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Most contemporary histories, however, do not delve into the religious literature but look more toward the objective, scientific approach to the study of states of consciousness in the West, which they maintain begins only with Franz Anton Mesmer in the late eighteenth century.

Most contemporary histories, however, do not delve into the religious literature but look more toward the objective, scientific approach to the study of states of consciousness in the West, which they maintain begins only with Franz Anton Mesmer in the late eighteenth century.

===FRANZ ANTON MESMER===

===Franz Anton Mesmer===

A remarkable healer of what are called psychosomatic and hysterical illnesses, Mesmer (1734–1815) was knowledgeable in medicine, psychology, hermeticism, and alchemy. He postulated that people possess two distinct realms of consciousness, the ordinary waking state and an underlying unseen realm. In this invisible realm two related powers seem to be activated. The first is an exchange of rarefied energies or "fluids" between individuals that allows certain sensitive persons to influence others by their presence; that is, to influence them in more subtle ways than are generally believed operative in human exchanges. The second is a faculty of superior intelligence and will. The recognition of these submerged potentials as put forth by Mesmer and the psychologists who succeeded him led to investigation into the powers, scope, and subtleties of the unconscious as opposed to the functioning of normal everyday waking consciousness.

A remarkable healer of what are called psychosomatic and hysterical illnesses, Mesmer (1734–1815) was knowledgeable in medicine, psychology, hermeticism, and alchemy. He postulated that people possess two distinct realms of consciousness, the ordinary waking state and an underlying unseen realm. In this invisible realm two related powers seem to be activated. The first is an exchange of rarefied energies or "fluids" between individuals that allows certain sensitive persons to influence others by their presence; that is, to influence them in more subtle ways than are generally believed operative in human exchanges. The second is a faculty of superior intelligence and will. The recognition of these submerged potentials as put forth by Mesmer and the psychologists who succeeded him led to investigation into the powers, scope, and subtleties of the unconscious as opposed to the functioning of normal everyday waking consciousness.

The implications for the neurosciences seem clear. Scientists have always presumed in biochemistry that there cannot be a thought without some chemical reaction somewhere. This example offers similar confirmation that thoughts not only are driven by body chemistry, but that they can alter it as well, in ways not normally deemed possible by normative science. The monks obviously did not enter into a lifetime of training just to be able to dry wet sheets on their backs. Their goal was the teachings and their effects on transforming consciousness. One's epistemology therefore, the core of one's belief system, must be tied into the outcome where the problem of consciousness is concerned, a thought altogether new for the way science is normally conducted.

The implications for the neurosciences seem clear. Scientists have always presumed in biochemistry that there cannot be a thought without some chemical reaction somewhere. This example offers similar confirmation that thoughts not only are driven by body chemistry, but that they can alter it as well, in ways not normally deemed possible by normative science. The monks obviously did not enter into a lifetime of training just to be able to dry wet sheets on their backs. Their goal was the teachings and their effects on transforming consciousness. One's epistemology therefore, the core of one's belief system, must be tied into the outcome where the problem of consciousness is concerned, a thought altogether new for the way science is normally conducted.

==CONCLUSION==

==Conclusion==

Virtually unheard of in the middle of the twentieth century, the expression "states of consciousness" has entered the common vocabulary. How this idea will present itself in the years to come, how a subject so intimately wedded to metaphysical and religious concerns will fare in modern culture, and how religion, philosophy, and psychology may meet in their concern over this subject may prove decisively important to all who seek answers to the larger questions of human life, who one is and why one is here. At the least the struggle to understand what happens to consciousness when it becomes more conscious of itself will contribute to the ongoing dialogue between science and religion.

Virtually unheard of in the middle of the twentieth century, the expression "states of consciousness" has entered the common vocabulary. How this idea will present itself in the years to come, how a subject so intimately wedded to metaphysical and religious concerns will fare in modern culture, and how religion, philosophy, and psychology may meet in their concern over this subject may prove decisively important to all who seek answers to the larger questions of human life, who one is and why one is here. At the least the struggle to understand what happens to consciousness when it becomes more conscious of itself will contribute to the ongoing dialogue between science and religion.

==BIBLIOGRAPHY==

==Quote==

 

 

==Bibliography==

#Aranya, Hariharananda. Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali. Albany, N.Y., 1983.

#Aranya, Hariharananda. Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali. Albany, N.Y., 1983.

#Bakan, David. Maimonides on Prophecy: A Commentary on Selected Chapters of the Guide of the Perplexed. Northvale, N.J., 1991.

#Bakan, David. Maimonides on Prophecy: A Commentary on Selected Chapters of the Guide of the Perplexed. Northvale, N.J., 1991.

==Source Citation==

==Source Citation==

Taylor, Eugene. "Consciousness, States of." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 1946-1954. 15 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. University of the South. 8 Apr. 2009

Taylor, Eugene. [https://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3424500642&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_uots&version=1.0 "Consciousness, States of." Encyclopedia of Religion]. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 1946-1954. 15 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale.  

<http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3424500642&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_uots&version=1.0>.

[[Category: Psychology]]

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