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What is Ecstasy? During the fifties, Psychologist Abraham
Maslow, who developed the concept of "peak human potential," did
years of research on what I call "ecstatic states", and which he
called peak experiences." His
findings may surprise you. "Almost all people have or can have peak
experiences," Maslow said. And psychologist Stella Resnik, in her book The
Pleasure Zone, comments: "Peak
experiences are intensely pleasurable times that can last for just a minute or
for several weeks or more. They are periods of complete happiness and
fulfillment. . . perceived as great moments, as very fine times in a person's
life." Maslow found that certain individuals - people he called
"self-actualized", enjoyed a much higher frequency of peak
experiences than did individuals in the general population. . . they felt
fulfilled in their lives, motivated not by need, but by the desire to
grow." We
seek comfort, pleasure, and ecstasy from the moment we are born. Comfort is a
natural state of well-being in the absence of pain. Pleasure comes from the
gratification of our physical needs and emotional desires. Ecstasy is an
experience of intense contentment, inner joy. Like peak experiences, it is, in
most cases, a discontinuous state. It happens, it peaks, then it is gone. And
now we are back in our ordinary consciousness, left with the intuitive insight
of an expanded potential for wholeness. Such moments motivate us to grow. At
this juncture, we are drawn to the patient inner work that is needed to
recognize and transform the behavior patterns that sabotage our ability to be
joyful, contented and "self-actualized.” As we become increasingly
aware of this potential, we gradually discover ecstasy as an intense state of
stabilized contentment that helps us to choose what is pleasing to ourself and
others. Because they are mysterious, ineffable and subjective, such states are
uniquely personal, hence difficult to define. The
dictionary defines ecstasy as "A state of exalted delight surpassing
normal understanding" and "A state of emotion so intense that
rational thought and self-control are obliterated." Our
word ecstasy comes from the Greek ex stasis, to move beyond "stasis," beyond the seemingly solid and
fixed, into movement, life. It is liberation from the known. It’s Latin
root ex-stare means to stand
outside yourself, as in "transcendence," which means to climb, to go
beyond. Fundamentally, then, ecstasy means to transcend yourself, to go outside
and beyond what you think, know, and believe is possible. It is to feel
expanded, deeply connected to all that is around you, infinitely creative and
alive. An ecstatic state is a glimpse into the infinite. We
experience such states through music. Love. Religion. Sex. Still, our ecstatic
potential goes mostly unfulfilled. Most people are not educated (or trained) to
value and recognize life's sacred dimension. And because they are often too
busy to notice or value the simple joys of daily life, ecstasy eludes them.
They do not recognize that every moment is pregnant with ecstasy. For ecstatic states are not separate or opposed to
ordinary life. My
experience, working with people has shown me that ecstatic states can happen
spontaneously. They are as natural as sleeping and breathing. Zen master Sen
T'sen says, "We return to the Origin and remain where we have always
been." We
were conceived in the act of pleasure. Ecstasy was programmed into us the
moment the sperm met the egg in our mother's wombs. It exists inside us right
now as a potentiality. And it is possible to create joy within, to live a life
cut like a precious jewel that reflects who we truly are, that radiates an
energy that is healing and enchanting. And every step we take carries the
possibility of such an awakening. |