Sentient beings such as the human race are born into this so-called reality on a day-to-day basis. Reality is the playing field in which planets, galaxies, and the universe all supposedly are confined. What would happen if this in fact was not the only reality and perhaps may not even be a true reality? These alternate realities are unknown to the masses of ordinary people. These people have either never contemplated the fact that there are other realities have contemplated them and believe them to be lies due to there skepticism, or live somewhere where thoughts or ideas such as these are unacceptable. These alternate states are known as Altered States of Consciousness (ASC). They can also be referred to as the Higher States of Consciousness. This paper will be answering questions such as what is an ASC? What is the so-called reality? And how do we as humans access these altered states?
             Before we discuss what an ASC is, we must understand what consciousness is. Consciousness is, "The waking perception of objects, events, and time." An ASC can be described as a feeling in which the individual clearly feels a qualitative shift in his pattern of mental functioning, that is, he feels not just a quantitative shift (more or less alert, more or less visual imagery, sharper of duller, etc.) but also that some quality or qualities of his mental processes are different. ASC can be achieved naturally as well as through the use of entheogens (Nikhilananda). Natural access can come from dancing, brain devices, dreaming, drumming, fasting, martial arts, meditation, prayer, sweating (dehydration) and disciplines such as yoga. Using entheogens or psychedelic substances such as LSD, peyote, mescaline, psilocybin and the like can also launch you into full-altered states. In this paper, I will focus on naturally achieving ASC through the use of meditation as well as through the use of psychedelics such as LSD (Nikhilananda).
             Meditation is a powe...