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Consciousness East and West
Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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May 10, 2018
This book was written in the late 1970's when there began to be a lot of interest and various practices around altered states of consciousness. The authors are academic (psychologists) and it is written for professional psychologists so it can be fairly jargony. Despite the jargon, there are a lot of interesting and good ideas in the book.
One point they made that I thought was particularly interesting is that the infant's first move away from sensory inputs is that the sensory interchanges with his mother eventually result in the expressions and gestures of the mother become the first level of symbolism of the deeper relationship for the baby. This then provides the basis for the next level of symbolism: language. This is a very interesting and important thought to consider in child development.
The authors outline 20 altered states of consciousness: 1. dreaming state, 2. sleeping state, 3. hypnagogic state, 4. hypnopompic state, 5. hyperalert state, 6. lethargic state, 7. state of rapture, 8. state of hysteria, 9. state of fragmentation, 10. regressive state, 11. meditative state, 12. trance state, 13. reverie, 14. daydreaming state, 15. internal scanning, 16. stupor, 17. coma, 18. stored memory, 19. "expanded" conscious state, and 20. normal waking consciousness.
The authors then go on to discuss in detail schizophrenic altered states, drug-induced altered states, hypnosis, and meditation altered states. One of the takeaways from this book is that increased relaxation with techniques like meditation and biofeedback are important aids in achieving therapeutic aims, both psychological and physical.
One point they made that I thought was particularly interesting is that the infant's first move away from sensory inputs is that the sensory interchanges with his mother eventually result in the expressions and gestures of the mother become the first level of symbolism of the deeper relationship for the baby. This then provides the basis for the next level of symbolism: language. This is a very interesting and important thought to consider in child development.
The authors outline 20 altered states of consciousness: 1. dreaming state, 2. sleeping state, 3. hypnagogic state, 4. hypnopompic state, 5. hyperalert state, 6. lethargic state, 7. state of rapture, 8. state of hysteria, 9. state of fragmentation, 10. regressive state, 11. meditative state, 12. trance state, 13. reverie, 14. daydreaming state, 15. internal scanning, 16. stupor, 17. coma, 18. stored memory, 19. "expanded" conscious state, and 20. normal waking consciousness.
The authors then go on to discuss in detail schizophrenic altered states, drug-induced altered states, hypnosis, and meditation altered states. One of the takeaways from this book is that increased relaxation with techniques like meditation and biofeedback are important aids in achieving therapeutic aims, both psychological and physical.
Displaying 1 of 1 review