S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 2 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 6 3 Stanislav Grof 1 Introduction When addressing the work of a theoretician whose pioneering work reaches the scope and quality achieved by Ken Wilber, even a critical essay has to begin with compliments and words of appreciation. In a series of books beginning with his Spectrum of Consciousness (Wilber 1977), Ken has produced an extraordinary work of highly creative synthesis of data drawn from a vast variety of areas and disciplines, ranging from psychology, anthropology, sociology, mythology, and comparative religion, through linguistics, philosophy, and history, to cosmology, quantum-relativistic physics, biology, evolutionary theory, and systems theory. His knowledge of the literature is truly encyclopedic, his analytical mind systematic and incisive, and the clarity of his logic remarkable. The impressive scope, comprehensive nature, and intellectual rigor of Ken’s work have helped to make it a widely acclaimed and highly influential theory of transpersonal psychology. However, for a theory of such importance, it is not sufficient to integrate material from many different ancient and modern sources into a system that shows inner logical cohesion. While logical consistency certainly is a valuable prerequisite, a viable theory has to have an additional property that is equally, if not more important. It is generally accepted among scientists that a system of propositions is an acceptable theory if, and only if, its conclusions are in agreement with observable facts (Frank 1957). Since speculations concerning consciousness, the human psyche, and spiritual experiences represent the cornerstone of Ken’s conceptual framework, it is essential to test their theoretical adequacy and practical relevance against clinical data. Ken himself does not have any clinical experience and the primary sources of his data have been his extensive reading and the experiences from his personal spiritual practice. He draws most of his clinical data from various schools, which use verbal methods of psychotherapy and conceptual frameworks limited to postnatal biography. For this reason, evaluating his ideas in the light of experiences and observations from modern consciousness research and from transpersonal therapy seems particularly important and necessary. My own background and approach have been almost a polar opposite to Ken’s and might thus serve as a useful complement to his theoretical work. For almost four decades, my primary interest has been clinical work exploring the healing and heuristic potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC). Whatever theoretical writing I have done over the years has been based primarily on the reports of the people I have worked with. An additional important source of information and inspiration have been my own experiences of non-ordinary states induced by psychedelics and various non-drug means. The choice of professional literature I have studied has been strongly determined by the observations from my clinical work and the need to put them into a larger conceptual framework. The observations and data on which this paper is based come from two major sources – approximately two decades of clinical psychedelic research with LSD and other psychoactive substances, and another twenty years of work with holotropic breathwork, a powerful non-drug therapeutic method that I have developed jointly with my wife, Christina. It combines faster breathing, evocative music, and a specific form of energetic release work. The subjects in the psychedelic research projects were psychiatric patients with various emotional and psychosomatic disorders, alcoholics, drug addicts, terminal cancer patients, and “normal” volunteers – mental health professionals, scientists, artists, clergy, and About the author Stanislav Grof M.D. (1931) is a psychiatrist and a pioneering researcher into the use of non- ordinary states of consciousness for purposes of exploring, healing, and obtaining insights into the human psyche. He is one of the founders of transpersonal psychology. In 2007 Stanislav Grof received the VISION 97 award granted by the Foundation of Dagmar and Václav Havel in Prague.
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