The Experience of Hallucinations in Religious Practice

This book deals with a subject that is becoming more and more popular.

It seems the topic of hallucinations became a little more popular with the advent
of the 1960's but it was never looked at in a sophisticated manner by the
average person who read and talked about such books by Carlos Castanada,
Timothy Leary or Terrance McKenna. The fact of the matter is that people
are of two different attitudes on an important subject. Some people thing that
drugs give spiritual experiences, and some people do not. It's clear all the trouble
that are around drugs, and the fact is, even if we legalized them, there wouldn't be
an end to these major problems. Drugs do cause addiction by the very nature
of them lulling the nervous system into a "spoiled state" (the way a pampered child
is spoiled).

All great spiritual teachers said that drugs should not be used. Patanjali, in his
Yoga Sutras merely stated that drugs could produce experiences or powers, but
this must be translated in the right way. It is like saying that fire can burn.

Although this book tries to have academic standards in a certain way, by its use of philosophical logic that the author learned in part from studying computer programming in college, it does
come down from the academic chair long enough to be direct in its statements. One has to
actually read the text to know the tone of the work. It uses an interfaith dialog, and doesn't use such expressions as "All true spiritual leaders say that..." but does try to state what
is usually taught on the areas of hallucinations, which can be described as those
experiences that counterfeit real spiritual experience.

Authentic spiritual experiences are taught by most spiritual leaders as coming from
a state of reward for acts of virtue that are for the most part done for others, but sometimes
they come from when "the Spirit" sees we are doing something good for ourselves.
These states are such as states of extreme bliss, dreams which foretell the future,
feelings of being comforted by God when we are hurt, and very uncanny answers to
prayer, that prove the existence of a higher force because they don't just change one's
state of consciousness, they change the events in one's life, in the real world.

Below is the first page from the website for our book.

The Experience of Hallucinations in Religious Practice

"The Experience of Hallucinations in Religious Practice" by R.S. Pearson is the one of the first books to help distinguish what is a spiritual experience and what may be merely a type of dream phenomena or hallucination. The author discusses how much religious and so-called esoteric experience takes place in the state of consciousness within the brain that is similar to the dream state in human beings. This book is written by someone who has a religious perspective, yet it is non-denomenational and not offensive to those of any faith. It is not written in a technical style, yet still provides challenging material.

Today, a large percentage of religious thought encourages people to have extra-sensory experiences. Medical science has also proven both the value of religious faith in some people via statistical studies, and also the fact that some religious experiences fall into the same category as hallucinations or dreams. Because of the many popular celebrity psychics, some of whom even talk to the dead on TV, many come to believe that whatever you experience is what you imagine it to be. But for one who was taught by many different religious teachers, and did a detailed study of religious literature, Pearson felt it necessary to write about the other side of the picture. "Like the great religions teach, many are going to have to learn by personal experience that it's often best to not believe in these experiences," Pearson says. "The problem is, that there are psychological studies that show the longer that you hallucinate, the more your IQ can decrease."

The author believes that today's spiritual climate is often dangerous, because there isn't much sophistication in understanding what people can often experience when they open themselves up to spiritual practices. Most of the traditional religious leaders, whether they be Christians, Jews, Islamic, Zen Buddhist monks, or yogis, teach not to make much of so-called paranormal experiences. Such experiences have traditionally been said to be possibly dangerous. However, to some of today's modern writers, these experiences become the most important part of their spirituality.

The author has done some charitable work among the homeless of Seattle and he recognizes that many of the homeless are mentally ill and are experiencing hallucinations. "Most likely the homeless who are hallucinating are believing that they are having religious experiences. Often they already feel condemned by God because they hallucinate God condemning them." He realizes that since there was no book written when he was younger on this subject, that a book like his that takes both a religious and psychological perspective fills an important need. He says, that, on the contrary, only books were written encouraging people to hallucinate.

Pearson states, "I tried to write this book for the biggest audience possible. I state clearly up front that I am not a trained psychologist or psychiatrist. Some proofreaders were expecting me to write an academic book that referenced every statement, but many readers are intimidated by such books. I wrote a book that will inform most people's understanding of psychology but one which has no technical medical information from brain science, so as to not intimidate people in the reading process."

Although witten from a spiritual perspective, the author has tried to remove his own specific personal beliefs from this book to create an interfaith work.

The book is currently for sale on Amazon.com, Alibris.com, or by special order at Barnes and Noble.