Altered-States-of-Consciouness (ASC): The Causes and the Impact on Society

Although not the first scholar to examine the idea of religion, Jones utilizes the concept from the study of Self Psychology in order to determine if “transformative religious experience is mature or unhealthy” (Jones 2002). In chapter 5 of his text, Jones

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

The aim of my report is to explain how the view of the afterlife in Ancient Greece has shaped works of art, books and the mentality of people. In order to do this I am going to explore how ancient Greek people saw the underworld as well as Roman people and the Renaissance period. Because Greeks saw the underworld as a dark, dreadful and gloomy place, many of the works that refer to it, either in Roman times or the Renaissance, are influenced by this view. In particular works like the Odyssey by Homer or The Phaedo by Plato, explained to a certain level the structure of the afterlife in ancient Greece. These two pieces of literature severely influenced works like the book VI of the Aeneid by Virgil where he depicts the underworld referencing to the Greek point of view. But a deeper description of the underworld is given by Dante in his Divine Comedy where he uses Virgil as his guide, from the depths of hell to the Purgatory while Beatrice, Dante’s ideal woman, guides him through heaven. All these time periods shared the idea of the underworld as being a place where souls pay the sins they committed during their lives.

Plutarch presented history through biographical stories of the people that were important and influential during the time period he wished to address. However, after having read some of his work, one realizes that Plutarch inserts his own personal opinion and views of the people at hand into the factual documentation of their lives. For example, in The Life of Crassus, Plutarch expresses a general dislike and negative view of the man, but in The Life of Caesar he portrays the life through a lens of praise. It also seems that he uses his opinions of the people that he writes about to subtly extend moral lessons to the reader. What follows is a further isolation of Plutarch's opinions and

In Phaedo and the The Odyssey, the main characters, Socrates and Odysseus, provide examples of different lifestyles. When conversing with his followers for the last time, Socrates’s thoughts demonstrate his views on the life of a philosopher. Comparatively, Odysseus lives the life of an epic hero aiming to return home. In their respective stories, both characters confront death, either their own or another character’s. Due to the developments in Phaedo and The Odyssey, I will argue that people's views of the afterlife stand as the main determination for how they believe they should live their lives.

Although these cases are common in the east and among native populations, the west also has its share of similar experiences. The Abrahamic religions that dominate the west tend not to accept reincarnation, but rather in “afterlives” where the soul goes to live eternally after leaving the body. Additionally, some religions do not have any belief in a soul or consciousness at all, concluding instead that whatever we are dies along with the physical body. Regardless, past life accounts happen even in these populations. Research done in European societies found that the essential features of these cases are very similar to the ones found in Asia, Africa, and among some Native American groups. Some of these similarities include very young age,

Prior to understanding and describing religious experiences, it’s important to define the terms and typology of religious experiences. A point of contention for theologians is whether or not mystical or out-of-body experiences are religious in nature. To understand what the role religion plays in these experiences, for this context, you must define and understand what religion is and the major components that make it up. James states that religion “cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name” (35). If you were to ask someone about the essence of an object or a concept, different people would provide various components or parts of it. You would end up of with a list ranging from objective and subjective responses, but it would provide a better understanding of it because, like religion, no one thing or person can be summed up in a sentence or a word.

Abstract: Myths are symbolic representations of the innermost aspects of life and the spiritual underpinnings of the religions. Numerous mythological stories depict the journey of self, both inwardly and outwardly. Myths preserve that journey of ultimate destiny of every individual which reveals timeless truth. Mythologies of different cultures speak about the hero’s journey both inwardly and outwardly which lead to spiritual growth. The hero departs from this world and goes through the wilderness of unconscious and returns to the society of being strong and self-aware in spirit. This research paper describes the set of concepts known as “The Hero’s Journey” drawn from the depth of psychology of Carl G.Jung and mythic studies of Joseph Campbell. It tries to relate those ideas to contemporary story telling which evolve from our innermost selves and our most distant past. Joseph Campbell described the hero’s journey as monomyth in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). Hero’s journey is a hand book of life which gives instructions in the art of being human. It is not an invention but an observation. It recognizes a set of

The tale of Plato’s Er in the republic is a tale of a hero who is the son of Armenius. Er was a soldier

According to Collins English Dictionary an our of body experience is defined as “a vivid feeling of being detached from one's body, usually involving observing it and its environment from nearby” Many include visions of passed loved ones in their accounts of their experience. But what is the reason we have these experiences? some argue that it is merely the lack of oxygen reaching your brain and your body going into shock. Others argue that it is proof of a God and/or the afterlife. Many come out of these experiences “reborn” and very religious, if they weren’t already. This in not the case for everyone, myself included, but why is that, if it is a religious omen, as is claimed by many? Only about 10% of the population has had an Out of Body

These experiences can be appraised and received as either shamanistic; passed down from a supernatural authority, or schizophrenic; likely the result of a massive dysfunction of the frontal cortex.

ASCs are not institutionalized in western psychiatry, experiencing any form of hallucination is considered to be a psychotic disorders. This view, however, is not shared cross-culturally. “The ethnocentric tendency to regard unusual ASCs with suspicion and skepticism, a view held by Western scientists and laypeople alike, limits our understanding of normal and altered states of awareness (Ward,

However, a criticism of the Good Friday experiment, (1962), is the type of questions used in the questionnaire, in which it asks participants about their loss of conscious state. For example, in two of the questions used to regulate the presence of a sense of unity only needed participates to rate the degree to which they felt they had lost their sense or experienced a loss of their own identity. The problem with these types of questions is that it’s very weak because participants can give a high rating without actually experiencing anything to do with mystical experience (Doblin, 1991).

Spirituality and religion play a significant role in shaping the lives of individuals. Regardless of whether you follow the practices of an organized religion, simply believe in the spiritual life force or claim to not ascribe to religious or spiritual traditions, all of these paths affect the way an individual interacts with the world around them. One of the major influences of religion or spirituality is on one’s ability to cope with difficult situations. Whether it is the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, religion and spirituality can have monumental effects on how the individual responds to stressful or traumatic

Following the death of my beloved dog and the trauma that besets any child, the quest to learn more about the afterlife began. While some viewed it as a morbid fascination, I knew that the trajectory of my life had been determined! When loss expressed itself again in the tragic death of a very special friend, in my early twenties, the sheer intensity of my emotions found release in fiery explosions of haikus and cinquains. Gibran, Rumi and Tagore also brought solace to a soul yearning to make sense of it all, in the dying embers of each day