An altered state of consciousness is a temporary situation that can allow the mind to perceive conditions beyond the structural limitations of Our Virtual Reality.
In an altered state of consciousness, it is possible to open perceptual channels that enable one to clearly receive and perceive the archetypes structured in dimensions beyond those of Our Virtual Reality; as long as such altered state of consciousness remains, everything is clear: one is able to reason, understand, interpret, and reconstruct concepts based on archetypal messages structured in other dimensions.
Unfortunately, once the mind returns to an ordinary state of consciousness, the fundamental structures that help the mind to analyse and reconstruct those same thoughts that we were able to formulate while in an altered state of consciousness are lost... after returning to an ordinary state of consciousness, almost everything perceived during this altered state of consciousness loses meaning, unless serious research is done to try to interpret what we understood in the altered state of consciousness within Our Virtual Reality.
A banal example from a geometrical perspective: supposing that in an altered state of consciousness, one can see a vector of eight spatial dimensions, which is described by eight versors; once back in an ordinary state of consciousness, we can comprehend only three of those eight spatial dimensions: it is geometrically impossible to try to visually describe the eight-dimension vector with only three versors of Our Virtual Reality.
By the archetype of a thought, we refer to basic information in its purest and primordial form.
The mind "forms" the thought starting from the archetype, gradually adding features, from the most fundamental ones which are innate to our nature, such as the colours of each part of the thought, up to subjective traits, such as the accent of the pronunciation of verbal expression of thought.
For ease of understanding, we can imagine a thought as a sphere built by the mind. The archetype is the nucleus, that is, the central part. The mind begins to build the sphere in layers, starting from the core. Among the first layers around the nucleus, the mind associates colours with the archetype. Sounds, shapes, sensations, emotions, concepts, words in various languages, pronunciations, accents and so on follow, up to the outermost layers of the sphere, that is, the subjective characteristics of the one who is formulating the thought.
Il. 10: thought structure
By "stroke of genius" we refer to that sudden spark that can arise from our thoughts; an idea or an understanding that appeared as if by chance. It can be a brilliant idea, a long-sought solution to a problem, a headache remedy, a new understanding or an inspiration that opens new doors for us.
The "stroke of genius" is passed by Spirit, whose psychic manifestation is the unconscious and part of the subconscious minds (Spirit chapter ⇒), but the Spirit is not who creates the "stroke of genius" 's archetype.
In a specific altered state of consciousness[40], Spirit "finds" the archetype of the "stroke of genius" and makes it available to the mind, or better said, to the conscious part, to Mens.
Only a prepared mind can receive and process such an archetype: such a mind must be receptive and free from ill-placed logical structures; for this reason, few people are capable of producing a "stroke of genius".
The archetype of the "stroke of genius" that comes to one's mind can have various origins, such as a master spiritual entity, which may be a Spirit of a given plant, or its origins may be a direct extrapolation from the Universal Knowledge.
However, in an ordinary individual in an ordinary state of consciousness, the mind does not even consider potential archetypes that Spirit could pass. It is for this reason that an altered state of consciousness is essential for an ordinary individual to receive a “stroke of genius”... or rather, it is a necessary but not wholly sufficient condition. As mentioned above, the person must have an excellent intuitive ability to grasp the archetypal meaning of received information, as well as mental openness to accepting it.
Note to the reader:
Ordinary and Altered (or Non-Ordinary) States of Consciousness will be defined later in the text. These States refer to certain conditions of the triad of Body, Mens, and Spirit.
While reading the following chapters, keep an eye on Fig. 12: depth of the state of consciousness in the annotation Graphic of State of Consciousness ⇒ .
We will see that an Ordinary State of Consciousness is the ideal state in which to live the experience of life; while brief, sporadic, opportunely, and properly induced Altered States of Consciousness can be important experiences for forging one's own spirituality and could help one to both build and follow their own Anandayana.
We will distinguish between Superficial Altered States of Consciousness and Deep Altered States of Consciousness.
We will see how in a Deep Altered State of Consciousness, a Stroke of Genius may arise, while for a Mystical Experience, one needs not only a deeper altered state of consciousness but also either a Meditative State of Consciousness or an Entheogenic State of Consciousness, which, whilst being very different from one another, can achieve equivalent spiritual results.
It should be noted that for forming and following one's Anandayana, there is not a requirement for spiritual experiences in Meditative or Entheogenic States of Consciousness; nevertheless, such spiritual experiences shape the individual's Anandayana, forming and fortifying a solid spirituality.
Having said that, it should be emphasised that anyone who manages to achieve a Mystical Experience through a Meditative or Entheogenic State of Consciousness undergoes a psycho-physical-spiritual upheaval that categorically deeply affects the individual's very existence.
We pass from an ordinary state of consciousness to a non-ordinary state of consciousness, also called an altered state of consciousness, when sensory perception is in any way changed and the mind is not following ordinary structures of functioning as a consequence.
There are a variety of altered states of consciousness, from the most superficial, such as during sexual intercourse, while watching certain types of advertising on television, or when we are focused on reading, up to deeper ones such as a hypnotic state, a meditative state, or a state induced by consuming certain drugs.
An altered (or non-ordinary) state of consciousness may take place in different contexts, among the most interesting of which are within the cultural, therapeutic, ludic, and spiritual spheres.
This does not mean that a deep state of altered consciousness is more useful than a more superficial altered state of consciousness.
Even if it is true that the mind has easier access to more archetypes from more distinct sources in a deep state of altered consciousness, one must consider, too, that the mind while in a deep state of altered consciousness changes one's way of formulating thoughts, and the thoughts formulated in the deep state of altered consciousness are lost, forgotten or filtered when the mind returns to an ordinary state of consciousness.
A deep altered state of consciousness unlocks the limiting barriers of Our Virtual Reality, opening up to the mind to other dimensions that it can access. After returning to an ordinary state of consciousness, one's mind struggles (or is unable) to rework those perceptions, ideas, and thoughts had in the deep altered state of consciousness.
People upon returning to the ordinary state of consciousness, commonly declare - I thought I was formulating elaborate and sophisticated thoughts during the deep altered state of consciousness, but now I don't think it was real... - but actually it was real!
It was real, but the mind was functioning in a different way, and the memories of such thoughts are untranslatable by the mind once back in an ordinary state of consciousness.
A simplistic and improbable example: suppose that in an ordinary state of consciousness, Mr. Pinco only knows the Italian language and, while experiencing a deep altered state of consciousness, he formulated logical thoughts in Greek, a language completely unknown to him. Once Mr. Pinco's mind has returned to an ordinary state of consciousness, all memories of those thoughts and concepts formulated in Greek are now inaccessible, as Mr. Pinco's mind does not have the knowledge to translate them and cannot link memories in Greek to complete meanings. Mr. Pinco might now say - ah! During the deep altered state of consciousness, I thought I knew and could think in an obscure language, but that is not possible; it was all an illusion/dream/imagination/fantasy... ".
There are various factors that determine the type altered state of consciousness depending on the type of induction. We will only deal with a few specific cases.
The most common methods of achieving a deep altered state of consciousness in the search for a "stroke of genius" are meditation and the use of entheogenic drugs (see Entheogens ⇒).
While obtaining a "stroke of genius" via meditation requires considerable effort, a lot of practice and probably a switch to a life of sobriety, the use of entheogenic drugs is simpler and more direct.
This is how The Beatles received the inspiration for Revolver and subsequent albums while taking LSD, while Dr. Kary B. Mullis states that without his hallucinogenic experiences he could never have created PCR, the invention that earned him the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1993. Shamans around the world acquire knowledge about natural plants and medicines by taking natural entheogenic drugs.
We possess tools that, when used sporadically and conscientiously, allow us to briefly experience a deep altered state of consciousness, which is a fundamental step for the spiritual awareness and spiritual growth of an individual.
Altered states of consciousness are fascinating and useful for certain purposes, but one should always keep in mind that the ordinary state of consciousness is the ideal state in which to rejoice in life, to experiment with and fully enjoy the experience of everyday existence.