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Rediscovering Wonder
But that hasn’t kept our media from speculating, “Could this be the next gateway drug? Do you want your teenagers exploring altered states of consciousness?” At the risk of damping down the hysteria, I’d like to suggest that there is no such thing as an “altered state of consciousness.” The reason is that there is no such thing as a standard or “normal” state of consciousness from which we can be “altered.” In the course of a normal day we human beings slip into and out of many different types of awareness. Some of these can be so powerful that we can become oblivious even to life and death situations; which means that a good book could be considered a GATEWAY DRUG! “Parents! Do you really want your teenagers to be reading!?” Have you ever driven on an Interstate and suddenly realized that you’ve traveled 50 miles past your exit with no memory of where you’ve been? If so, then you know we all have the capacity to leave awareness of this physical world and to disappear into the virtual landscape of our mind. “Parents! Do not let your children drive!” The list of constantly altering states is endless: sleep, daydreaming, creative flow, rage, infatuation, paranoia, meditation, stargazing, intimate conversation, doing taxes, intuition, changing the oil on your car, playing touch football, getting a massage, changing diapers, guidance, boredom, imagination. There is no such thing as a “normal” state of consciousness. We are designed to move with grace through an endless array of possible perspectives. Much like breathing, we are so good at it we hardly notice it. The real question is not whether we engage altered states of consciousness - our awareness is altering all the time. Rather, the truly essential issue is “How much of the spectrum of awareness we are willing to explore?” This is where contemporary western society has become tragically impoverished. Because of our preoccupation with the physical world, we have outlawed most types of consciousness that can’t be used to make money. We have narrowed the breathtaking scope of human capability to an arid band that can be described as “focused intent.” That is the state of awareness that knows how to seize physical reality by the throat and to squeeze every drop of productivity and efficiency from each minute of passing time. Our heroes are the titans of industry and finance. Their badge of accomplishment is the Rolex watch. Our schools are designed to celebrate this type of awareness as music and art programs are cut in favor of standardized testing. The result? A population that feels something is missing deep within the soul. What is missing is the experience of wonder that emerges when we dare to extend our perception beyond the fringes of western society’s acceptable limits. These are domains that go by names such as: Nirvana, Samadhi, The Kingdom of Heaven, Near Death Experience, Enlightenment, Out of Body Experience, Reverence, the Sacred, The Great Spirit, Love, The Mystery, and The All. In neglecting these essential and quite normal aspects of being we find ourselves constantly in search of meaning. We know we are not whole, but we don’t understand why. As long as we insist that the only legitimate states of awareness are those that can be tied to economic gain, meaning will always remain beyond our reach. The irony is that we live under the illusion that such productive states of consciousness are possible for extended periods of time. They are not. Unless in a state of creative flow, even the most efficient among us can rarely spend more than a sliver of time in that efficient state before slipping into an interior reverie. We are simply not designed to maintain such narrow focus. Yet we pretend it is the norm and extol it as the goal. So again the question: “How much of the spectrum of consciousness are we willing to explore?” Keep it too narrow and the loss will be felt intuitively, meaning will remain elusive, and teenagers will always be looking for the next high to expand beyond artificial limits. Ancient societies knew that human perception is capable of extending far beyond the physical world. It was the job of the seer, the guru, or the priest to enter into those realms on behalf of their people. Their spectrum of awareness was virtually limitless and so there was no need to search for meaning in life. The metaphysical world was filled with wonder and the physical landscape was magical. It is true those worlds were also filled with superstition and fear. And that is why we are in a unique position. Our preoccupation with “focused intent” has had the benefit of freeing us from the tyranny of capricious gods as we have developed the rational mind. But if we pretend that the rational mind is the “be all and end all” then we have missed a shining opportunity to discover wonder in a whole new way. Now, for the first time, we are being invited to employ the rational mind in the exploration of human consciousness. That means entering into the vast spectrum of constantly altering states of awareness with the intent of exploring the farthest reaches of human perception. Somewhere over the rainbow lies the domain of wonder that is wide and vast beyond imagination. The longing we feel is but an invitation. Welcome to OZ. Paul Rademacher graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree in 1985 and served as a Presbyterian pastor for 15 years. Currently he is Executive Director of The Monroe Institute, in Faber, Virginia, world-renowned for the exploration of human consciousness. www.monroeinstitute. org. Paul is the author of A Spiritual Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe (Hampton Roads, 2009). |
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It amuses me to no end
that we live in a culture
that is so hysterical about
avoiding altered states of consciousness.
In a recent article I
noted how the news media has
whipped up frenzy over the use
of “digital drugs” by our youth.
These audio concoctions,
delivered via head phones,
claim to deliver highs similar to
heroin, LSD or cocaine. It’s all
hype and nonsense designed to
separate the curiously gullible
from their money.