Mysticism... delusion or truth?

What is the mystical experience? Is it authentic, reliable, valid? Why is it studied in major universities and research centers? What are its characteristics? What is its relationship with brain processes? Satori, Nirvana, Kensho, revelation, Uncreated Light, yogis, Athonite monks, Buddha: For millennia, the mystical experience was the exclusive privilege of the chosen few: shamans, healer-mages, devotees of the Divine, and those philosophers who sought an extralogical knowledge of absolute reality.

Today, with relatively easy access to psychotropic substances, almost anyone has the ability to attain this experience, and this fact raises the suspicion that mystical knowledge is nothing more than an illusion.

Andreas K. Papageorgiou, a world-renowned neuroscientist, goes beyond traditional philosophical and theological interpretations of mystical phenomena and, by scientifically approaching the relevant testimonies and the results of experiments, highlights the common elements of mystical experiences by examining whether they are subjective constructs—products of irregular neurochemical, neurophysiological, or psychopathological factors—or sources of authentic knowledge.