Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety
Ebook
In this book, John Buchanan takes us on a journey through the early death of a parent, the ups and downs of addiction, the extraordinary revelations of psychedelic experiences, and the rewards of a sober and meaningful life. Reflecting on these experiences, the author identifies five pivotal events that drove him to seek a deeper understanding of the significance of extraordinary experiences, the nature of mind and the universe, the meaning of life, and most generally to ask: What is Reality? Drawing on his wide-ranging studies and explorations, Buchanan discusses the ideas that most influenced his search and led him to conclude that transpersonal psychology and process philosophy, especially as developed by Stanislav Grof and Alfred North Whitehead, offer the most satisfying answers. He presents in some detail the essence of Grof's and Whitehead's thought as it pertains to these basic questions about life and reality so that readers can appreciate these ideas for themselves. Buchanan argues that taken together process thought and transpersonal theory offer the kind of enspirited worldview capable of providing both the necessary inspiration and the intellectual understanding for confronting the great challenges facing our world.
“John Buchanan has searched the relevant literature with
peculiar thoroughness in quest of a developed vision that does
justice to both the objective and the subjective worlds.
. . . For one who has been testing Whitehead in similar
ways in other fields for fifty years, Buchanan’s enthusiasm is
profoundly gratifying. It is hard to see what more can be asked of
Whitehead before his thought will be recognized as having solved
the need for a unified cosmology.”
—John Cobb, Claremont School of Theology, emeritus
“Ever found process thought—with the whole universe pulsing and
sparkling in every quantum—a bit of a trip? John Buchanan confirms
your suspicion! This irresistibly readable narrative of psychedelic
exploration, of a long path ultimately sober and all the more
visionary, opens a stunning new portal into our shared reality. We
discover not just a remarkably lucid introduction to Whiteheadian
theo-cosmology, but—aimed right at our self-destructive
civilization—the chance of a spiritual awakening.”
—Catherine Keller, Drew University
“Occasionally, the story of a life is so well told that it draws
you in, becoming your story. And occasionally, theory and personal
experience are woven together so tightly that each sheds light on
the other. Here, both happen. In understanding the author,
one understands transpersonal psychology, process metaphysics, and
(dare I say?) something of non-ordinary states, the mystical quest,
and God. The result is one of the most compelling accounts of
conscious and unconscious experience I have read in years.”
―Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology
- Title: Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety
- Author: John H. Buchanan
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666709308, 9781666709285, 9781666709292, 1666709301, 166670928X, 1666709298
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666709308
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-22T05:51:43Z
John H. Buchanan received a doctorate in liberal arts from Emory University. He was trained and certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner by Stan and Christina Grof. He is a contributing coeditor for Rethinking Consciousness (2020).