Not So Fast
Altered states must be met with intention, patience and compassion
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
—Lao Tzu
During my recent conversation with Stephen Zerfas, the CEO of Jhourney, a groundbreaking “neuro-ML” startup based in Silicon Valley, I was immediately captivated by his mission to make extraordinarily blissful meditation available to people from all walks of life.
The company is developing a closed loop neurofeedback device that leverages biosensors, brainwave data from advanced meditators and machine learning algorithms to make it dramatically easier for meditators to enter into profound states of consciousness known in meditation circles as “the jhanas.”
This except from Mary Talbot’s “The Jhanas: Perfect States of Concentration” clearly explains the pivotal role that jhanas played in the emergence of Buddhism:
“The Buddha describes stepping through the jhanas on the night of his enlightenment. They gave him, he recalled, a mind ‘concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady and attained to imperturbability’—the mind that was able to penetrate the true nature of reality and the path to nirvana. Later, when he began to teach, he is quoted telling his monks to go off to the forest–not to ‘meditate,’ but to ‘do jhana.’”
Jhourney is attempting to give the average meditator the ability to step through the nine jhanas and taste nirvana just as the Buddha did on that fateful evening he became an enlightened being. This is potentially huge.
According to this 2013 research paper by Michael R. Hagerty of University of California, Davis and Wellspring Institute, jhanas are “Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) that imply major brain changes based on subjective reports: (1) external awareness dims, (2) internal verbalizations fade, (3) the sense of personal boundaries is altered, (4) attention is highly focused on the object of meditation, and (5) joy increases to high levels.” Their findings revealed that experienced meditators entering jhana exhibit significant changes in brain activity across eleven regions and suggest a novel method of self-stimulation.
Here’s the kicker—the altered states of the jhanas are incredibly difficult to access because they often require specific instruction, hundreds of hours of practice, and, in some cases, significant trial and error. According to meditation teacher and author Lee Brasington:
“Don’t try to do the jhanas. You can’t. All you can do is generate the conditions out of which the jhanas can arise.”
The more you try to cultivate and maintain these states, the more elusive they become. By surrendering the notion of "doing" the jhanas and instead fostering the right conditions—intense concentration—skilled practitioners may find themselves immersed in euphoria, ecstasy, and delight.
If successful, Jhourney will be capable of guiding anyone into the most “life changing” states of meditation, which have the potential to improve wellbeing. Their approach promises to help meditators bypass months and years of practice. This accelerated journey has the potential to revolutionize the way a larger population perceives and engages with meditation, making it transformative for a much broader audience. More importantly, they’re hoping these states can heal and improve the quality of life for those with mental health conditions, such as addiction, depression or PTSD.
During my time with Stephen, I couldn’t help but think about my first year of meditation when I unconsciously used my practice as a way to escape reality and chase the transcendent states I would occasionally feel. These are just two shadows of meditation which I’ve experienced first hand.
As we wrapped up, I shared my concerns that a product designed to accelerate entry into the jhanas might give people the wrong impression of meditation, leading to spiritual bypassing, escapism, and unintended suffering in the form of craving, aversion and attachment. Even though this concern is addressed in the company’s FAQ, I couldn’t shake this feeling.
I wondered, will this technology deny meditators the growth and awakening that unfolds over many months and years on the cushion? What could be lost in accelerating this transformational and spiritual process?
Chasing positive states
In the days that followed my conversation with Stephen, I reflected on my own meditation journey, a challenging and transformative path I’ve walked for nearly a decade.
My gateway into the inner realm was Transcendental Meditation. In those first days, I was supported by an experienced teacher who sat with me over a long weekend, ensuring I learned the technique correctly. Under her guidance and support, I experienced transcendence in just three sessions. While this state is vastly different from what meditators experience in the jhanas, I was enveloped in serenity and stillness. I also felt a connection to something much greater than myself. Remarkably, this was the first time I experienced an altered state without exercise or drugs.
I emerged from that weekend giddy that I could attain the positive feeling states of transcendence without relying on substances, a struggle I had been grappling with for years. This intrigued and energized me, so I did what any high-achieving addict does—I dove in head first and committed to a daily practice.
I sat multiple times a day for twenty minutes, fixated on attaining the delightful transcendental state I felt alongside my teacher. I meditated at home, in the office, on the subway and on park benches. I even meditated when I was stoned out of my mind. It didn’t matter where I was or what my headspace was, as long as I had a chance to go deeper in my practice, escape reality, and hopefully emerge feeling better.
With the benefit of hindsight, I pursued these transcendental states as a means to feel calm and detach from reality. Without realizing it, I was using meditation as a spiritual bypass, even though I didn’t know at the time what that meant. According to John Welwood, the prominent psychotherapist who coined the term in Toward a Psychology of Awakening, spiritual bypassing is “spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep personal, emotional unfinished business.”
In those early days, I’d focus on the positive feelings that arose on the cushion rather than face rather than sit with whatever emerged, including painful memories and feelings. If I didn’t transcend, which was more often than not, I’d label the session as subpar, or worse, find myself growing impatient and restless while on the cushion.
There were also instances when I’d touch into transcendence, only to lose my grip on it due to an intensified effort to maintain this enjoyable state. This oscillation between striving and disappointment persisted for many months.
Despite all this, roots of change were gradually spreading and anchoring themselves deep within me. Unconsciously, I had been planting the seeds for a sustained, enduring practice, driven by an aspiration for a better life free from weed, alcohol, nicotine and Adderall. It was only a matter of time until I could no longer bypass the difficult thoughts, emotions and sensations I was experiencing—meditation became the light that illuminated my truth.
With enough time and practice, a new behavior and perspective blossomed. I stopped chasing positive states and began to notice the workings of my own mind and body with increasing awareness and clarity.
The simple act of sitting and noticing whatever rose to the surface became the focal point of my practice. I began to see meditation for what it is—an opportunity to wake up from my dream state and witness the intricate tapestry of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that continuously emerged and disappeared. In doing so, I began to create the conditions for transcendence rather than chasing a specific outcome.
Here’s what I eventually realized—when we’re able to see the nature of our experience more clearly, we can disidentify from whatever arises, break free from our conditioned tendencies, and discover the self is just an illusion. With time, we gain insight into the inner workings of our minds and the nature of reality. When we do this consistently, we build the capacity to be with our moment-to-moment experience on the cushion and off the cushion, and hopefully reduce suffering.
Just nine months after embarking on my meditation journey, I descended into a Midtown Manhattan church basement and attended my first AA meeting. Once I showed up to the cushion every day without any expectations, I began to see and accept old patterns that were holding me back and causing harm mentally and physically. I was willing to examine and begin to accept my personal, and emotional unfinished business.
Since then my life has unfolded in ways I couldn’t even have imagined, and couldn’t have intended—because I created the conditions for change and healing through non-doing, patience and self-compassion.
Altered states can lead to altered traits
As I reflected on my personal journey in the context of Jhourney’s mission, I realized the transcendent states I initially chased eventually did lead to sustainable change. In other words, altered states led to altered traits.
Had it not been for those initial moments of serenity that accompanied my early encounters with transcendence, I wonder whether I might have veered away from the path entirely, unsure or unbelieving of what it might lead to. Those brief glimpses of a new way of being acted as a north star, guiding me through the uncertainties and challenges that often arise in a spiritual and healing journey. In those countless hours on the cushion, I touched something profound—a potential that lay within meditation to reshape how I experienced reality and myself.
The question posed by the religious scholar Huston Smith, "Might we begin then to transform our passing illuminations into abiding light?" strikes a chord that resonates deeply with my own journey and the experiences of countless others who have embarked on the path of self-discovery and healing.
These altered states, or passing illuminations, serve as glimpses into the realm of possibilities. Like brief flickers of light, they momentarily illuminate the vast landscape of our potential, flashing on our conditioned tendencies and the latent capacities within us. Yet, as we walk the path of self-discovery and healing, these passing illuminations, if met with awareness, compassion, and patience, hold the promise of evolving into something more profound—an enduring light that shapes our very essence.
Smith's question resonates as a call to honor and nurture these altered states and fleeting moments of insight, recognizing their potential to help us see our basic nature and unfold into a more resonant expression of ourselves.
We’re witnessing an expansion of consciousness and revival of altered states for awakening and healing. Whether through modalities such as psychedelics, breathwork or meditation, the potency of these approaches are getting more attention and becoming widely accessible and accepted. This is a net positive due to the mental health crisis and grave existential threats that loom over humanity, such as inequality, AI, climate change, and nuclear war. The significance of these threats underscores the pressing need to facilitate a broader awakening and expanded state of consciousness. As Einstein said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
Altered states have the power to reveal tendencies that cause suffering, the interconnectedness of humans and systems, and unforeseen opportunities for transformation. This collective shift towards embracing these states as tools for growth and healing could pave the way for greater self-compassion, empathy, and a more harmonious coexistence with our world.
These modalities hold tremendous promise, but they demand responsibility and caution. Altered states, while potent catalysts, are not a panacea by themselves.
Altered states—from meditation, breathwork, psychedelics, vision quests, or other means—can be the seeds of transformation, offering a glimpse of what lies within our potential—but the seeds only.
If we achieve these altered states and gain greater insight from them, it is our responsibility to provide the essential elements that these seeds need to flourish into a new expression of life. Just as a seed requires nurture and nourishment, our transformative and healing journeys need loving care and attention. Compassionate and patient tending allows these seeds of insight to blossom into new, unimaginable traits—unfolding not only our personality but also the very core of our being.
During a recent psilocybin journey, the medicine showed me all the ways in which I try to control situations rather than let them flow and unfold naturally. It was eye opening and even jarring. It shook me because many unconscious control tendencies, along with their origins, were exposed. I saw how I learned control from my father. I saw how I resist mortality. I saw how I try to optimize just about everything. I saw how I don’t enjoy discomfort. I saw how I resist the natural ebb and flow of life. Armed with this profound realization, I now have the awareness to choose how I want to integrate that experience into my life, a spark I can nurture into a fire I will tend, a passing illumination into an abiding light.
My hope is that those seeking a technological or medicinal approach to awakening will acknowledge the natural process of change, transformation, and learning, which often involves moments of knowing and not knowing, experiencing and not experiencing, as Adyashanti aptly describes as "I got it. I lost it."
This oscillation is an integral part of the process of learning and waking up. It emphasizes that these states of consciousness are not simply attained on demand but are instead a gradual process of transformation, where we take two steps forward, take three steps back, one step forward, and so on. It’s like a child learning how to crawl, pull up, balance, walk and eventually jump, run, and dance. In between these stages, there are countless falls, stumbles, bumps, bruises, tears, and celebrations. There are also countless lessons that lead to wisdom and self-knowing.
That’s why chasing states shouldn’t replace the journey on either side of the experience; we must dedicate ourselves to honoring and integrating what these altered states reveal about what’s present or not. This encompasses the art of setting intentions, and being receptive to guidance from teachers and community who can assist us in integrating these new perspectives into our lives that are both enduring and healthy. The balance between these transcendent experiences and grounded, daily practices becomes the crux of a holistic journey towards genuine and enduring transformation and healing.
Perhaps, for some, embracing the positive emotions sparked by altered states could serve as an initial step, as I experienced when I first practiced Transcendental Meditation. Especially for those blocked by a myriad of conditions such as ADD, depression, addiction, trauma or in need of more immediate relief from conscious and unconscious suffering. Regardless, leaning into these uplifting feelings might actually offer a useful entry point.
But, we, along with our teachers, have a responsibility to recognize that relying solely on these altered states is not the solution, and may, by prompting striving and attachment, stand in our way.
The beauty of the transformative process lies not just in the attainment of altered states, but in the careful nurturing of our journey—acknowledging each step, fostering a compassionate relationship to self, being in community with others on their journey, and allowing the organic process of change to unfurl.
Transformation and healing doesn’t stop when we attain these states. It begins.
A special thanks to Alex Olshonsky of Deep Fix for offering feedback on this essay.