Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research

Read this book in graduate school and never saw human consciousness the same way. Groff proved Jung's theory of collective unconscious was true clinically. Blew my mind. Have loaned my copies out and never gotten them back. This order was my third copy.

Just finished reading this book. After reading several books on spirituality, quantum physics, etc. etc. I have to say that this book is nothing short of amazing. To have a glimpse of what the mind or consciousness is capable of is truly remarkable. Even if you question the validity of past experiences from the LSD subjects it is still remarkable what the mind is capable of.

...about a fascinating topic. I had the chance to "drop acid" when I was younger but declined. If it could happen in a controlled environment with a known quality product under prefessional supervision I'd go for it.

I more or less echo the sentiments of the review from the Green Mountain state, below. One of Grof's great achievements, in my view, is his recognition that within the development of psychoanalytic thinking, the model building offered by different pioneers spoke from different 'strata' of the human 'psyche'. However you may regard Freud, his focus was exclusively within the realm of the personal unconscious; for Otto Rank, around the impact of birth trauma on the development of the personality, and with C.G. Jung, the recognition that the personal unconscious depends on 'systems and structures' of an organic nature that seem to stretch all the way back to the primordial 'slime time' and pre-date the formation of a personal unconscious; a Universal sub-stratum, as it were. Grof was the first the recognize the somewhat Geological layering of underlying psychic content and control 'mechanisms', and to take advantage of this insight, in his own modeling of the mysterious phenomena associated with his research into LSD psychotherapy, and how to best leverage this new understanding to facilitate therapeutic breakthroughs among his research subjects.This volume is Grof's first of many, many books on related subjects, and it precedes the period of time when he began to develop his holotropic breathwork techniques. In this work, he attempts to report on the preliminary findings and interpretations from his years of extensive psychiatric research involving LSD-25 at the Prague Psychiatric Research Center. In many ways, the model which he developed from this work has a consistency and a clarity which diminishes with the elaboration of the complexity of his later discoveries. Don't get me wrong. The complexity that he realizes in the further refinement of his model is appropriate--its just that the results of LSD research are more unambiguous and less complex than the "therapeutic" experiences that emerge from non-drug sessions of any sort, whether brought on by a close encounter with death, spiritual practices, or spontaneous emergence. In many ways, the LSD research exposes with great clarity the mechanisms which underlie the mysterious phenomena of "transformation". This is somewhat natural and obvious. However, across the spectrum of what Grof calls--non ordinary states--we are dealing with the amplification of mental processes. LSD is like turning the amplifier up to 11, right away. Other methods of mental amplification are more gradual, and take greater time and effort. Therefore, even though the end results may often be just as dramatic--the theoretical interpretations can be more ambiguous and require greater sensitivity to nuance. The complexity of psychological factors are more difficult to sort out. Somehow, these distinctions find their way into the presentations in Grof's books, and consequently, I think the later works are more difficult for newcomers to grasp. This book is fairly straightforward, and direct, and consequently is a good introduction to Grof's thinking, and its evolution.

It's the third time I've bought this book- people borrow it but it doesn't return. Grof's experience and vast knowledge of ancient cultures add to the enjoyment of this introduction to his theory. His own experiences are quite interesting and thought provoking. .

Good

Maybe we have to be born with an interest in the origin of consciousness, where it resides and how it operates, I'm one of those people. No explanation garnered by science, religion, mystics, or from indigenous wisdom has ever fully approximated what I've seen in the world. Transpersonal psychologist Stanislov Grof's first book, Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research (Dutton, 1976) reveals many fascinating accounts relayed from his personal experience while conducting hundreds of LSD sessions with patients. Grof offers his comments on what the trends of these experiences hint at, frankly admitting in the epilogue that such outlandish comments will draw harsh commentary from peers, but is wise in saying that omitting them will only continue the retardation of humanity's ability to understand the final frontier: the human mind.Grof discovered from working with patients suffering particular neuroses that a condensed experience brought about by ingesting a few hundred micrograms of lysergic acid diethylamide can induce profound healing experiences allowing people to transcend even lifelong problems. Many of the accounts are quite gruesome as Grof is working with some particularly psychotic people, he spares no details and I felt my gut wrench as descriptions of rapes, abuse, war scenes poured from the pages. However hard these accounts were to read, it was the very ability to relive these experiences (sometimes even from the perspective of others at the scene) that allowed the patients to ultimately improve.The description of the power and capabilities of this condensed experience (COEX) framework makes up a large portion of the book. Grof notes that these highly symbolic psychodynamic experiences consist of material originating in the human unconscious. However, time after time, Grof wondered about the accuracy of the scenes and situations described by his patients reliving these condensed experiences. In those cases where he could follow up, he did so and confirmed that sometimes the details were quite exact. For example, a patient named Dana described a traumatic event that occurred when she around 12 months of age. Dana drew elaborate images of the room she was in at that time, including the patterns of embroideries. Grof independently followed up with Dana's mother and learned that the mother found Dana's description bristling with accuracy. The room was described almost photographically by Dana and was, "unquestionable because of the very unusual character of the furniture and some of the objects involved." There was no way Dana could have known this because before Dana was two years old, the family moved and the house was condemned, torn down and the furniture and objects weren't retained. There were no photographs of the room and the mother didn't recall ever mentioning anything from that room to Dana.Another interesting observation Grof passes on is that repeated LSD sessions almost always led to the patient reliving his or her birth and various trauma associated with the birthing process. Patients would describe thoughts, feelings, and toxins that were passed to them by their mother while in the womb and in rare cases described exact scenarios their mother faced. Grof is highly skeptical (as I think we all should be) that the perinatal experience can pass on such a multitude of information to the eventual individual, forming the bases for neuroses and locking in patterns of life however there is a significant amount of evidence that (at the least) should amplify the significance of a birth.The transpersonal, mystical and multidimensional experiences patients faced with quite regularity after reliving a birth experience were highly interesting. Grof breaks these phenomena into multiple categories: ancestral experiences, collective and racial experiences, past incarnation experiences, procognition/time travel, out of body experiences, ego transcendence, space travels, telepathy, animal/plant/planetary/extraplanetary consciousness, encounters with extradimensional intelligences/entities, intuitive understandings of universal symbols and consciousness of the universal mind. He then proceeds by laying out accounts describing these particular scenarios. The final two chapters which include these accounts are sometimes shocking but thoroughly mind blowing. One example: the ability for a patient to assume specific advanced yogic poses despite not even knowing what yoga is. To summarize these experiences would be to completely strip them of any comprehension so its best to watch Grof's videos on YouTube. I was continually amazed by the ability of patients to describe complex mythological sequences from obscure religions (ex. ahura mazda v ahriman from Zoroastrianism) or when patients described traumatic experiences from their parent's early childhood they had no way of knowing (but that Grof could confirm through follow-up with parents). Reading over these accounts seems to point to some sort of collective mind, encoded in our DNA or accessible in altered states of consciousness, something like the morphic fields Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been working on. Equally amazing were the detailed accounts of alternate universes and the beings within.Realms of the Human Unconscious indicates that the human mind is not only our most powerful asset but also our most underused asset as we rarely develop it. Perhaps consciousness is like a radio station we've tuned into for the time being, by modifying the receptors in our brains we can temporarily turn the dial on the radio hardware, allowing us to pick up a different signal. As Grof states early in the book, "It does not seem inappropriate and exaggerated to compare their [psychoactive drugs] potential significance for psychiatry and psychology to that of the microscope for medicine or the telescope for astronomy." I find it deplorable that society has been unable to build much on Grof's work in the last 33 years and this inability to accept responsibility for our unconscious is clearly leading to global complexity our current technology can no longer handle.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. An absolute eye-opener, as it delves right into a lot of the real reasons why some people have serious mental issues. After reading this, I am convinced that this kind of therapy has a place in modern psychiatry. I think perhaps the reason why it is banned is because it is so effective that it would put most psychiatrists and drug companies right out of business!Some of the sessions described a truly horrific, but Grof manages to delve deep into patient's subconscious memories and drag the causes of their complaints out into the open where they can be confronted, understood and assimilated. A truly outstanding achievement, and a must-read for anyone interested or studying psychology.Absolutely fascinating!

Excellent book, well written by a very passionate caring genuine man. You made the book very easy to read for a man who has never been part of the medical profession.Thank you.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini is AMAZING!! It`s a fantasy book about a dragon rider named Eragon from the village of Charavall. He lives in the continent of Alegasia ruled by the evil dragon rider named Galbitorix. Traders come to Charavall and a trader tells the story about how Galbitorix comes to power. Galbitorix rides a black dragon and the Raz’ac, Shade and an army of Urgals work for him. I’m not going to reveal too much about the plot but Eragon wants to hunt down and kill the Raz’ac who killed his uncle and burned down his house. After Eragon kills the Raz’ac, he teams up with someone named Murtgha and he goes to the Varden who are the people who rebel against Galbitorix’s commands. On his way to the Varden, he rescues an elf named Arya and needs to cure the poison that she was given in her prison cell. She was kidnapped by a Shade (dark creatures who practice magic) from the elfin city of Olison. Eragon also practices magic and was taught magic by Brom. He also encounters a witch named Angela who predicts his future using the bones of dragons. I’m not going to tell you anything else about the fortune but Angela predicted the death of someone close to him in his future.I give this book 5 stars and I recommend this book to any one 7 & up. There is blood, violence, and death so it wouldn’t appeal to younger children.

A Masterpiece. Initially I was sceptical of the "maps" paradigm but the way Stan stitches together Freud/Rank/Jung together makes great sense.

Very challenging but exciting ideas. As a materialist I found the book challenging, at times crazy but largely exciting and inspiring