Psychedelics are philosophical tools for demolishing assumptions
By shaking up our sense of how things are, substances like LSD or psilocybin have the potential to promote deep learning
by David J Blacker
Transcendent experience
The ‘panzoic effect’: the benefits of thinking about alien life
Reflecting on the potential for extraterrestrial life can inspire awe and have a profound effect on your worldview
by Graham Lau
To thrive, children need to experience awe – and you can help
Alongside love, sleep and play, awe is precious for children. There are small, everyday ways to make it a part of their lives
by Artemisia O’bi & Fan Yang
Do you find the 21st century overstimulating? Try ‘longstorming’
As the treadmill of life speeds up, sublime outdoor spaces help us tap into timescales that are longer, slower, planetary
by Vincent Ialenti
Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction
I want to defend and buoy hope – it’s a fragile, quirky thing, but it has the power to help us act in the face of finitude
by John Lysaker
Six minutes with a pan-African gospel choir is a shot of joy for the weary soul
Directed by Samuel Bradley
For a Chinese tea master, each sip is a rich expression of memory
Directed by Anna-Claria Ostasenko Bogdanoff
What can we learn from those who have a moral change of heart?
Stories of sharp adjustments in moral perspective show the potential of unusual experiences to open people’s minds
by Joshua May
A record-breaking distance swimmer finds sublime peace in cold water
Directed by Thomas Beug
There’s transcendence in skating – just ask the man they call ‘Slomo’
Directed by Josh Izenberg
Your consciousness has been completely transformed. Now what?
Awakening experiences are spiritual states often believed to unlock life’s mysteries – but sacred knowledge comes at a cost
by Kevin Berryman
Why religion without belief can still make perfect sense
Meet the practising agnostic and the religious fictionalist: people for whom religion can work well without sure belief
by Philip Goff
The question therapy doesn’t answer: who are we really, really?
Therapy is a valuable tool for self-understanding. But spiritual practices can unlock a more expansive view of the self
by Eric Jannazzo
The vibrating beingness of Seurat’s pointillist paintings
The pointillist paintings of Georges Seurat have a blurred, vibrating beingness that is a visual manifestation of emotion
by Summer Brennan
We soar, we plunge, we labour: here is all peak human experience
Directed by Dylan Werkman
A rapturous jazz meditation on truth in all its forms, from Kamasi Washington
Directed by AG Rojas