Consciousness and Altered States

Abstract Among life’s biggest questions—up there with the origins of the universe—is: Why and how are people aware at all? The sense of awareness, or what is commonly called “phenomenal consciousness,” or just consciousness, is not currently understood by scientists. Scientists do, of course, understand many of the contents of consciousness, such as mental processes like perceptions, thoughts, and emotions, and a bit about “altered states of consciousness” as seen throughout this book. The scientific study of spiritual experience intersects with the topic of consciousness in several places, and this chapter examines spiritual experience in regard to two broad aspects of consciousness: (1) altered states of consciousness and (2) beliefs about the nature of consciousness itself. This chapter also examines the questions related to consciousness that the scientific study of spiritual experience likely cannot address and which may remain a mystery.