Some Relevant Literature

Judaism was chosen as a Western wisdom tradition which shows evidence of rich ASC-inducing practices in its worship. Lancaster, whose work was discussed in Chapter 3, incorporates mysticism and neuroscience in order to explore consciousness. He quotes evidence from Kabbalistic texts, that consciousness is raised to make direct contact with the Divine via the unconscious (Lancaster 2004). Kabbalistic texts are concerned with ‘formatting the mind in correspondence with a higher realm’ (Lancaster 2011: 238). ASC-inducing techniques include meditating on the Divine name, allowing the mystic to become a suitable vessel to receive the Divine.

Kabbalah is a higher esoteric form of Judaism, whereas my research focused on what most practitioners of religion use, prayer, which creates mild ASCs. However all participants in fieldwork had knowledge of Kabbalah. Crucially, all Jewish prayer assumes a God who listens (R. Hoffman 2000). In Judaism God is referred to as ‘Hashem’. The group I chose to study, Lubavitch Chabad, is part of the Hasidic movement which was founded by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liady (1747–1812) in Eastern Europe. The name of the group derives from 3 key sefirot or Divine emanations (there are 10 in total) believed to be sent from Hashem: chochmah (wisdom), binah (understanding), da’at (knowledge). They emphasize the individual’s capacity for growth, a higher nature and the innate desire of all people to get back to the Infinite (Jacobs 1993).

The philosopher Martin Buber brought Hasidism to the attention of Western Europe. He recognized it as a whole way of life, principally about community and also moral living. Buber believed Hasidism was healing, enabling followers to do Hashem’s work which involves helping others (Buber 1960). Hasidim also believe, following Kabbalah, that the Divine is within us, sparks of the Infinite which broke the vessels containing them and fell to earth. Our task is therefore to return to the Divine (Buber 1960: 13). Hasidism (and Judaism generally) is centrally about love, loving others is the love of God (Buber 1960). This is very similar to the Bhakti movement of Hinduism, discussed in the previous chapter as well as the Christian tradition.

This journey back to the Divine involves a model of self-development. Meditation techniques are used, as well as ‘maps’ and symbols to guide the path. One example is the Tree of Life mentioned earlier, with Divine emanations representing levels of development (E. Hoffman 1992). Some texts offer clear practical steps to attain ASCs and reach the Divine. Examples include the ‘Tract on Ecstasy’ by the 18th-century Rebbe and leader of Lubavitch, Dov Baer (Baer 1963). The Tanya written by Baer’s predecessor Schneur Zalman (Mangel 1973) is used regularly by current Lubavitchers. Most practitioners reach the Yesod level of the Tree of Life. Here daydream, fantasy and imaging are experienced. But with spiritual practice we can go higher (Halevi 1992). ASC inducers such as fasting, breathing and chanting are used in order to traverse the inner self (E. Hoffman 1992). Geoffrey Dennis draws on early texts written by mystics from the 1st to eleventh centuries, especially the Hekhalot, to show that mystical practice allowed for encounters with angelic beings (Dennis 2008).

The developmental path and techniques above are recognized as a path to psychological healing (Hoffman 1992; Jacobs 1993). The Chabad movement see illness arise because of some deeper problem in the soul (Greenbaum 1995). Rabbi Nachman recognized the inspiration of nature, and recommended praying in the fields because the grass will awaken the heart and give spiritual strength (Kaplan 1981). Rabbi Nachman suggested that prayer is healing because it connects us with God (Greenbaum 1984). So spiritual health is seen as crucial for total health. Intellectual study is part of Kabbalah but Hasidim believe that worship of God or Hashem requires only sincere prayer from the heart. It is not a religion of elaborate ritual like Hinduism, so I was interested to see how ASCs were developed and experienced in everyday practice.

My research focus was on everyday mild ASCs. As I mentioned earlier, I was not looking for higher Kabbalistic ASC experience. Nevertheless I was hoping to get information about the use of Kabbalah in this group and its effect on mild sacred ASCs. But Kabbalah is an esoteric system, and so was off limits. In addition during my research Madonna was in the news professing to follow Kabbalah, so Lubavitchers were worried about adverse publicity. But I did get membership of a rabbinic library, so I was able to read about it.

The Lubavitch Group

I was delighted when permission came to be able to study this group. I was told by a Jewish friend that this group is renowned for song and dance as part of worship, quite unlike mainstream Jewish practice. I was excited as I entered the door of their low modern building for the first time. The entrance was guarded by a huge kindly man (Rabbi M.) with a long beard who shook my hand warmly. Participant observation was made possible by the kindness and caring of the Rabbi’s mother, Hannah. She was over 80 yet still regularly taught the female congregation and was unofficial counsellor to everyone. She was barely 5 feet tall, wore huge old-fashioned straw hats, and had a limitless heart and energy. I was regularly invited round for Friday night meals to celebrate the start of Shabbat (a holy period of the week from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday). Hannah also drove a car recklessly as part of her work in the community but, thankfully, I was not given a lift! Hannah was eventually persuaded to stop driving.

I already knew much of the Jewish way of life, the major festivals and how Torah is revered rather than statues of gods. Attending Shabbat services allowed me to observe people absorbed in an ASC of fervent prayer. Some people got so absorbed that others had to ‘bring them back’. At the same time, services were busy: women were separated behind a screen, but those with small children would quite often pass them to the men, and back again! Women were not allowed to handle the scroll, but Jewish mystics believe they have a much higher spiritual level than men (Hoffman 1992). Many achieved deep absorbed ASCs, often holding up their hands as if to catch a blessing from the Torah scroll. At the end of every service, wine and chollah bread was blessed and distributed with much joy. I was blessed to be allowed to attend services for over a year, as well as visiting their houses and attending Shabbat meals. As much as possible I became a regular member. Very soon after beginning attendance, the Rabbi’s Mum said I should convert, so I knew I had been accepted.

People Studied

  • Josh—35, married, new-born son, a part-time rabbi, extremely clever. His sacredness was quiet and unassuming, very genuine, also confessed to being a ‘Trekkie’ (fan of Star Trek films).

  • Hannah—80+, Rabbi’s mother, her deceased and much-loved husband had been Director of Education for Lubavitch. Very proud of Irish/Jewish identity. Lubavitch teacher, and lay counsellor.

  • Rivka—30+, married, one infant, had been synagogue secretary.

  • Miriam—late 50s, part-time worker in cat shelter, reflexologist, had been synagogue secretary for 10 years and later helped in their drug rehab unit.

  • Dov—67, married, 1 adult son living in Israel, retired shopkeeper.

  • Izzy—65, married, 2 grown-up children, semi-retired legal expert in housing,

  • Ben—40+, married, 2 daughters, founder member of the synagogue, senior accountant.

  • Reuben—40+, single, parents deceased, kitchen porter.

  • Samantha—50, married, grown-up children, community nurse.

Participant observation and dialogue revealed a group fervent in their religion, but they also seemed very grounded. This was the only research group who could be studied as a group since they lived as a community. Their lives were centred on the shul (synagogue) and all lived in walking distance of it. Orthodox Jews may not use transport on Shabbat. They lived the watchword of Jewish identity, L’chaim (to life), enjoying life at every opportunity. The rabbis kept open house for people to drop in for dinner or prayers. In the shul any cause for celebration meant setting up long trestle tables after the Shabbat service and an East European dish of vegetables and potato would be served, known as ‘cholent’. This made you feel so full that it would never be necessary to eat ever again. There was also a little bit of whisky served, and a lot of speeches and hugging.

Altered State Experience

Most of my information about their ASCs came from conversations after services and some interviews in their homes. Hannah always insisted I sit with her so she could explain the services. Sometimes I could identify a prayer ASC by watching facial expressions, gentle enunciation of words and hands joined. Sacred ASCs were very frequent and as a result they were very aware of ASCs generally. They also reported significant ASC religious experience in secular settings. They said this was because they lived with God constantly in mind (similar to the Hindu practice of Krishna consciousness). But this way of life did not make them reclusive. Their strong ethical code often resulted in helping people outside Judaism. Lubavitchers have a renowned counselling service for drug addicts, and the Rabbi was well-known for taking non-Jews into his house who needed help.

ASCs were often jovial and collective, celebrating Hashem (God) in everything and all his blessings. Their religious belief system provided the content and meaning of many of their ASCs. Most of them prayed in shul more than home: Judaism teaches that prayers are more effective in a minyan (group of at least 10 people). Rivka prayed frequently at home with her young infant. She had a rich imagination which fed sacred ASCs: She described an ASC like entering another very calming world: ‘…it’s like almost being in another world..a spiritual world in contrast to a material and mundane world…it gives you strength… makes you realise that everything you see, it’s not the truth…’. Rivka seemed to have created her own lifeworld of the spiritual. She was thoughtful, gentle and serious, just getting used to her relatively new life as an Orthodox wife and mother.

Hannah, the Rabbi’s mother, had attended the renowned Gateshead yeshiva (religion school) as a teenager, so was extremely knowledgeable. But she said Hasidim believe that uneducated people can reach God: ‘..there’s a story in Hassidus that an ignorant country boy at the end of Yom Kippur kept crying ‘Ai, ai, help me’ to God. Others tried to stop him but the Rebbe said ‘don’t stop him, he’s saved us’. Hannah loved God dearly as a father, but also mentioned a moral conscience: ‘…women are not expected to go to shul as much as men, lots of us pray at home. So I get up and say the morning service, and it makes me feel good, I love the Psalms of King David, … I’m always talking to God, but.the Hebrew word “tefilah” means self-judgement, that is what it’s about…’. Her life revolved around the shul, teaching the women and keeping an eye on her Rabbi son. Yet she described her most sacred ASC moments whilst swimming underwater in the local pool. This was a very quiet experience with God.

I found their ASCs were mostly about communication with God, but also influenced by their own lifeworld and ideas. Ben likened shul worship to football, meaning he felt a collective ASC of exuberance: ‘on a spiritual and religious level, when one goes to the synagogue…it’s a bit similar to football, … you are part of a group chanting together, you get into that, singing a happy “clappy” song… not necessarily conscious of things around you. But when I’m praying I certainly concentrate and get into it…I feel I am communicating with Hashem’. He was a young married accountant with children but also a football fanatic. As a teenager he used to skip school to go to football, he loved the collective ASC experience of the crowd. But one day a match was televised and his luck ran out when he was spotted in the crowd by a teacher watching TV! He was very fervent in worship but football was never far from his mind, and male congregants usually swapped football gossip after a service. He also recognized that Shabbat was a construction of a collective lifeworld: ‘there is an altered state in that you are conscious this is time to take a step back (from the world)…….’.

Josh the rabbi explained the aim of prayer: ‘… prayer was set aside for that specific purpose of connecting with a higher source…’. He also explained a form of prayer called davening which induces a higher ASC. This is an Orthodox tradition of bowing from the waist repeatedly during prayer, but he warned against doing it too frequently; it was a special act, involving mental preparation: ‘…if a person puts correct effort into davening, and contemplates what he is really doing…he should feel he has reached the pinnacle … Hasidim have a custom of learning before davening, perhaps about concepts related to God…..trying to put oneself in the right frame of mind…’. But this did not contradict Hannah’s comments about the uneducated being heard by God. Josh also emphasized doing Hashem’s work, so how we treat others is primary. He was also critical of ASCs as a concept: ‘The Tanya talks about overcoming one’s natural inclination, … in order to serve and connect to God, so in a sense altered states is a cliché. Tanya encourages focussing one’s mind to overcome physical needs…to devote our time to becoming a better person’.

Certain parts of the Shabbat services were described as ASC-inducing. The most important prayers are the Shemonei Esrei (or Amidah) which is central to the service, and also the Shema, and these were described as the most ASC-inducing. Dov explained the Amidah: ‘…it’s you, your thoughts, and Hashem, your thoughts for your family, your wife, for yourself, it takes me up to a level that transcends anything, you’ve got His ear, and your thoughts are totally focussed on that. It’s a comforting feeling, you go into synagogue, your mind’s at peace with everything, you’re amongst friends, and you got the best friend you ever got, the guy upstairs!’ This was a feeling of unity with all, a common experience in mystical states. At special services such as High Holydays (festivals) the ancient priestly blessing was recited by the rabbi and several congregants. To do this they gathered together under a large prayer shawl and it was considered a very sacred moment in the service. The priestly blessing is from Numbers 6:24–26 in the Torah (1962) and the Bible.

I was privileged to experience the dedication of a new Torah scroll, and its procession through the street to its new home. It had been written in Israel, but as in tradition, the final few lines were completed by members of the donor family. At the festival of the Torah, ‘Simchat Torah’, the scroll is carried by members of the congregation and danced round the synagogue. Similarly the procession of the new scroll involved spiritually inspired dancing. I witnessed extreme ASCs on that occasion, of ecstasy and complete exhaustion.

Dov explained that the most sacred ASCs are often experienced in their homeland of Israel, especially in Safed. This is a very holy place where rebbes from ancient times are buried, many had suffered persecution. Jews pray at the graves and leave petitions. Dov: ‘Safed is the most mystical place I’ve been to in all my life, you can feel it in the air, … people will tell you this, even those who are not religious…’.

The regularity and depth of ASCs they experienced, embedded in a whole belief system, created a virtually continuous ASC, certainly for the 24 hours of Shabbat. This was a ‘Lifeworld’ of sacredness even in the secular, centred on their relationship with God. But the descriptions of sacred ASCs varied in terms of their perception of God or their personal aspirations. Josh and Dov saw the sacred in their ASCs as ‘a level that transcends anything’ or ‘connecting with a higher source’ whereas Hannah’s God was not in a world apart or higher but very near in her world.

Therapeutic Effects of ASCs

The effect of sacred ASCs in this group was therapeutic. For Lubavitchers, Hashem (God) is their main healing source and they were certain of his care. This did not mean perfect health, nor did they substitute religion for biomedicine; they all used the NHS. But Josh explained: ‘…understanding that our lives are controlled to an extent, things… are sometimes out of our hands, ….nothing is sent by God without his realising whether we can handle it or not…but it’s not easy to give everything to God, you need to work on believing it…’. He also described ‘Tanya’, mentioned previously, as a psychology manual on stress/anger management. So the therapeutic meaning and effect was primarily psychological. The ‘therapy’ of their religion was used for negative states. These were common in the group. Miriam, Reuben, Dov and Rivka all said they had depression. They used prayer to cope, and prayer created a kind of inner dialogue with positive/negative states where Hashem was a positive source. In other groups, the term ‘stress’ covered negative experiences. The difference was partly terminology: for Lubavitchers negative states were labelled depression. But one of them did have clinical depression. Hannah believed Hashem was her constant companion so she was very positive. She also practised self-hypnosis to relax herself: ‘… but the main one (ASC) is (that) I talk to Hashem all the time, even when I’m walking in the street. I think that’s the secret of eternal youth…’ Rivka, too, relied on religion: ‘religious stuff is the altered state I use the most, and the most healing… it makes you see that your life in this world is temporary, the bad things you see are not forever, and.there’s no point in getting upset about little things because there’s a bigger plan…it puts things in perspective’. So for this group religion created a therapeutic ASC lifeworld to inhabit.

Some Secular Pursuits and ASCs

Participants also mingled their religious lifeworld with secular pursuits. I noted Hannah’s swimming with Hashem in mind, and Ben’s inspiration from football. Ben also experienced a very tranquil ASC at home after work by cleaning his precious stamp collection, dipping stamps one by one into a solution. He said this helped him to ‘switch off’.

Miriam’s lifeworld centred on Hashem but she filled every day with Bob Dylan music. Her father had been a music entrepreneur in the 1960s so she knew many stars. Miriam described an almost constant ASC from her music. Her flat was full of rescue cats and these as well as her music were highly therapeutic after a personal life of emotional suffering.

One of the most striking findings about this group was their imaginative abilities. The Hindu group claimed that they did not need or use daydream and fantasy. But Lubavitchers were happy to disclose rich imaginative daydream. Their ability for deep absorbed ASCs sometimes included merging the everyday world with TV fiction. Reuben and Hannah experienced TV characters as if real. So Reuben said he experienced TV as stepping out of this world and being in another world: Josh had been a ‘Trekkie’ and talked at length about the moral themes in Star Trek which he likened to Hasidic stories, with good winning over evil. Rivka said ‘…TV can make you forget your problems…you are inside that (fictional) world’. This use of TV was not in any way a diminishing of the healing power of their religion, it simply offered relief using a mild ASC experience. Their daydreams were of ideal selves (Rivka and Reuben), the self as hero (Izzy), or a past ideal world (Dov and Samantha). This imaginative ability greatly enhanced their sacred experience and added depth to their ASCs of prayer.

Nature use was low, despite the link Hasidim make with the sacred. This was in part a result of their busy lives. But Josh remarked: ‘…nature – it’s all part of God, and being able to understand nature means that you are a little bit more attuned to the spiritual side of life…’. Hannah believed in angels in nature, quoting a renowned mystic: ‘…the Baal Shem Tov said “not even a leaf will fall from a tree unless it’s by the will of the Almighty God”. As children we were not allowed to pick up leaves because behind every leaf is a malakh, an angel’. Rivka simply loved the smell and calm of her garden after rain, and said she felt very spiritual in it.

To sum up, this group had deep absorbed states which allowed them to inhabit their lifeworld which revolved around God, both in a higher realm as well as in their everyday lives. This corresponds with descriptions in Jewish literature where God is both transcendent and immanent (Hoffman 2000). Their beliefs seemed to make them more accepting of ASCs and other realities. Participant observation with them was a very warm and meaningful experience. Like most Jewish people, they were nervous of anti-Semitism in Western Europe and beyond, but lived a sacred and observant life—this was not an easy existence, but Lubavitchers fervently believed in their Divine mission to help others and eventually return to Hashem. So ASCs centred on religion, felt as highly therapeutic, but ‘topped up’ with lots of daydream and imagined worlds. Their descriptions of ASCs were not radically different from  Transpersonal literature. But two things were unusual: a way of life which created an almost total sacred lifeworld, particularly during Shabbat, and ASCs which were sacred but often experienced in secular settings.

Very sadly since I completed my research I heard that Hannah passed away. I treasure the wonderful experience of knowing her. Zikhronah livrakha. May her memory be a blessing. Later I learned more sad news that kindly Rabbi M. who would greet me at the door of the synagogue, and whose house I visited, had passed away too. Zikhrono livrakha. May his memory be a blessing.