This is a reprinting of the authoritative essay written in 1971 from the volume of work entitled Psychology of Meditation by Claudio Naranjo & Robert E. Ornstein. This new Malor book edition examines meditation from two perspectives: first that of religions and philosophies such as Zen, Yoga and from the Sufis and Christian mystics, and second from the modern psychologist's point of view -- what is happening neurophysiologically and what is the resulting experience?By looking at meditation from both points of view, Ornstein produces a modern scientific view - one sympathetic to the practice and enables the reader to appreciate and understand meditation as a tool which, under the right direction, leads to a different mode of perception. Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., has written more than twenty books on the brain, mind, and consciousness since the publication of the first edition of this book in 1971. This work emphasizes our urgent need and ability to develop perceptions beyond our human inheritance. "I wrote this essay in 1970, when meditation was a curiosity, known only to a few tie-dyed people and, of course, The Beatles...this book now looks like a good basic introduction to the high-tech research that followed." --Robert Ornstein, from the Preface to the 2008 edition"This book is thoroughly worth buying, and reading-with a pencil. We desperately need what the book is talking about and showing to be a real possibility. We can no longer ignore the impressive testimony to the nature of consciousness that is coming from a convergence of the mentalities of the East and the West. The freeing of consciousness is a most urgent need of our time." - SEBASTIAN MOORE, The Critic"This book is the first scientific treatment of meditation that is really good. If you're a meditator and want your worldview expanded, this will help. If you're a scientist and want your worldview expanded, this will do it." - CHARLES T. TART, The Last Whole Earth Catalog