Selflessness as a Foundation of Spiritual Transcendence: Perspectives From the Neurosciences and Religious Studies

Brick Johnstone · Daniel Cohen · Kelly L. Konopacki · Christopher Ghan

39 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal for the Psychology of Religion

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Study and Philosophy of Religion Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs

Abstract

Although of increasing scientific interest, the neurologic foundations of spiritual experiences remain ambiguous due to the neurological complexity of such experiences and the lack of a clear taxonomy of “spiritual experiences.” A previously proposed preliminary neuropsychological model of spirituality (Johnstone & Glass, 2008) suggests that decreased self-orientation (or increased selflessness), associated with reduced right hemisphere/right parietal lobe (RH/RPL) functioning, serves as a neuropsychological foundation of spiritual transcendence (defined as the ability to emotionally and cognitively connect with higher powers beyond the self or experience cosmic unity). This model was based on research that indicates that transcendent spiritual experiences are related to reduced activation of portions of the RH/RPL during religious rituals (e.g., Buddhist meditation, Christian prayer), as well as research that indicates that individuals with RH/RPL dysfunction report increased transcendence. This model has been supported by research with other populations (e.g., brain injury, epilepsy, tumor) and technologies (e.g., repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation), although limitations in the model persist. The current article addresses such weaknesses by demonstrating the existence of “spiritual transcendence” as a psychometrically valid construct, identifying specific self-orientation processes (e.g., physical self, mental self, autobiographical self) that may serve as a foundation for transcendence, and explaining how transcendent experiences can involve both a decreased and enhanced sense of the self. To further support the model, citations from the texts of multiple faith traditions are offered to illustrate the importance of selflessness in transcendent experiences across diverse religions. Suggestions for future research and practical implications are offered.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 39 citations exist upstream.

References

2005The Neuropsychological Assessment 2006Self-referential processing in our brain—A meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self 2004Neuropsychological assessment, 4th ed.2000Conceptualizing Religion and Spirituality: Points of Commonality, Points of Departure 1990Sources of Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart 1999Does Spirituality Represent the Sixth Factor of Personality? Spiritual Transcendence and the Five‐Factor Model 2014Perceptual and Motor Skills 2003Shared representations between self and other: a social cognitive neuroscience view

Cited by

2017A Concept Analysis of Spiritual Health 2022The contagious servant leadership: exploring the role of servant leadership in leading employees to servant colleagueship 2022Karma Yoga: Scale development and studies of the impact on positive psychological outcomes at the workplace 2021How does spirituality manifest in family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients? A qualitative secondary analysis 2020Psychosocial problems of family caregivers of palliative care patients and their spiritual coping styles

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.