We're so pleased to present another gem from the Esalen archives, a talk by James Fadiman and Arthur Hastings, circa 1972, where the two explore the subject of psychedelics and paranormal psychology, as a part of a larger conversation convened by Charles Tart.

Many of you will know Fadiman through his work on microdosing. He is often referred to as the godfather of microdosing, and he is equally well known for his book The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide. His involvement in psychedelic research stretches back to the early 1960s, when he first took psychedelics with Richard Alpert (also known as Ram Dass), and soon became part of Myron Stolaroff’s International Foundation for Advanced Study in Menlo Park, a foundation which would administer LSD to willing participants and attempt to measure how it affected them in many realms, including creativity.

Fadiman’s connection to Esalen goes back to the very beginning. Alongside Willis Harman, he led one of Esalen’s earliest seminars and continued to teach there for decades.

Arthur Hastings, who speaks second during this talk, was a researcher and teacher whose work addressed altered states, hypnosis, dreams, and parapsychology. He served as president and dean of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and directed its Center for Consciousness Studies.

You are going to hear James Fadiman first, who brings his dry sense of humor to the question of whether psychedelics might facilitate experiences people interpret as telepathy, clairvoyance, or precognition.

Then Arthur Hastings turns to reports of mind affecting matter: objects moving, unexplained sounds, and apparent poltergeist activity.