Altered state of consciousness: Encyclopedia - Altered state of consciousness

Altered state of consciousness

The phrase "altered state of consciousness" was coined in the 1970s and describes induced changes in one's mental state, almost always temporary. A synonymous phrase is "altered states of awareness".

An altered state of consciousness can come about accidentally through fever, sleep deprivation, starvation, oxygen deprivation, nitrogen narcosis (deep diving), or a traumatic accident. Intentionally it can sometimes be reached by the use of a sensory deprivation tank or mind-control techniques, hypnosis, meditation, prayer, or disciplines (e.g. yoga, Sufism or Surat Shabda Yoga). It is sometimes attained through the ingestion of psychoactive drugs such as alcohol and opiates, or hallucinogenic plants and chemicals such as LSD, 2C-I, peyote, marijuana, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, and datura (Jimson weed).

Naturally occurring altered states of consciousness include channeling, dreams, premonitions, euphoria, ecstasy, out of body experiences, and "being in the zone".

See also

• Aldous Huxley
• Carlos Castaneda
• Charles Tart
• Claudio Naranjo
• John C. Lilly
• Timothy Leary
• Psychology of religion
• Neurotheology
• Stanislav Grof

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Altered state of consciousness", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki