This article offers reflections and proposes practices that embody principles of diversity and inclusion while embracing spirituality in higher education. This approach to integral education is informed by the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and Haridas Chaudhuri, founders of the California Institute of Integral Studies. It blends Eastern philosophy with Western thought, towards holistic education and experiential learning. This integral frame values both spirituality and diversity in experiential learning, emphasizing the role of the teacher in the educational process. In this pedagogy, the professor facilitates learning and transformation through deep personal inquiry of multicultural identity, group dynamics, productive dialogue, inclusion of diverse perspectives in classroom lectures, and practices of yoga and meditation. Relational and embodied, the instructor explores cultural, social, and political positionalities that lead students to further learn from their cultural backgrounds and relational patterns, opening up the possibility for a spiritual experience in an educational setting. These classroom explorations lead to the improvement of interpersonal capacities, multicultural awareness, self-knowledge and authenticity, expansion of consciousness, and ultimately better citizenship. The self-actualized instructor embedded in a transpersonal worldview within a spiritual epistemology of teaching further develops the efficacy of their role by acknowledging the multicultural fabric of students’ lives. This pedagogy may contribute to the evolution of consciousness.
In recent years a renewed scientific, public and commercial interest in psychedelic medicines can be observed across the globe. As research findings have been generally promising, there is hope for new treatment possibilities for a number of difficult‐to‐treat mental health concerns. While honouring positive developments and therapeutic promise in relation to the medical use of psychedelics, this paper aims to shine a light on some underlying psycho‐cultural shadow dynamics in the unfolding psychedelic renaissance. This paper explores whether and how the multi‐layered collective fascination with psychedelics may yet be another symptom pointing towards a deeper psychological and spiritual malaise in the modern Western psyche as diagnosed by C. G. Jung. The question is posed whether the West’s feverish pursuit of psychedelic medicines—from individual consumption to entheogenic tourism, from capitalist commodification of medicines and treatments to the increasing number of ethical scandals and abuse through clinicians and self‐proclaimed shamans—is related to a Western cultural complex. As part of the discussion, the archetypal image of the Hungry Ghost, known across Asian cultural and religious traditions, is explored to better understand the aforementioned shadow phenomena and point towards mitigating possibilities.
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