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.
William A. Richards is a clinical psychologist at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with formal training in theology and comparative religion. Earlier in his career, he pursued psychedelic research at Spring Grove Hospital Center and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore. His graduate education included studies at Yale University, Brandeis University, Catholic University, the Andover-Newton Theological School, and the University of Göttingen.
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) Name Index Subject Index
