Early Life

Renowned transpersonal psychiatrist and LSD researcher Stanislav Grof was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1931. His parents were middle-class, liberal people who raised both Grof and his younger brother, Paul Grof (currently a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and also director of the Mood Disorders Center, Ottawa, Canada) without religion or church affiliations.

Grof’s young life and that of his family were stifled by the coming of age of the Nazi and Communist movements. His parents, who were educated, free-thinkers, had their actions and opinions stifled by the change in government, and Grof learned early how strict regimes could rule and ruin many lives.

Grof has an innate love in nature, science and the visual arts from a young age and his interests blossomed into a career in science in his young adulthood. He received his medical degree in Freudian psychology from the distinguished Czech Charles University, Prague, and then went on to get his Ph.D. from the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences, also in Prague, Czech Republic.[1]

Career/LSD Research

After completing medical studies at Charles University, Grof’s professor, brain specialist George Roubicek, ordered a batch of LSD-25 from the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz, where Albert Hoffman first synthesized the compound in 1943. Roubicek asked for a volunteer to participate in an upcoming research study on the drug’s effect on electric brain waves. Grof raised his hand and was chosen, and the experiment altered the young man’s life forever more.

Grof was given a large dose of LSD (around 250 millionths of a gram) and placed in a dark room lit by a stroboscopic white light oscillating at various, often frenetic, frequencies. Nothing like this experiment had ever taken place in Czechoslovakia before, let alone any of Europe. Grof referred to the experience as a “divine thunderbolt” that set him on Freud’s "royal road to the unconscious."

During the second half of the 1950’s, Grof took many LSD trips, making him one of the very few experienced LSD users in the communist world. In 1958 he and fellow medical student Milos Vojtechovsky used large doses of Benactyzin to induce hallucinations parallel to those induced during the psychotic state associated with acute alcohol withdrawal. The following year in 1959, Grof wrote a research paper on the study of the brain's serotonergic system, titled, "Serotonin and Its Significance for Psychiatry."

During the early 1960’s, Grof and Vojtechovsky co-published two dozen ground-breaking papers on clinical experiments employing LSD and other psychedelics as well as a three-part study on LSD's clinical history, biochemistry and pharmacology. The research LSD they had been supplied was from Sandoz Pharmaceuticals till 1961, when Grof suggested that Czechoslovakia should be creating its own LSD in his native land. Czech pharmaceutical company Spofa, whose chemists were gifted synthesizers of various ergot alkaloids, agreed and Grof put in a request for the company begin producing LSD. The project was request was met with quick approval from communist authorities. Spofa was the only pharmaceutical company producing pharmaceutically pure LSD in the eastern bloc. Sandoz was producing the only pure LSD in western Europe.[7][/float_right][/float_right]

Dr. Grof continued his therapeutic and clinical research on LSD at the Psychiatric Research Institute of Prague into the mid-1960’s. He then relocated to the United States and started serving as a professor and research scientist at John Hopkins University, Maryland, from 1967 through 1973.

He was appointed as Chief of Psychiatric Research of the Psychiatric Research Center in 1969 and worked closely with fellow researchers Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards. Over the seven years he was affiliated with Johns Hopkins during the ‘60s decade, Grof conducted more than 4,000 sessions of psychedelic therapy.
In 1973 Grof was invited to join the Esalen Institute, a place of research on the human spirit and mind. Esalen was founded in 1962 by Michael Murphy and Dick and is considered “the birthplace of the human potential movement" by many.[2]

Grof became a member of the Esalen Board of Trustees and took settled down at the institute, located in Big Sur, California, as a Scholar-in-Residence where he stayed until 1987. He spent his time writing, lecturing and developing the theory behind is first published book, Holotropic Breathwork.

In 1969, Grof founded The Association of Transpersonal Psychology (ATP). He and his organizational associates Helen Bonny, Ken Godfrey, Walter Pahnke, Elmer and Alyce Green and John Lilly were very active in conferences and workshops in the San Francisco bay area, along with other conferences held in Council Grove, Kansas over the next few years.

To date,Grof has written numerous books on LSD’s use in psychotherapy, the psycho-spiritual world and altered states of consciousness. He also re-discovered his early love of painting and sketching and many of his drawings and renderings are available for view online (see Other Interests below). He continues to be a prolific writer, lecturer and researcher.[3]

Grof's Philosophy & Quotes

“Perennial philosophy sees humans as entirely commensurate with the entire universe and ultimately divine. Western science offers psychological and pharmacological assistance to people who have difficulties adjusting to the miserable predicament of human life. (Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, described the goal of successful psychoanalysis as ‘changing the extreme suffering of the neurotic into the normal misery of the human existence.) But perennial philosophy offers a rich spectrum of spiritual techniques through which it is possible to recognize and experience one’s own divinity and achieve liberation from suffering.

“Materialistic science has developed effective means of alleviating the most obvious forms of suffering—diseases, poverty and starvation—but has done very little for inner fulfillment and genuine emotional satisfaction. Increased material affluence has been associated with a dramatic increase in mental disorders, alcoholism, suicide rates, crime and violence.

“One of the most important achievements of Western philosophy is the recognition that scientific theories are but conceptual models of organizing the data of human reality itself. The relationship between theory and reality, which it describes as that between a map and a territory (Korzybski’s theory). To confuse the two (map and territory) represents a violation in scientific theory—a serious error in what is called logical typing.

“American anthropologist Gregory Bateson said that a person committing errors of this kind might some day eat the menu instead of the meal.—Dr. Stanislav Grof’, from his book Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science

“I am a somewhat unusual case of somebody who was brought to mysticism, not to religion, but to mysticism, to spirituality, by scientific research, laboratory and clinical research. Usually, it’s the other way around. People get very intense religious indoctrination and then they discover materialistic science, they tend to think the whole thing is nonsense, nonscientific, primitive, magical thinking. ‘I am a scientist. I am a rational person and [we] tend to reject anything related, no just religion, but to spirituality. They usually don’t distinguish between some kind of primitive folk superstition and systems like Tibetan Buddhism or Sufism, based on centuries of intense personal self-exploration.”—Stanislav Grof, Uncut[4]

Peers & Influences

"If I am the father of LSD. Stan Grof is the godfather."--Albert Hoffman

Albert Hoffman – The Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hoffman is referred to as the father of LSD. It was he who referred to Grof as the Godfather of LSD.

Dr. Sigmund Freud - An Austrian neurologist who became known as the founding father of psychoanalysis.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling – The Indian-born English writer, poet, and novelist who wrote inspirational stories of the mysticism of the Far East. (“Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall me.”—The Ballad of East and West.)

Aldous Huxley – The author of A Brave New World. Huxley was a humanist and also interested life in spiritual and perennial parapsychology and philosophical mysticism.

Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybsk - A Polish-American philosopher and scientist who is best remembered for his theory on general semantics.

Gregory Bateson - An English anthropologist, social scientist, visual anthropologist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected many fields of science and pyschology.

Abraham Harold Maslow - An American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.(The Third Force)

Carl Gustav Jung - The Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who is the founder of analytical psychology. Jung proposed and laid out the concepts of the extraverted and the introverted personality, archetypes, along with the collective unconscious.

Roberto Assagioli – An Italian psychiatrist and pioneer in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. (The Act of Will, Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques)

Hans Rudolf “Ruedi” Giger – A Swiss sculptor, surrealist painter and part of a design team that won the Academy Award for visual special effects in the movie Alien.

Ram Dass ( nee: Richard Alpert)– An American contemporary spiritual teacher. Author of the influential 1971 book Be Here Now.

John Cunningham Lilly - An American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher and writer.

Timothy Francis Leary – Ex-Harvard psychology professor, inner-space psychedelic pioneer of the 1960’s, the “Galileo of the Consciousness,” humorist, prolific author credited for—among other things—the sixty’s decade catch phrase of “Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out.”

Artistic Interests

Dr. Grof had been interested in painting and sketching since his boyhood. He revisited his love of art after meeting his friend and fellow painter, H.R. Giger, whose first published work, Necronomicon, was released in 1977. Grof is also a big fan of director Oliver Stone, whose work Grof said portrayed the shadow side of modern humanity.

Giger's art themes reflect mainly on the trauma of human birth, twenty/twenty-first century violence, alienation, and the horrors of modern life. Likewise, most of Grof’s work also reflects on the “mentality of the 20th century,” and is centered of the same visual concepts of the damages of human birth, biomechanics, internecine wars, bloody revolutions, totalitarian regimes, genocide and brutality, as does Giger’s main body of work.

Grof was so taken with the prolific, surrealist artist Giger that he wrote both books and articles about his friend and mentor, including a research paper on The Visionary Work of H.R. Giger (March 2008, Rittimatte), another paper in 2005 titled H.R. Giger and the Zeitgeist of the Twentieth Century, and a book titled HR Giger (Icons) in 2002, Taschen publishing.

In 2011, Dr. Grof was honored to be asked to illustrate the children's book, Lillibet's Dream by Melody Sullivan, Hanford Mead Publishing. Grof said that it had been his dream to illustrate a children's book, since he himself was a little boy. The book is the story of a catapillar in transition to becoming a butterfly.[5]

Grof’s other paintings and designs can be seen online at The Art of Stanislav Grof

Upcoming Events & Workshops

This past July 1, 2013, Dr. Grof celebrated his 82nd birthday. He and his wife, Christina, will be visiting Switzerland from the 27th of September through the 6th of October of this year, after which time Grof will be taking part in upcoming workshops that will run from September 25th, 2013 through February 14th, 2014. Grof’s upcoming lecture and workshop schedule is as follow:

September 25th, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. – Christina Grof, Thirst for Wholeness, A lecture for Leta and Theo Steiner's group. Atelier Bramberg, Luzern

September 27th, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. – Stanislav Grof, Public lecture in Basel on "Anomalous Phenomena: Observations from Consciousness Research Challenging the Current Scientific Worldview," in both English and German.

September 28th – 30th Dr. and Mrs. Christina Grof and staff - Weekend Holotropic Breathwork workshop in Basel: "The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Holotropic Breathwork Experience." Reithalle Wenkenhof, Wenkenpark, 4125 Reihenbei Basel.

October 3, 2013 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. - One-day seminar in Basel – Stanislav Grof's lecture on "Healing Our Deepest Wounds" (morning).Christina Grof's lecture on "The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Journey," in the afternoon. Hofmatt, Baselstrasse 88, 4142 Munchenstein bei Basel.

October 5th, 2013 (14:00 – 15:30) Stanislav Grof: "The Experience of Death and Rebirth: Its Importance for Ritual and Spiritual Life of Humanity." Presented in German.

October 5th, 2013 - Stanislav Grof: Panel Discussion with Kai Mügge, Dr. Michael Nahm, Bea Rubli, and Harald Wessbecher on: "Das Spektrum medialer und paranormaler Erfahrungen." Presented in German.

October 6th, 2013 - Stanislav Grof: "Death and Dying: Psychological,Philosophical, and Spiritual Perspectives."

October 18th, 2013 - An evening lecture with Dr. Grof Healing Potential of Non-Ordinary States, Seattle, WA, USA - Contact: GTT Office - 415-383-8779; fax 415-383-0965

October 18 – 20, 2013 - The Adventure of Self Discovery - Holotropic Breathwork with Stan Grof and Tav Sparks, also in Seattle. Use above contact information for reservations.

January 31 – February 2, 2014 - The Adventure of Self Discovery - Holotropic Breathwork with Stanislav Grof & Tav Sparks. Los Angeles, CA, USA - Contact: GTT Office - 415-383-8779
fax 415-383-0965

February 9 – 14, 2014 - Spiritual Emergency: Embracing Unexpected Transformation -Holotropic Breathwork with Stan Grof (first 2 days), Diane Haug and GTT staff at Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree Retreat Centre, Joshua Tree, California, USA Contact: GTT Office - 415-383-8779/fax 415-383-0965.

For further information on any future workshops and lectures by Stanislav Grof, please visit
upcoming lecture schedule for Stanislav Grof[6]

Accomplishments & Awards

Dr. Grof received the prestigious VISION 97 award. granted by the Foundation of Dagmar and Vaclav Havel in Prague, on October 5, 2007. The VISION award is presented yearly to an individual whose cultural and social projects and innovative prototypes bring meaningful change to the world.

The "Diamond Arch-Delusional Boulder" Award of 2008 was presented to Dr. Grof for paradigm-breaking ideas in science, by the Sisyphus Club of the Czech Republic.

Dr. Grof was honored by prolific psychedelic painter Alex Grey with a visionary portrait of himself that he then used as the front cover to his latest book, Healing Our Deepest Wounds: The Holotropic Paradigm Shift, 2012.
Pictured at left are Christina and Stanislav Grof with Alex Grey at the painting's presentation.

Books

1. Realms of the Human Unconscious. Viking Press, New York, 1975. Paperback: E. P. Dutton, New York 1976.

2. The Human Encounter with Death. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1977 (with Joan Halifax).

3. Beyond Death: Gates of Consciousness. Thames & Hudson, London, 1980 (with Christina Grof).

4. Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1984 (ed.).

5. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. State University New York (SUNY) Press, New York , 1985.

6. The Adventure of Self-Discovery. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1987.

7. Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1988 ( ed .).

8. Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis. J. P. Tarcher, Los Angeles, 1989, (ed. with Christina Grof ).

9. The Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth Through Transformational Crises. J. P. Tarcher, Los Angeles, 1991 (with Christina Grof).

10. The Holotropic Mind: The Three Levels of Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives. Harper Collins (1992), (with Hal Zina Bennett).

11. Books of the Dead: Manuals for Living and Dying. Thames and Hudson, 1994.

12. The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness. State University New York Press, Albany, NY, 1998.

13. The Transpersonal Vision: The Healing Potential of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 1998.

14. The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue (two days with Stanislav Grof, Ervin Laszlo, and Peter Russell). Element Books, Rockport , MA, 1999.

15. Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research. State University of New York Press, Albany , NY , 2000.

16. Call of the Jaguar. A science fiction novel available currently only in Russian translation (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Press and K. Kravchuk Publishing House, Moscow, 2001) and Danish translation.

17. LSD Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicine, Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Publishing, 2001

18. When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary Realities. Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 2006.

19. The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and The Mystery of Death. MAPS, 2006.

20. Healing Our Deepest Wounds: The Holotropic Paradigm Shift, Steam of Experience Publicatons, New Castle, Washington, 2012.

Scientific Articles & Research

Stanislav Grof is a prolific writer who has over 140 research articles published as of 2013. The articles can be found in their entirety at Articles by Dr. Stanislav Grof

Tapes & Videos

Stanislav Grof: Researcher, Author, Teacher, and Visionary, Elgin Production DVD

An Interview with Stanislav Grof, M.D., on "Transpersonal Psychology and the Meaning of Psychedelic Experience, available in Podcast and text

"Implications of Psychedelic Research for Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy," sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)

"Learning from Non-Ordinary States," an interview by Tami Simon, Sounds True, Insights at the Edge August 24, 2010.

References

1. ^http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/grof_stanislav/
2. ^http://www.esalen.org/pageesalen-history
3. ^http://stanislavgrof.com/
4. ^ http://opengoldberg.wpr.org/book/transcript/transcript-stanislav-grof-uncut
5. ^http://www.stanislavgrof.com/
6. ^http://www.stanislavgrof.com/index.htm