Transcendental experience: the possibility of the intersection of theological, philosophical and scientific approaches

Gerasimova Irina Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0003-4556-3100 Doctor of Philosophy Professor, Chief researcher at Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences 109240, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Goncharnaya, 12, str. 1 home_gera@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Ivanov Andrei Vladimirovich ORCID: 0000-0003-3125-484X Doctor of Philosophy Professor, Director, Center for Humanities Education, Altai State Agrarian University 656049, Russia, Altaiskii krai, g. Barnaul, ul. Pr. Krasnoarmeiskii, 98, of. 98 ivanov_a_v_58@mail.ru

Fotieva Irina Valer'evna ORCID: 0000-0002-9918-1635 Doctor of Philosophy Professor, Altai State University, Institute of Humanities, Department of Theory and Practice of Journalism, 656049, Russia, g. Altaiskii, ul. Pr. Lenina, 61, of. 61 fotieva@bk.ru

IntroductionToday, there is a growing interest in a special kind of experience that has been known throughout the history of mankind.

It has received many names depending on the epoch, the religious and cultural tradition, and the form of manifestation: mystical intuition; religious revelation, transpersonal experience; ISS (altered states of consciousness), etc. In our opinion, it is advisable to combine all these forms under the general name of transcendental experience.By transcendental experience we will understand all the various forms of consciousness "going out" beyond the familiar and sufficiently studied forms of human experience and, accordingly, beyond the known cognitive mechanisms.

The problem of transcendental experience is now becoming the focus of the intersection of humanities (philosophy, religious studies, psychology, cultural studies, history, anthropology, ethnography, Oriental studies), theology and natural sciences.

The relevance of the study of latent human abilities increases in connection with the search for answers to the pressing problems of overcoming the global crisis. Without claiming to be an all-encompassing analysis of the nature of transcendental experience, in this work we will limit ourselves to the methodological task of the possibility of its interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research based on the results obtained within the framework of philosophy, theology and science.

Transcendental Experience in Theological and Philosophical Reflection Even F.M. Muller at the end of the XIX century made a statement that sounds very modern: "If there is a philosophical discipline that studies the conditions of sensory or intuitive knowledge, and if there is another philosophical discipline that studies the conditions of rational or conceptual knowledge, then, obviously, a philosophical discipline that should study the existence and the conditions of a person's third ability, consistent with feeling and mind, but nevertheless independent of them [vyd.

nami – author]..., which I call the ability to comprehend the Infinite, not only in religion, but also in all other fields" ^{[1, p. 135]}. The problem of an expansive understanding of religious cognitive experience was subsequently discussed by many researchers, but a special emphasis on this topic was later made in the works of phenomenologists of religion (p. Otto, T. Tillich, M. Eliade, J. Barbour). R. Otto highlights various aspects of this experience, calling it "numinous" ^[2] and emphasizing the unity of the basis of numinous experience in all religions of the West and East, as well as different forms of perception of the "supra-world" sphere (various beliefs of primitive communities, mysteries, magic). According to Otto, there is a relationship of the "numinous" with other cognitive and mental abilities; and the individuality of its manifestation and development are determined by concrete historical conditions.

P. Tillich in the work "Systematic theology", on the one hand, separates philosophy and theology as having a different basis, but in other places, on the contrary, asserts their relationship precisely on the basis of the highest form of transcendental experience ^[3]: if most philosophers, in his opinion, transcendental experience remains only at the basic level "direct perception of something ultimate", then the theologian is in a situation of religious experience, and his experience (revelation) is complete. But this division is surmountable, and it should not be absolutized.

Within the framework of the phenomenology of religion, the traditionalist approach (d. Venner, Y. Evola, R. Guenon, M. Eliade) criticizes Western civilization for the loss of the spiritual (cosmic) dimension of perception of reality. For Eliade, the transcendental experience is real and underlies all forms of religion and spiritual/mystical practices, but at the same time its essence has not been fully clarified for Eliade, as well as the ontological status of the reality that is comprehended in this experience. But some of his conclusions are of significant interest, for example, the following: "Liberation is not identification with the "deep sleep" of prenatal existence... a yogi works at all levels of consciousness and subconsciousness – in order to open the way to transconsciousness" ^{[4, p. 134]}.

In the now classic work of J. Barbour's "Religion and Science: History and Modernity" presents an extensive review of the evolution of theological ideas, especially in the direction of convergence with the scientific picture of the world ^[5].

In the postcolonial era, with the entry into the geopolitical arena of Asian and Latin American countries, the question arose about alternative ways of civilizational development and non-Western philosophies, where transcendent experience is inherently included in the structure of cognition. Since the second half of the twentieth century, new programs of human "hostel" have been developed – the movement for "intercultural philosophy" ^{[6, 7]}, the project of "world philosophies", the project of transversal philosophy, etc.

Non-Western philosophies as reflections on meditative practices have preserved the origins of a holistic natural philosophical worldview as a synthesis of theory and action, science, religion, philosophy, ethical and aesthetic values. In the humanitarian sphere, evolutionary anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary epistemology are gaining weight. Within the framework of disciplinary tasks, the problems of transcendental experience are also discussed. The problem of interdisciplinary synthesis of the obtained results arises.

Western civilization has succeeded in the development of speech intelligence, which involves awareness, responsibility, reflection. At the same time, as the study of non-Western cultures shows, cognition is not limited to intellectual activity; and here, in particular, the thesis of the Indian cultural tradition about the lack of independence of the mind (manas) is important. It is derived from the hierarchical picture of internal subjective worlds, where in the ultimate ontology there is an indestructible, immortal spiritual core of personality that remains unchanged in the course of reincarnations – the absolute subject Atman, which has been the focus of interest of Indian philosophers since ancient times, and within the framework of European philosophy and psychology was clearly problematized only in the twentieth century ^[8].

The Russian philosophical tradition, which in its origins goes back to the patristic tradition and ancient Russian religious and philosophical thought, also makes an invaluable contribution to world philosophy. The concept of integral (living) knowledge of Slavophiles became the focus of Russian thought at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries: the intention to synthesize faith and knowledge in E.N. and S.N. Trubetskoy, religious antinomianism of P.A. Florensky and S.L. Frank; personalism of N.O. Lossky, the theory of the "symphonic personality" of L.P. Karsavin, the creative freedom of N.A. Berdyaev, the principle of creative obedience of the artist in S.N. Bulgakov, etc. The first experience of creating a holistic philosophical worldview was, as is known, the metaphysics of the unity of V.S. Solovyov. Integral knowledge, according to Solovyov, is internally hierarchical, and it is based on the basic mystical experience ^[9].

S.L. Frank notes that "the primordial possession of an object ... is possible only if the subject and the object of knowledge are rooted ... in absolute being" ^{[10, p. 5-6]}. N.O. Lossky introduces the principle of epistemological coordination between all substantial figures ("everything is immanent to everything"); in a polemic with Frank, noting that "we both recognize the organic unity of the world, the intimate inner connection between its parts as a condition for the possibility of intuition" ^{[11, p. 142]}.

According to Russian philosophers, it is impossible to substantiate a transcendental experience, remaining within the framework of purely rational thinking, since any experience must be personally experienced by actualizing and developing the appropriate ability ^{[12, p. 113]}. N.O. Lossky, postulating three types (levels) of intuition, emphasizes that mystical intuition, like other forms of cognition are not infallible, mediated by many factors. He introduces other, non-religious, forms of transcendental experience into consideration: clairvoyance, telepathy, eidetic abilities ^{[11, p.142]}. P.A. Florensky in his basic positions shares the general line of Russian religious philosophy regarding the real unity of the knower and the known. Analyzing what we have called the transcendental experience, the thinker emphasizes:  "... all actions and interactions of things – beings – souls are based on a kind of telepathy, intra-acting, sympathetic affinity. The energies of things flow into other things, and each lives in all, and all in each" ^{[13, p. 151]}.

At the same time, religious experience without philosophical speculation and reflection will be one-sided, subjective and irrational; and scientific discourse is necessary for rational comprehension and experimental verification of the content and forms of direct life comprehension of being. With all the recognition of the fundamental nature and primacy of transcendental experience, Russian religious thinkers, nevertheless, tried from different sides to reveal the dialectic of rational and extra-rational, direct and indirect, personal and superpersonal cognitive mechanisms of cognition of the world and themselves. Their common intention to synthesize various types of knowledge, to develop a holistic worldview is, in our opinion, a fundamentally correct methodological approach to understanding transcendental experience.

The role of spiritual practices in transcendental experience. Criteria for authentic practicesAs is known, both in Western and non-Western religious traditions, much attention was paid to the use of special practices, their methods and evaluation of results.

The use of such practices was a condition and criterion for the adequacy of the received religious experience and, ultimately, "deification", overcoming ignorance, "avidya", etc.  that is, a radical anthropological transformation, according to S.S. Khoruzhego. According to his definition, "spiritual practice is a methodically structured process of auto–transformation of consciousness and the whole being of a person, directed to the anthropological border. Such a process is usually divided into stages-stages, ascending in strict order from the introductory stages of preparatory purification to some "higher spiritual state"" ^{[14, p. 6]}. At the same time, he also notes a certain closeness of such practices in different cultures: "The described paradigm covers the ancient schools of the Far East (classical yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, etc.), Islamic Sufism, Orthodox hesychasm; some areas of mysticism, in particular, Neoplatonism, are closely adjacent to it; ancient and modern psychotechnics partially border on it, methods of producing ecstatic and other altered states of consciousness" ^{[14, p. 6]}.

At the same time, as is well known, both the forms of transcendental experience and the corresponding spiritual practices are extremely diverse. We will not go into their various classifications and descriptions, which have long been presented in the works of many researchers, starting with the classic work of W. James "The Diversity of Religious Experience" ^[15] and ending with modern authors (in particular, one can note the monograph of A.G. Safronov "Religious psychopractics in History" ^[16]. But, as mentioned above, it is advisable to consider practices by the criterion of their authenticity or inauthenticity, which reveals the essence and goals of practices.

In the first approximation, genuine practices can be understood as practices leading to the gradual actualization of latent cognitive abilities of a person and giving, albeit incomplete, but adequate experience associated with obtaining new knowledge. These include practices that have developed over centuries and millennia, and were fixed in the main religious traditions and philosophical schools. Inauthentic practices include, firstly, those that have been significantly reduced and/or directly distorted in various currents and branches from the basic traditions; secondly, these are the "methods" of spontaneously arising and now emerging homegrown "esoteric" sects that, in ignorance, use eclectically connected and, as a rule, distorted elements of traditional practices. They not only do not give new knowledge, but destroy the mental health of the "adept", which is quite understandable: genuine practices involve serious work with consciousness and psyche, and amateur amateur activity is disastrous here. Thirdly, there is a problem of authenticity of practices that correspond to the vector of cognitive evolution ^[17]. In this regard, it is possible to single out "peripheral" practices that independently arose in early forms of religion (for example, in shamanism, in the religions of Indian tribes, etc.). Here, apparently, it is necessary to additionally address the question of the authenticity or inauthenticity of such practices, taking into account their historical forms and evolutionary-cognitive features, which is consistent with a historical and cultural approach in epistemology ^[18].

This division, although very roughly, marks the boundary between genuine and false (imaginary) transcendental experience. For example, in Orthodoxy this border is fixed very unambiguously and even, in our opinion, unnecessarily rigidly. For example, many Orthodox authors disagree with the statement about the comparability of Christian practices (primarily in the tradition of hesychasm) and yoga ^[19]. But here their opinion goes against the position of other researchers.

Is it possible to identify additional specific criteria that allow us to evaluate a particular practice and draw a demarcation line between genuine and inauthentic practices? Although this is a separate issue, nevertheless, in our opinion, it is possible to offer some preliminary versions of such criteria.

First of all, it is worth noting that the practices that we have called authentic are always based on a developed worldview. If at the early stages the practices had an ecstatic character, and the picture of the world was formed in mythopoetic plots, then with the growth of awareness and the development of intelligence, the ideological foundations of the practices were conceptualized and systematized in world religious teachings and philosophical systems. In other words, here a person is considered within the framework of a certain picture of the world, complex, formed over a long time and as a result of the work of many generations of thinkers. The place of man in the universe, the purpose of his existence is justified — on which, in general, the methods leading to this goal are based. These are all the world's religious and religious-philosophical systems: Christianity, Vedanta, Buddhism, etc. As S.R. Ableev notes, "... the doctrinal and metaphysical base ... of the ancient Indian philosophical system - sankhya–darshana was brought under the practical methods of yoga" ^{[20, p. 19]}. At the same time, it is significant that similar practices were often used in different systems that diverge on a number of issues, but nevertheless have a common core of basic ideas. Accordingly, the presence of a developed ideological foundation can be considered the first criterion.

Hence, the second criterion logically follows: the main goal of genuine spiritual practices is – let us agree here with S.S. Khoruzhim – spiritual / anthropological transformation, first of all, the transformation of consciousness on the path of ascent, and also, as a consequence, the "enlightenment" of the body, the transformation of bodily functions. The goal of human transformation was already set in the ancient mysteries of Egypt and Eleusis (those who passed the tests were called "twice-born"). The mysteries retained elements of ecstasy. It is noteworthy that the question of the authenticity of achieving an altered state of consciousness in the Eleusinian mysteries was solved simply – it was necessary to match the divination in an ecstatic state to the existing mythological picture of the world ^{[21, pp. 101, 182-186]}. Medieval alchemists also wrote about the transmutation of a natural man into a spiritual man ^{[22, pp. 95-96]}, but these were local and symbolically coded practices.

In fact, switching to the modern language, it is quite possible to talk about a certain qualitative leap in human evolution – which ideas in one form or another have already been expressed over the past century and a half by such thinkers as the same V.S. Solovyov, P. Teilhard de Chardin, etc. Inauthentic practices, as a rule, set local and private goals, for example, the achievement of certain "siddhas" (superpowers in the Indian tradition); the "gift" of prophecy ("charms" in Orthodoxy), certain altered states of consciousness. At the same time, it is easy to assume that, taken out of the ideological context and from the holistic practical system, they can also negatively affect the psyche and consciousness. Moreover, in a technogenic civilization, with ignorance in modern "schools of self-realization", such techniques are used to "magically" achieve success in a career or business and even for manipulative influence on other people.

Next, we can highlight the third important criterion related to the main elements of authentic practices. All of them necessarily include a stage of moral self-transformation. It involves not just compliance with moral norms, but a radical internal moral and psychological turn. It is believed that egoism is eventually completely overcome on this path – not only due to internal self-discipline and austerity, but also due to the destruction of the "shell of the ego" itself; the highest degree of empathy and responsiveness is achieved; personal interests are replaced by universal ones, "for the good of all." All this marks the highest degree of moral and, in general, personal development. Under different cultural codes of religions, ethics was understood as the basis of communication with the higher spiritual world. Without ethics, the access of thought to the spheres of noumenons was impossible. In the patristic tradition and ancient Russian literature, there are stories that talk about the possibility of communicating with the world of angels if the heart and thoughts are pure, otherwise there is a danger of the influence of the human enemy ^[23]. Controlling the generation of thought at the level of thoughts becomes an important spiritual practice in the monastic tradition. As for inauthentic practices, the emphasis there is, as already mentioned above, on the technical side, on methods leading to private (and often false) goals, and the moral side is practically ignored.

The fourth criterion is the addition of direct religious experience with one or another degree of rational understanding, as well as practical actions ("We judge by deeds", "Faith is dead without deeds"). This criterion is connected with the first one – with the inscribability of basic practices in the picture of the world and the value orientations of religions.

The fifth criterion is inextricably linked with all that has been said: the direct guidance of a student by a spiritual teacher, a follower of this tradition, who has reached a certain level of spiritual self-development.

Of course, the above-mentioned criteria are of the most general nature and are given here, rather, as material for discussions and discussions. And, most importantly, even modern destructive sects can satisfy some of them outwardly, formally. And on the contrary, relatively new practices in historical terms can be quite adequate, developing traditional methods and based on deep knowledge. Therefore, it makes sense to introduce a sixth criterion, which is associated with the duration of the period of spiritual transformation and with the obligation of extreme spiritual efforts to achieve it. Any currents that promise to achieve certain final goals in a short time should also be attributed to false, moreover, dangerous. It's worth making a reservation here. In religions that recognize reincarnation, duration is associated with the acquisition of experience in previous incarnations. A person can come into the world for the final completion of spiritual transformation or the fulfillment of a special mission, which must be confirmed by high authorities, representatives of this religious tradition. In Christianity, God's chosen ones, saints and ascetics of piety come to Earth to help the world. Again, their special mission should manifest itself in national veneration ("we judge by actions") and be confirmed by the norms of canonization.

And finally, one more important point. If we agree with the thesis that transcendental experience is a manifestation of little-studied abilities of cognition and creativity, then it is obvious that these abilities have different gradations and stages of development. Mistakes, incompleteness, inaccuracies, discrepancies are inevitable on this path. Moreover, this fully applies to those who have followed and follow genuine practices: no ability can develop "by leaps and bounds". This, by the way, also applies to very numerous (and often convincingly confirmed) examples of spontaneous manifestations of transcendental experience. In any case, they are based on the previous long-term spiritual experience. Here, a quantitative measurement simply turns into a qualitative one. Scientific, philosophical, and artistic insights can be attributed to spontaneous manifestations, which idea has also been repeatedly expressed in literature. The presence of not only religious, but also other forms of transcendental experience, which, as it has been shown, has been talked about by many philosophers and theologians, is a separate topic that needs special consideration.

There is another serious problem here. Today, in the conditions of accelerating information flows, significant transformations of mental activity are taking place, and, as many authors note, towards regression, the formation of "clip thinking". If this process is not stopped, then there is an existential risk of the mind being absorbed by machine imitations, which trend is already recognized as quite natural during transhumanism. In these conditions, it is very important to appeal to the ideas and practices of religious-philosophical, scientific and artistic schools that have been worked out for thousands of years, aimed not at technical "props", but at revealing the almost limitless possibilities of human consciousness as such. It is not by chance that by the nature of creativity, science (intelligence, method) begins to approach art (spontaneity and a sense of harmony) and religious experience (deep levels of generating images and meanings).

Let us explain what has been said, starting from the usual bodily experience. We perceive the physical senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch as abilities that give separate perceptions. Some creative people have developed the ability of synesthesia – a complex, polymodal feeling (as interpreted by modern psychologists). The ability of synesthesia manifests itself in sound-color perception complexes (A.N. Scriabin), combinations of sound and figurative paintings (N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov), refined sense of smell, gesture symbolism and bodily plasticity, more complex polymodal associative complexes (K. Saradzhev) ^{[24, 25, 26]}. Ancient aesthetic theories that combined sensory qualities, thinking and associative images were based precisely on synesthesia, and it is not by chance that the Indian tradition emphasizes that feelings are conscious. Regarding vision, Western scientists come to a similar conclusion ^[27]. By integrating sensory qualities, one can take a step to the next level – to connect feelings and thought ("feeling thought", "living thought" in Russian philosophy), and at a higher level to connect feeling thought and will (co-thought, "energy-synergetic thought" in religious philosophy). The principle of consubstantiality in aesthetics reflects the idea of synthetic abilities, but it can be extended to other spheres. A comparative analysis of yoga practices and meditative states with the psychology of creativity in the Western European tradition reveals correlations with the creative styles of the geniuses of science and artistic practices (refinement of sensitivity and empathy, growth of awareness of perception, synthesis of feeling, mind and consciousness, development of internal, mental planes of the psyche, experiencing the emotion of fullness of being, etc.) ^[28]. According to T.B. Lyubimova, "... higher manifestations presuppose completely different cognitive abilities, namely ... spiritual intuition ... There are people who use this intuition and have always used it, consciously or not. It can be found not only in supersensible abilities, such as clairvoyance, etc., but also in moral talent (there are moral geniuses!), and in a sense of truth, in devotion to Truth, and, of course, it manifests itself in a lively religiosity" ^{[29, p. 20]}

It is quite logical to assume that these examples mark the natural manifestations of the next stage of human evolution. Like any evolutionary process, it should proceed gradually, namely in the form of separate, heterogeneous, incomplete and inaccurate (in cognitive terms) manifestations. But this process can, apparently, be accelerated to a certain extent not only with the help of the practices mentioned above, but through the development of emotional intuition (empathy), scientific creative abilities, artistic imagination, philosophical speculation. In history, we already have examples of the development of such transcendental abilities, which at the same time were organically combined with highly developed intelligence and skills of experimental study of nature. Here it is enough to recall Avicenna and Nikolai Kuzansky, P.A. Florensky and V.I. Vernadsky and many others.

Transcendental experience in transdisciplinary researchTransdisciplinarity, in contrast to interdisciplinarity, implies going beyond the boundaries of not only individual disciplines of science, but also spheres of culture ^[30].

In this sense, any approaches to the study of transcendental experience should be qualified as transdisciplinary. The trend towards transdisciplinarity was born already in the XIX century . Religious and occult practices did not completely fall out of the circle of scientific interests even during the reign of positivism. Positivists excluded metaphysical reflections on the source of laws, referring the sphere of the "unknowable" to religion, but at the same time, around the same time, there was an interest in the phenomena of mediumship ("communication with spirits"). At the same time, the attitude to these phenomena in the scientific world turned out to be sharply contradictory. On the one hand, spiritualism emerges as a religious-intellectual and alternative movement to positivism. On the other hand, a number of serious scientists are attempting scientific research of mediumistic phenomena (the Society for Psychical Research, the British Society for the Progress of Science). Thus, the history of science has included a controversy on the issues of mediumship between Russian chemists A.M. Butlerov and D.I. Mendeleev ^[31]. It would seem that what prevented the entire scientific community from immediately rejecting such phenomena as direct delusions or quackery? But from the point of view of positive scientific criteria, there was and remains a serious problem associated, firstly, with a sufficient number of clearly recorded supersensible psychic phenomena (mediumship, clairvoyance, etc.), and secondly, with the fact that they can only be described, but cannot be explained. In this case, some researchers suggest talking about the pre-paradigm stage of science, rightly noting that it is wrong to attribute the unknown to pseudoscience or pseudoscience ^{[31, p. 183]}.

Accordingly, the attitude to such phenomena in general, and specifically to transcendental experience, changed along with the change in the criteria of "positivity" and "rationality" of the scientific picture of the world. Already since the middle of the XIX century, the understanding of matter as a kind of "radiant" substance is gradually being formed, which has been developed in research already in the XX century — in elementary particle physics and quantum mechanics; in synergetics, the "quasi-intelligent" behavior of matter in extreme conditions ("smart matter") was recorded; photographs and instrument recordings of various unexplained energy structures (experiments of N. Tesla, V.J. Kilner, electrography of Ya.O. Narkevich-Iodko, invention of spouses S.D. and V.H. Kirlian, etc.). Interpretations of these numerous studies vary, but the ongoing discussions around them are already quite revealing.

In recent decades, experimental studies of fields in electromagnetic biology, photobiology, and radiobiology ^[32] largely support A.S. Presman's hypothesis about the fundamental role of electromagnetic fields as information carriers ^[33]. Conclusions about the effect of ultra-weak radiation on living organisms were obtained during the pioneering experiments of A.G. Gurvich ^[34]. The studies of many scientists in the field of photobiology (V.P. Kaznacheev, L.P. Mikhailova, F.-A. Popp) allow us to understand the nature of the whole, the connection of everything with everything at the deep levels of physico-chemical processes in living organisms. Modern science, in its generalizing conclusions, confirms the ancient fundamental principle of the correspondence of the micro- and macrocosm: man and the environment – including the space–natural environment - can today be considered as a complexly organized whole (which was unexpectedly confirmed even as a result of the technical and technological leap of recent decades: a technogenic civilization built on microelectronics and satellites turned out to be vulnerable dependent on "geo-efficient" solar flares). As a result, as has been repeatedly noted, the idea of reality itself is radically changing. Firstly, it appears less and less "material" in the traditional sense and more and more ideally informational. "... When determining the nature of information, the combination of some intuitions of Platonism and a synergetic approach is promising... Matter without information, ideal is something chaotic, disordered. Chaotic processes play their important role in the development of the world, but it is not they, but the ideal that organizes and directs the evolution of the Universe" ^{[35, p. 158]} Secondly, the principle of panpsychism gets a new birth, which, as is known, was given the main impetus by D. Chalmers ^[36].

According to V.S. Stepin's classification ^[37], the emerging post-non-classical rationality, incorporating the previous types of rationality (classical and non-classical), presupposes an active dialogue of science with other worldview systems, including religion and non-Western philosophies. It is noteworthy that religious communities unite in order to solve social problems of scientific and technological progress. It is significant to coordinate positions on the expertise of technologies affecting the innermost aspects of human life, and formed in 1998. The Interreligious Council of the leaders of the Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist communities (Patriarch Kirill is the chairman) in a number of others set the tasks of affirming traditional moral values, harmony and stability in society.

Against the background of all these processes, the study and comprehension of transcendental experience naturally unfolds in several directions.

Attempts of historical and philosophical reflection on transcendence and transcendence (going beyond the human) in the history of science and culture are of interest. Any approaches in this area acquire the status of transdisciplinary. S.N.Zharov's monograph is devoted to thematization of the transcendent as a specific reality in the history of theoretical thought ^[38]. Humanitarian methodologies for the study of spiritual reality are being developed, including external, socio-cultural factors and personal-internal factors of creativity of outstanding thinkers who had transcendental (numinous) experience. The methodology of the analysis of the life path and the teachings of the scientist and mystic E. Swedenborg, proposed by V.M.Rozin ^[39], is of interest. The methodology of projective anthropology, which problematizes the issue of going beyond this world into the symbolic realities of myth, religion, art, science, is developed by V.A.Belyaev ^[40].

There is an active dialogue between representatives of science and religion. A good example is the dialogue between representatives of cognitive science and Buddhism. As the Dalai Lama emphasizes, Buddhism is related to science by relying on experimental methodology, when logic (intellectual constructions) should be tested by experience (nothing should be taken for granted). Back in the 1980s. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, initiated this dialogue, which led to the creation of the Mind and Life Institute, the purpose of which was the scientific and experimental study of meditative practices ^[41]. From 2017-2018, the cooperation of leading Russian scientists, neuroscientists, neurophysiologists, specialists in evolutionary genomics, indologists, Tibetologists, psychologists and philosophers with Buddhist scientists begins, primarily in the direction of consciousness research. Advances in neuroimaging and other technologies allow scientists not only to understand what is happening in the meditator's brain during the main practices of Buddhism, but also to fix facts that do not fit into the traditional narrowly materialistic paradigm. In particular, an interview with Academician S. Medvedev (Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences) has recently been widely distributed, where it is said that Russian scientists, as part of a project to study meditation and altered states of consciousness in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, have received the first scientific confirmation of the phenomenon of "tukdam", or posthumous meditation, in which Buddhist monks may be.

In addition, experimental studies of transcendental experience, as well as the nature of consciousness in general, are conducted within the framework of psychology, starting with W. James. The traditional approach prevails here in many respects, considering this experience as "altered states of consciousness" (ASC) and linking ASC either with mental disorders or with its purposeful regression as a result of special techniques in order to obtain specific experiences. But along with this, the direction of transpersonal psychology continues to develop (Ch. Tart, J. Lilly, Stanislav Grof, E. Sutich, J. Feidiman, M. Veach, S. Margulis, S. Grof, etc.). It is significant that in 1996 the British Psychological Society opened a department of transpersonal psychology. This direction, which develops the ideas of C. Jung and A. Maslow and has taken as its ideological basis some provisions of Eastern doctrines, partly approaches research within the framework of the aforementioned dialogue with Buddhism. Despite the controversial nature of many of its provisions and practical methods of working with consciousness and the psyche, a number of important and interesting results have been obtained here.

And, finally, it is possible to distinguish a whole range of directions for the study of consciousness, its nature, ontological status, and the relationship with the brain. At the intersection of these studies with philosophical thought, there are more and more works where attempts are made to deeply and comprehensively analyze the transcendental experience, based on the recognition of its special status, cognitive significance and the most important role in religious and philosophical cognition. Here we can note, first of all, the works of V.V. Nalimov, the school of E.A. Torchinov, the works of S.R. Ableev, which have already become classical; among Western authors are A. Deikman, A. Goswami and a number of other authors. In our opinion, this promising area of research in methodological terms needs more systematic and comprehensive empirical research.

Conclusion.

Summing up all of the above, we will draw a few conclusions. First of all, we can recognize as very heuristic the assumption of a number of leading authors that transcendental experience is embedded in the general system of human cognitive abilities. But at the same time, it is necessary to abandon the still dominant idea of the closeness of consciousness, which, as is known, has given rise to a number of problems, both in philosophical epistemology and in science, especially in psychology. It is necessary to pay close attention to the latest trends in consciousness research, where, as already mentioned, the ideas of the ontological unity of consciousness and the world (in the broadest sense – material and ideal), panpsychism and hylozoism are returning.

From these positions, transcendental experience can be considered, firstly, as a qualitatively higher degree of "openness" of consciousness to the world; the immediacy of perception of the object (direct contact of consciousness and object), as Russian philosophers have said. Secondly, this implies a great depth of penetration into the object, accompanied by the experience of merging the "I" and the object, and in the limit of the "I" and the world. Thirdly, we repeat, here we should talk about a new stage in the development of all aspects of human experience, and not only about rational cognition. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the need to distinguish between genuine and false transcendental experiences. Above, we tried to highlight some criteria for their differences. In addition to this, it can be assumed that a false (imaginary) transcendental experience is associated with spontaneous (or purposeful, as a result of the use of inadequate methods) regression of consciousness and actualization of the unconscious layers of the psyche, which leads to mental disorders and social maladaptation. Genuine experience is quite rare, and here, as objects of research, it is necessary to turn to practicing adherents of classical schools, primarily Eastern ones, – which work has already begun within the framework of a dialogue with the Buddhist tradition.

All of the above, we repeat, gives grounds to assume that the transcendental experience is a complex of diverse manifestations of a new, naturally forming stage of the evolutionary development of the individual and humanity as a whole ^[44]. Of course, this conclusion needs a broad discussion and justification, since we have simplified the picture extremely, leaving "out of brackets" a lot of questions concerning the nature and various forms of spiritual practices and transcendental experience. Our main idea is the need to move from a fragmentary and "descriptive" approach to this topic – to a comprehensive study based on the interaction of philosophy, science and religion.

The research was carried out with the financial support of the RFBR within the framework of the scientific project No. 21-011-44073 "Dialogue of science and religion: historical traditions, modern trends, problems and prospects".