It’s interesting to me that in centuries past, experiences such as your “psychoses” would have been regarded with awe as profound mysteries.

Seems like these days, anything out of the ordinary must be a mental illness. It’s such a tragedy.

Maybe the worst situtaion of my life was being hauled off to a locked ward when a senior in college. Before that I was a big man on campus with excellent grades and a girl whom I loved. After months of sitting in a chair I just about lost my soul–all ambition, joy, enthusiasm, hope disappeared. Years later, I releazed that the experience did give me a zeal to not go back to my hell, so when I stumbled into AA I tried everything they said. Thirty some years later, I’m still sober and trying to give people hope by speaking and writing about alcoholism and mental illness. If I had not been really upset by that psychiatric ward, I would not have put forth much effort. I would have evolved into one of the nameless rabble who just lived for a while on the streets, then died a nameless drunk.

Jim S

My Irish father lapsed from Catholicism, my Scottish Mother lost her Presby faith when her lovely mother died. Expelled to a British boarding school I sucked up religion in defense of my horrible life. I wrote countless lettres to my parents, scared witless that they would be burned, burned, burned!

At a tidy 43 years old, I’ve had my moments. Should I embrace an actual organized faith, I’d have to side on the Gnostics. I loved the Gospel of Judas, where Christ does silly stuff, like laugh. Y’know, like he’s kind of human….I’d go on.

The only trouble I have with the whole Mortal Coil, is that animals do so not figure into it. See, that’s where the whole reincarnation stuff entres for me. Then again, maybe the beastie keeps coming back until…….

Achk, who cares? My ultimate belief is that whatever your belief is, that is the right one. As the gallaxies expand, why the heck wouldn’t the rewards beyond?

Jim, that is such a terrific way to put it.

I so hope to return to school one day to study comparative religion and philosophy (and history). I read on my own but the focused study and opportunity for live discussion is missing. Besides, I took a course years ago but wasn’t yet secure enough in my perspective to fully pursue it. After a five year loss and reclamation of identity and repressed/recovered spiritual impulse, I’m ready now.

I started flipping through a book the other night, “Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy.” (Wolf-Dieter Storl) Well written, and it considers Shiva not just in context of Hindi cosmology and tradition, but the human/spiritual experience itself. I was getting a spiritual high just reading it. sigh

This is my long-winded way of saying “I’m there with you, Gianna.” I’m practicing the academic skill of extending an idea for as long as possible while appearing to add new information. Ha.

So true. I like how Eckhart Tolle always refers to what he is saying as pointers. He quotes the Zen saying, “the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.”

Very nice post.

Jim S: That hits the nail on the head, IMO.

Jim S

I apologize for any mistakes with the quotes….These were as I remembered hearing from a rabbi…..

Also, “know God” would obviously refer to completely comprehend, understand….

I believe we can have connection to/and faith in Spirit without full knowledge….In many ways, I’ve come to believe that we don’t really “know” ourselves – not fully….

The point here was that so much of “faith” (life, love) is a mystery…

Duane

“To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem The World” is the title of Gail Hornstein’s biography of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, and it’s a quote from the Kabbalah.

There are a couple of quotations I love from Judaism –

“To know God, I would have to be God.” (paraphrased a bit)

And one that I hope inspires you – with all that you do for so many –

“If a man/woman saves one life, he/she has saved all of humanity”.

My best,
Duane

In the 1890s, Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu spiritual teacher to travel to America, told a group of religious leaders at a conference in Chicago (over and over again), “If one religion is true, then they all must be.” His reasoning was that God/Deity speaks to all peoples, just as S/He created all peoples. The differences in religions are the man-made parts.

This would be a good post for Bi-polar_pagans Yahoogroup, or a good guest article for PaganPages.org, or Witchvox, or…

Hugs,
Moss