The Sociability of Sensations

1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-796
Author(s):  
John Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Social Integration ◽  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Altered State ◽  
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ◽  
The West ◽  
Meditation Technique ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
Group Belief

The following is a discussion of the possibilities for social integration presented by the interface between social and sensory experience in two groups whose interaction is based on an altered state of consciousness – ‘spiritualism’ and ‘transcendental meditation’ In spiritualism, group belief and activity are concerned with communicating with the spirits of dead relatives and others, through particular group participants or ‘mediums’. T.m. groups on the other hand are concerned with initiation and teaching in the use of a ‘mantra’, a Hindu meditation technique introduced into the West by Maharishi mahesh yogi, the movement's founder and leader. Such altered states offer a means whereby extremely individual experiences, such as those associated with psychosis and neurosis, can be acknowledged and made socially acceptable. The sensory impressions of spirit influence can take almost any form to be accepted as valid by participants, while it is a measure of the authenticity of the impressions generated during transcendental meditation that they cannot be successfully explicated. Thus the groups may be said to provide ‘acknowledgement by omission’ of participants' experience, and to represent examples of ‘sharing the unshareable’.2

The Coming Era of Time-Free Transparency

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
Nicholas Brink
Keyword(s):  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Altered State ◽  
Night Time ◽  
New Era ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Jean Gebser ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness

In his book The Ever-Present Origin, Jean Gebser describes the new era of consciousness into which we are moving as we move from the era of rational consciousness into the an era of time-free transparency. This article describes in greater detail the meaning and nature of consciousness that is time-free and transparent. Both of these features are most apparent in night-time dreams and other altered states of consciousness, features that were and are available to the shamans of both ancient and contemporary hunting-gathering cultures. A direct way of experiencing these features of this new consciousness is through the altered state of ecstatic trance as researched by the anthropologist Felicitas Goodman as described in her book Where the Spirits Ride the Wind. The induction of this altered state of consciousness is then described.

scholarly journals Moving beyond the concept of altered state of consciousness: the Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
ENRICO FACCO ◽  
Fabio Fracas ◽  
Patrizio Tressoldi
Keyword(s):  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Altered State ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Theoretical Paper ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
Ordinary Consciousness ◽  
The Mind

Aim of this theoretical paper is to review the ontological status of so-called altered states of consciousness, suggesting a revision of their common interpretation as abnormal, or anyway less-than-normal conditions. The term Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs), is described and emphasized as a new conceptual tool allowing a more comprehensive interpretation of the varieties of the normal albeit non ordinary consciousness experiences and their implications in the mind-body relationship.

scholarly journals Moving beyond the concept of altered state of consciousness: the Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs)

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-631
Author(s):  
Enrico Facco ◽  
Fabio Fracas ◽  
Patrizio Tressoldi
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Altered State ◽  
New Classification ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness

Aim of this paper is to review the state of the art of so-called altered states of consciousness, anomalous experiences, and exceptional human experiences, showing the need for reappraising the whole topic and gather them under one roof. The term Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions (NOMEs) and a new classification of non-pathological ostensibly odd phenomena is introduced, emphasizing their epistemological, transcultural and interdisciplinary implications with their huge  implications in medical and psychotherapeutical clinical practice. 

Neurotechnology in the Development of Cyber-Psychotherapy Systems for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

2017 ◽  
pp. 185-211
Author(s):  
Raul Valverde
Keyword(s):  
Transpersonal Psychology ◽  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Altered State ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
Human Psyche ◽  
Different Characteristics

Transpersonal psychotherapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. Although there are very well known techniques to induce altered state of consciousness as holotropic breathwork, Neurotechnology offers an alternative way not only to induce these states for transpersonal therapy but also to measure the level of a state of consciousness. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the main concepts of Neurotechnology and the main technologies that can be used to induce and measure altered state of consciousness for transpersonal psychotherapy and propose an architecture for a Cyber psychotherapy system that uses these technologies.

scholarly journals Divine Mania: Alteration of Consciousness in Ancient Greece by Yulia Ustinova

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 682-686
Author(s):  
Michael Grosso
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Altered State ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Alteration Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
Consummate Skill

What role did altered states of consciousness play in the life of ancient Greek society?  With consummate skill and scholarship, Yulia Ustinova answers this question in her book, Divine Mania: Alteration of Consciousness in Ancient Greece. It appears that the secret of the extraordinary creativity of the ancient Greeks was their receptivity to, and approval of, a particular altered state of consciousness they cultivated.  Mania is the name for this but it must be qualified as “god-given.” Mania is a word that touches on a cluster of concepts: madness, ecstasy, and enthusiasm, engoddedness, to use Ustinova’s more vivid coinage. It seems a paradox that this special, strange and often quite frightening state of dissociation should be so closely linked to one of the most creative civilizations.  Unlike the Roman and Egyptian, the Greek approved and recognized the value of god-inspired mania. Plato makes Socrates say in the Phaedrus that through mania we may obtain the “greatest blessings.” Whereas resistance to divine ecstasy can end in disaster, as Euripides illustrates in The Bacchants when Pentheus, a repressive authoritarian, tries to inhibit a posse of women from their ecstatic mountain dances. He is torn to shreds by his mother and her maniacal cohorts.   This mindset of the ancient Greeks may have long ago petered out, but similar tendencies are constants, expressed in one form or another, throughout history.

Neurotechnology in the Development of Cyber-Psychotherapy Systems for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

2021 ◽  
pp. 766-786
Author(s):  
Raul Valverde
Keyword(s):  
Transpersonal Psychology ◽  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Altered State ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
Human Psyche ◽  
Different Characteristics

Transpersonal psychotherapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. Although there are very well known techniques to induce altered state of consciousness as holotropic breathwork, Neurotechnology offers an alternative way not only to induce these states for transpersonal therapy but also to measure the level of a state of consciousness. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the main concepts of Neurotechnology and the main technologies that can be used to induce and measure altered state of consciousness for transpersonal psychotherapy and propose an architecture for a Cyber psychotherapy system that uses these technologies.

scholarly journals The nose and altered states of consciousness: Tascodrugites and Ezekiel

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Pilch
Keyword(s):  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Altered State ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
The Church

The Church Father Epiphanius' description of the Tascodrugite practice of placing the forefinger on the nostril during prayer call be plausibly interpreted as a strategy for inducing an altered state of consciousness (ASC). Anthropological and neurophysiological research on how this human gesture achieves such an effect which is a pan-human potential suggests a similar plausible interpretation for Ezekiel 8:17 and the experience of Jesus in the Garden on the night of his arrest (Luke 22:43-44).

Comparative Analysis of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar’s Travels to European Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Aysel KAMAL ◽  
Sinem ATIS
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Young Lady ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
The West ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
European Culture ◽  
Turkish Literature ◽  
Art And Architecture

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (1901-1962) is one of the most controversial authors in the 20th century Turkish literature. Literature critics find it difficult to place him in a school of literature and thought. There are many reasons that they have caused Tanpinar to give the impression of ambiguity in his thoughts through his literary works. One of them is that he is always open to (even admires) the "other" thought to a certain age, and he considers synthesis thinking at later ages. Tanpinar states in the letter that he wrote to a young lady from Antalya that he composed the foundations of his first period aesthetics due to the contributions from western (French) writers. The influence of the western writers on him has also inspired his interest in the materialist culture of the West. In 1953 and 1959 he organized two tours to Europe in order to see places where Western thought and culture were produced. He shared his impressions that he gained in European countries in his literary works. In the literary works of Tanpinar, Europe comes out as an aesthetic object. The most dominant facts of this aesthetic are music, painting, etc. In this work, in the writings of Tanpinar about the countries that he travelled in Europe, some factors were detected like European culture, lifestyle, socio-cultural relations, art and architecture, political and social history and so on. And the effects of European countries were compared with Tanpinar’s thought and aesthetics. Keywords: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, Europe, poetry, music, painting, culture, life

Ancient Ways

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Weinel
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Altered State ◽  
Field Recordings ◽  
Spirit World ◽  
Relevant Field ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness ◽  
And Function ◽  
Role And Function

This chapter discusses shamanism, explaining the ethos and mythology of several indigenous societies, and how these belief systems relate to the design of art and music. First, a general overview of shamanism is provided, which outlines the typical role and function of a shaman. An explanation of the shamanic visionary experience, a type of altered state of consciousness, is then provided. Following this, the chapter explores a variety of visual art from indigenous shamanic cultures, including examples from San, Native American, Huichol, Tukano, and Shipibo traditions. The sound and music of shamanic and trance cultures is also discussed, with reference to Vodou, Tukano, Mazatec, Kiowa, and Mayan examples, and relevant field recordings. Through the course of this discussion, the chapter establishes a view of how shamanic art and music invoke a sense of the spirit world, which informs the subsequent discourse of Inner Sound.

The Proximity of Other Skins

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celine Parreñas Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Other ◽  
The West ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
The Spectator ◽  
Existing Frames ◽  
The Voice

Transnational films representing intimacy and inequality disrupt and disgust Western spectators. When wounded bodies within poverty entangle with healthy wealthy bodies in sex, romance and care, fear and hatred combine with desire and fetishism. Works from the Philippines, South Korea, and independents from the United States and France may not be made for the West and may not make use of Hollywood traditions. Rather, they demand recognition for the knowledge they produce beyond our existing frames. They challenge us to go beyond passive consumption, or introspection of ourselves as spectators, for they represent new ways of world-making we cannot unsee, unhear, or unfeel. The spectator is redirected to go beyond the rapture of consuming the other to the rupture that arises from witnessing pain and suffering. Self-displacement is what proximity to intimate inequality in cinema ultimately compels and demands so as to establish an ethical way of relating to others. In undoing the spectator, the voice of the transnational filmmaker emerges. Not only do we need to listen to filmmakers from outside Hollywood who unflinchingly engage the inexpressibility of difference, we need to make room for critics and theorists who prioritize the subjectivities of others. When the demographics of filmmakers and film scholars are not as diverse as its spectators, films narrow our worldviews. To recognize our culpability in the denigration of others unleashes the power of cinema. The unbearability of stories we don’t want to watch and don’t want to feel must be borne.

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