The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience

by Eugene G. D'Aquili, Andrew B. Newberg

How does the mind experience the sacred? What biological mechanisms are involved in mystical states and trances? Is there a neurological basis for patterns in comparative religions? Does religion have an evolutionary function? This pathbreaking work by two leading medical researchers explores the neurophysiology of religious experience. Building on an explanation of the basic structure of the brain, the authors focus on parts most relevant to human experience, emotion, and cognition. On this basis, they plot how the brain is involved in mystical experiences. Successive chapters apply this scheme to mythmaking, ritual and liturgy, meditation, near-death experiences, and theology itself. Anchored in such research, the authors also sketch the implications of their work for philosophy, science, theology, and the future of religion.

Genres: Science, Religion, Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Neuroscience, Spirituality

228 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely impressive book, though certainly one of the most maddening things I've ever read insofar as the authors don't understand basic philosophical distinctions. The authors are apparently unaware that they semi-coherently assume that both materialism and substance dualism are true, which is compounded by the fact that they also don't understand the metaphysical commitments of either position (i.e., is the soul an epiphenomenon of the brain, or is the physical world an inferior ontological reality in comparison to the incorporeal?, etc.).

It's difficult to think of a useful analogy, but maybe something like an engineer explaining how to construct an airplane while semi-coherently assuming that both Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry are true, and then not understanding how this might affect the functioning of the airplane? Or something?

This is not at all to take away from the scientific analysis -- this is probably the best book yet published on the neurobiology of mystical experience -- but Mystical Mind takes an amazing amount of interpretive work to properly understand, alas.

[James Madsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most enlightening books that I have ever read. It's about neurotheology--the biological underpinnings of religious experience. Just to let you know in advance, Newberg and D'Aquili at the end of the book emphasize that elucidating these biological foundations does not enable a final resolution of whether the brain generates religious experience in the absence of a transcendent reality or mediates the experience of such a reality.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting overview of neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, and how these are observed in mystical experiences.

[Michael Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on this subject. This is the most intensely focused book resulting from the collaboration between D'Aquilli and Newberg.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worship arts influence field.