What is it about spiritual practices that allow people to experience altered states?

What is it about spiritual practices that allow people to experience altered states of consciousness?

Thanks in advance for your help :)

[Unseeking Seeker]

Silence
Thoughts rest
Attention softens
Animated in stillness
Becoming a magnetic hum
Essence of presence looks on
Devoid of expectations yet receptive
In an aspect of astonished wonderment
Simply present in time stretched vibrancy
Heart celebrating both void and manifestation
In equanimous tranquil rippleless spacial quietude
Becoming the very space itself that holds all within it

[BigJohn]

You don't have to be spiritual to be able to experience altered states.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

What is it about spiritual practices that allow people to experience
altered states of consciousness?

Well, I think being open.
Just as by our focus on fear we are open to have something we fear happen.
Focus is very powerful.

First time I had a past life vision given to me, 45 yrs ago...(and may I say, Wow!)
I was reading a novel by an Indian author and there was a lot of reincarnation stuff in it.
I was also a very active meditator, so..I dunno.
Very extraordinary.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

What is it about spiritual practices that allow people to experience altered states of consciousness?

A simple response is that spiritual practices usually involve turning our attention away from the external worlds of form and going within into the inner worlds of consciousness.

This also involves raising our focus from the mundane to that which is more subtle.

In the process we give less energy to the small separate self and we discover higher aspects of our consciousness.

So the mind becomes more silent as we focus our attention and this opens the door to altered states of consciousness.

Peace

thanks everyone for your help. still pondering over these

[FallingLeaves]

from where I stand now, I'd say that most people choose to fix their energy bodies in a certain way, to be socially acceptable. So they can't experience beyond a very narrow field of experiences that they pre-choose to have. Or I should say they choose the experience they want and then have to live with what that does in terms of fixing the energy bodies in place. and that in turn helps limit further experience.

Meditation can inspire you to widen the range of experience and get you experiences that most others don't have, while still allowing you to keep your energy bodies reigned in enough that you can feel accepted socially.

what I'm saying is that the limitation on altered states is a limitation place on how the energy bodies can move about, which in turn is a limitation placed because the actor has chosen certain experiences he wants and others he doesn't, e.g. good and evil at play results in limitations results in less experiences.

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

from where I stand now,...and evil at play results in limitations results in less experiences.

Interesting answer FallingLeaves. Thanks for the input

[Halloween Jack]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

What is it about spiritual practices that allow people to experience altered states of consciousness?

Thanks in advance for your help :)

I would say that through spiritual practice (and in particular meditation) the incessant noise of the thinking mind is diminished/dissolved thus clearing the way for a deeper seeing.