Trance has been shown to be very psychologically beneficial, by helping to relieve built up stress, allowing one to reflect on life issues without censorship or guilt, and generally giving the psyche a break from consistently operating at alpha or delta states. Generally, one is only in a theta state for a period of minutes, right before going to sleep, and when waking up. Being in a theta state for 15 minutes is considered to be an 'extended period'. With the use of auditory driving, or other meditative techniques, this time can be extended significantly.
Throughout human history, people have sincerely reported seeing visions, and even some fairly sceptical psychologists have accepted their claims as genuine. The 19th century psychologist William James was fascinated by visions, and in his book 'The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)' he recorded a number of them. It is virtually impossible to carry out research into visions in the laboratory, because they do not happen on demand; as a result, the only evidence that visions do exist is the accounts of those people who have experienced them.
Often visions may occur in response to stress. People stranded in the desert often "see" the oasis for which they have been searching, and victims of shipwrecks believe that they have spotted the spotted the rescue boat. Similarly, widows and widowers often report that they either see or sense the presence of their spouses shortly after their death; but this occurs less frequently as the pain of the bereavement and the need for comfort subside.
Visions are often central to religious experience. Many conversion experiences have involved visions or other sorts of divine revelations. Some religious practices foster atmospheres conducive to this: periods of meditation, for example, seem to predispose some people to visions, although the mechanism for this is unknown. Other religious practices use different sorts of mind-altering substances, ranging from wine and incense to hallucinogenic drugs, to inspire mystical visions.
In some cultures, shamans are priests who, while in a trance state, allegedly receive visions from other levels of the cosmos. In many traditions, the shaman's soul is said to leave his or her body to travel to the spirit world. This trance state is different from that achieved through meditation: whereas people who are meditating are focusing their minds on one image to achieve a great calmness, shamans remain intensely concentrated but at the same time extremely active as they travel between worlds and meet with spirits. Some psychologists have seen similarites in state of mind between shamans and schizophrenics. However, while a schizophrenic's mind is typically disordered, a shaman's is coherent; and the shaman's integral role in his or her community contrasts with the isolation of schizophrenia.
Out-of-body experiences are not restricted to religious practices: they seem to occur in response to some kind of emergency situation. This is the case with near-death experiences. There have been thousands of reports of near-death experiences, many noting the same types of sensations. Subjects feel as though they have left their bodies, and many look on as doctors operate or family and friends mourn -- but despite this, they feel only inner peace and happiness.
Some people report travelling down a tunnel toward a bright light, where benevolent presences wait; some make contact with long-dead friends or family members, or with a stranger who urges them to return to their bodies. Many also report that their out-of-body experiences reinforced the value of their own lives and the lives of others.
Although reports of out-of-body experiences are not uncommon, scientists have been unable to explain them conclusively. They may be triggered by a physical cause: some physiologists have suggested that hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in the brain, might cause a consistent pattern of hallucination in all sufferers. Other experts believe that out-of-body experiences are purely psychological, a way of denying death. Still others see them as an alternative state of consciousness, a bridge between life and death.
Serve intentionally, deliberately, generously.
Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger and we will make not only our own happiness, but that of the world.
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