Are the states of consciousness reached during deep meditation the same as "dissociative trance states?"
For me, it is. I don't know if I'm doing it right. Of course, with meditation, you don't have the negative side effects of drugs. The sense of stillness, detachment, and wonder I've felt during meditation was all very familiar to me due to my experience with dissociative drugs. The difference is, drugs also cause side effects like hallucination, lethargy, sometimes even paranoia or psychosis. I'm certain there are some similarities, but whether those similarities match up to "true and proper" meditative states, I can't say. You'd have to do a study of spiritual masters from various schools and look for patterns in biofeedback data. The problem would be a) sorting the genuine masters from the charlatans, b) getting the masters to do drugs for testing purposes., and possibly c) determining whether a spiritual master reacts normally to drugs--it could be they're immune in some ways. I induced hallucinations or "out of body" experiences several times before I realized I was lucid dreaming. It may be something similar in transcendental meditation--maybe it's just a state similar to light sleep. I can definitely see how people could drive themselves insane through meditation. Not your run-of-the-mill deep breathing and stretching, but I mean trying to induce hallucinations in yourself or chanting for hours on end. Prisoners held in solitary confinement are just involuntary meditation practitioners, and obviously many of them don't do it right.
Does anyone who's been a level 4/5 dissociate and is still dissociative have any suggestions in techniques to break through their current dissociativness to tap into the trauma and feel the emotion in order to feel the trauma so it can be released?
Let me stress something right up front. We are still dissociative FOR A REASON. Dissociation is a defense mechanism which will gradually fade and relax AS someone becomes accustomed to a newer, safer environment. Only in this newer, safer environment…when trust is solid and one has an ALLY to support them, will it be time for the dissociation…and any other defense mechanism…to weaken slowly and allow titrated amounts of exposure to traumatic material to be dealt with in an ever so contained environment with said ally.It is highly inadvisable…to put it lightly…to attempt some sort of self ‘break through’ in order to feel the sudden flood gate of unabated trauma re-experiencing. You will flood. You will destabilize. You will be retraumaized and push EVEN FURTHER out, your window of opportunity for recovery. Don’t do it. This sort of thing is not helpful. It does not facilitate healing. It simply causes one to relive and resuffer.Only in a very safe, controlled and contained space WITH A TRAINED AND ATTUNED THERAPIST to accompany you on this journey, should someone even try ‘tapping into’ any trauma material. Safety and stability first, in the context of a strong therapeutic relationship…THEN, dissociation can be ‘taught’ to relax, naturally. You …your psyche…will KNOW when it is time to know more, speak more, feel more and work through more. Until then, be patient with your dissociation and the PURPOSE it is fulfilling.
What does it mean when you dream that you are someone else?
What’s it like to travel to another star, using a space ship that goes almost at the speed of light. Or like in the movies that hit a warp of multiple times the speed of light. Not possible by our physics, but enough to make a movie out of.When you were a kid, did you ever think of yourself as a fireman, or policeman or even a superhero?The mind has an ability to ask itself: What would it be like to be “blank”. You can fill in the blank with anything. A dream just doesn’t tell you about that beautiful girl you want to marry or date, or the idea of the world ending, it can entertain you with worlds we know don’t exist. In a dream, the interpretations are never complete and can always be looked at in multiple ways. Some dreams that entertain you allow you to role play. An aspect that can be just a part to the meaning of the dream. The roleplaying is just to let you wonder what it might feel like to go through that situation, while at the same time a message is being brought to your attention.The cool thing about a dream is that you can actually be in a conscious state in a body that is not what you have in real life. When it role plays, it can do whatever it likes with whatever memory you have collected and use all the experiences you have to fabricate a reality. True virtual reality.The part you play is the part you wish to experience, yet it is your story also, and you are the director and it is your scenario. All based on what is in your mind.
How do you know if you've lost your grip on reality?
Reality is a fluid thing at the best of times. What modern day professionals consider as having lost your grip on reality most probably isn't. Often, talking to oneself or considering crazy ideas as possible can be considered a sign that you have lost your grip on reality. That is not the case. Look at Elon Musk. He did things most people thought loopy and impossible, and he is very much in touch with reality, more so than most, if you ask me. The point at which you can be sure you have lost your grip on reality is the point at which the laws of the universe no longer apply in your mind. By this, I mean that you have started to believe that walking across the surface of the sun without any spacesuit would be a brilliant idea for Sunday lunch. I don't mean that questioning the current laws of physics is bad.