Books by Ralph Metzner

Suitable for all subsequent mind-expanding inquiries, this title provides an interpretation of an ancient sacred manuscript, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, from a psychedelic perspective. It describes their discoveries in broadening spiritual consciousness through a combination of Tibetan mediation techniques and psychotropic substances.

Transformational experiences are as unique as they are profound, yet each portrays universal truths of human nature. In The Unfolding Self: Varieties of Transformative Experience,  Ralph Metzner, PhD, unveils common dynamics and archetypes of the transformative experience, offering seekers and those in the throes of personal or societal transformation a reliable guide.Drawing from multiple disciplines ranging across the world’s cultures (beginning with his collaborations with Dr. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert at Harvard University in the early 1960s), Dr. Metzner explores subtle concepts using a tapestry of myth, allegory, and historical context.The Unfolding Self promises to provide its reader with valuable tools to become "wise, impartial judges" in their process of transformation into becoming a more integrated and fulfilled person. Readers who immerse themselves in these masterful descriptions can catalyze their own process of evolution.\No comparable psychology of spirituality exists that draws from such a rich lifework of scholarship, experiment, and spiritual practice. Drawing from multiple disciplines and ranging across the world’s cultures, Dr. Metzner goes beyond his roots in transpersonal psychology to uncover universal structures of spiritual transformation. Readers who immerse themselves in these masterful descriptions can catalyze their own process of evolution.

In his introduction to The Well of Remembrance, author Ralph Metzner provides a telling explanation of the theme of his work: "This book explores some of the mythic roots of the Western worldview, the worldview of the culture that, for better and worse, has come to dominate most of the rest of the world''s peoples. This domination has involved not only economic and political systems but also values, basic attitudes, religious beliefs, language, scientific understanding, and technological applications. Many individuals, tribes, and nations are struggling to free themselves from the residues of the ideological oppression practiced by what they see as Eurocentric culture. They seek to define their own ethnic or national identities by referring to ancestral traditions and mythic patterns of knowledge. At this time, it seems appropriate for Europeans and Euro-Americans likewise to probe their own ancestral mythology for insight and self-understanding." Focusing on the mythology and worldview of the pre-Christian Germanic tribes of Northern Europe, Metzner offers a meaningful exploration of Western ancestry.

SPIRITUALITY / PSYCHOLOGY / ECOLOGY It is becoming more and more apparent that the causes and cures for the current ecological crisis are to be found in the hearts and minds of human beings. For millennia we existed within a religious and psychological framework that honored Earth as a partner and worked to maintain a balance with nature. But somehow a root pathology took hold in Western civilization--the idea of domination over nature--and this led to an alienation of the human spirit that has allowed an unprecedented destruction of the ecosystems that support all life on this planet. In Green Psychology Ralph Metzner explores the history of this global pathology and examines the ways that we can heal this rift and restore a healing relationship with nature. His search for role models takes him from shamanic ceremonies with the Lacandon Maya of Mexico to vision quests in the California desert, from the astonishing nature mysticism of the 11th-century abbess Hildegard von Bingen to the black goddesses and green gods of our pagan ancestors. He examines the historical roots of the split between humans and nature, showing how first sky-god worshiping cultures, then monotheisms, and finally mechanistic science continued to isolate the human psyche from the life-giving Earth. His final chapters present a solution, revealing that many disciplines such as deep ecology and ecofeminism are simultaneously creating a worldview in which the mind of humanity and the health of the planet are harmoniously intertwined. Green Psychology is inspiring reading for all those concerned with the future of the planet and finding their rightful place in it. RALPH METZNER, Ph.D., has been exploring states of consciousness and transformational practices ever since he helped found the Harvard Psilocybin Project in 1960. He is a psychotherapist and professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and the author of many books, including The Psychedelic Experience (with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert), Maps of Consciousness, Opening to Inner Light, The Well of Remembrance, and The Unfolding Self. He lives in Sonoma, California, with his wife and two children.