Heightened religious experiences and meditation can both lead to experiences of altered consciousness. Why is this the case?

Answer: Both practices allow practitioners to direct attention away from the self

Explanation: Heightened religious experiences and meditation are nothing more than ecstatic states that tend to be transcendental, that is, moving away from the material and elevating oneself to higher spheres of consciousness. Thus, one can reach an expanded or altered, alternative state of consciousness, which is different from the so-called normal state, a state when we are awake and fully aware of ourselves. When, during meditation and similar religious experiences, the practitioner moves away from himself, he moves away from the material that actually binds one's consciousness to reality or alertness. Each transcendental experience is a take-off to a state that is somewhat irrational. One of the common simpler examples is sleeping.