Brain States

For the last year and a half, I have worked on this manuscript at a feverish pace. I would write on weekends, late at night, and sometimes sandwiched between clients. I wrote parts at 30,000 feet on cross-country plane flights. My efforts were driven by a recognition that wherever I taught there was a general misunderstanding about altered states of awareness, and that some of these errors were actually hindering people in their personal growth and, in some cases, posing serious dangers. This book is a humble attempt to correct some of this misinformation and to give readers practical tools that they can use to access the mysterious, beautiful, and incredible treasures of their own inner worlds. We are at a significant period in human history. The rate of discovery in the sciences outpaces our ability to keep up with the amount of information generated. It is very telling that over the short course of eighteen months it took to write this book, there were two significant discoveries in the brain sciences that necessitated my editing portions of the manuscript. At no time in recorded history have we acquired so much knowledge in so short a time. Knowledge is power. But knowledge carries with it a shadow side. For without wisdom to use that knowledge in life affirming ways, we may very well destroy ourselves. The ancient Chinese ideogram for transformation consists of two words - danger and opportunity. All transformations involve change whether it be the transformation of biochemistry into mind or the transformation of a society. In the ever-growing complex world in which we live, we must transcend our old ways of viewing and doing things. We must discover new ways to learn and to work. This is as true on an economic level as it is on a personal one. Those societies that educate themselves to be the most creative and motivated may well be those which flourish in the coming century. And on a personal level, access to our greater potential gifts us with new levels of fulfillment and success. It is my experience that altered states of awareness can assist us to reach beyond our current views of ourselves, and to discover a rich and powerful inner world. The insights, creativity, and sensitivity born from our own inner exploration can help us to wrestle free opportunities for greater life and growth. This is the value I see in learning how to access one's deeper consciousness. And that is why I wrote this book. Although we may never meet, and although I can reach out to you only with words, I trust and believe in your greatness. For no matter where we are in our attainments, we can always go further. I hope the following pages entertain, educate, and enlighten you. May they persuade you to take the Great Journey.