The ritual use of psychedelic plants has been by far the most effective tool for inducing healing and transformative non-ordinary states. When I recognized the unique nature of these states of consciousness, I found it difficult to believe that contemporary psychiatry does not have a specific category and term for such theoretically and practically important experiences. Because I felt strongly that they deserve to be distinguished from “altered states of consciousness” and not be seen as manifestations of serious mental diseases, I started referring to them as “holotropic”. This composite word literally means “oriented toward wholeness” or “moving toward wholeness” (from the Greek holos, “whole”, and trepo/trepein, “moving toward” or “in the direction of something”). The word holotropic is a neologism, but it is related to the commonly used term heliotropism – the property of plants to always move in the direction of the sun. 3 Holotropic states of consciousness and the spiritual history of humanity The name holotropic suggests something that might come as a surprise to an average Westerner: in our everyday state of consciousness we identify with only a small fraction of who we really are and do not experience the full extent of our being. Holotropic states of consciousness have the potential to help us recognize that we are not “skin-encapsulated egos”, as British philosopher and writer AlanWatts called it (Watts 1961), but that, in the last analysis, we are commensurate with the cosmic creative principle itself. Or, to use the statement by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and philosopher, “we are not human beings having spiritual experiences, we are spiritual beings having human experiences” (Teilhard de Chardin 1975). This astonishing idea is not new. In the ancient Indian Upanishads, the answer to the question: “Who am I?” is “Tat tvam asi”. This succinct Sanskrit sentence means literally: “Thou art That”, where ”That” refers to the Godhead. It suggests that we are not “namarupa” – name and form (body/ ego), but that our deepest identity is with a divine spark in our innermost being (Atman) which is ultimately identical with the supreme universal principle that creates the universe (Brahman). This revelation – the identity of the individual with the divine – is the ultimate secret that lies at the mystical core of all great spiritual traditions. The name for this principle could thus be the Tao, Buddha, Shiva (of Kashmir Shaivism), Cosmic Christ, Pleroma, Allah, and many others. Holotropic experiences have the potential to help us discover our true identity and our cosmic status (Grof 1998). Sometimes this happens in small increments, other times in the form of major breakthroughs. 6 (4) Stanislav Grof
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