). Here he points out • TP’s respect for human spirituality and human culture • the confluence between Authentic Spirituality (what he refers to as authentic religion) and science. • Connection experiences are important phenomenon with “heuristic and therapeutic value.” • Connection experiences are the root inspiration for the “founders of religions, saints, prophets, and spiritual practitioners”(Grof, 1999, p. 94). Note both Abraham Maslow and William James said the same thing. • The primary problem for scholarship is that TP violates basic materialist canon and so most materialists are triggered by it. Grof further points out that TP has amassed ample evidence not only to prove the existence and importance of Connection and Connection Experience, but also to challenge western materialist science. Summarizing the research, Grof draws several conclusions, particularly on the nature of Consciousness. He says that TP has demonstrated that. • Consciousness can transcend the usual limitations of body ego, space, and linear time. Note he says “human consciousness” but that’s completely incorrect. consciousness does not originate with the human species. 2 • Connection experiences provide access to new information such that “The nature, depth, and scope of this information often by far surpasses the intellectual knowledge that the individuals experiencing these phenomena have obtained through the conventional channels” (Grof, 1999, p. 93), an information so profound that it can address “the problem of ignorance” humans seem to have.(Grof, 1999, p. 95). • Memory does not require a material substrate (i.e., brain). He further asserts that connection experiences are • the remedy for the “existential” malaise that has beset humanity. Health and happiness require connection and connection experience • the solution to extant problems of malignant aggression and addiction. “Technologies of the Sacred, Part Three.” The International Journal of Humanities and Peace 19, no. 1 (2003): 104. [Download]. This article is an attempt to diagnose and cure “malignant aggression” and “insatiable greed” (i.e. addiction to money (Sosteric, 2018a)) On aggression, Grof traces the source of aggression to four factors a) childhood trauma, b) trauma during the violent, Western birthing process, c) past life trauma, d) archetypes in the collective unconsciousness.1 Grof traces addiction to failed efforts to reconnect with Spiritual Ego, or failure to adequately meet the essential need for Connection. See the Seven Essential Needs. Grof’s analysis of “addiction” fails not because there is not a bit of truth there, but because his attempt psychologizes addiction, rooting it inside the individual rather than looking to Toxic Socialization and The System as root causes. To be sure, failure to meet one’s essential need for connection (i.e., living a life of disconnection) is a the source of a vast amount of human suffering and pathology, but this failure is not outcome of humanity’s existential/fallen condition. It is a consequence of the actions of System Agents working to maintain and reproduce The System. It would have helped if he had avoided all the Wilberian nonsense on the “Atman project. Grof’s solution to violence and addiction is Connection Practice or, as he says, the application of modern or ancient “technologies of the sacred.” I would agree, adding that it is also the potential solution to Capitalism, and all the psychological and emotional problems it has caused (Sosteric, 2018b). Psychology For the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research. Spirituality Studies, 2(1), 3–36. Directory of Open Access Journals. https://www.spirituality-studies.org/dpvolume2-issue1-spring2016/#2 1 Note that while psychologists like Grof and Jung consider archetypes some sort of natural phenomenon, I do not. Archetypes are ideas specifically seeded by elites for the purpose of manipulating consciousness in a way that enables and supports their regime of accumulation. 3 This is really an awesome article that provides a complete overview and summary of Grof’s fantastic Healing Framework, Transpersonal Psychology. Covers his cartography of the human psyche (Dimensions of the Psyche), COEX Systems, rejection of Verbal Psychotherapy as completely ineffective, and his powerful critic of materialist science which he rightly calls pseudoscience, being as that it ignores empirical phenomenon which does not fit into its narrow ontological perspectives. Theoretical and Empirical Basis of Transpersonal Psychology and Psychotherapy: Observations from LSD Research. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1976, 5(1), 15–53. Complementary Index. [Download] . An excellent article that lays out the theoretical and empirical basis for Transpersonal Psychology (TP) and Transpersonal Therapy (what we would call Connection Therapy). The article provides an accounting of the major founding influences on TP, a discussion of psycholytic and psychedelic version of connection therapy (with a specific focus on LSD), an early accounting of the “levels” of connection experiences (abstract/aesthetic, psychodynamic, perinatal, and transpersonal), as well as a detailed discussion of Perinatal Matrices and COEX systems. There is a fascinating discussion of the traumatic perinatal and toxic archetypal roots of Schizophrenia, as well as some fascinating case study materials. Varieties of transpersonal experiences: Observations from LSD psychotherapy. J.TranspersonalPsychol., 1972,4(1). [download] This article is interesting for at least three reasons. One, it is interesting for Grof’s identification of “normal” or “usual” consciousness (i.e., Normal Consciousness) as the ego-bound consciousness of our daily existence. Two, it is interesting as a statement about how Connection Supplements like LSD work (i.e., via amplification/enhancement of neurological function, and connection, either to deeper layers of the psyche, or to wider realities beyond the body). Three, it is interesting as a fascinating list of the many varieties of connection that can occur during LSD sessions, like connection to ancestors, past-lives, plants, animals, other people, creation, and even God itself. When the Impossible Happens. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2006 This is a book of transpersonal case studies collected over the course of Grof’s career as a connection therapist. The case studies range from remarkable synchronicities to past life remembrances to UFO experiences, with all stops in between. It really is quite an impressive collection, though I should note, Grof’s Christian/New Age indoctrination shines through in places. There’s also an extremely interesting account of his “Viking wedding,” an account that demonstrates how spiritually and mythologically naive people can be. The wedding was officiated over by Joseph Campbell who used and exploited the naivete and personal feelings of Grof and bride to push a false narrative about the nature and power of mythology. 4 Laszlo, E., Grof, S., & Russell, P. (1999). The Consciousness Revolution. Elf Rock Productions. 5 References Grof, S. (1999). Technologies of the Sacred—Part Two. The International Journal of Humanities and Peace, 15(1), 93–96. https://www.lightningpath.org/readings/Technologies_of_the_sacred_II.pdf Sosteric, M. (2018a). How money is destroying the world. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-money-is-destroying-the-world-96517 Sosteric, M. (2018b). Mystical experience and global revolution. Athens Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 235–255. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajss.5-3-1