While the trait of absorption has received a considerable amount of scientific study, states of absorption have been comparatively understudied, and even less scholarly or scientific attention has been paid to those that are cultivated within the contemplative traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This presentation explores canonical descriptions of states of contemplative absorption in these Abrahamic traditions, specifically how they are cultivated using sensory deprivation and sensory withdrawal, can entail functional impairment considered normative in some contexts, have both positive or negative valence, and in certain cases are set apart as the goal of the meditative path. The import of this survey goes beyond just historical significance since these traditions assume, and recent research suggests the plausibility, that such states may be hyper-plastic and pivotal in both adaptive and maladaptive directions, which if empirically confirmed would have significant clinical and pedagogical implications.