Premium
CONSCIOUS CHANGE AND CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MEDITATION
Author(s) -
MacKenna Christopher
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.2004.tb00190.x
Subject(s) - consciousness , psychology , meditation , mysticism , spirituality , psychoanalysis , psychoanalytic theory , id, ego and super ego , psychotherapist , theology , philosophy , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , neuroscience
This paper investigates some aspects of consciousness by drawing on the psychology of meditation. Three states of mind are described: semiconsciousness, consciousness and, following the mystics, the possibility of a consciousness which transcends ordinary ego awareness. Some experiences of three authorities on Christian spirituality ‐ Augustine of Hippo, Evagrius of Pontus and Teresa of Avila ‐ are explored in the light of psychoanalytic reflections provided by Erikson, Jung, and Winnicott.