Altered States

An Unpunctual Junto Installment

After a long day of stress related activities, a person sits back and partakes in their particular choice of substance to help them unwind and potentially reflect upon the happenings that have left them pensive and curious as to what it’s all about. Why?

Altering one’s state of consciousness is akin to forced self introspection. This ritual curtails its natural instructive potential by robbing the individual of the true sense of satisfaction gained by overcoming humanity’s aversion to personal change. But there is something to be said of its fundamentals, the method itself, and its origins.

Any multiplicity of enlightenment has an obligatory appeal to a person plagued with the uncertainty life presents on a daily basis. Those inklings of doubt in your own actions are what drive people to chase a release from the norm. That coveted sense of deviation is something that takes a backseat to the daily gauntlet of distraction which fuels the individual’s societal imposed obligations. Most simplify this desire through rewarding themselves by unwinding with substance abuse at the end of, or during, a “hard day”.

After these commonplace trials and tribulations in the development of personal growth, individuals feel a need to shy away from such pressing, seemingly unsolvable personal situations that most are too uninformed to handle. Having a drink is among one of the easiest ways to quell the lack of control, or sense or relief one desires after facing situations that cause them to doubt the validity of their actions. They need to better themselves but such feelings, to the uninitiated, carry with them a sense of burden easy to shy away from. Of course other methods of self medication exist, but the ingestion of ethanol is by far most common and thereby the most sought after. Invoking feelings of happiness and release from those pesky inhibitions causes one to have a cloudy yet instantaneously gratifying sense of accomplishment when these thoughts of meaning arise.

There is something to be said for this immediate quittance, having the ability of freeing one’s mind to ponder the causality of said needs to ponder the meaning of our actions. History’s greatest thinkers are drawn to this self imposed and yet artificial method, forcibly brining themselves into that state of mind. By placing oneself into such a state of simulated being allows the mind’s eye to be pried open, permitting the individual to catch momentary glimpses of the darkest, neglected corners of emotion that hang over each one of us. It is through this technique that the layman may ponder the thinker’s inclinations of self appraisal that even the most ignorant mind can find some sort of personal meaning in, even if completely divergent from the initial intent.

Humans have always searched for a sense of implication in their day to day lives. The issues that can arise from such ponderings are by default very personal. Some can feel insulted by notions that go against the grain of their own supposed personal development. Most times this can be chalked up to misguided ideals passed onto them by other uninformed romanticized selfish figures from history, supporting their demanding beliefs. On the other hand the very act of recording these observations, regardless of the methods of concentration, can be beneficial to the unity of the individual’s place in humanity. Different schools of thought are primarily crucial in widening scopes of introspective and the subsequent inclusions it can offer. This enveloping of all purposes can also create tensions in the group. But said strain’s overlying significance is the very lesson itself. Overlapping all paths and ways of life has potential to teach respect for each and every method of contemplation, which could very well be the catalyst for acceptance and understanding.

Mankind can benefit from a synergy of all types of self contemplation. This can be seen in the great leaps of technological advancement throughout our entire history, not to mention the continuation of deep thought. Those individuals who strive for leaps in personal growth can be lead astray by the inabilities of authoritative figures and their supposed guidance. But again, these qualms by such figures can be traced back to their individualized experience in the matters of what it truly means to be human.

The question of what it means to contemplate can be mused over by looking back through the course of human cognitive development. Many theories exist on the simple necessities that had a hand in shaping the way our minds work, but few touch on how our early essential needs formed catalysts that inadvertently produced an overlying desire to alter ones consciousness. This could have truly brought about the very method, not to mention desire, to ponder. There exists simple yet fantastically theories that, in this student’s opinion, hold a metaphorical candle to the circumstances potentially to blame for our mind’s capability of experiencing reality outside the rudimentary survivals of nature. The Stoned Ape Theory by the biological anthropologist Terence McKenna crudely offers up a completely viable explanation as to why we have a natural inclination to alter our perceptions when seeking development of the answers to existence that lie beyond our understanding.

People collectively pine away for the seemingly unobtainable realizations of why we are here to live the lives that we do. In this pursuit we use methods of altering our consciousness whose subtle benefits are lost in a sea of release, submerging the very need that called for meditation to begin with.