The 2014 Psilocybin Mystical Experience Study

Record summary

A Johns Hopkins-led study examined psilocybin administration in people with meditation experience and compared subjective mystical-type effects with meditation-related measures. It is a useful bridge between laboratory pharmacology, contemplative practice and cross-cultural language about unity, sacredness and self-transcendence. The design supports investigation of reported phenomenology and psychological outcomes, not verification of supernatural content. Researchers should distinguish the controlled dose setting from participants’ prior religious frameworks and from later popular claims about permanently accessing nonordinary realms.