LeShan, Lawrence (L.) (1920-)

Psychologist and parapsychologist. He was born September 8, 1920, in New York City and was educated at the College of William and Mary (B.A., 1942), the University of Nebraska (M.S., 1943), and the University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1954). His education was interrupted on two occasions by periods of service in the U.S. Army (1943-46, 1950-52). Following his graduation he became the chief of the department of psychology at the Institute of Applied Biography in New York (1954-64) and simultaneously a research associate at the Ayer Foundation, Inc., New York (1954-70). He also taught in the Union Theological Seminary's program in psychiatry and religion.

Originally a skeptic in his attitude to paranormal phenomena, he devoted some 500 hours to testing the famous psychic Eileen Garrett and was particularly impressed by her powers in the field of psychometry. He also made a special study of psychic healing and since 1970 has held training seminars in New York for psychologists and students. He is a member of the American Psychical Research Society and the author of a number of books and articles.

In his book The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist (1974), he proposed a theory of different types of reality: sensory reality (that of everyday experience), clairvoyant reality (in which the time structure is modified and the identities of "you" and "I" become a part of a total "One" in the cosmos), and a transpsychic reality (in which there is total identification with the "All").

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

LeShan, Lawrence. Alternative Realities. New York: M. Evans, 1976.

——. Einstein's Space and Van Gogh's Sky: Physical Reality and Beyond. New York: Macmillan, 1982.

——. From Newton to EAP: Parapsychology and the Challenge of Modern Science. Wellingborough, England: Turnstone Press, 1984.

——. How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery. New York: Bantam Books, 1975.

——. The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist. 1974. Reprinted as Clairvoyant Reality: Toward a General Theory of the Paranormal. Wellingborough, England: Turnstone Press, 1980.

——. The Psychology of War: Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness. Chicago: Noble Press, 1992.