The Sequence of Latent Truths: Exploring Mystical Experiences Without Dogma

by Wenzl Mcgowen

Overview

When Wenzl Mcgowen had a mystical experience, he quickly realized that his preexisting belief system would not allow him to explain it in a way that satisfied him. And with too much knowledge of science, he was uncomfortable applying religious or other ancient belief systems in an attempt to understand. Instead, he turned to scientists—and what he learned would position his experience within a modern framework, and help him understand the effect it would have on the rest of his life. The deeper the scientific understanding, the more he trusted what he experienced. But at the same time, he noticed many people unwilling—or unable—to do the same, as modern culture pits the spiritual component of life against that which is provable. The Latent Sequence of Truths: Exploring Mystical Experiences Without Dogma aims to build a bridge between spirituality and science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781543991703
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	10/25/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	878 KB

About the Author

Wenzl Mcgowen is a co-founder of the band Moon Mooch and has spoken at TED and TEDx. He is passionate about physics and meditation, and his writings explore the boundary between objective and subjective reality.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 All That Is 1

The psychological and metaphysical interpretation of the mystical experience, includes interviews with Cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman, NASA Physicist Tom Campbell, and inventor Federico Faggin

Chapter 2 Everywhere and Nowhere 15

The mystery of quantum mechanics and remote viewing, includes interviews with Helane Wahbeh from the Institute of Notice Sciences, and Brenda Dunne from the Princton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab

Chapter 3 Harmony 24

Subatomic coherence in living systems and the relationship between health and order, the behavior of subatomic particles and the idea of freewill

Chapter 4 Love and Fear 40

The evolution of fear and love in animals, fear vs love based organization of social systems

Chapter 5 Fields of Dreams 47

The idea of a soul and the experiences of an identity beyond the physical body, Rupert Sheldrakes morphogenetic fields, the chimpanzee genome project and the genes of a rice plant

Chapter 6 Body, Soul, and Awareness 54

The international out-of-body survey, Robert Monroe's out-of-body research lab

Chapter 7 Field Tests (I) 60

My personal out-of-body experiences

Chapter 8 On the Threshold 66

Near-death experiences

Chapter 9 Unexpected Returns 75

The case of James Leininger and Dr. Ian Stevenson's research of children's past lives

Chapter 10 Exhuming the Past 81

Dr. Brian Weiss, past life regression therapy

Chapter 11 Rational vs Experiential Knowledge 95

A modern interpretation of reincarnation

Chapter 12 The Soul As a Relational Network 98

A modern interpretation of the soul

Chapter 13 Three Types of Evolution 103

Physical evolution, cultural evolution, and spiritual evolution.

Chapter 14 Self-actualization 106

Religious, spiritual, psychological, and practical interpretations of self actualization

Chapter 15 Bridges 114

Using modern frameworks to understand ancient spirituality.

Chapter 16 Field Tests (II) 122

Visiting my great grandfather's tribe

Chapter 17 Barriers 135

Growing a connection to one's essence despite cultural resistance

Chapter 18 In Practice 139

Meditation, a simple but powerful exercise

Chapter 19 Habit and Essence 141

Epigenetics, the feedback loop between our biology and attention

Chapter 20 In Practice (II) 144

Knowing awareness beyond thought

Chapter 21 Into the Unknown 148

Letting go of rational knowing and trusting the unknown

Chapter 22 Attachment (I) 150

The attachment to rational understating, mystical experiences, and spiritual growth

Chapter 23 Attachment (II) 154

The growth that can result from attachment

Chapter 24 Evolving System(s) 157

The benefit of curiosity

Chapter 25 Dealing With the Expectations of Others 162

Resisting the pressure of social norms and being yourself in the midst of conflicting expectations

Chapter 26 Dealing With Intense Emotions 166

Overriding the fight or flight response with focused awareness

Chapter 27 Meditation and Pain 178

Finding peace by accepting pain

Chapter 28 The Collective Mind 186

My personal experiences with the collective mind and William McDougall's experiments with group learning in rats

Chapter 29 Belief and Emotion 192

Our personal relationship with the collective mind and Robert Monroe's Believe system rings

Chapter 30 The Healing Journey 198

Different interpretations of a sudden and turbulent growth phase

Chapter 31 Unrecognized Awakenings 207

A shamanic view of mental illness

Chapter 32 Blessing Fear 222

Learning to see the origin in that which frightens us

Chapter 33 Drug-induced Awakenings 225

Being launched with a cannon instead of taking the stares

Chapter 34 Awakening Through Music 230

The non-rational language of music and its ability to expand consciousness

Chapter 35 The Deeper Self 233

Dealing with mystical experiences

Chapter 36 Ego and Soul 238

Finding balance between different aspects of our self

Chapter 37 Words From the Network 240

Encounters with another form of intelligence

Chapter 38 Rational Models 251

The need for rational explanations and their limitations