Altered States of Consciousness

What is consciousness?

Who am I? 

Such a simple question, answers ranging from a microcosmic to macrocosmic nature, answers could be 'I am Richard Fuentes' to 'I am everything.' To answer, we must first be aware since awareness is where we cultivate our sentience.

"Life is all about you and not at all about you.

Now, that's two opposing thoughts, and yet both of them are true.

How can you experience everything you choose to do.

While observing the experience you're having from a higher view.

See, it's the question, not the answer, that's the higher view.

Otherwise, you couldn't differentiate between the two.

Awareness? But of who?

You think you hurt me, but I promise I was letting you.

They say we're all one, but where have we been headed to

I'd rather die free than have to live inside a petting zoo.

I am the journey that I'm getting to"

("Good Life" by ZHU)

Help yourself before helping others. When you perform at your best, you can help much more. Many people forget that there is a bigger picture than the limited screen or lens they see through. Your perspective is just a point on a sphere of awareness composed of collective consciousness. 

Back to the beginning questions, who am I? Is it the world we're born into that defines us? Is it our actions that define us? Our thoughts? Or is it the observer watching all of these unfold at once. We have free will to do what we want, but our experience and others' influence limit our identity. So how can we be sure we are who we think we are? We are born into this world like a dry sponge waiting to soak everything up as soon as we leave the womb. There is great debate on whether nature or nurture is responsible for someone's outcomes. The argument's framework could be seen as a dichotomy trap, as realizing the duality of nature vs. nurture is eye-opening because both are wheels turning on the same bicycle. We can say the same about the ongoing philosophical argument of whether or not Life is predestined or if we choose our fate. Awareness is an overlooked variable.

We have our ideas or daydreams of how life could be, and depending on what it throws at us, we meet at a compromise with reality. How we maneuver through our circumstances defines who we are. It should not matter where you are in life but how far you have come. Aspects of nature and nurture are sometimes fixed for certain people, whether genetically or socioeconomically. We are given our respective human bodies and sent into life to fend for ourselves. In the most subtle ways, our identity is fundamental to how we act, perceive, and think. For example, someone with a darker complexion might not have the same views as someone with a lighter skin complexion, whether it be because of how their actions are perceived, what they've heard, and what they have experienced. It could be easy to say sexism doesn't exist in modern America, but my own identity as a male limits me. Awareness is the key to compassion because you must be aware of others suffering to relate with them. With awareness, our dreams can be remembered and aligned with our purpose.

We have control over some aspects of our life, but to what extent?

Awareness gives us the ability to notice patterns, big and small, and it helps you realize that every action you take in the present is either getting you closer to what you want in life or further from it. Everything repeats itself. Surrendering to your circumstance can work against your goals or with them, depending on how you execute them. I have learned from Taoism ideals that you can go against the wind like a bird, but you will be less tired if you go with the wind and use it to your advantage. Striving toward your internal imagined reality is good, but we can't be so consumed that we are upset if life doesn't unfold how we want it. We must stay efficient in how we deal with our circumstances. Consciousness is all-encompassing. Yet is limited by our understanding.

What are the types of altered states?

In life, we continuously cycle through the various Altered States Of Consciousness. The changes in our normal state of consciousness can be induced by trauma, through meditation, drugs, or even food. As we have learned, across various cultures, there often involves some sort of alteration in states of consciousness to enter other realms of being. There are many different routes to alter your state of consciousness, but the map is unclear. Is it a gradient 3-d scale or a 2-d spectrum? There are many theories, but we can apply general physics and assume that we see less than one percent of the electromagnetic spectrum and hear less than one percent of the acoustic. So obviously, there are other forces at play that we aren't immediately aware of. Other than using technology, how else can we access these extra dimensions? 

First, we base most of our emotions and decisions on our default mode network; our normal brain thought patterns. When at a basal state where nothing is going on, your default mode network is at a set complexity. Depending on a given situation, our nervous system is capable of time dilation. In frightening situations where it may be beneficial to perceive time as slower to evade a threat, our brains will ignite the sympathetic nervous system going into overdrive, making us more receptive to stress. To get out of that state, we use the opposite parasympathetic nervous system to relax our bodies. When we are under the influence of alcohol, our neurons are inhibited, and we are unable to process at our full capabilities, but it gets more complex with what types of neurons get fired. The neurons associated with higher experiences of consciousness are the serotonin receptors; these are used mainly for mood, memory processing, sleep, and cognition. Looking at it from a constructivist's point of view, these receptors and the thoughts and information associated with this pathway throughout the brain are indicative of social or cultural implications on having a role in explanation for the phenomenon as these are where those schemas would be stored. But there must be something deeper.

Throughout my career as a student, I have picked up bits of odd information, seeking an explanation. In my junior year of high school, I was told about the occurrence of aboriginal bone structures and what sets us apart from them, and one thing that always tripped me up was that they could sense a shift in weather amongst other achievements from heightened awareness. The aborigines were said to have predated the modern human, which makes us speculate whether or not they have died off due to an evolutionary drop-off. They could have been more in tune with the world frequency or vibration. We interact with these waves every day as we use them to think and transition into sleep in our own systems. Normally we function in the alpha and beta waves. 

Open Your Third Eye

Opening your third eye opens your mind to new perceptions of our reality. By giving another dimension of perception, we can grasp previously unlocked knowledge. We may be familiar with a concept called shamanism when a shaman travels from one plane of existence to another to access knowledge unattainable in a normal state of consciousness. They use this knowledge or awareness to sometimes direct into healing purposes. There are many variations of this going on, so it is hard to focus solely on one practice; drums, drugs, or possession can induce trances. Shamanism can very much be seen as an altered state of consciousness but is it equivalent to opening one's third eye? In order to have a say in the conversation, we must be able to analyze the experience as it could be similar if not parallel to the third eye-opening experience. Third-eye-opening experiences may give the person a transcended point of view, leading to greater insight into a facet of problems leading back to an underlying issue. Opening the third eye is having a high sense of oneself, which leads to a sense of direction for one's purpose. In many other traditions, the sixth or third eye chakra is responsible for perceiving and evaluating information, tapping into higher wisdom. Many associate the third eye with the pineal gland, which is biologically essential for producing melatonin, an important endogenous chemical responsible for sleep and may even be responsible for our dreams. 

There are many explanations for dreams, and most revolve around repressed subconscious beliefs bubbling up to us in memorable bite-sized narratives that could sometimes feel more real than actual reality. Going back to what dreams actually are, they only occur in the stages of REM sleep, in which products are often produced at delta and theta waves of neural oscillation. Sleep is extremely important for our health, and a range of explanations for why we sleep exist mainly most of these designate the purpose is for health and regeneration of any damaged cells. It could also be seen as a method for us to get in touch with our subconscious and address issues that may need to be resolved. It should be noted that in some cases, such as the ingestion and experience of taking ayahuasca or dimethyltryptamine, a brief yet powerful experience, there seems to be parallel and overlapping brain waves within both dreaming and hallucinating. Entering certain altered states of consciousness through means of outer substance is common. Some shamans prefer using medicinal substances as an assistant or catalyst for self-realizations from a higher dimension. The astral planes or extra-dimensions are within the dimensions we navigate, but an extra sense of perception is needed to perceive it. With that said, because we perceive a minuscule amount of the electromagnetic spectrum, we can't reasonably deny that our existence isn't being affected by factors outside of our perception. 

Lucid dreaming is gaining the ability of sentience and awareness within a dream where usually you are the passenger. Similar to waking up from a dream within a dream. In Waking Life, the same concept may apply when opening your third eye. Imagine, after being unaware of your actions, you start to question and then shape them to your benefit. Opening your third eye is continuously working to increase your awareness. 

Comparing Schools of Thought: Constructivism & Perennialism

Generally, there seems to be a consensus that the mind and body are what contribute to our human experience, but modern society doesn't see the significance of the spirit. The distrust in governing bodies like the church mixed with the government sometimes perpetuated the split between science and spirituality. Now that we don't rely on religion to explain natural phenomena, we may have a liberated perspective, but it might have also bred a void or a missing piece of human experience, the spiritual piece that completes us. 

We may interact with our spiritual side unknowingly, such as when coincidences all seem too miraculous, near-death experiences, or meditative occurrences. Maybe we feel like we've been able to tell the future or exhibit some sort of clairvoyance; it could be explained by two different schools of thought: constructivism and perennialism. Social construction is applied to many different topics, and if it had a core idea, it would be that some things or things are controlled by social or cultural aspects rather than naturalist ones and that we are somehow in control of them. Naturalists are those who look to explain occurrences, even those of the spiritual context, in terms of nature being responsible and solely that, nothing supernatural.

Constructivism explains that the cultural experiences we have absorbed as preconceived notions become implied onto neurological phenomena, explaining why Christians have experiences involving the trinity, Buddhists with nirvana, Catholics with the virgin mary, and so on. From a constructivist's point of view, the explanation for spiritual or mystical experience is boiled down and almost denounced as a phenomenon not going past the experience, which is very limiting when it comes to integrating any insights that may have been had. Constructivism is innately handicapped, as its ability to describe abnormal mystical states is limited by the ineffability of the subjective experience and their long-lasting results. Some things just can't be put into words. Therefore synthesizing the experience into a limited medium like words is one-dimensional compared to the actual experience, which could contain sevenfold layers.

On the other hand, we have perennialism, which is the school of thought dedicated to not denouncing experiences and seeing them as their own version of the universal truth that there is a higher power, and it takes many different forms when interacting with us humans. Perrenialists see the experience someone might have as a true union with the divine, or experience of universal consciousness, or some other sort of absolute principle. Although it may not be as popular in a world where naturalistic reasoning for the extra-ordinary gives the comfort needed to be at ease, I believe that in actuality, there is so much more that can't be described by naturalistic thoughts or mindsets, it may make many uncomfortable, but it is nonetheless important. 

Science, Medicine, and Spirituality

Well, recent studies have attempted to show the effects of consciousness on reality and make connections between present-day science and spirituality that have been around us since who knows when. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has made it his duty to advance spirit-science dichotomies and has even been involved in a branch of psychology labeled parapsychology, which is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, as in telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis) and other paranormal claims, for example, related to near-death experiences, synchronicity, apparitional experiences, etc. One interesting finding of his which has significant weight is the morphic resonance, which proposes that knowledge is innate and within all of us. This is responsible for many unexplainable factors of consciousness, such as communication across the globe through unknown means of communication. This leads us to the common connection between a species and consciousness. Like how were civilizations able to create similar artifacts without traveling to visit each other? There has to be a connecting factor. But having this connection implies that some people are more connected with it than others, so how should we attempt to unite with this all-knowingness, if it is even a desired state to be in. Morphic resonance complements the ideas of sir C.G. Jung in his work of the collective unconscious as well as supporting ideas of the constructivist outlook. The collective unconscious seeks to explain universally shared ideas, thoughts, or attitudes towards something that is an experience common to a social group or society. To Jung, the collective human unconscious is composed of instincts and archetypes that are products of our way of living and thinking. Our instincts are innate, and sometimes animals even exhibit similar instincts. Our archetypes are species specific so having a grandpa, a mother-in-law, etc. To be connected with the collective unconscious is to be connected with all the suffering and understand what is going on. 

How have altered states influenced society/history?

Without a doubt, animalistic instincts have affected the course of our history, and as we progress through the line of time, natural instinct seems to be something we return to often, from scandals to the inability to control one's fight or flight impulses, etc. Humans have been around for a while, and the evolution of consciousness is unclear, but a strange theory hypothesizes that what changed our course of humanity was the ingestion of a psychoactive substance that catalyzed thought formation and thought structure, or the stoned-ape theory. There is not much evidence to support this claim besides the minuscule benefits present-day entheogens contain, but the theory still leads us to wonder, where are we going? The soul is said to embody a human and is said to be immortal, but who's to say animals or plants don't have souls. For our terms, we regard God as an all-encompassing form. This diagram below exhibits the soul's difference from an Aristotelian point of view. The vegetative soul is capable of reproduction and growth, while the animalistic sensitive soul is responsible for mobility and sensation, and finally, the rational soul embodied by humans is capable of thought and reflection.

This is a predated model, of course, but the idea leads to the question of what is beyond the rational soul. However, there has been self-sabotage like our own infatuation with alcohol or other substances inhibiting brain function. Researching the transcendence of consciousness in human civilizations, the last closest thing we had to a transcendent type of experience for humanity was in the 60s and 80s when more empathy for each other was cultivated, and more questions about how people were living were raised. During these ages, artistic expression was booming, which could be associated with better access to the third eye. We are capable of so much, and if our energy is focused in the right places, we can go very far. From an evolutionary standpoint, we can speculate what will be next. Are we going to be able to read each other's minds or teleport through reality? Who knows. But one thing for sure is that change is inevitable. 

Modern technology is a factor we must consider when considering if we are evolving for the better or, the worse. Is technology helping or hindering our existence by creating an unneeded form of unnatural dependence on it to survive and thrive in life? In one way or another, all animals or living things depend on another factor to exist; this is the dualism I mentioned earlier. 

Technology should be making life easier, but inadvertently, it makes it more complicated. It may be in our best interest to slowly wean away from the constant reliance on technology, so we may gradually hone our independence. 

Conclusion

The future for consciousness is unclear, but a vision is in place; in a higher dimension, we will have more freedom to experience more senses, perceive more colors, hear more sounds, and even perceive unimaginable concepts. We might be overzealous in saying that union with God or universal consciousness is the ultimate experience of all senses, but this is our baseline for maximum awareness. In the future, our offspring may have heightened awareness, or they could have a limited understanding propelled by generations of neglecting our natural talents. One can only hope we are growing intellectually and not shriveling up. 

We must preserve and support the growth of our unitary consciousness.