Jeffrey Kripal

Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he is also the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. He is the author of Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred, Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion, The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion, Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism, and Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna.

His present areas of interest include the comparative erotics of mystical literature, American countercultural translations of Asian religious traditions, and the history of Western esotericism from ancient Gnosticism to the New Age. He is currently working on a book on the paranormal and American popular culture.

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  • The Anomalous Is Natural

    Writer and abduction experiencer Whitley Strieber and professor of religion at Rice University, Jeffrey J. Kripal discussed their most recent work documenting the anomalous and all kinds of "impossible" things, from extra-dimensional beings to teleportation to out-of-body...More »
  • The Paranormal & Religious Experience

    Prof. Jeffrey Kripal of Rice University discussed comparative religions and various aspects of the paranormal. In a sense, the study of religion is more difficult than the sciences because religious experience is difficult to quantify, and challenges people's deepest values and...More »
  • Sci-Fi, Superheroes, & the Paranormal

    Chair of Religious Studies at Rice University, Jeffrey Kripal, talked about how various sci-fi writers and comic book creators have intertwined myth, religion, and the paranormal into their works, sometimes inspired by their own mystical or paranormal experiences.More »
  • Paranormal & Psychical Research

    Jeffrey Kripal, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University, shared his historical analysis of paranormal and psychical research. First hour guest, animal activist Laura Leigh talked about the recent wild horse round-up in Nevada by the BLM, and her...More »

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