"An investigation based on direct experience into the meaning and message of altered states. Recounts several dozen of the author's experiences of drug and non-drug altered states of consciousness from birth to early adulthood. Applies the lenses of four explanatory models-psychoanalysis, psychopharmacology, Zen Buddhism, and medieval Jewish metaphysics-in understanding how and why they occurred. Demonstrates the importance of careful unflinching recollection and documentation of both heavenly and hellish altered states in one's psychological, emotional, and spiritual life"--