Deep Trance

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June 23rd, 2010 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Deep Trance
Are the states of consciousness reached during deep meditation the same as dissociative trance states?

"Dissociation" is a common method used by traumatized children, prisoners of war, and schizophrenics to avoid stressful environments by "going away in their mind." Dissociation is the ability to enter trance states, but these trance states are associated with pathologies characterized by the fragmentation and deterioration of the "self." For example, "multiple dissociative disorder" is a psychological term for "multiple personality disorder." This is a disorder in which the conscious mind "hears the voices" of dissociated parts of the self. Dissociation can result in a person appearing severely withdrawn and unresponsive. A person can "get lost" in trance, preferring being spaced out to reality.

Some sects use meditation to work with their minds in an effort to reach "samadhi". Are the states of consciousness reached by such meditators the same as "dissociative trance states?" And do meditators sometimes experience pathological mental or emotional issues as a result of meditation?

This is a great question - but no, there is no similarity - or, there shouldn't be! But many meditators do seek this "spaced out" state and that's not it. In fact, many meditators wrongly assume that they should be "emptying the mind" or "having no-thought" which is just ridiculous. However, with this human mind and the power of this intelligence, we can select and maintain what it is we are going to think about, which, if done methodically, will result in the ability to achieve heightened states of single-pointed concentration which will induce insight into the nature of reality which will produce physical and mental pliancy - far from the escapism you've described. In fact, one with the correct intention for cultivating a meditative practice will be dealing with reality far more than they will be dealing with non-reality. Things get sharper and more vivid to the meditator who has done the requisite study beforehand. Otherwise, one would not be meditating on anything! The etymology of the word for meditation ("goms" in Tibetan) means familiarization. This is engaging the mental consciousness in analysis of a given subject or object of observation over and over, until the apprehension of this object of observation becomes somewhat uncontrived. So, no, there is no room for dissociation in meditation.