Call it what you will, an altered state of consciousness, or an altered state of mind or mind alteration…call it what you want, but it is any condition which is significantly different from what the ‘experts’ call a normal waking beta wave state, whatever that is...I surmise that refers to a regular state of mind…in the stuffy world of academia, the expression was used as early as the mid-1960’s…the term describes changes in one's mental state, a deviation from the norm so to speak...these deviations are almost always temporary in nature, but not always…sometimes, some people will refer to an "altered state of awareness"…these altered states can be quite accidental in nature, or they may be intentionally produced...taking some medication which unknowingly causes this effect would be an example of an accidental change of state...sometimes during meditation, this can also take place...the use of drugs, something like taking LSD would be knowingly done to create an intentional state...an altered state of consciousness allows one to go beyond...beyond what is normally experienced...beyond what is thought to be possible...to take in those experiences...to find one’s self in a state of animation...a feeling of liveliness that one can’t find in the everyday...a spirit of vivacity that bubbles out like a ripple in a pond...it is touching another world, another plane.
