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Sohail;
Thank you for sending me your essay on 'Psychology of
Spiritual Encounters'. As I said before, I am impressed by your courage in
attempting to understand critique and advance these very broad, sometimes
nebulous ideas and make them accessible to the average non-medical reader.
Regarding the deeper meaning of psychosis (or 'madness'
in lay terms), I have come to the conclusion that there is *always* a
meaning to these 'symptoms' of hearing voices, having odd beliefs
(delusions) etc. It has a meaning for those experiencing them, the
challenge for the person as well as those trying to help him or her is to
figure out a way to integrate this meaning into the larger context of a
person's life and how that life fits into the society that person lives in.
I have found that I can connect much better with people that I see if
I help them accept those experiences as a part of themselves rather than
something 'alien' that needs to be gotten rid of. Also, until we have a
more firm scientific understanding of the bio-chemical causes of these
symptoms, I am always reluctant to attribute them to Dopamine, Serotonin
etc abnormalities. Here in the US,
'chemical imbalance' has become a much abused cliche
now rendered meaningless because of its frequent use and misuse.
Your story about Dr.Honda was
touching. I fully agree that mystical/spiritual experiences help develop a
person's compassion and generosity. Looking at is from the other side (in
dialectical Marxist fashion) though, I am sad that it requires such an
experience to cultivate those qualities in a person. By definition, that means
our societies as currently constructed discourage or suppress these
qualities in favor of selfishness, acquisitiveness, possessiveness etc. How
wonderful it would be if it could be the other way around.
The section on the role of Temporal Lobes in Spiritual
and Creative Encounters was particularly interesting and heartening. If we
humans do not destroy ourselves as a species and our Mother Earth along
with us, I think we will continue to unmask these magical and mystic
wonders through our scientific and creative endeavors.
I am a great admirer of Maslow
as well, something I inherited (or perhaps imbibed) from my father who was
a Psychology student in the US
in the early 70s at the height of the counter culture movement and was a
great admirer of all 'humanist' intellectuals.
I would also submit, in the end, that just as people
with wealth and possessions do not hesitate to defend them, it is incumbent
upon intellectuals, writers and all creative people to defend their
'wealth' as well, the wealth of their knowledge, their creativity and their
understanding and disperse it as widely as possible. You are certainly in
the lead as far as that is concerned.
Here is one of my essays that talks a little about Maslow.
http://www.chowk.com/articles/11824
I would love to collaborate with you on a book. You also
need to tell me your secret of 'time management'. How do you find the time
for so much reading and writing while working and having a presumably busy
and involved social life?
Wassallaam,
Ali
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