From Philosophy for Life: Though often pathologized by psychiatry and western science, spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness can actually be highly therapeutic and valuable.
“Having studied ecstasy over the last five years, Iâve come to two conclusions. Firstly, we need a more balanced relationship with ecstasy. We shouldnât be averse to it or embarrassed to talk about it. Ego-transcendence is not bonkers, itâs natural and good for us. But we shouldnât get hung up on it either, and start thinking weâre incredibly special for having a spiritual experience (weâre not). Theyâre just part of the long journey towards awakening.
I feel like western culture is a bit like a balloon â because thereâs such a flattening of the ecstatic in the mainstream of our culture, it bulges out in other areas (the New Age, charismatic Christianity), in which thereâs too strong an emphasis on it.
Secondly, we need to develop controlled spaces to lose control. Thatâs what religious rituals have provided humans for millennia, and what the West lost in the Reformation and Enlightenment. Since then, weâve improvised many new places for transcendence â from cinema to New Age cults to acid house to football hooliganism. But not all of these new places are healthy.”
