Alef Trust is committed to generating high quality scholarly and research work in broadly defined transpersonal areas of study. We are interested in the whole range of human experience, especially extraordinary and exceptional human experiences that transcend our ordinary sense of self, honouring the mystery at the heart of our being. We value multiple ways of knowing, embracing embodied and intuitive knowing, alongside intellectual inquiry and empiricism. We recognise the transformative value of research – acknowledging research as a journey of transformation for researchers, participants and readers. At the same time, we are committed to high research standards and academic rigour.
The topics have been studied include altered states of consciousness, mystical experiences, dreams, psychedelics and entheogens, shamanism, contemporary spirituality, spiritual practices, spiritual emergency and awakening experiences, transformation, transpersonal psychotherapy/counselling/coaching, meditation and mindfulness, movement and dance, ecopsychology and nature, creativity and art, alternative medicine and healing, transpersonal activism and social change, feminism, workplace spirituality, transpersonal education, among many others (see Research Dissertation Archive for examples of research projects carried out by our students).
