Editor's Note: In this Issue Marcie Boucouvalas v

The Fire Passes On: Evgeny A. Torchinov (1956-2003) 83

A Tribute

Sam Shapiro

Топи Soidla

Sciousness and Con-sciousness: William James and 85

the Prime Reality of Non-Dual Experience

Jonathan Bricklin

Psychedelic Research Revisited 111

James Fadiman, Charles Grab, Gary Bravo, Alise Agar, Roger Walsh

Clinician's Corner

Speaking from the Heart: Integral T-Groups as a Tool for Training 127

Transpersonal Psychotherapists

Brant Cortright

Michael Kahn

Judye Hess

Forum

Contemporary Viewpoints on Transpersonal Psychology 143

Mariana Caplan

Glenn Hartelius

Mary Anne Rardin

Research Briefs:

Meet the Researcher: Don Diespecker (New South Wales, Australia) 163

Book Reviews

Dark night, early dawn: Steps to an ecology of mind, Bache, C.M. 167

Arthur Hastings

Psychology, religion, and spirituality, Fontana, D. 169

William Braud

Books Our Editors are Reading 173

THE FIRE PASSES ON: EVGENY A. TORCHINOV

(1956-2003)

Professor Evgeny A. Torchinov, Ph.D., D.Sc., Head of the Department of Oriental Philosophy and Cultural Studies at St. Petersburg State University in Russia, died on 12 July 2003. His many colleagues in Russia and around the world were stunned by his premature death. He is survived by his wife, Yana, and a son, Felix. The loss of Zhenya (Evgeny) is a loss for all who cherish the memory of this exceptional colleague—his erudition, dedication, kindness, enthusiasm, warmth, humor, and humanity.

Zhenya was born on 22 August 1956 in the city of Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz). His interest in Chinese culture, beginning when he was 13 years old, determined his future life and career. As a university student he studied Chinese philosophy and religion generally, but then added in special topics such as Taoist alchemy, Tantric yoga, Yogacara Idealism, Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, and transpersonal studies.

Zhenya was a tireless, painstaking, and prolific scholar, proficient in a variety of languages. Since 1980, he published over 120 articles and several books (in Russian, Chinese, and English). His productivity is all the more remarkable given the meager support and resources available for scholarship in Russia. The principle courses Zhenya taught at the university included: Indo-Buddhist Culture and Religions;

Taoism and Chinese Culture; Religions of the Far East; Philosophical Schools of Buddhism; Ancient Chinese Philosophy and Texts; Ancient Indian Philosophy; and Esoteric and Mystical Teachings in the History of Religions. With the fall of the Soviet regime and its restrictions on travel, Zhenya happily participated in conferences in China, Hong Kong, France, Israel, Germany, Japan, and Finland, as well as fulfilling lecture appointments in Israel and Canada.

In recent years, Zhenya was attracted to transpersonal studies, especially the work of transpersonal psychologists. He was driven by the premise that transpersonal psychology (notably the work of Stanislav Grof) could be a crucial and integrative approach to the universal underlying dynamics of religious and spiritual practices. The details of this approach are well-explicated in his book Religions of the World: Experience of the Transcendent (Transpersonal States and Psychotechniques/ Psychopractices) (1997, in Russian). Most recently, Zhenya became interested in helping to establish an Institute of Human Consciousness for investigating transpersonal phenomena and practices in the spiritual traditions of East and West.

I (T.R.S.) have known Zhenya since about 1980. Our contacts during the past few years were mostly by e-mail as both of us were busy with quite a lot of everyday paperwork. Zhenya's warm messages were laconic, to the point, and helpful. Surprisingly, he never showed any signs of a superinflated ego (so common among scholars of equal academic standing—transpersonal scholars being not very different

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2003, Vol. 35, No. 2 83

from their less enlightened colleagues). I liked him especially for his unique experience in Asian philosophies and very colorful personality. But did I really know Zhenya? Several months ago he sent me his two unpublished transpersonal novels: Mysterious Female and Apostles of the Dragon. Both stories are staged at a non-existent Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in St. Petersburg. (Obviously a dreamland version of the above mentioned project of an Institute of Human Consciousness.) I was surprised how many aspects of his own life he transposed to these texts with little or no changes: his family, his lifestyle, the surrounding scholarly (academic) atmosphere (with all its usual human shortcomings), the beautiful almost magical city we live in. All this seemed to be dear to him, worthy of including in his dreams. This last dream of his seemed so Faustian in its pathos. Alas, it is too late to ask for his own comments.

I (S.I.S.) first had the pleasure of meeting Zhenya in 1995 in St. Petersburg at an authors' party celebrating the newly established journal series Voices of Russian Transpersonalism. We continued to correspond with one another as friends and colleagues. Zhenya was a rare individual—a gifted scholar and human being. The breadth and depth of his knowledge was a constant revelation to me. He was full of contagious energy and enthusiasm for life and for learning. He was warm and witty and had a twinkle in his eyes. He was not only a scholar but also practiced yogic and Buddhist meditation. He knew whereof he spoke. Zhenya is irreplaceable.

A professor in the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University, in 1999 Zhenya assumed the prestigious position of Head of the Department of Oriental Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the university. He wrote about this occasion:

And I hope this is not the end of my orientalist and transpersonal trip -just another destination in a ceaseless journey. In any case, the trip continues on!

Indeed.

Though the grease burns out of the torch, the fire passes on, and no one knows where it ends. -The Chuang-tzu

S. I. Shapiro T. R. Soidla

University of Hawai'i, USA Institute of Cytology, St. Petersburg, Russia

84 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2003, Vol. 35, No. 2