Poets, mystics, and spiritual teachers have been talking about states of oneness- also called higher states of consciousness, transpersonal experiences, non-dualistic experiences, mystical experiences, transcendent experiences, and peak experiences- for centuries.

They claim that in our normal state of existence, we only see a tiny fraction of reality but with disciplined spiritual practice of paths such as yoga, meditation, chanting, drumming, and with ritual use of psychedelics we can "expand" our consciousness to take in more. They call this process "lifting the veil" or "breaking through the illusion" or "transcending the ego".

Many studies now suggest that these experiences are so common as to be considered normal - and up to 40% of people have them spontaneously at some time in their life. Dr. Robert Crookall collected hundreds of accounts in his book The Interpretation of Cosmic and Mystical Experiences (1969).

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF EXPANDED CONSCIOUSNESS

Lynn K. Russell recounts her experiences of feeling a profound connection to a positive energy force. These experiences led her to explore death and spirituality, researching various religions to find truth.