Trance used to be defined as a state of reduced consciousness, but recently more people are using the term “altered state of consciousness” where awareness of external stimuli is reduced and the awareness of internal mental/spiritual stimuli is heightened. I am writing this blog as trance has a potentially huge impact on human intuition. Scientific research toward the trance state has barely started and this is the subject which holds the key to understanding human nature. I know by my own experiences that great intuitive ideas often come when I am in trance-like state or dream-like state where “the magic and miracle” come without my conscious intention.
Trance is a naturally occurring state. We all go in and out of different types of trance many times each day. For example, you are in your ‘driving trance’, with one part of your mind driving you safely to your destination while another part is busy with interesting thoughts about other places, memories of the past or plans for the future. Therefore, trance may be understood as a way for the mind to change the way it filters information in order to provide a more efficient use of the mind’s resources.
An Expert’s Analogy on Trance
When you are learning how to play the piano, you have to concentrate on where your fingers go, think about what note is played next, but when you become a concert pianist, your hand flows over the keyboard — you almost don’t have to think about what you’re doing. It makes sense that the brain would become less active as it becomes more efficient at doing something. Simply this concert pianist plays piano with a natural flow and without consciously thinking of the notes. This results as a pianist’s “art.”
With this definition, meditation, hypnosis and addictions are seen as being trance states. Religious ecstasy or vision can be deliberately induced using a variety of techniques, including prayers, rituals, meditation, breathing exercises, dancing, physical exercise, sweat lodge, fasting physical exercise, music, fasting.
Sufism (a branch of Islam) has theoretical and metaphoric texts regarding ecstasy as a state of connection with Allah. Sufi practice rituals using body movement and music to achieve the state.
While many are skeptical about the effects of the trance state, an increasing number of people recognize its importance. My bet is on the positive side for the growth, development and application of the trance state as a means of exploring human possibilities in the future. I believe that your intuitive and creative power is attracted toward you when you can achieve the state of trance through available and safe methods. Finding out the human mind is much more complex than finding out the nature of physical material. It takes time.