Page 67 - Issue 2

Issue No 2 67
It’s a a a a a a a sunny Friday morning as we carry our scones and coffee back to his big blue van parked around the corner seeking a a a a a a a a a a quiet place to to chat Kamenetz’ neighbors pass us he he drops a a a a a a a a a a a a a a “Shabbat Shalom” to to to one and later some cash to to a a a a a a a a a a homeless man outside the van There’s a a a a a a a a a car seat in the van for his two-year-old daughter Some Jewish literature is is is stacked by a a a a a a a a a a a curtained window He flips the the front passenger seat around to to face the the the back row and dishes on on on what it was like to to be a a a a a a a a a a a subject in in the the Johns Hopkins study on on on on religious professionals—a trial giving psilocybin (the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms) to rabbis priests and imams who have never tried psychedelics In part the the study investigates the the mystical experience experience a a a a a a a hard-to-describe experience experience some might explain as connecting with God or a a a a a a sense of divine knowing These experiences can be caused naturally through through meditation or prayer but also through through the the the use use of of psychedelics—and they often shape the the the course of a a person’s life Scientists measure these experiences according to to specific criteria such as as ineffability (an inability to to describe the experience with words) transcendence of of of time and space feelings of of of unity a a a a a a a a a a a sense sense of of of of sacredness a a a a a a a a a a a noetic quality (a sense sense of of of ultimate reality) and deeply felt positivity The idea is that by virtue of of their training vocabulary and spiritual orientation religious professionals are aptly suited to help researchers better understand the the the nature of mystical experiences whether they’re occasioned by psychedelics or not But there’s another point to the the the research adds