As a culture, we are suffering from increasingly narrow bands of thought. How can different states of consciousness help us to expand beyond our limiting perspectives? In this episode, we will explore the value in exploring the inner self and the no-self through non-ordinary states of being.

In This Episode:

• The Divine Spectacle:
• “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” ~William Blake
• An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is generally defined as any mental state that is perceived by an individual, or an observer, as being significantly different from ‘normal’ waking consciousness.
• We look at our deep knowing that we walk in both the known and unknown worlds. Exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness allows us to build compassion, see from multiple perspectives and understand our oneness. 
• The world is better, more mysterious and more meaningful than we could possibly imagine in our waking consciousness.
• Non-ordinary states of consciousness allow for quantum leaps in our personal evolution.

• The Scared Mind:
• We are in ordinary states of consciousness 2/3 of our time, an ordinary state looks at these parameters:
  • Awareness of yourself and your surroundings – emotional, physical, mental
  • Control and automatic processes
  • You have a sense of time – or time orientation
  • Level of self-control
  • Minimized perceptual and cognitive distortions
• We look at the different brain wave states associated with different approaches to altered states of consciousness.
• We look at the value of exploring the inner self and the no-self.

It’s Worth Your Time:

• I recommend a great collection of guided meditations by Dakota Earth Cloud Walker of the Gaia Wisdom School – https://dakotaearthcloud.com/
  • Amazing guided meditation and journeys
  • High production value, great direction
• An interview with Michael Pollan on Sam Harris’ Making Sense – They explore the research from a very calculated and rational way – Michael Pollan in his 60s experienced some of these psychedelics for the first time he shares his personal experiences and the current research being done.