INTERVIEW WITH STAN GROF

Stanislav Grof, M.D., is a psychiatrist with over sixty years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness and one of the founders of transpersonal psychology.

Grof is known, for his "cartography" of the deep human psyche and breathing techniques for exploring non-ordinary states of mind.
Grof distinguishes between two modes of consciousness: the hylotropic and the holotropic. The hylotropic mode relates to "the normal, everyday experience of consensus reality". The holotropic has to do with states which aim towards wholeness and the totality of existence. The holotropic is characteristic of non-ordinary states of consciousness such as meditative, mystical. According to Grof, contemporary psychiatry often categorizes these non-ordinary states as psychotic. Grof connects the hylotropic to the Buddhist conception of namarupa ("name and form"), the separate, individual, illusory self. He connects the holotropic to the Hindu conception of Atman-Brahman, the divine, true nature of the self.
 
He is a Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness in San Francisco; he has also taught at Wisdom University in Oakland, CA, and the Pacifica Graduate School in Santa Barbara.
 
Among his publications are over 160 articles in professional journals and the books: Beyond the Brain; The Cosmic Game; Psychology of the Future; The Ultimate Journey; When the Impossible Happens; Books of the Dead; Healing Our Deepest Wounds; Modern Consciousness Research and the Understanding of Art; Beyond Death; The Stormy Search for the Self; Spiritual Emergency; and Holotropic Breathwork (the last four with Christina Grof).