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Consciousness hacking, what Wired Magazine has called “Silicon Valley’s new nonreligion,” is no longer limited to the modern elite. This thesis explores the foundational science and history behind humanity’s search for transcendence and transformation of consciousness, from age-old religions to the latest neurotechnology. The story of modern humanity is that of seeking what cannot be seen, from the atom to the universe, but the inner world is another such universe and its capacities are only just now reaching the mainstream. These pages seek to highlight the psychological qualities that make up transformative experiences of consciousness (changes in perception, identity, sense of self, and relationship to symbols), and what happens when these experiences become stable traits and not just temporary states, enabling different perspectives on reality and glimpses into a potentially post-anxious future. What if new brain technology could create the kinds of peak consciousness experiences that various spiritual traditions and religions have held as their end goal for thousands of years, states like satori or enlightenment in Buddhism and union with God in Christianity? Traditional psychology has studied what is abnormal in humans, but this thesis explores the strange and great potential of the human mind to reach extraordinary states of well-being.