{"id":99319,"date":"2023-04-16T13:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T17:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=99319"},"modified":"2023-04-17T15:15:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T19:15:53","slug":"higher-consciousness-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/higher-consciousness-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching a Higher Consciousness: The Top 2 Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How can reaching a higher consciousness benefit you? What are peak states? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the authors of <em>Stealing Fire<\/em>, Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal, reaching a higher consciousness leads to intrinsically fulfilling experiences, which benefit us in numerous ways. The authors argue that these peak-state experiences may be deeply transformative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to learn about peak states and the benefits of reaching a higher consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefits-of-a-higher-consciousness\">Benefits of a Higher Consciousness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal, reaching a higher consciousness benefits you in many ways. In their book <em>Stealing Fire<\/em>, the authors explain that reaching a level of higher consciousness (which they call a <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/peak-state\/\">peak state<\/a><\/em>) benefits you in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Peak states produce intrinsically meaningful experiences\u2014in other words, they can be highly fulfilling.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Peak states can enhance human creativity and help us solve complex, real-world challenges.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefit-1-peak-states-produce-meaningful-experiences\">Benefit #1: Peak States Produce Meaningful Experiences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The authors contend that <strong>peak state experiences often have a lasting positive impact on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-genius\/\">who you are<\/a> and the life you choose to live<\/strong>. This benefit comes from the various qualities of reaching a level of higher consciousness, as described below.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the authors, the underlying characteristics of peak states are fairly consistent from person to person. That is, different people typically describe the <em>content<\/em> of the experience differently (whether they feel they met God, merged with the divine, blasted off to hyperspace, etc.), but beneath these subjective descriptions are four essential <em>qualities<\/em> that are common to many peak state experiences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quality #1: Dissolution of the self<\/strong>\u2014Your normal sense of self\u2014the feeling that &#8220;I am this particular human being&#8221;\u2014dissolves. The authors say that this occurs because activity in your brain\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-does-the-prefrontal-cortex-do-in-the-brain\/\">prefrontal cortex<\/a> largely shuts off, quieting the voice that normally monologues in your head. The authors report that this expands your sense of who you are, and you may see your normal identity as merely a \u201cmask\u201d you wear.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quality #2: Distortion of time<\/strong>\u2014Usually, various networks in the brain keep you oriented to the normal flow of time. During a peak state experience, the authors say that activity in these networks decreases. This drops you into what researchers call the \u201cdeep now,\u201d a state wherein you experience peace, inner spaciousness, and a profound sense of presence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quality #3: Profound ease<\/strong>\u2014As you become selflessly present (fully engaged in the moment and lacking your normal sense of self), a host of neurochemicals cascade through you to produce great ease, also called \u201cflow.\u201d This powerfully pleasurable sensation makes the state feel intrinsically meaningful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quality #4: Perceptual enhancements<\/strong>\u2014As brain functions change, normal consciousness recedes and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-unconscious-mind\/\">unconscious mind<\/a> takes over. According to the authors, the unconscious can process far more information than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-subconscious\/\">the conscious mind<\/a>, so you begin to perceive a deeper, richer field of information. You see details and connections that normally aren\u2019t apparent, and this often produces powerful insights that fuel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-grow-as-a-person\/\">personal growth<\/a> even after the experience ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Altogether, the authors contend that <strong>these four qualities produce deeply meaningful and often transformative experiences<\/strong>. As another benefit, many people report that reaching a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-access-altered-states-of-consciousness\/\">higher level of consciousness<\/a> ranks among the most meaningful experiences of their lives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Beyond the Brain: The Transformative Power of Subjective Experiences<\/strong><br><br>Above, the authors explain peak states largely in terms of neurochemical research findings. However, the full significance of peak states may go beyond a reductionist explanation of how they work in the brain.&nbsp;<br><br>Your brain chemistry and active <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-regions-of-the-brain\/\">brain regions<\/a> may shift, as the authors describe, but <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0269881114568040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some argue that the subjective experiences of peak states have a transformative power that\u2019s distinct from the related neurochemical changes<\/a>. This may be because the neurochemical effects that produce peak experiences are temporary and fade away, but the actual experiences are highly personal and can leave lasting impressions that catalyze long-term personal growth.<br><br>Further, it isn\u2019t clear that a reductionist approach to understanding the brain can produce truly precise explanations of how peak states work. Some theorists argue that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7304239\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">consciousness\u2014through which we have subjective experiences\u2014is an emergent phenomenon<\/a> rooted in matter (the brain) but not reducible to specific networks or neurochemical functions. From this perspective, the argument that peak states can be understood in terms of neurobiological changes is incomplete (though not fully wrong).<br><br>So while we need to understand the biology behind peak states, we also need to acknowledge the persistent mystery of the subjective nature of these experiences and their transformative power.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefit-2-peak-states-help-us-solve-difficult-problems\">Benefit #2: Peak States Help Us Solve Difficult Problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond their benefits for individuals, the authors argue that <strong>reaching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/higher-level-of-consciousness\/\">higher levels of consciousness<\/a>, or peak states, can also help us solve complex collective problems such as poverty, war, and political disunity.<\/strong> They say that conventional, logical methods don\u2019t work for these problems because they need creative, unconventional solutions\u2014solutions that we can\u2019t find without the expanded perceptual range and informational richness provided by peak states. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/eckhart-tolle-meditation-mindfulness\/\">meditation<\/a> stimulates lateral thinking: <\/strong>According to the authors, researchers have found that deep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/meditation-states\/\">meditative states<\/a>, such as those cultivated by Tibetan monks, promote lateral thinking. Lateral thinking involves drawing connections between seemingly unrelated ideas (whereas linear thinking means reasoning from A to B to C in a straight path). This can produce the creative, boundary-crossing insights needed to innovate and solve tough problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Microdosing enhances problem-solving: <\/strong>Studies on microdosing with LSD have found that it produces, at minimum, a twofold increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-problem-solving-skills\/\">problem-solving skills<\/a>. In addition, participants came up with highly innovative solutions to tough research problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While the authors argue that reaching higher consciousness benefits us because it might help us solve deeply complex global problems, the phenomena they cite above don\u2019t directly support this conclusion. However, this doesn\u2019t mean that their intuition is wrong\u2014perhaps we just haven\u2019t yet figured out how to leverage peak states within existing problem-solving frameworks. One approach is to explore how collective intelligence, a state of group flow reached through meditative dialogue, might generate emergent answers to difficult problems. This approach and others like it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kosmosjournal.org\/article\/collective-presencing-a-new-human-capacity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">are currently being pioneered by groups such as Collective Presencing,<\/a> an organization dedicated to exploring the potential of collective thought.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can reaching a higher consciousness benefit you? What are peak states? According to the authors of Stealing Fire, Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal, reaching a higher consciousness leads to intrinsically fulfilling experiences, which benefit us in numerous ways. The authors argue that these peak-state experiences may be deeply transformative. Read on to learn about peak states and the benefits of reaching a higher consciousness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":75295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,9,6],"tags":[981],"class_list":["post-99319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-psychology","category-spiritual","tag-stealing-fire","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reaching a Higher Consciousness: The Top 2 Benefits - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Curious about the benefits of reaching a higher consciousness? 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