The concept of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) came into prominence in Western psychology in the 1950s and 1960s, primarily due to three paradigm breakthroughs. One was the discovery of rapid eye movements (REM) during dreaming sleep, which was the first time recordable physiological variations could be reliably correlated with a specific subjective state of consciousness. The second breakthrough was the discovery that recordings of electrical activity in the brain (EEGs), in the frequency range of eight to twelve cycles per second (called “alpha waves”), were reliably correlated with calm, eyes-closed states of relaxation and meditation. The third breakthrough was the discovery of LSD and other psychedelic, consciousness-expanding drugs—which meant that profoundly transformed and transformative states of consciousness, hitherto accessible only to a few individuals engaged in meditative or yogic practices, could be induced with fairly high reliability in ordinary people, given the right preparation, safeguards, and set and setting.
These discoveries of correlations between variations in neural functions and variations in subjective consciousness stimulated an enormous upsurge of research, which continues to this day, using technologies such as EEG, MRI, PET, and others. This approach—the study of associations between measures of brain activity and mental states—has become the dominant paradigm in the scientific study of consciousness. It is based on the underlying philosophical assumption of the Western, materialist worldview that consciousness must somehow be “located” in the brain. This is a view that goes back to the work of the eighteenth-century French mathematician René Descartes, who famously speculated that the soul might be located in the pineal gland. The Eastern philosophies of Yoga and Buddhism come from a completely different approach, basing their conceptions of the mind on systematic observations of inner states during meditation. In those teachings there is no particular interest or need to locate consciousness anywhere.
The key insight that came out of the Harvard studies with psychedelic drugs in the 1960s was the significance of set (intention) and setting (context) in understanding psychedelic states of consciousness. Unlike drugs that affect the functioning of one or another bodily organ, psychedelics expand the range, focus, and clarity of perception itself—the way we see reality and ourselves.
Timothy Leary used to say psychedelic drugs were potentially to psychology what the microscope was to biology and the telescope to astronomy—affording the conscious perception of ranges and levels of reality that were previously inaccessible. What we perceive through a microscope is a function of what we have put on the slide, and what we perceive through the telescope is a function of where in the night sky it is pointed. So the content of a psychedelic experience (thoughts, images, feelings, sensations) is a function of the preexisting set or intention and the chosen context or setting. The drug merely functions as a kind of catalyst and amplifier of perception.
In the graduate courses on altered states of consciousness that I taught for many years, I found it useful to expand the basic paradigm of set, setting, and catalyst to any and all states of consciousness, from the most common to the most exotic. Well-known catalysts or triggers of ASCs (besides drugs) are hypnotic inductions, meditative practices, shamanic drumming, music, nature, sex, and others, as well as the normal cyclical variations of brain chemistry that catalyze us into the sleeping or waking states. It’s also useful to apply the ASC paradigm to understand psychopathological states that are contractive, fixated, or dissociative, and have negative and toxic consequences for individuals, families, and communities—such as addictions, fear (panic attacks), rage (fits of temper), psychotic breaks or episodes, depression, mania, and others. I shall discuss such states in chapter 10.
One issue that produces uneasiness in most people when considering or discussing the concept of an “altered state” is the seeming implication that “altered” is itself abnormal. How then could we talk about ASCs being therapeutic, creative, or spiritual growth enhancing? In my courses, I’ve attempted to overcome this cognitive prejudice by pointing to the fact that all human beings are very familiar with the normal, profoundly altered variations in state we call sleeping, waking, and dreaming. Sigmund Freud said that dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious,” meaning they provide the broadest and widest access. But one could equally well say that dreams are the commoners’ road, for everyone can and does travel on that nightly passage into the realms beyond. In India the “royal path of yoga” (raja yoga) refers to the intentional use of psychological practices to liberate consciousness from its ordinary conditioning—and this path does require a certain disciplined study and application.
Some writers have attempted to overcome the negative presuppositions associated with the concept of “altered states” by proposing terms such as “alternate state,” “non-ordinary state,” or (as in a recently updated handbook of the American Psychological Association) “anomalous experiences.” But this linguistic strategy disguises the point that some alterations of state are extremely ordinary, usual, and familiar. Should “dreaming” be considered a non-ordinary state? How about being “drunk” or “depressed”—aren’t those rather ordinary, all-too-familiar states? Furthermore, some indigenous people and shamanic practitioners object that what Westerners called “non-ordinary” states or realities are to them very familiar and ordinary. There is a whole spectrum of states of consciousness, from the familiar and common to the anomalous and exotic extreme. Whether the state is normal or abnormal is, in any case, a culturally and historically relative judgment imposed on experience, and thus an academic question of no particular significance.
I finally came to understand my own lingering discomfort with the concept of “altered state,” besides the fact that it confuses the distinction between ordinary and non-ordinary states: it has to do with the passive construction “altered,” which suggests that something was done to you by an external agency. A drug-induced state seemingly supports this view. But we have to remember that normally the individual chooses to ingest the drug, whether alcohol or LSD or marijuana, for a certain purpose, and with the intention to alter their own consciousness. Similarly, a person may choose to undergo a hypnotic induction procedure to enter into a trance state in the context of psychotherapy. To deliberately alter another person’s consciousness without their knowledge or consent—for example, by surreptitious use of a drug or alcohol—is universally considered morally reprehensible and illegal.
The state transitions of everyday life can be conceived and experienced in active or passive terms. We may “go to sleep” with the conscious intention toward rest and restoration of energies, we may “fall asleep” involuntarily due to fatigue, or we may be “put to sleep,” metaphorically and literally, by a boring speaker in a lecture hall. Likewise for the opposite transition: we may “be awakened” by the alarm clock, just “wake up” spontaneously, or struggle, literally and metaphorically, against the downward pull of somnolence to become more fully conscious and alert.
In Buddhism and other spiritual teachings, what we consider our normal waking state is seen as a kind of sleep state, in which we are unconscious of our essential nature. According to such teachings, the purpose of yogic and meditative practices is to help us awaken from the somnolent, dreamlike conditions of ordinary, nonconscious existence—and awaken to our higher spiritual and creative potentials.
In order to use expansive states of consciousness constructively for increasing health, creativity, and growth, we need to be able to recognize the state we’re in at any given time, and how to navigate through it. In shamanic and alchemical divination practices, sonic driving methods such as drumming or rattling are used to facilitate accessing different states for healing, problem solving, and guidance. Yogis and meditators practice mindfulness and concentration methods in order to consciously perceive the subtler dimensions of reality.
With contractive unhealthy states, such as fear and rage, we need to identify the state we’re in and recognize how it’s affecting us as well as others with whom we may be relating. We need to learn how to navigate our way through the negative states and into healthier, life-affirming states. By becoming more conscious of the state we’re in at any given moment, we can deploy attention in different ways, enhance the range of choices we can make, and more fully take responsibility for the impact of those choices on others and in our world.