It can be quite frustrating to be experiencing something unfamiliar that our medical system doesn’t have an answer for. Unfortunately, I know from experience as documented here!

This is very common with many “spiritual”, “mystical”, “energetic”, etc. experiences and effects, that are often referred to as emergent phenomena.

A few months ago, I was delighted to discover the The Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium. The EPRC is a group of 180+ researchers, scientists, medical, therapy and spiritual professionals that are trying to tackle the hard problem of gathering data and research on the large catalogue of emergent phenomena experiences that humans may face and the efficacy of different protocols for handling them.

Daniel Ingram is one of the co-founders of the organization and also the author of one my favorite books on Buddhism Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha.

The EPRC’s aim is to give health care systems, mental health providers, and those who are helping to teach and promote various practices the information they need in order to make better decisions about how to both promote the benefits of these practices and manage the various effects that they can produce.