Transpersonal Experiences and Altered States of Consciousness

Transpersonal Experiences, Modified States of Consciousness, and the Use of Psychoactive Substances El as Capriles (Venezuela)

1. Transpersonal experiences: distinguishing three main types A key shortcoming of transpersonal and integral psychologies is that they fail to distinguish between transpersonal and holotropic-and/or-holistic states of radically different signs:

1a. Transpersonal, perfectly holistic states of nonstatic nirva: Buddhahood, rigpa (rig pa): In them the true condition of ourselves and whole universe is perfectly, directly unconcealed for there is none of the types of unawareness and delusion that the Dzogchen teachings distinguish in that which the Buddha called avidy : there is neither a beclouding of the true condition by an element of stupefaction (Tib. mongcha: rmongs cha) or a distortion of it by the subject-object duality or other types of perception in terms of concepts. Moreover, in them spontaneous selfless, nonconceptual activities achieve the purposes of self and others. Example in terms of the life of Buddha kyamuni: his condition after Awakening.

1b. Transpersonal, quasi-holistic state in which sasra is not yet actively functioning: This is the neutral condition of the base-of-all (Tib. kunzhi lungmaten [kun gzhi lung ma bstan]), which is free from the subject-object duality and from perception in terms of concepts, yet involves an innate unawareness of the true condition (Tib. gyu dagnyi chikpai marigpa [rgyu bdag nyid gcig pa i ma rig pa]) due to a beclouding by the already mentioned element of stupefaction (mongcha). As Dzogchen Master Jigme Lingpa prophesized, the danger involved is that in our time it will be mistaken for the dharmak ya which is the Mind aspect of Buddhahood i.e., of nonstatic nirv a. In terms of the life of Buddha kyamuni, this corresponds to the absorption in which he rested right before Awakening.

1c. Transpersonal and holotropic states pertaining to active sa s ra: the formless absorptions and realms: In them the figure-ground distinction disappears yet there is a seemingly separate mental subject that identifies with the ensuing infinitude and derives subtle pride and a sense of power from this. In terms of the life of Buddha kyamuni, this corresponds to the achievements of the two successive teachers he followed after renouncing his princely life.

2. Modified states of consciousness: challenging the prevailing view 2a. Sa sk ta and asa sk ta The term sa sk ta, which subsumes the notions of produced, contrived, conditioned, composite, constructed and modified, refers to all that is born from causes and conditions or from interdependent arisings and that that is therefore impermanent, subject to suffering, and pertaining to cyclic existence sa s ra. This term is contrasted with asa sk ta, which subsumes the notions of unproduced, uncontrived, unintentional, unconditioned, uncomposite, unconstructed and unmodified and within which the higher forms of Buddhism include only:

i (i) conditions of nonstatic nirv a such as Buddhahood and rigpa, and (ii) the true condition that is unconcealed in nonstatic nirv a. The nature of all that is asa sk ta is reflected in the etymology of the Tibetan word naljor (rnal byor): Nalma (rnal ma) means unmodified condition of something, whereas jyorwa ( byor ba) means to possess yet in this term has the acceptation of directly realizing beyond concepts.

2b. The saskta and the ubiquitous unawareness and delusion called avidy The sa sk ta is all that is affected by the ubiquitous unawareness and delusion called avidy and that therefore pertains to sa s ra: We begin with an innate unawarenessof the asa sk ta, unmodifiedcondition produced by the already mentioned element of stupefaction (mongcha), and then active sa s ra is produced when the contents of thought, which are digital and thus discontinuous, are endowed with an illusion of truth, absoluteness and value which is what here I will abridge as potentiation of the contents of thought and hence the sensory territory, which is analog and as such continuous, is distorted upon being perceived in terms of digital and as such discontinuous, potentiatedconcepts as being in itself discontinuousand as involving substantial duality and plurality. According to the Dzogchen teachings the above is produced by three or four types or aspects of avidy :

i (i) The innate unawareness of the asa sk ta, unmodified condition produced by the already mentioned element of stupefaction which pervades the whole of our experience, and which is also manifest in the passively samsaric condition of the base-of-all in which absorption for a significant length of time can only be achieved if it is produced by meditative self-conditioning. (ii) The discontinuity introduced by the subject-object duality that ontogenetically we develop when we are infants due to the potentiation of the supersubtle thought called the threefold directional thought-structure (Skt. trima ala / Tib. khorsum [ khor gsum]) which conceives a subject, an experience or an action or a thinking, etc., and an object.

i (iii) The discontinuity produced by the potentiationof subtle / intuitive potentiated thought (Skt. arthas m nya; Tib. d nchi [don spyi]) which as a result of the process of conditioning in the family, the school and the whole of society makes us experience everything in terms of one or another potentiated thought and thus be under the illusion that each figure that we single out is inherently separate and that it is the concept that we apply to it which yields the illusion of a multiplicity of substantial entities and that, when also coarse / discursive thoughts (Skt. abdas m nya; Tib. drachi [sgra spyi]) are potentiated, produces another discontinuity as discursive thoughts are felt to be inherently true or false. (iv) Finally, sa s ra is perfected as the suffering inherent in active sa s ra is eluded by means of double phenomenological negations: in same operation something is negated, and it is negated that something is negated, as in the case of the self-deceit Sartre called Bad Faith and Laing named elusion and hence less distressful states are produced that, the more pleasant and gratifying, the more unauthentic and deceitful they are.

2c. The energetic-volume-determining-the-scope-of- awareness (Tib. thig le, somewhat akin to Skt. ku alin ) According to Tantric bioenergetics, in the process of conditioning, repression and punishments reduce the entrance of energy to the higher energy centers, associated to the brain, putting an end to the oceanic feeling with its panoramic awareness and producing a figure-ground mind and a tunnel-like consciousness, that, in combination with the potentiation of thought, produces the acute unawareness of interconnections that is at the root of ecological crisis, social contradictions etc.

2d. Ascenders Vs. Descenders in Phenomenological and Existential Terms: Ascent as the construction of sa sk ta / modified states In the 1990s the so-called Ascender / Descender Debate pit Ken Wilber against Stan Grof and Michael Washburn, yet neither of the parts understood ascent as the production of sa sk ta, modified states or Descent as Seeing through sa sk ta, modified states into the asa sk ta, unmodified true condition. Spiritual ascent may be achieved by means of the healthy, positive conditioning yielded by pacification and other kinds of conditioning meditation which boosts the already discussed elusion or bad faith so that more desirable sa sk ta states may be achieved. For example, the achievement of a god of sensuality, which may involve worldly pleasure, success or power, may be achieved through a worldly training, yet it will always depend on accumulated good karma and hence will always be impermanent.

i Likewise, the achievement of a god of form may be attained by means of steady concentration on a figure and thus accumulating karma of immobility (Skt. ninjyakarma; Tib. migyowe lai [mi gyo ba s las]); therefore, it will also be impermanent. Finally, the achievement of a god of formlessness, which may be attained by means of a steady absorption beyond the figure-ground division in which there is a subject-object duality, yet the subject identifies with the infinitude subtly appearing as object and by means of this self-deceit achieves an illusion of cosmic union or cosmic identity and thereby obtains very subtle pride and pleasure, which is the summit of sa s ra and the extreme of self-deceit and inauthenticity, also depends on karma of immobility and therefore it is also impermanent.

i Since all that is sa sk ta is impermanent and a source of suffering none of these godly states offers a solution to the problem of life for even though they may allow one to elude suffering for long whiles, when the karma to remain in them is exhausted, one bitterly suffers on foreseeing one s fall, and when one falls, since one has become used to the pleasant and unfamiliar with the unpleasant, one will strongly reject the more painful experiences of lower states, and hence positive feedback loops will exacerbate the ensuing suffering.

2e. Descent as Seeing through the saskta / modified into the asa sk ta / unmodified In my presentation at the Colloquium, I showed normality to be a deluded insanity that yielded the ecological crisis that, unless that insanity and the structure and function of human society are healed, would occasion our self-destruction. The point I want to make today is that the Path to achieve the definitive healing of that insanity is descendent, for it can only be irreversible if it lies in a spontaneous and thus asa sk ta Seeing through all that is sa sk ta into the asa sk ta true condition, which alone is perfectly and ultimately authentic and, in the long run, in coming to live in it, so that all suffering comes to an end and absolute plenitude and perfection are attained, yielding all-accomplishing selfless activities that spontaneously achieve the benefit of both self and others (Tib. tinle [phrin las] / khorsum nampar mitokpai lai dang drebu [ khor gsum rnam par mi rtog pa i las dang bras bu]).

i In the Atthas lin , Therav da teacher Buddhagho a illustrated the inauthentic ascending path that lies in establishing healthy attitudes and meditative practices confined to the spheres of sensuality, that of form and that of formlessness that build up and make grow birth and death in a never-ending circle and therefore are called building-up practices with a man that sets out to erect a wall eighteen cubits high. On the other hand, the descending Path, which involves a meditation that he calls the tearing down one (apacayag mi) he illustrated with a man who takes a hammer and breaks down and demolishes any part as it gets erected even though it is not an active endeavor, for what it actually does is to bring about a deficiency in those conditions that tend to produce birth and death.

i San & R m : Greek and Chinese painters Dialogue between M z D oy ( ; Wade-Giles, Ma3- tsu3Tao4-yi1) and N nyu Hu ir ng ( ; Wade-Giles, Nan2-yu eh4Huai2-jang4), who was to become his teacher.

2f. Existential ascent and metaexistential descent as illustrated by Dante s Divine Comedy Existentialism and Existenz Philosophie equate authenticity with facing the naked experience of what I am calling the modified, sa sk ta condition which may be identified with facing hell, for as Sartre noted, anguish (and nausea and so on) is the naked experience of the being of consciousness which he called Being-for-Self, whereas shame is the naked experience of becoming what others perceive as us, which he called Being-for-Others. What I call metaexistential descent lies in descending into hell and down though it to its bottom, and then undergo the initial asa sk ta dissolution of all that is modified / sa sk ta and the concomitant disclosure of the asa sk ta, unmodified true condition thus like Dante, Dzogchen practitioners or Paleo-Siberian shamans going through the hole at the bottom.

i This shows hell not to be an eternal descent into ever-greater suffering but a way to purge the modified, sa sk ta condition and the karmas that sustain it until the asa sk ta / unmodified true condition is no longer hidden or distorted which is the reason why going through the hole represents the transition to purgatory, through which the individual can then ascend to heaven. In this process all that is modified / sa sk ta liberates itself repeatedly until its naked experience is no longer painful which is where one enters heaven and begins to ascend through it until the modified / sa sk ta has been totally neutralized and hence one has become established in the unmodified, asa sk ta empyrean or, in the symbolism of Buddhist Dzogchen, in the Akani ha-Ghanavy ha pure land.

2g. Contrarily to the metaphenomenological descent leading to total authenticity and definitive sanity, Ken Wilber posits a phenomenological ascent In fact, Ken Wilber s path is phenomenologically ascending, for it involves the arising of successive: (i) basic structures, resulting from a multidimensional learning and a conjunction of a main cause & secondary circumstances, and therefore being produced / arisen / modified / sa sk ta and as such impermanent, spurious and pertaining to sa s ra and being maintained when development continues to a higher level, for they integrate themselves into all subsequent basic structures, each founded on the former and arising only after the former is firmly established like stores of a Babel tower intended to attain the unmodified, asa sk ta empyrean but at best offering a possibility of attaining the modified, sa sk ta formless realms

i and (ii) transitional or replacement structures, which are ways in which the world is experienced through the basic structures of a psychic level and which, unlike the former, are not preserved on proceeding to higher psychic levels but which, since they depend on the former, are also produced / modified / conditionedand thus sa sk ta. (iii) Besides, Wilber posits a Self that identifies with successive basic structures, thus giving rise to (iv) what he calls fulcra.

i Since identification cannot occur without a subject-object duality and the conjunction of the Self that identifies with that with which it identifies, fulcra are produced and conditioned and as such pertain to sa s ra. Moreover, identification produces a sense-of-self, but in Buddhism all senses-of- self are by nature spurious and delusive. Thus in Buddhist terms Wilber s path sustains and perfects the sa sk ta / modified And therefore is inauthentic and contrary to authentic Paths of Awakening. Though Wilber juggles with all that was just denounced in order to conceal it, in my four-volume book The Beyond Mind Papers I carefully analyzed his writings until the first decade of the twentieth first century and showed it to be so beyond all doubts.

2h. Descent in Grof and Washburn Rather than viewing descent as Seeing through the self-deceit, structures, concepts and stupefaction that conceal the asa sk ta, unmodified, original true condition these two transpersonal icons harbor a regressive view of the descents they favor, seemingly failing to realize that the truly liberating descent in the one achieved by facing hell and uncontrivedly Seeing through it, as happens in the already discussed metaexistential and metaphenomenological descent.

2h(i). Grof: He posits Basic Perinatal Matrixes (BPMs) which are stages of the perinatal process, each with different varieties, and his therapy lies in reliving determining MPBs as though this were in itself therapeutic not only superficially so, but ultimately so. Moreover, his view contradicts the structure and function of the metaphenomenological, metaexistential healing processes because he categorizes some MPBs as good and some as bad as though conflictive experiences were in themselves noxious, rather than being supreme opportunities to See through the sa sk ta into the asa sk ta, to burn karma, and to develop a high capacity of self-liberation, and as though the types of MPBs 1 and 4 he deems good were ultimately therapeutic realizations. Finally, he conceives ultimate sanity, which he seemingly confuses with Awakening, as a relative, conditioned state in which one is less deceived than normal people.

2h(ii). Washburn: He posits the triadic structure of the psyche of second Freudian topic as being inherent in the human condition and hence as being maintained in the ultimate spiritual realization that he calls mystical illumination. He conceives the path as a reintegration of what he calls the Dynamic Ground, which he associates with the Freudian Id and which at an early age a Freud-like primal repression expelled from the Ego, giving rise to a primal split. He locates the Dynamic Ground and the Id in the pelvic-anal region and the Ego-Superego compound in the head, as though the topoi of the second Freudian topic were areas of the body. He promotes meditation as a key element in the process of descent, yet as shown in my book The Beyond Mind Papers he classifies the types of meditation and their effects in an imprecise way.

2i. Psychotic Descent As shown in my presentation at the Colloquium, the sa sk ta / modified state of consciousness we call normality is a form of insanity involving relatively conflict-free adaptation to an absolutely insane society and resulting from interaction between innate propensities and conditioning hypnosis by means of what Laing called attributions with force of injunctions in what I call normalizing family, which is the one that applies what I call normalizing double-binds. Madness may result from innate propensities and conditioning / hypnosis in a dysadaptive family which regularly applies Bateson s pathogenic double-binds and involves other circumstances that yield conflictive states that mainstream psychiatry / clinical psychology deem psychotic. Among these, some forms of what is diagnosed as schizophrenia are the potentially healing processes R. D. Laing called true madness, which de-realize what we wrongly perceive as real so that a re-realization of some of the true condition that normally we ignore and/or view as unreal may possibly occur.

i However, the family and, as a rule, mental institutions, disrupt these processes turning them into the long-term, possibly lifelong illnesses that Laing called a gross travesty, a mockery, a grotesque caricature of what the natural healing of that estranged integration we call sanity may be. John Weir Perry s experience in his center, Diabasis, showed that an initial episode of this kind, if allowed to follow its natural course in a supportive, wise environment, lasts for no more than six (or a maximum of seven) weeks, and results in a reduction of conflict and insanity, and an increase in harmony and authenticity. However, David Cooper s antipsychiatry overvalued the healing power of madness, giving to understand it could result in nonstatic nirv a (= Awakening).

2j. Only Paths of Awakening revealed by fully Awake individuals can result in a thorough disclosure of the unmodified, true condition of awareness that discloses the unmodified true condition of ourselves and the whole universe No psychological therapy except for the authentic traditions of Awakening can lead to the absolute sanity that lies in the stabilization of nonstatic nirv a. (i) Such traditions are metatranspersonal because they don t mistake samsaric transpersonal and holotropic states for nonstatic nirv a yet may use samsaric transpersonal and holotropic states as springboards to rigpa i.e., nonstatic nirv a. (ii) They are metaphenomenological because their method lies in Seeing through the sa sk ta / modified into the asa sk ta / unmodified (iii) And they are metaexistential because their method lies in facing hell and going through it, as the fast track for rapidly neutralizing avidy .

i (iv) Like in true madness, progress in such Paths is catalyzed by the Freudian Th natos, and it involves successively going through states analogous to MPBs 2 & 3, and then repeatedly going through a transition comparable to that between an MPB 3 and an MPB 4 in which, however, the coming point, rather than a samsaric MPB 4, is an episode of (c) nonstatic nirv a. Every time this transition takes place, it neutralizes propensities for unawareness and delusion And hence the repetition of this in the long run totally neutralizes those propensities.

i (v) Like true madness, they begin with a derealization of the false / sa sk ta / modified involving illusory experiences of emptiness / insubstantiality that would be viewed as psychotic by mainstream systems. However, those treading the Path might not experience them as undesirable pathologies: if their capacity is high, their occurrence may even yield great happiness. (vi) Unlike true madness, they necessarily involve the disclosure of the asa sk ta / unmodified condition which is thus re-realized, until in the long run it is irreversibly stabilized. The above is illustrated by a Ch n / Zen saying: When I began to practice Zen for me mountains were simply mountains and rivers were simply rivers. When my practice of Zen developed, mountains were for me no longer mountains and rivers were for me no longer rivers. When I attained the Truth of Zen, to me mountains came to be true mountains and rivers came to be true rivers.

2j. In Dzogchen and Tantra, the energetic-volume-determining-the- scope-of-awareness is increased to produce modified states characterized by a wider scope of awareness and an intensified experience quite similar to those produced by psychedelics, holotropic breathing, etc. However, Dzogchen and Tantra use them in a way that is in stark contrast with the latter, for practitioners are aware that they are all illusory experiences in which they should not to dwell and which they should not confuse with Awakening, yet they should use as an experiential basis for questioning experience and thus realize the asa sk ta / unmodified true condition.

i In fact, the Dzogchen teachings illustrate the nature of mind with a Mirror and extraordinary experiences with reflections, initially to be used for discovering the Mirror s true condition and subsequently to be used for keeping to the true Condition of the Mirror by helping the illusion of a mental subject called the one reflected to self-liberate whenever it arises, until the propensities for it to arise are totally neutralized.

3. The use of psychoactive substances: Approaches to holotropic states of consciousness other than those of Dzogchen and Tantra All the approaches discussed next share shortcomings such as the inability to distinguish radically between different transpersonal and holotropic or holistic states or to use those which are not nonstatic nirv a as a springboard for achieving nonstatic nirv a.

3a. Approach of recreational users of psychedelics: Three main types of transpersonal, holotropic states and other samsaric conditions succeed each other: (i) First there is the base-of-all (Skt. laya; Tib. kunzhi [kun gzhi]) where there is neither a subject- object duality nor any other kind of thought (ii) Then the potentiation of the threefold directional thought structure produces the subject-object duality and the potentiation of the subtle concept interpreting the limitless object produces a conceptualization of infinity thus producing a formless (Skt. r pa; Tib. zukm [gzugs med]) condition: example of all is one, etc. (iii) Then the consciousness of the base-of-all (Skt. layavij na; Tib. kunzhi namsh [kun gzhi rnam shes]) produced by singling out a figure in the sensory continuum under impulse of directionality of mind (Skt. cetan ; Tib. sempa [sems pa]) may result in a wondrous experience: example of grain of sand.

i (iv) Then the conceptualization of a steady figure may yield a condition of form (Skt. r pa; Tib. zuk [gzugs]). (v) Then the consciousness of the passions (Skt. kli amanovij na; Tib. ny nyikyi namsh [nyon yid kyi rnam shes) may arise: example of coincidentally touching desirable, potential erotic partner which yields experience that precedes passionately reacting to the object (vi) Then a condition of sensuality (Skt. k ma; Tib. d pa [dod pa]) arises as one passionately reacts to a conceptualization of the object. Short-term dangers: Confusion of sequence of base-of-all and subsequent formless condition with nonstatic nirv a Bad trip or so-called psychotomimetic experience that may be a precious opportunity yet rather than being used becomes a door to great trouble. Long-term Dangers: psychosis, addiction hard drugs or false gurus, right-wing political reaction... Potential benefits: interest in spirituality and Paths of Awakening

3b. Approach of so-called South American Shamanism: Explanation according to Michael Harner in Hallucinogens and Shamanism: everyday reality is seen as false and shamanic reality is seen as true and though the shaman may be able to manipulate that reality for healing of harming this approach involves the danger of falling under the power of the whim of unpredictable entities and may create negative karma when sacrifices are involved: contrast with practice of Ch (gcod). Potential benefits: ecological attitude, possibility of curing illnesses, etc.

i 3c. Stan Grof s approach: already discussed: danger is taking sa sk ta / modified states with nonstatic nirv a potential benefit is a lessening of perinatal and other traumas. 3d. Other approaches: for drug-addiction withdrawal and other aims iboga, ayahuasca, LSD and others Dangers and potential benefits of this approach