An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

which may reach the autonomic nervous system. Graham (1999) suggests that therhythmic auditory stimuli of drumming practised by native American or EasternBuddhist mantra chanting may induce an altered mental and physical state.Ward (1989) suggests the altered state of consciousness is different from person toperson in the same way that the „normal‟ state of conscious is different for each person.The altered state of consciousness could be described as a hypnotic trance, sleep, rapideye movement (dream state) daydreaming meditation where people do not rememberthe events occurring during the time they were experiencing muscle tremor or otherevidence of an altered state of consciousness. “ASC” can be induced through differentmethods other than music and chanting such as opiods, anti-depressants, orhallucinogens breathing exercises, deprivations associated with fasting, self sacrifice,and isolation.ASC experiences can be elicited naturally because of the nervous system responses toinjury, extreme fatigue, near starvation, or ingestion of hallucinogens or because of awide variety of deliberate procedures such as drumming, chanting, music, fasting,sensory deprivation, or deliberate sleep (Winkelman 1998). Winkelman (2000)describes the physiology of ASCs in some detail. They activate the limbic systemproducing a parasympathetic dominant state of deep relaxation and internal focus ofattention. ASCs stimulate the serotonergic nervous system exemplified in the action ofmeditation and psycho-integrators (hallucinogens) upon the brain. This in turn canactivate the autonomic nervous system resulting in a parasympathetic dominant state ofrelaxation of the serotonin receptors, with their highest nerve concentrations in thelower brain, the limbic system hippocampus and amygdala, and the frontal cortex's293