Sacred Knowledge

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 Gottingen.

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