States of Consciousness (Paperback)

~ Charles Tart (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A beautiful piece of work on the theory of altered states of consciousness." -- Stanislav Grof, M.D. author of Realms of the Human Unconsciousness

Product Description

States of Consciousness, a classic by world authority Charles T. Tart, is a basic understanding of how the mind is a dynamic, culturally biased, semi-arbitrary construction and system. A systematic exploration of how and why altered states can come about and their possibilities. As a student of his remarked, "For the first weeks of class I didn't understand what those diagrams were about, but I've realized the book is all about the way my own mind works!" Useful in understanding some of the important ways your mind works before you start altering it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595151965
• ISBN-13: 978-0595151967
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #163,526 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As expected, excellent work, June 20, 2001

By	A. M. Curry (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. Tart has again written a most facinating work on a most facinating topic: our consciousness and it's path of evolution. Any person, regardless of past experience with the topic, will find this book a focused and rather addictive piece of literature. You'll learn a lot, so it's well worth your time to pick up a copy and jump in.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foundation for studies of consciousness ..., August 16, 2004

By	Yuri Kuzyk "zentao" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This book contains an amazing amount of 'food for contemplation' for anyone trying to grapple with questions regarding consciuosness. Although this 'field' has lots of material devoted to it, Tart combines a Western (rational and scientific) approach with hands-on knowledge of experimentation.

To any high-level practitioner of 'internal arts' such as Taoist meditation there should be many sections in this book. Particularly relevant are the sections on the systems approach as well as his diagrams of the mind in general. There is an inherent simplicity in his scientific explanations that is quite elegant. To an advanced practitioner, the explanations are grounding and relatively satisfying for explaining the purely cognitive state one may attain from practice.

Excellent and sure to be widely referenced in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seminal work, September 15, 2008

By	Daniel M. Kivel "Kivel" (Algonac, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a classic, and has been one of the most important books on states of consciousness for 30 years. It is (to my limited knowledge) the first serious work on this subject, and one that launched an entire new field of science.Altered states of consciousness