Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are seeking individuals with a regular, long-term meditation practice to participate in a research study looking at the combined effects of meditation and psilocybin, a psychoactive substance found in sacramental mushrooms of some cultures. Volunteers must be between the ages of 25 and 80, have no personal or familial history of severe psychiatric illness, or recent history of alcoholism or drug abuse.

Funded by the Council on Spiritual Practices, this study is currently recruiting practicing religious leaders for an investigation into the effects of psilocybin and the mystical experience. We hypothesize that religious professionals, given their interests, training, and life experience, will be able to make nuanced discriminations of their psilocybin experiences, thus contributing to the scientific understanding of mystical-type experience and its effect on personal wellbeing, spirituality, and prosocial behavior.

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With initial data published in 2006 and a 14-month follow-up study funded by Heffter and published in 2008 this double-blind study evaluated the psychological effects of a single high dose of psilocybin in 36 hallucinogen-naïve adults who reported regular participation in religious or spiritual activities. In the 14-month follow-up, 58% of volunteers rated the psilocybin-occasioned experience as being among the five most personally meaningful, and 67% reported it to be among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Further, 64% indicated that the experience increased well-being or life satisfaction; 58% met criteria for having had a ‘complete’ mystical experience. This study concluded that when administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences, with significant and sustained psychological, spiritual, and emotional benefit.