This American psychiatrist is known throughout the world as a researcher of unusual states of consciousness — intuition, meditation, hypnosis, mediumship … One of the founders of transpersonal psychology and the inventor of holotropic breathing, Stanislav Grof answered the questions of Psychologies.
Part of the audience was still crowding at the entrance, sorting out the headphones, when a large man slowly came out from behind the curtains and sat down on the prepared sofa, comfortably and calmly, as if not on the stage, but in his living room. The first impression is that he is younger than I expected (he is 81 years old). Even younger than his own photograph on the big poster to the right of the sofa. On the left is a poster with a famous portrait of Freud. I involuntarily compare them. Grof’s face is just as significant and unsmiling.
Transpersonal psychology is associated with the mystical (and not only with me: here on the cover of the book, which is sold there at the entrance to the hall, Grof is all in concentric circles, with a slicked-down hairstyle of an experienced gigolo, with a third eye in his forehead). And the mystical is often the work of charlatans. I went to meet him with trepidation and a great desire to check how it really is. But his behavior is very even, there is no steely gleam in his eyes, there is no desire to charm in his manner, there is no desire to convince in his voice. In response to a question about working with cancer patients, he says, “We didn’t see the magic. The pain went away, sometimes for up to two weeks, such that the drugs no longer removed. But there were no cures.»
The meeting begins with a conversation about psychedelics. Grof explains that he does not consider himself an LSD propagandist. Psychedelic plants should not be used for fun, he emphasizes. They are sacred and deserve respect and responsibility. For him, it is just a tool, «like a microscope in biology or a telescope in astronomy.»
He says that he prefers to call states of consciousness «special» (nonordinary) rather than «altered.» Changed means bad, flawed. And this, on the contrary, is a state of expanded consciousness. In addition, in English, the word «altered» refers to castrated animals. The owner of a cat can ask another: “Well, how did you “change” yours?” Of course, such a word is not suitable!
Psychologies: Transpersonal psychology is an approach that uses non-ordinary states of consciousness and «supernatural» experiences. How would you describe them?
Stanislav Grof: Any state of consciousness that differs from the usual, waking state, by definition, turns out to be “unusual”: meditation, trance, relaxation, intuition work, acting, mystical experience, erotic experiences, hypnosis, dreams, dreams … Transpersonal psychology explores precisely them. They allow us to go beyond our personal biological and psychological history and gain access to the past, present and future of our Universe and other levels of reality described in the great spiritual traditions. There are also «supernatural» experiences — for example, clinical death, «memories» of previous lives and such parapsychological phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance, foresight … Something that is inexplicable within the framework of classical psychology. But we must remember that transpersonal psychology is not parapsychology. It expands the field of activity, including research in the field of experimental psychology, neuropsychology, biology, quantum therapy. It is an open system, not a set of dogmas and beliefs.
How did your interest in such states arise?
S. G.: It arose as a result of my mystical experience, for which I was not at all ready … I was born into a non-religious family and was raised in the most materialistic spirit, because my country, when I was 17 years old, came under Soviet influence. Everything that more or less resembled spirituality was irreconcilably rejected. One day I discovered the works FreudThey literally mesmerized me. I became interested in psychiatry, enrolled in the Prague Medical School, then joined a small group of psychoanalysts. But later psychoanalysis disappointed me, not the theory, but the practice, especially the fact that it required a lot of time and money, and the results were insignificant. Even studying medicine, which was very orthodox in our country, with a mechanistic idea of the human body, closer to plumbing than to healing, became difficult for me. I almost began to regret that I chose this career for myself.
But you continued…
S. G.: Yes, that’s how it all worked out… or that was fate. In 1956, our research department received a box of ampoules containing a strange substance from a major Swiss pharmaceutical laboratory. It was d-lysergic acid diethylamide, later known as LSD… In a letter, the laboratory asked us if we would agree to experiment with this drug, which had the ability to induce special psychotic states: first we had to test it on our patients, then on ourselves… to learn firsthand what psychosis is! Can you imagine? Of course, I volunteered to participate. I will not go into details, but what happened changed my life: after taking a small dose of this substance, I saw an extraordinary light. Later I realized that it was this unspeakable light that was described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead: it was said that we were destined to see it when we departed for the other world. Suddenly I felt that I had flown out of my body, as if my consciousness had flown straight into space, through galaxies and black holes, expanding more and more. It seemed to me that I merged into one with everything that exists, found myself inside the physical Universe. I felt emotions of such strength that I could not imagine before. Then my consciousness seemed to «shrink» around my body and finally returned to it.
Perhaps it could be a short-term mental disorder?
S. G.: No. I was a psychiatrist and immediately realized that this episode was not a crisis, but incredibly positive. He transformed me so much that only from that day on I felt that I had really become a man. This profound change, which is sometimes called «returning to the self,» incidentally, is one of the characteristics of near-death experiences and some spontaneous mystical experiences. That is why I have devoted much of my psychiatric career to redefining psychosis and to exploring the therapeutic efficacy of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Initially, at the Prague Institute of Psychiatric Research, where for 15 years I conducted research, systematizing all the «visions» of my patients, «travels», experiences, the impact on their quality of life, in some cases their recovery … It was the work of a pioneer, because I didn’t have any knowledge of the spirit.
You were not familiar with Jung’s work?
S. G.: No, because in the Marxist society his books were included in the list of forbidden literature! In 1967 I was invited to teach in the USA, and when the Prague Spring happened a year later, I decided to stay. In 1973 I became a permanent faculty member at the Esalen Institute for Human Research in California. Later, my wife Christina and I developed holotropic breathing, a special hyperventilation technique that allows you to «travel» into the unconscious and the other world. This confirmed my intuitive discovery that our consciousness — if you like, our «spirit» — is located outside our brain.
What is Holotropic Breathwork like?
S. G.: This combination of intense breathing, specially selected physical exercises and music helps to remove bioenergetic and emotional blocks. The method of holotropic breathing is fundamentally different from the methods of traditional psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, which are based on verbal communication. But it has common features with psychotherapy, where the main emphasis is on the direct manifestation of emotions and exercises for the body (for example, Gestalt therapy). But our method is the only one of all that uses the healing potential inherent in altered states of consciousness.
How are classes?
S. G.: As a rule, these are group lessons. Participants pair up and take turns acting as a breather and an “observer”. During the breathing sessions, they draw mandalas in which they express their experiences. And then in small groups they talk about their experience of diving into the subconscious. The process is constantly monitored by professional instructors. Their job is to help when needed. At the end of the class, they talk to each member of the group. Sometimes participants resort to the help of an instructor in order to fully comprehend the experience, since new experiences can be very unusual. For this, additional psychotherapeutic techniques are used.
Most scientists explain mystical experiences by the activation of certain areas of our brain. What will you answer them?
S. G.: To claim this is to ignore the vast body of research that shows that consciousness is not produced by the brain like bile in the liver, but is «somewhere else.» I compare the brain to a television: you can take it apart, study it, understand why it has a color image and different programs, but this will not tell you anything about how programs are produced and where they come from. To say that consciousness is just a product of the brain is like saying that TV sets the show!
You claim that Holotropic Breathwork changes the lives of those who practice it. How?
S. G.: Those who have made conscious contact with the transpersonal part of their psyche appreciate their existence in a new way and begin to respect the life of any being. Their attention is shifted from the past and future to the present moment, they are less angry and offended and know how to enjoy life. Simple circumstances bring joy to them: daily activities, food, lovemaking, nature and music. Another important consequence is the acquisition of universal spirituality. Unlike religious dogma, it is based on deep personal experience and is therefore reliable and convincing. In addition, people who have experienced transpersonal experiences feel with all their heart that they are citizens of the planet Earth, and not members of one or another racial, social, ideological, political or religious group.
How did you meet Abraham Maslow, with whom you founded transpersonal psychology?
S. G.: When I arrived in the USA, I sent him the results of my observations, since at that time he was conducting research on spontaneous mystical experiences, which he called «paroxysmal experiences.» He was fascinated by my work and my conclusions about the transcendent nature of the human mind, and he invited me to participate in the meetings of his humanistic psychology group. I once put forward the idea that in order to better understand why our psyche is able to transcend the boundaries of space and time, it is necessary to take into account research in the field of neurophysiology, biology and quantum physics. And he proposed to found a new school of transpersonal psychology, that is, a psychology that goes «beyond the personality.»
How was this movement received by the American psychological community?
S. G.: He was completely ignored in official circles*. But we have the support of well-known researchers working in various disciplines, including Nobel Prize winners in physics. To think that any spiritual impulse is psychopathology, and to look for its causes in the unresolved conflicts of early childhood, is at least 30 years behind the current level of our knowledge of human consciousness.
In Russia, your views arouse constant interest and at the same time a certain skepticism, if not fear. How do you explain it?
S. G.: The fact is that my method radically calls into question the usual models of work. It must be admitted that it is not easy for a specialist to abandon the theory on which he has based his entire practice and even his existence in order to accept a different system of thought. But I see that more and more people every day realize their need to establish a connection with the spiritual dimension, their higher self. This need urgently and urgently requires satisfaction! Now I have no doubts: the psychology of the XNUMXst century will be transpersonal, because it is involved in the transformation of the consciousness of the planet.
* The American Psychological Association does not recognize transpersonal psychology as a scientific discipline and the Association for Transpersonal Psychology as a scientific body. However, in the British Psychological Society, since 1996, a department of transpersonal psychology has been formed, and thus it has gained recognition in the professional environment.