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PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTERS
By
Dr. Khalid Sohail
There was a time spiritual encounters were only found in
religious books studied by theologians and followers of different religious
and spiritual traditions. But in the last century a number of
psychiatrists, neurologists and psychologists have been studying spiritual
encounters from a secular, humanistic and scientific point of view. Being a
student of human psychology and a practicing psychiatrist I have a keen
interest in those experiences and their understanding so that we can help
our patients to the best of our ability and also solve the mystery of
spiritual encounters.
When I review the stories of all those men and women who
had spiritual encounters and claimed to be communicating with God I can
easily classify them in the following groups:
PSYCHOTIC ENCOUNTERS
MYSTIC ENCOUNTERS
EPILEPTIC ENCOUNTERS
PEAK EXPERIENCES
PSYCHOTIC ENCOUNTERS
Over the decades while working as a psychiatrist in different
mental hospitals in Canada
I met a number of Christian men and women who experienced religious
delusions and spiritual hallucinations. Some men stated “I am Jesus Christ”
and some women told me “I am Virgin Mary”. During their interviews they
confessed they heard God’s voice telling them to do certain things in their
life. Many of them followed those commands as they considered them holy. In
Pakistan I
met a Muslim patient who told me “I am hearing God’s voice telling me that
I am Abraham and I have to sacrifice my son Ismail”.
To look after his son we had to ask his family members to protect their son
until his father recovered. Such men and women suffered from serious mental
illness. Alongside having religious delusions and hallucinations they also
had thought disorder and inappropriate behavior. Many of them also suffered
from paranoia and were afraid that their relatives, friends or police were
going to harm them. Some of them were even willing to be admitted to the
psychiatric hospital to feel safe.
Psychiatrists
believe that religious hallucinations, spiritual delusions and paranoia are
part of many mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder, also known as manic depressive illness. These conditions affect
nearly 1% of general population. The rates can be higher if there is a
family history of mental illnesses as they run in the families. Such
illnesses are caused by biochemical changes in the brain. When the
metabolism of dopamine, nor-adrenaline, 5 hydroxy-tryptamine
and serotonin is disturbed in the brain it gives rise to psychotic
encounters and gradual deterioration of the personality. In many cases when
mental illness is diagnosed and treated early with medications, education
and psychotherapy, patients recover and lead a successful life but in some
cases suffering is so intense, prolonged and unbearable that patients
commit suicide.
One
such patient was Paul that I looked after in a psychiatric hospital. He
suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He used to be preoccupied with
religious and spiritual matters and as his condition deteriorated his life
started to disintegrate. He, like many others who suffer from emotional
problems and mental illness, had poor self esteem. He believed he was ugly
and nobody liked him. He thought he was ‘cursed’. By the time he came to
receive treatment his condition had deteriorated to such an extent that he
did not respond to medications, psychotherapy, even hospitalization. One
day he showed me one of his poems, which read,
Here at home
Come inside my name is hell
Let me give you pain and agony so you won’t feel well
Over in the distance across the flames of darkness you
can here a bell
I welcome you into my fear I see you like it I can tell
Up from God in heaven above I was defeated and fell
Down to the stinking creation God made
I sit here down on earth a demon of hade
I hate man’s soul and make him to fade
Into the night the dark gloom and shade
Death destruction is my name and confusion and death on
earth all of it will I claim
The war pains grace in man’s head…take a look around and
know my name
The name of satan is of hell,
fury, furnace reign
God is but a dove, yet I am the dragon and crush his
weak wing
All over each I
claim suffering and life, love of greed I sing
I love the danger of battle the screams of man in my ear
I love to hear it ring
Against all spikes and stakes…God’s people will I crush
and fling
Come into me satan and darken
my soul
Down here in my hell for inside my home
This young schizophrenic was so tormented by his
psychotic encounters and religious experiences that a few months after
writing that poem he committed suicide. (Ref 1)
MYSTIC ENCOUNTERS
In the last few decades I have also read stories of many
saints, sadhus and sants
who shared their spiritual encounters in their biographies. They believe
such encounters helped them develop a mystic personality and acquire spiritual
enlightenment.
Maitreya, a 20th century mystic, who claimed
to be the re-birth of Buddha, in his book of revelations, The Gospel of
Peace writes, “The birth of every scripture seems to be tied with, and is a
product of, the spiritual re-birthing of the individual, of experiencing
the state which is known by a variety of names, as I said in the beginning:
the nirvanic state, enlightenment, satori, self-realization, un-ul-haq,
illumination, re-birth, realizing the supra-mental or cosmic consciousness”
(Ref 2) He shares one of his spiritual encounters in these words,
“Then about two months later, around 4.00 in the early
hours of the morning I was awakened by the same divine presence, and a
voice spoke to me, ‘take thy pen and write. “I” shall speak to you the last
book The Gospel of Peace. Start with the beginning. There was no beginning.
“I” never created anything. There was no moment of birth, nor shall be one of death, of the universe. Do not be
confused and write “I” never created anything outside and apart from
MYSELF…” (Ref 2)
Maitreta was also known as Dr
Honda who was a well respected professor of sociology in Toronto
and served his community till his death in 1990. He lead
a very productive life and had many students and disciples who admired his
personality and philosophy.
Dr
Honda belonged to the spiritual tradition of hama oast
that believe all that exists is
God. That tradition is different than the hama az oast tradition of Jews,
Muslims and Christians who believe that all that exists is created by a
Higher Power, a Creator, a God. There are many saints and Sufis and kabalists from Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions
who, after having their spiritual encounters, dedicated their life to serve
the poor and the needy of their communities.
Many followers of spiritual
traditions, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Hindu, not only acquire
spiritual enlightenment themselves like Buddha, but also like to inspire
others. One such 20th century mystic was Krishnamurti
who was admired by Easterners as well as Westerners. Krishnamurti
was chosen by Ms Besant of Theosophic
Society of India who believed he had spiritual potential and was brought to
England for
his spiritual grooming.
In 1922
Krishnamurti was first invited to Sydney,
Australia for a
Theosophical convention, where he met his old teacher Leadbeater,
and later on flew to Ojai, California,
which was the beginning of a new chapter of his life. After meditating
regularly his mystical experiences became the beginning of his spiritual
enlightenment. Some experiences were very painful, traumatic and bizarre.
Most people around Krishnamurti were unable to
fully understand those experiences but were very supportive of his
mysterious mystical journey. They believed that he was experiencing the
awakening of his spiritual self, generally known in the spiritual world as kundalini in which the person experiences
transformation of consciousness not accessible to ordinary people. One such
experience Krishnamurti described to Mrs Besant in a letter,
“The climax was reached on the 19th. I could
not think, nor was I able to do anything, and I was forced by friends here
to retire to bed. Then I became almost unconscious, though I was well aware
of what was happening around me. I came to myself at about noon each day. On that first day while I
was in that state and more conscious of the things around me, I had the
first most extra-ordinary experience. There was a man mending the road;
that man was myself, the pickaxe he held was myself; the very stone which
he was breaking was a part of me; the tender blade of grass was my very
being and the tree beside the man was myself. I almost could feel and think
like the road-mender, and I could feel the wind passing through the tree
and the little ant on the grass I could feel. The birds, the dust and the
very noise were a part of me. Just then there was a car passing by at some
distance; I was the driver, the engine and the tires; as the car went
further away from me, I was going away from myself. I was in everything; or
rather everything was in me, inanimate and animate, the mountain, the worm
and all breathing things. All day long I remained in this happy condition…I
have seen the glorious and healing Light…I am God-intoxicated.” (Ref 3)
For the
next few months Krishnamurti continued to have
these mystical experiences and spiritual encounters. During a number of
those episodes he became semi-conscious and his brother and friends had to
look after him so that he did not hurt himself. Many times he would fall to
the floor in a trance and experience seizure-like states. Gradually Krishnamurti became aware of his role in life. In
February 1927 he wrote to Leadbeater,
“I know my destiny and my work. I know with certainty
that I am blending into the consciousness of the one Teacher and that he
will completely fill me.”
In 1929 he said “The vision is total. To me that is
liberation”
After that liberation he resigned from the Theosophical
Society and started his solitary journey as a mystic. He stated his
philosophy in these words,
“I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you
cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any
sect…Truth being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path
whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to
lead or to coerce people along any particular path.” (Ref 3)
After resigning from the Theosophical Society, for the
next half-century, Krishnamurti traveled around
the world giving lectures, meeting people from all walks of life and
sharing his knowledge, experience and wisdom. He inspired thousands of
people to rise above religious institutions and follow the wisdom of their
own hearts. People who consulted him were not only lay people but also
three generations of prime ministers of India:
Jawarlal Nehru, his daughter Indira
Gandhi and her son Rajev Gandhi. People who
admired his knowledge and wisdom included the Dalai Lama, George Bernard
Shaw, Aldous Huxley, Henry Miller, R D Laing, Joseph Campbell and many more. He was one of the
most respected mystics of 20th century.
COMPARING PSYCHOTIC AND MYSTIC ENCOUNTERS
When I studied the secular and scientific literature I
realized that Western psychiatrists believe that psychotic and mystic
encounters belong to two different categories. Psychotic experiences cause
regression while mystic encounters lead to progression of the personality.
Psychotic experiences cause emotional pain and suffering while mystic
experiences lead to tranquility and peace of mind. A famous American psychiatrist
Silvano Arieti compares
mystics and psychotics and highlights their similarities in these words,
“Mystic experiences seem to correspond to what are
called hallucinations and delusions in psychiatric terms…it is easy to
confuse religious mystics with psychotic patients especially those
psychotics who have hallucinations and delusions with a religious content.”
(Ref 4)
Alongside similarities there are also significant
differences. Arieti states,
“The individual who experiences the mystical encounters
has a marked rise in self-esteem and a sense of his being or becoming a
worthwhile and very active person. He has been given a mission, a special
insight, and from now on he must be on the move doing something
important…more important than his life.”
“In mystical experiences we have a tradition of
auto-hypnosis. A subject puts himself into a state of a trance and projects
power to the divine…The hypnosis is time limited and totally reversible.
“The
hallucinatory and delusional experiences of the schizophrenic are generally
accompanied by a more or less apparent disintegration of the whole person.
Religious and mystical experiences seem to result in a strengthening and
enriching of the personality”. (Ref 4)
While Western psychiatrists belonging to the secular
tradition see psychotic and mystic encounters as distinct entities, the
followers of Eastern mystic tradition believe that if psychotic experiences
are supported, guided and helped they can lead to spiritual enlightenment. John
White in his book What is Enlightenment highlights different stages of
spiritual enlightenment. He states that ordinary people with normal level
of consciousness that he calls arthonoia, have to pass through paranoia before they reach metanoia, a stage of enlightenment. White believes that
paranoia, a breakdown can be the first step towards a breakthrough. He
wrote, “Conventional western psychologists regard paranoia as a
pathological breakdown. It often is, of course, but seen from this [spiritual]
perspective it is not necessarily so. Rather it can be a breakthrough…
Paranoia
is a condition well understood by mystical and sacred traditions. The
spiritual disciplines that people practice under the guidance of guru or
master are designed to ease and quicken the passage through paranoia so
that the practitioner doesn’t get lost in the labyrinth of inner space and
become a casualty.
Because
metanoia has by large not been experienced by the
founders of western psychology and psychotherapy, paranoia has not been
fully understood in our culture. It is seen as an aberrant dead end rather
than a necessary precondition to higher consciousness. It is not understood
that the confusion, discomfort, and suffering experienced in paranoia are
due entirely to the destruction of an illusion, ego. The less we cling to
that illusion, the less we suffer.” (Ref 5)
As
practicing psychiatrists and clinicians it is important to separate
psychotics from mystics as one group suffers from mental illness that might
need hospitalization and treatment while the other group belongs to
creative personalities that might create wisdom literature in the form of
poems and plays.
It is
unfortunate that many Western psychiatrists, psychologists and
psychotherapists have not studied Eastern mystic literature and many
Eastern mystic teachers are not well versed with Western practices of
psychiatry, neurology and psychotherapy. Those who study literature of both
traditions realize that these two different disciplines sometimes use the
same words and terms but mean different things reflecting different
cultural traditions. Such use of words and terms can lead to major problems
in communication. I will share a couple of examples to highlight this
dilemma.
One of
the major problems of communication between Western psychotherapists and
Eastern mystic teachers is the use of term EGO. In Western psychotherapy
and psycho-analysis Ego is the healthy part of the Self, which needs to be
strengthened and developed. It reflects a mature part of the personality
that can deal effectively with the instinctual pressures of the Id and the
social conditioning of the Super-ego. On the other hand, Ego for Eastern
mystics is the unhealthy, selfish, self-centered and arrogant part that
needs to be kept under control. When we compare those two models of two
traditions we see that what mystics call Ego is closer to the Id of the
psychologists. James Fadiman and Robert Frager define such Ego of the mystic tradition in these
words,
“The lowest level of the self, the ego, or lower
personality, is made up of impulses, or drives, to satisfy desires. These
drives dominate reason or judgment and are defined as the forces in one’s
nature that must be brought under control. The self is a product of the
self-centered consciousness…the ego, the “I”. The self must be
transformed…that is the ideal. The self is like a wild horse; it is
powerful and virtually uncontrollable. As the self becomes trained, or
transformed, it becomes capable of serving the individual…Descriptions of
this level of self are similar to descriptions of the id in the
psychoanalytical theory, it is closely linked to lust and aggression.” (Ref
6, p 20)
The
other difference in two traditions is the concept of ego-boundaries.
Psychotherapists would like those ego-boundaries of their patients to be
strong to be able to deal with emotional and social crises but the mystics
encourage their disciples to lose those boundaries to have spiritual
encounters for their enlightenment. By dissolving ego they can get in touch
with nature and feel one-ness with the world in the form of
self-transcendence. It seems as if in the psychotherapy tradition people
are encouraged to have strong ego-boundaries for their emotional growth
while in mystic tradition people are encouraged to dissolve those
boundaries for their spiritual growth. It seems that both traditions have a
common goal of personal growth and search of personal truth but they use
different vocabularies and practices reflecting their respective
traditions. James Gordon highlights the differences between Western and
Eastern concepts, Freudian psychoanalysis and mysticism in these words,
“Freud had postulated a tripartite division of mental
functioning. In the centre was the ego, mediating between the instinctual
demands of the id and the harsh familial and cultural imperatives and
prohibitions that were internalized in the super-ego. One of the goals of
psychoanalysis was the reclamation for the ego of the territory previously
governed by the id and the super-ego. For psychoanalysis, the ego
represented the highest aspect of development…the ego was the realm of
sanity…and the confusion of the inner and the outer world was the hallmark
of psychosis…Freud noted that this inclination to abolish the boundaries of
the ego and merge with what was outside was connected with religious
experience. He said he could understand the appeal of the ‘oceanic feeling’
the unbroken connectedness to the world. But he felt obliged to remind
readers that it was regressive. The vestige of a lesser rather than a more
highly developed consciousness…
For the mystics the formation of ego was a necessary
stage rather than a goal, as much as a barrier as an achievement…There are
some persons who embark on and complete the voyage of ego dissolution and
transformation of their own. Most often, a guide seems to be necessary. The
guide has experienced the process and is now prepared to aid others in
undergoing it. In the East he is called a Master. The relationship between
him and his disciples provides the motive for transformation, and
reassurance and protection during the process” (Ref 7)
EPILEPTIC ENCOUNTERS
While working in emergency units of different hospitals
I also came across a number of patients who had very unusual symptoms of
depersonalization, de-realization and de-javu.
Some of them also developed religious preoccupation, even had conversion
reaction. Some of them even had religious delusions and spiritual
hallucinations and were diagnosed as schizophrenics. They were treated with
anti-psychotic medications by their doctors but the condition did not
improve. When we did EEG we discovered that they suffered from Temporal
Lobe Epilepsy and when treated with anti-epileptic medications their
condition improved.
ROLE OF TEMPORAL LOBES
IN SPIRITUAL AND CREATIVE ENCOUNTERS
While studying different forms of epilepsy a number of
neurologists have discovered that temporal lobes are related to spiritual
encounters and creative experiences. Human beings have a wide range of
mystical and creative experiences depending upon their sensitivity of
temporal lobes.
Dr. Robert Buckman in his book
Can We Be Good Without God (Ref 8) presents an enlightening review of the
literature and research done by a number of neurologists. He brings to our
attention that the temporal lobes play a significant role in the
perceptions and experiences that we associate with creative and mystic
encounters. He describes that the left lobe deals with “language and motor
skills” while the right lobe deals with ‘the person’s perception of reality
and of himself and herself …’ (Ref 7 p 115) Many of these changes have been
proven by the EEG [electroencephalograph] invented in the 1940s and since
used in studying epileptic patients and sleep problems in normal people.
Based on EEG studies, Buckman highlights that human beings can be divided
into three groups depending upon the sensitivity of the temporal lobes.
1. People who have highly
sensitive temporal lobes suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy as they have
spontaneous firing of the neurons of the temporal lobe. Dr. Hughlings Jackson studied those epileptics and
discovered that their auras, hallucinations and out of body experiences
were not much different that what was reported by saints in their mystic
encounters. Prior to epileptic seizures the auras …” include some very
particular sensations and experiences. These may include any (or several)
of the following: auditory hallucinations (hearing voices), dejavu ( the feeling of seeing something before),
visual hallucinations, experiencing funny smells, a feeling of particular
peace, a sensation of deep understanding or of profound and significant
knowledge and a feeling of being outside one’s body.” (Ref 7 p 119) One
such example was the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyesky
who suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy and shared his experiences in his
writings, stating “…all of the forces of life gathered convulsively all at
once to the highest attainable consciousness…and then a scene suddenly as
if something were opening up in the soul: an indescribable, an unknown
light radiated, by which the ultimate essence of things was made visible
and recognizable. (Ref 8, p 120). Based on the experiences of temporal lobe
epileptics some neurologists wonder if we had had EEG we might have
discovered that some mystics in history like Joan of Arc might have
suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy.
Dr. Wilder Penfield did
extensive studies of the brain. When he stimulated the left side of the
brain he saw involuntary movements of different parts of the body. “But
when he stimulated the temporal lobe on the right side, there was no
movement of any part of the body. Instead the patients reported a wide
variety of significant experiences, perceptions and/or feelings. The
phenomena reported were basically the same as the auras accompanying
temporal lobe seizures…feelings of great peace, of deep understanding, of
consciousness of another being…” (Ref 8 p 122)
2. People who have temporal
lobes more sensitive than average but less sensitive than those of
epileptics have creative encounters and become poets and artists and actors
as it is easy for them to enter imaginary worlds and create characters or
play roles of other people by getting involved in “...drama, poetry and
other creative acts: activities that require the person to ‘go into’
another world or another mode are associated with high temporal lobe
scores.” (Ref 8 p 133)
3. In people who have average
temporal lobes and do not suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy and are not
poets or actors, stimulation of their temporal lobes by electrodes in the
laboratory, produces similar experiences. Rather than having epileptic
seizures, they have perceptual and sensory experiences similar to the ones
shared my mystics. When M.A. Persinger did
experiments on volunteers by stimulating their temporal lobes he noticed
they experienced…” a feeling of peace, of serenity, of being one with
nature and often of being in the presence of another consciousness (another
being). Some people felt that they were near the presence of aliens. Others
experienced deeply spiritual or religious feelings. Some reported that they
were in the presence of god, and some heard his voice.” (Ref 8 p 125)
One of the well respected
neurologists of our time VS Ramachandran
developed some insights in the relationship of temporal lobes and religious
and spiritual encounters.
“ VS Ramachandran explored the neural basis of hyper-religiosity
seen in TLE [Temporal Lobe Epilepsy] using galvanic skin response, which
correlates with emotional arousal, to determine whether the hyper-religiosity
seen in TLE was due to an overall enhanced emotional response, or if the
enhancement was specific to religious stimuli. (Ref 9). By presenting
subjects with neutral, sexually arousing and religious words while
measuring GSR, Ramachandran was able to show that
patients with TLE showed enhanced emotional responses to the religious
words, diminished responses to the sexually charged words and normal
responses to the neutral words. These results suggest that the medial
temporal lobe is specifically involved in generating some of the emotional
reactions associated with religious words, images and symbols.” (Ref 10)
How do we understand these
spiritual and creative encounters from a scientific and neurological point
of view? Julian Jaynes tried to explain those
encounters based on his theory of Right/Left Brain functioning. He believes
that the temporal lobe of the Left Brain deals with language while the
temporal lobe of the Right Brain deals with sensory, perceptual and
aesthetic experiences. He explains that creative and mystic experiences
originate in the Right Brain and when those messages are sent to the left
Brain, the Left Brain does not own them and feels as if those messages came
from the outside and depending upon the personality and culture is
interpreted as coming from angels, spirits or God rather than their
unconscious mind. (Ref 11)
Dr. Robert Buckman concludes his discussion by stating his opinion
that ‘If the limbic system is activated by means of the temporal lobe, a
person will have an experience of the spiritual or divine type. God
is…literally…a state of mind.” (Ref 8 p 144)
After
reviewing the literature it seems to me that although creative and mystic
encounters are universal and men and women from all traditions experience
them but the interpretation of those experiences depends upon the beliefs
of those who experience them. The more the secular traditions are becoming
more established the more we are able to see spirituality as part of
humanity.
BARRIERS OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
The more we study psychotic, spiritual and creative
encounters, the more we realize that spiritual human experiences are
mystified because we still do not have proper words and terms to describe
them. Because of different cultural traditions different communities give
them different meanings. People following a religious and spiritual
tradition connect such experiences with the concepts of God and angels
while followers of a secular tradition relate such experiences to our
unconscious minds.
I am of the opinion that it is important for us to
separate the experiences from their interpretations. As we evolve as human
beings and disciplines of science, psychology, neurology and philosophy
grow, we would have a better understanding of such extra-ordinary
experiences and we would be able to decrease human suffering and increase
the quality of our lives so that we can grow and evolve to the next stage
of human evolution.
CREATIVE AND PSYCHOTIC ENCOUNTERS
When I studied the biographies of creative personalities
whether poets or painters, novelists or philosophers I discovered that some
of them suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy while others had psychotic
encounters. Edgar Allan Poe and Fyodor Dostoevesky
had temporal lobe epilepsy while Virginia Woolf,
Sylvia Plath, Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest
Hemingway felt so distressed and depressed because of their psychotic
experiences that they committed suicide. There are a number of neurologists
and geneticists who are testing their hypothesis that the gene of insanity
and creativity is the same and depending upon the support or criticism they
receive from their families and communities they either have nervous
breakdowns or creative breakthroughs or both.
PEAK EXPERIENCES
In the twentieth century as the frontiers of science and
human psychology expand, many scientists and psychologists are bringing to
our awareness that spirituality do not belong only in churches, mosques and
monasteries; it can be part of our day to day life. They highlight that
spiritual experiences are not restricted only to mystics; rather, they can
be experienced by anyone in special circumstances. Psychologists like
Abraham Maslow have been collecting observations,
findings and conclusions that “can be accepted as real by clergymen and
atheists alike.” (Ref 12 p 54) Maslow was of the
opinion that the segregation of sacred and profane, saint and sinner,
mystic and pragmatist is artificial and unnatural.
In trying to reclaim spirituality as part of humanity, he wrote, “I want to
demonstrate that spiritual values have naturistic
meaning, that they are not the exclusive possession of organized churches,
that they do not need supernatural concepts to validate them, that they are
within the jurisdiction of a suitably enlarged science, and that,
therefore, they are the general responsibility of all mankind.” (Ref 12 p
4)
Maslow
believed that ordinary men and women can have extra-ordinary experiences,
and unusual things can happen in usual circumstances. He named those
special experiences ‘peak
experiences’ and described a number of characteristics of these
experiences that can occur spontaneously in the life of any layperson,
poet, intellectual, scientist, artist or religious person. Peak experience,
Maslow believed, can occur while watching a
sunset, playing with one’s grandchild, making love, composing a poem or
contemplating the mysteries of the universe, although certain types of
practices and disciplines, like meditation, might make the likelihood of
those experiences more probable and more frequent. He explained that those
human experiences are labeled as spiritual/religious/mystic because of the
belief system of that individual, community and culture. By calling them peak experiences and highlighting
that a religious belief was not a prerequisite to having them, Maslow tried to secularize the spiritual and religious
world. He shared one of the features of peak experiences in these words, “ …in a peak experience
such emotions as wonder, awe, reverence, humility, surrender and even
worship before the greatness of the experience are often reported.” (Ref 12
)
Maslow also
studied the changes in people’s personalities after they had those special peak experiences. He observed
that in some people those experiences had a profound impact on people’s
lifestyles. He wrote, “…the peak experiencer
becomes more loving and more accepting and he becomes more spontaneous and
honest and innocent.” (Ref 12 p 76)
It seems as if
peak experiences help us become better human beings.
CONCLUDING
COMMENTS
In this article
I have tried to show that all those people who have spiritual encounters
belong to four groups.
People who
belong to the first group have psychotic encounters and suffer from mental
illness experiencing religious hallucinations and spiritual delusions. They
need psychiatric treatment with medications, education and psychotherapy to
control their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
People
who belong to the second group choose to have spiritual encounters to
achieve spiritual enlightenment. They use auto-hypnosis to put themselves
in a trance. Before they reach enlightenment, they go through a painful
phase of emotional suffering. In some traditions a mystic teacher is
recommended to help disciples and students go through that painful phase
with some ease. John White highlights that some seekers of enlightenment
become a casualty by having a breakdown and never reaching a breakthrough.
People belonging to the third
group suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy as their temporal lobes fire
spontaneously. They need to be treated by anti-epileptic medications. Studies
of temporal lobes showed us that temporal lobes are not only involved in
spiritual encounters but also in creative encounters of scientists, artists
and mystics.
People belonging to the fourth
group are ordinary people who have extra-ordinary peak experiences in their
day to day lives by getting in touch with nature and creative aspects of
their personality.
Recent advances in the fields of
psychiatry, neurology and psychology are forcing followers of all
religious, spiritual, secular and scientific traditions to review their
positions. On one hand, on the left, more and more enlightened atheists and
agnostics are realizing that spiritual encounters are genuine human
experiences that can be studied by scientists and psychologists. On the
other hand, on the right, more and more enlightened believers, followers of
Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Jewish traditions are becoming aware that to
have spiritual encounters people do not need to believe in any God or
religion. These experiences are related to our temporal lobes and a reflection
of the creative aspect of personality that all of us have, some more than
others.
Albert Einstein
believed that we need to encourage those experiences as they help us in
having creative and mystical encounters commonly experienced by scientists,
mystics and artists. He wrote,
“It is very difficult to elucidate this [cosmic
religious] to anyone who is entirely without it…The religious geniuses of
all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which
knows no dogma…In my view, it is the most important function of art and
science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive
to it..” (Ref 9)
Albert Einstein, a scientist, like J Krishnamurti,
a mystic, and Abraham Maslow, the psychologist,
believed that to have mystical experiences and spiritual encounters we need
not believe in any religion or sect. An atheist and an agnostic can have as
profound mystical experience as a dedicated Christian, Muslim, Hindu or a
Jew. Spiritual encounters are part of the creative side of our
personalities. The more we become creative the more we develop higher
consciousness and can appreciate fine arts. Such special consciousness is
well developed in all creative people whether poets or painters, artists or
philosophers, reformers or revolutionaries and because of such consciousness
these creative personalities lead humanity to the next stage of human
evolution. It is unfortunate and sad to see that the creative minority has
to suffer and offer sacrifices for the growth and evolution of the
majority. Lucky are the communities and cultures that value such creative
minority. In the words of Arnold Toynbee, ”To give
a fair chance to potential creativity is a matter of life and death of any
society. This is all important because the outstanding creative ability of
a small percentage of the population is mankind’s ultimate capital set…”
(Ref 13)
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Arieti Silvano
Interpretation of Schizophrenia Basic Books New York
USA 1974
White John What is Enlightenment? Jermey
Tarcher Inc Los Angeles
USA 1984
Fadiman James and Frager Robert
Essential Sufism
Castle Books New
Jersey USA
1997
Gordon James The Golden Guru…The Strange Journey of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Stephen Greene Books USA
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Buckman Robert Can We Be Good
Without God? Viking Books Canada 2000
Ramachandran VS Phantoms in
the Brain …Probing the mysteries of the Human Mind Harper Collins
Publishers USA 1998
Internet Wikipedia Temporal
Lobe Epilepsy
Jaynes Julian The Origin of Consciousness in the
Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Mariner Books 1990
Maslow Abraham Religions, Values and Peak Experiences Penguin
Books England
1970
Arieti Silvano
Creativity…The Magic Synthesis Basic Books Inc Publisher New
York 1976
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