Here he presents basic and simple ideas related to the practice of meditation. He suggests that there are two basic reasons why people meditate: to calm the mind and for self-awareness. When initiating a session, it is good to have a clear idea of one’s purpose for the session. With reference to himself, Tart notes [...]

Here he describes how the transpersonal psychology movement was a further development by the founders of humanistic psychology. Its focus is on spiritual experiences as understood by many different cultures and traditions – martial arts, meditation, yoga, prayer, and religion. While some have maintained that transpersonal psychologists are merely teaching religion, Tart argues that there [...]

Here he discusses a number of altered states including marijuana intoxication, dreaming, hypnosis, and out-of-body experiences. He describes his concept of “state specific research” using lucid dreaming as a clear example. Excerpts from the film, Altered States, with actor William Hurt are shown as they refer to Tart and his work. He also reviews the [...]

Here he suggests that science and spirituality need not be considered totally separate approaches to life that have nothing to do with each other. He points out that, within the realm of spiritual thought, there are many ideas that could be subject to tests and refinements or improvements. Spiritual ideas need not be taken only [...]

Here he notes that academic positions in parapsychology are extremely rare; and young people hoping or planning for a career in parapsychology will face many obstacles. Essentially, he maintains that parapsychology is the study of our spiritual, or non-physical, nature. Not all parapsychologists accept this view, which is not in tune with the mainstream materialistic [...]

Here he discusses the career and work of the early twentieth century mystical teacher, George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. He particular stresses the notion that, according to Gurdjieff, human beings typically go through life in a mechanical state akin to sleep. Such a life is not worth living. Various exercises help unify the divergent bodily, emotional, and [...]

Here he observes that, in previous generations, people suspected of using psi abilities for harmful purposes (i.e., witches) were burned at the stake. Fear of psi is akin to religious fear of the devil. It is also akin to what scoffers refer to as their fear of the “rising tide of superstition”. Many in academia [...]

Here he discusses the events that took place during his year long work as a consultant to the remote viewing program of Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ at SRI International, funded by the U.S. military intelligence community. He describes the unique psychological conditions at SRI that seemed to be extremely conducive to psi functioning. He [...]

Here he describes the “decline effect” in parapsychology research as the result of a psychological “extinction paradigm”. Having subjects repeat a boring task without feedback, in many different disciplines, results in a decline of ability. His research involved training ESP using an automated system, involving forced choices with feedback. Subjects were pre-screened for ESP ability. [...]