ABSTRACT

Individuals oft en describe media-related experiences in terms of euphoria, deep feeling, and refl ection. A Muslim may feel inspired while meditating over the Quran. A Lutheran may engage in deep listening during a Bach organ recital. A moviegoer may experience a new level of thought during Mel Gibson’s fi lm, Th e Passion of Christ. A participant may describe a dance rave as “not of this world.” Such occurrences have social and cultural dimensions, but cannot be fully understood without examining basic psychological and biological processes. Th is chapter discusses how mediated religion is experienced through mental states of consciousness, a subject that is of great interest to psychologists, neuropsychologists, neurobiologists, and ethnomusicologists.1