PRISM - Program in the study of mysticism

Mysticism has often been mystified. And, indeed, all accounts suggest there is something not fully knowable about the mystery of Ultimate Reality or Divinity. Yet, despite its ineffable nature, the fact is there have been those throughout history who have had im-mediate access to that Reality in all religious traditions and none. In fact, such transcendent experience of presence and its life-altering effects, which we term mystical, are a consistent thread in religions everywhere. With new research methodologies and techniques at hand, especially in the social sciences and humanities, we can unpack more about what these individuals have learned, in what ways their consciousness has been transformed, and how that impacts society.

With support from Templeton Religion Trust, and coordinated at Tampere University in Finland, the Program in the Study of Mysticism (PRISM) has distributed 3.8M€ in grants to researchers and communicators to probe the phenomenon of mysticism. 18 cutting-edge projects at leading universities and research teams around the world have received grant funding in 2025-2026 to make a bold move beyond vague understandings of spirituality, and to discover and describe what mystics say and do, in and between the world’s five major traditions, viz. Hinduism, Buddhism and the Abrahamic religions. Broadly rooted in a critical realist perspective, the program also conducts its own research at Tampere University on mysticism’s impact on human flourishing, while supporting program networking, communications, and publications. Templeton Religion Trust plans to consolidate its investment by committing a further 3.6M€ to studying mysticism in 2027-2029, coordinated by PRISM.

Learn more at studyingmysticism.com. Follow PRISM on mysticopenings.substack.com and @mysticopenings on BlueSky and Instagram.