William A. Richards is a clinical psychologist at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with formal training in theology and comparative religion. Earlier in his career, he pursued psychedelic research at Spring Grove Hospital Center and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore. His graduate education included studies at Yale University, Brandeis University, Catholic University, the Andover-Newton Theological School, and the University of Göttingen.

• Foreword, by G. William BarnardPreface: One Discovery of TranscendenceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionNote to the ReaderPart I. Setting the Stage1. The Death and Rebirth of Psychedelic Research2. Orientation, Definitions, and the Limits of Language3. Revelation and DoubtPart II. Mystical and Visionary Forms of Consciousness4. Intuitive Knowledge5. Approaches to Unitive Consciousness6. New Perspectives on Time and Space7. Visions and ArchetypesPart III. Personal and Interpersonal Dynamics8. The Interpersonal and the Mystical9. Experiences of Meaninglessness, Despair, and Somatic Discomfort10. Religious Conversion and Psychodynamic Experiences11. Discipline and Integration12. Reflections on DeathPart IV. Present and Future Applications of Entheogens13. Psychedelic Frontiers in Medicine14. Psychedelic Frontiers in Education15. Psychedelic Frontiers in Religion16. Maximizing the Probability of Safety and BenefitPart V. Onward17. Fears of Awakening18. Entering Into a New Paradigm19. Movement Into the FutureEpilogue: A Concise Report of Insights from the Frontier Where Science and Spirituality Are MeetingSelected BibliographyA Hopkins Playlist for Psilocybin Studies (2008 Version)Name IndexSubject Index

Sacred Knowledge is not only timely and relevant to a whole host of current social/legal issues but also addresses, with seemingly effortless ease, many of the deeper/subtler metaphysical implications of psychedelics—their therapeutic and spiritual potential. Richards's clear prose makes articulating such difficult topics look easy.