Posted by rayww on August 21, 2003, at 15:42:46
In reply to Re: spiritual experience OR hallucinatory delusion ? » lil' jimi, posted by habbyshabit on August 20, 2003, at 16:45:47
I hope you don't leave. You have made this board come alive. A lot of people need to search out some of the issues you have introduced in your discussions.
The spiritual / dilusional side to bipolar disorder is one that has caused me to try to understand the difference between real and illusionary. From admitting there is such a thing as a real spiritual experience to accepting that the dillusional also have what is real-to-them spiritual experiences, I have come to wonder if communication with diety is simply based on our own language of understanding. Or if God communes with everyone in their own understanding.
I once heard a woman give a talk in church about her beat up car with the worn out tires, something about a miracle that got her from point a to point b one day in her travels, I can't remember the details now. She spoke in symbolism and parables, and I drew parallells with my own life. After church my husband said he was appalled at her talk, that she was obviously a mental case with a serious problem who had no business being a speaker at church. I had no trouble understanding her language. In fact, I went home and wrote "The Parable of the beat up car with the worn out tires" and sent her a copy of it in a thankyou note for sharing her understanding of life as she saw it.
I attended church in an inner-city ward one time. People from all cultures, all walks of life, all types of problems were there. Reformed drug addicts, mentally deranged people, some quite weird folks, yet all had one thing in common that day. They were discussing the same topic and were tuned into the same channel. I learned a lot from that congregation that day. I went home and asked our own congregation, "why are you all white and dressed the same?"
My point, I do not think any one of us can be the judge of another's dillusional or spiritual experience. I'm not talking of schitzophrenic type dillusions, or hallucinations, those are quite different.
It isn't easy to tell the difference sometimes, but I do think God takes special care of those who mentally can't care for themselves. Maybe we will be judged on how we help. Maybe those souls were so perfect they didn't need to go through normal earth life as we see it. Maybe their exaltation was sealed up before they were born, and they are here to test our compassion. Just maybe.
poster:rayww
thread:251864
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030530/msgs/252839.html