The 10th-anniversary edition of CLARITY is being well-received; it’s wonderful to see my Facebook feed filled with wonderful photos of people holding their copy of the book, and saying what a difference these principles have made in their lives.
One of the changes with the new edition is a “What the Research Says” section at the end of each chapter. This is a description of (and where possible, a link to) peer-reviewed articles and other research that will help you “read around” the principles behind clarity.
Because these principles aren’t yet part of the scientific mainstream, most research won’t refer directly to them. Nevertheless, each of these research elements will help you join the dots as you establish your own personal evidence base for what you’re learning.
Chapter 2 is called, “The Power of Insight”, and I thought you might enjoy the ‘What the Research Says” section at the end of it, as it references something gaining a lot of media attention recently: the whole domain of magic mushrooms and ‘psychedelic-assisted’ therapy. (excerpt from CLARITY ©2023 Jamie Smart, published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd):
What the Research Says: In their 2015 paper, “Psilocybin-occasioned Mystical experiences in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction” * (310 citations) the researchers used a combination of psilocybin and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation.
Tools used to measure effectiveness included urinalysis, self-reporting and questionnaires. one of these measures – the states of Consciousness Questionnaire (soCQ) – identified whether participants had a “complete mystical experience” during the psilocybin session, defined as a score of 60% or more on each of the following soCQ subscales: unity, transcendence of time and space, ineffability, sacredness, noetic quality and positive mood.
The paper’s abstract states: “nine of 15 participants (60%) met criteria for ‘complete’ mystical experience. Smoking cessation outcomes were significantly correlated with measures of mystical experience on session days, as well as retrospective ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance of psilocybin sessions. These results suggest a mediating role of mystical experience in psychedelic-facilitated addiction treatment.”
Here are some other words for a complete mystical experience: realisation, epiphany, insight.
* Garcia-Romeu, A., Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W. (2015). Psilocybinoccasioned mystical experiences in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 7(3), 157–164.
You can access the paper at www.Jamiesmart.com/research/Clarity2
This week’s podcast
INTERVIEW – Are love, peace and resilience really innate? Where’s the evidence?
This episode is a 10-minute clip taken from the first module of this year’s Clarity Certification Training. I’d been exploring the notion of ‘true identity’ with the members of the group, when I was asked this question:
“True identity is consciousness itself; I’m very happy with that. The question is, when we move beyond that, into defining that consciousness as having characteristics (such as stillness, love, resilience, truth, calm), where’s the evidence of that?”
Basically, where’s the evidence that these qualities are innate?
My answer both surprised and resonated with people. Here’s the episode: https://www.jamiesmart.com/037-are-love-peace-and-resilience-really-innate-wheres-the-evidence-get-clarity-podcast/
Wishing you a wonderful week!
Tons of love,
Jamie
PS I’m loving seeing the photos people are posting on social media with their copies of the new edition of CLARITY, so I’ve made a decision: I’m going to run an event in March for people who are passionate about this understanding. I haven’t decided whether it’s going to be one or two days yet, but it’s going to be *great*, and here’s how it’s going to work:
The only way you can get a ticket is by posting a photo of yourself with the new edition of CLARITY on some form of social media (Twitter, Facebook, TikTok etc). A ticket will be given at no charge to everyone who does this.
So… if you haven’t got your copy yet, order it here now and share your photo on social. We’ll give you the details about how we get the ticket to you soon.
PPS We’ve confirmed dates for the 2023/24 Clarity Certification Training. It’s going to be kicking off in September 2023, and I’m going to start reaching out to people I think are a good fit for the programme within the next week or so. If you already know that you’re interested, and want to find out more about the programme, hit reply to this email and say “I’m interested in Clarity Certification” and I’ll be in touch. Speak soon! Jx