The central problem addressed in this presentation is the myopic nature of modernity’s cosmological orientation (i.e., materialism). Framing materialism within a continuum of ontological possibilities, this presentation asks the question: What are the different types of ways, beyond materialism, in which a finite human being can relate to and participate in the seemingly infinite, ever-evolving whole of existence? Organized into a seven-limbed typology, the spectrum includes mystical and nonmystical ways of participating in such a paradox. The limbs consist of ignorance, denial, deferment, bypass, transcendence, resolution, and dissolution. Materialism falls under the first two limbs, which on their own can appear to create an insoluble paradox of existence, while mysticism deals with the latter three limbs. In between lies Grof's understanding of addiction (i.e., as an unrecognized, innate drive for wholeness/transcendence), which relates to limb four: bypass.