The Holotropic Mind

Miles Rivera
The Holotropic Mind by Stanislav Grof is based on experiences and observations from thirty five
years of systematic exploration of the value of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Stanislav
Grof, M.D, was a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is the founder of
the International Transpersonal Association, which seeks to promote academic research,
projects and other activities with a transpersonal focus. Through this book, Grof introduces the
study of consciousness and its importance in this crucial point of human history.
This book starts off by challenging our thought process that is dominated by Newtonian science
and cause and effect, prior to Einsteins theory of relativity and quantum physics. In the image
of the universe developed by Newtonian science, life, consciousness, and creative intelligence
are seen as accidental, that organic matter was randomly created by interactions between
elements. Grof argues that these scientific views are responsible for creating a very limited view
of human beings and their potentials, and that modern consciousness research is congruent
with modern physics and other scientific disciplines, while incompatible with traditional
Newtonian science.
After going into Einsteins theory of relativity and other sciences that support his observations,
Grof shares his story of being one of the early experimental subjects of LSD in 1956. During this
experiment Grof experienced cosmic consciousness and he came out of the experience
moved to the core. Grof was an atheist at the time and I enjoy when he says, Even in the
most dramatic and convincing depths of the experience I saw the irony and paradox of the
situation. The Divine had manifested itself and had taken over my life in a modern laboratory in
the middle of a serious scientific experiment conducted in a Communist country with a
substance produced in the test tube of a twentieth-century chemist. In the following years
Grof was able to study the effects of LSD on patients with various emotional disorders, as well
as on mental health professionals, artists, scientists, and philosophers. The research showed
that LSD assisted psychoanalysis could deepen and accelerate the therapeutic process.
The material that is presented in this book is taken from 4,000 psychedelic sessions that Grof
conducted in the earlier phases of his research, and over 20,000 Holotropic Breathwork
sessions. Holotropic Breathwork is a process developed by Grof and his wife that combines
breathing, evocative music, and other forms of sound, body work, and artistic expression to
explore non-ordinary states of consciousness. The experiences that Grof observed vary greatly
and are too profound for me to describe without butchering them further, so I believe they
should be read as they are. To sum it up, patients and clients experienced psychological death

and rebirth, feelings of oneness with all humanity, nature, and the universe. They reported
visions of deities and demons from cultures different from their own, visits to mythological
realms, and even past life experiences whose historical accuracy could later be objectively
confirmed. People experienced things that they had never before seen, read, or even touched
with their physical senses, but it was as if they were happening in the present. Grof has
analyzed and confirmed an incredible amount of information that patients discovered in nonordinary states of consciousness with having absolutely no way of knowing the information
beforehand.
Grofs belief system changed during his work and says the conclusions he has been led to are
implausible if not downright incredible to many traditional psychiatrists and psychologists. Grof
says, I now firmly believe that consciousness is more than an accidental by-product of the
neurophysiological and biochemical processes taking place in the human brain. I see
consciousness and the human psyche as expressions and reflections of a cosmic intelligence
that permeates the entire universe and all of existence. We are not just highly evolved animals
with biological computers embedded inside our skulls; we are also fields of consciousness
without limits, transcending time, space, matter, and linear causality. In the end of the book
Grof goes on to explain that the most frequent consequences of the psychospiritual
transformation are deep reverence for life and ecological awareness. He believes that a
movement in the direction of fuller awareness of our unconscious minds will vastly increase our
chances for planetary survival.
I really enjoyed how this book seemed to almost directly challenge the existential philosophies
we studied in junior humanities, and what really struck me was the overlap between eastern
spiritual philosophies and knowledge gained from alternate states of consciousness. Grof does
a great job of appealing to rational thinking by presenting evidence for ideas that normally are
dismissed prematurely as laughable.