Consciousness and Belief Change in Psychedelics and Meditation
Psychedelic Sangha presents:
"Consciousness and Belief Change in Psychedelics and Meditation"
A talk with Chris Timmermann PhD
Monday, May 12th
12.00 - 2.00 pm EST
ONLINE ONLY
*Asynchronous viewing option for Sangha members only. Follow the WithFriends link to join anytime.
Psychedelic Sangha welcomes Chris Timmermann to our Speaker Series with moderator Tomas Sander.
Chris will present a formal talk and then engage in informal conversation with Tomas and the live online community.
Sangha members will have the opportunity to watch the formal talk portion (not the informal conversation and Q&A), asynchronously through our online Commons.
All are welcome! We look forward to seeing you online.
Abstract
It has long been speculated that the acute psychedelic state could resemble meditation and that psychedelics could offer a ‘short-cut’ of sorts to the cultivation of the mind achieved by contemplative practices. Furthermore, psychedelics seem to induce belief changes in a way that has been anecdotally reported to be similar to psychedelics. In this talk I will present emerging findings investigating how belief changes induced by psychedelics share overlaps and differences with meditation. I will also present preliminary findings comparing how brain states achieved by insight and jhana meditation may resemble brain dynamics induced by different drugs. Finally, I will present preliminary findings of the experience and brain state induced by 5-MeO-DMT on an advanced practitioner, a Lama from the Mahamudra tradition who participated in our study.
Speaker bio
Chris Timmermann obtained his PhD in 2020, working with Robin Carhart-Harris, Rob Leech and David Nutt in the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. He is currently a post-doc at Imperial College London at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, where he leads the DMT Research Group, studying the mechanisms of action of the potent psychedelics N,N-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
His empirical and theoretical work employs an interdisciplinary approach to the neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and ethics of psychedelics, their relationship to consciousness and applications in mental health. He focuses particularly on:
The brain mechanisms of psychedelics using fMRI, M/EEG, with a special focus on DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
The contribution of altered states, such as psychedelics and meditation, to the understanding of human consciousness.
The impact of psychedelics and meditation on mental health.
His work has been published in high-regarded scientific journals and covered by mass media outlets (BBC, CBC, Wired, The Times, New Scientist).
More about Tomas Sander
Tomas is a Buddhist practitioner and author based in New York. He has been practicing mostly in the Tibetan tradition. His teachers include Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Greg Goode. He co-authored the book "Emptiness and Joyful Freedom" which explores Buddhist insights into the nature of reality using tools from Western philosophy.
