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Altered states of consciousness. Conversation between Vladimir Kucherenko and Alexander Gordon.
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Eduard Sagalaev’s conversation with ISS enthusiasts
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An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is a special, unusual state of consciousness for a person, noticed by him and others.
Alcohol intoxication is a typical ASC.
The normal states of consciousness are waking, dreaming and deep sleep. But hypnosis and trance are sometimes referred to as natural, normal states of consciousness, but more often — to ASC.
According to V.A. Petrovsky, ASC differs from clear consciousness in that it is impossible to have a clear self-reflection, “trace after trace” that accompanies a person’s actions and the dynamics of his mental states. In a clear consciousness, a person can “go back” in his self-reflection, and go through the past again, but in ASC this is impossible. In ISS, reflection and self-reflection are irreversible, that is, a person cannot “return to the past” in order to go through the path again.
In ASC, a person feels “completely different”: sometimes it pleases, as an opportunity for self-renewal, sometimes it terrifies (fear of losing oneself), for some it’s just for fun. The sense of time is lost, the usual conceptual thinking is disturbed, a person more often lives in images and feelings. He can feel himself both a flower and a pterodactyl, dive into his past and look into the future of mankind, and all this will be a real reality for him …
Short-term experiences of ASC are a characteristic property of the consciousness and psyche of healthy people. Altered states can be caused by completely different triggers and may or may not be related to pathology.
Most often, to achieve ASC I use chemistry: ethyl alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Frequent and repetitive ASCs without the use of drugs are usually referred to as psychiatry, but many hours of collective dances of savages under the guidance of a shaman, group sexual orgies, loss of pain sensation during a furious fight are examples of ASCs where there are no drugs and people are basically mentally healthy.
Do people need altered states of consciousness?
When it is a form of trance with which psychosomatics is treated, the use of ASC is understandable and justified. When it is a form of entertainment for mystically oriented people, it seems like a dangerous folly. ASC lovers often use a strong influence on the body: sleep deprivation, extreme sports, holotropic breathing, during which oxygen poisoning of the brain occurs …
Do you need it and why — think for yourself while you are in a normal, not an altered state of consciousness.
Mystics about an altered state of consciousness
“In a state of altered consciousness, a person plunges into worlds that are not subject to the usual state of consciousness. Many writers and researchers have pointed out that all existing reality is not limited to what we can see, hear and feel in our ordinary state of consciousness.
Ordinary waking consciousness is a very useful and in most cases non-exceptional state of mind; but it is by no means the only form of consciousness, nor is it the best in all circumstances. Because the mystic transcends his ordinary self and his ordinary mode of awareness, he is able to expand his vision, to look deeper into the inconceivable wonder of existence.
Mystical experience is doubly valuable; it is valuable because it gives the experiencer a better understanding of himself and the world, and because it can help him lead a less self-contained and more creative life.
… our ordinary waking consciousness … is just one particular kind of consciousness, while all around us, behind the thinnest veil, are the potential possibilities of a completely different consciousness … just make an effort, and we will feel that they are nearby … Not a single description of the Universe in its entirety cannot be final if it does not take these other forms of consciousness into account. It all depends on how one considers them, for they are not extensions of ordinary consciousness. They expand the range of perception, although they do not provide ready-made descriptions; they open up new spaces but don’t offer their maps.» (taken from true-lie.nm.ru)