A 10-minute video message from Roland about the importance of psychedelic research on spirituality and well-being and his personal reflections on mortality.
Purpose and Intent
The one-page Purpose and Intent statement, which is part of the official agreement establishing the endowment, specifies the objectives of the endowed fund to which Johns Hopkins and the appointed professor must remain accountable.
“My inspiration for wanting to establish this endowed fund came directly out of revising my will after I received a completely unexpected Stage IV cancer diagnosis. When my lawyer prompted me to complete the “Charitable Contribution” section of my will, I contemplated deeply what I truly wanted to contribute.
The answer, based on my decades of meditation practice and my work with psychedelics was self-evident. I, and I suspect we, dearly want humankind to awaken with gratitude to the precious gift of awareness (i.e., sentience or consciousness).
We know from research and experience that psychedelics can occasion profound awakenings that have substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. We also know, based on research and observation, that such experiences can produce in enduring positive changes in prosocial attitudes and behavior, opening individuals to the realization that we are all in this together with the attendant impulse toward mutual caretaking in service of human flourishing.
Although it might sound like an overstatement, I truly believe this line of research may be critical to the survival of our species.”
— Roland R. Griffiths, PhD