Author and professor Jeffrey Kripal discusses his fascination with extreme religious states, the value of embracing the unknown, the misalignment of religion with modern values, Kerry Mullis' profound worldview shift after an alien abduction experience, the broader aspects of the UFO phenomenon, the power of optimism and hope, and ways to support the podcast and access free resources.
Cripple emphasizes the importance of intellectual openness and embracing the mysteries beyond our current understanding, both in religious experiences and the paranormal.
Cripple argues that the humanities have the potential to offer valuable perspectives on truth and meaning by harnessing the resources of altered states and exploring extreme religious states.
Deep dives
Openness to Various Perspectives
In this podcast episode, the host speaks with Jeffrey Cripple, a philosopher and religious scholar, about his unique and open-minded approach to exploring religious experiences and the paranormal. Cripple emphasizes the importance of maintaining intellectual openness and resisting the urge to reduce complex experiences to social or scientific explanations. He points out the limitations of both religious certainties and materialistic perspectives, advocating for a middle ground that embraces the mysteries and possibilities beyond our current understanding. Cripple believes that being honest about our limitations as a society and embracing the unknown can lead to valuable insights and a more authentic engagement with the world.
The Role of Humanities in Discovering Truth
Cripple discusses the state of the humanities and its potential to explore extreme religious states and anomalous experiences. He emphasizes the need to move beyond deconstruction and criticism to find a way forward that acknowledges the deep resources within the humanities. Cripple argues that great ideas and profound insights often arise from altered states, such as dreams, psychedelic experiences, and mystical encounters. By harnessing these resources of altered consciousness, he believes that the humanities can offer valuable perspectives on truth and meaning that go beyond the limitations of social and scientific paradigms.
Embracing the Full Spectrum of Paranormal Phenomena
Cripple delves into the topic of paranormal experiences, highlighting the tendency of mainstream scientific and intelligence communities to focus on a narrow aspect of these phenomena. He suggests that the broader spectrum of anomalous experiences, including encounters with beings and unexplainable events, are often disregarded or dismissed due to their incongruity with prevailing worldviews. Cripple acknowledges the challenge in comprehending these experiences but stresses the importance of taking them seriously and recognizing that they may point to profound truths beyond our current understanding. He encourages open-mindedness and a willingness to explore the depths of these phenomena.
Optimism and the Future of Humanity
Cripple expresses his optimism about the future of humanity, rooted in both psychological pragmatism and a metaphysical belief. He believes that adopting an optimistic mindset can have positive effects on the trajectory of the future, while pessimism tends to produce negative outcomes. Additionally, Cripple holds the conviction that the human species is in contact with itself from the future, suggesting that humanity's future form of consciousness may be closer to a realization of our inherent divinity. He acknowledges the speculative and paradoxical nature of this belief but maintains that it offers hope and a different perspective on the potential of human evolution.
Host Michael Taft speaks with author and professor Jeffrey Kripal about his early aspiration to be a Benedictine monk, the prophetic dimensions of the humanities, the sudden conversion, or "flip," into a weirder worldview experienced by some materialist scientists, the phenomena of UFOs, alien abduction, altered states, Philip K. Dick, and how most breakthroughs into mysticism occur through trauma.
Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he served as the Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, chaired the Department of Religion for eight years, and also helped create a doctoral concentration in the study of Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism that is the largest program of its kind in the world. He presently helps direct the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
Jeff is the author or co-author of thirteen books, and specializes in the study of extreme religious states and putting “the impossible” back on the academic table again. He is presently working on a three-volume study of paranormal currents in the history of religions and the sciences, collectively entitled The Super Story.