Exploring Space Consciousness & Other Dissociative Experiences: A Japanese Perspective

Author: Corazza, Ornella

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 17, Numbers 7-8, 2010 , pp. 173-190(18)

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Abstract:

The field of consciousness studies has long benefitted from the investigation of non- ordinary states of consciousness, both spontaneous and facilitated by mind-altering agents. In the present study, I look at the implications of spontaneous near-death experiences (NDEs) and experiences facilitated by the dissociative anaesthetic ketamine. These experiences reputedly have similar phenomenologies, such as a feeling of dying, motion through darkness, entering another realm, visions of light, and a sense of separation from the physical body. To assess whether ketamine and near-death experiences really are similar, I undertake a systematic comparison of 36 accounts of NDE-like experiences under ketamine with 36 accounts of NDE that resulted from (a) cardiac arrest or (b) other life-threatening circumstances in which wakefulness was maintained (e.g. car accident, childbirth). The results suggest that ketamine and near- death experiences are indeed similar, which might be taken to imply that NDEs have a purely chemical or psychophysiological basis. However, this conclusion is not inevitable, and I draw upon the intriguing 'spatial' or 'situated' characteristic of ketamine and near-death experiences to suggest an alternative to both neuropsychological reductionism and a straightforward post-mortem survival theory. To develop the idea of a dynamic interrelation of consciousness and 'place', I draw on contemporary Japanese philosophies of body-mind.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Dept. Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, Email: oc1@soas.ac.uk

Publication date: 2010-01-01