Question
How to differentiate between a spiritual experience and a mental disorder or delusion?
Answer
Modern Scientific studies of the Human Brain and Nervous System ,cybernetics,show that it is not possible to distinguish between these three states of consciousness -i.e. Spiritual Experience ,Insanity and Day Dreaming of a drunkard.
Consider a situation ,where Doctors administer Chloroform to a patient , before surgery . This makes the patient Unconscious. The Doctors perform the surgery , the patient does not react . But after sometime the patient regains consciousness and might experience some pain ,associated with surgery.
Sometimes, the human brain generates its own chloroform .This makes the individual unconscious to his surroundings . This happens during deep sleep or coma.
When less powerful chemicals of his type are produced in the brain ,the individual is asleep ,but continues to live in a dream world.When still less poweful chemicals of this type are produced, the individual is in a semi-sleep state , but is living in a dream world. This is what happens , when one is in a movie theater and watching some interesting movie.
A drunkard , moving aimlessly unconscious of the surrounding and living in a dream world of his own making,is in a similar situation.Alcohol serves as a substitute of diluted chloroform.
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If the human brain generates, internally, these type of chemicals,the individual may behave like a drunkard...If he is too spiritual he might see Gods and Goddesses and might be interacting with them...A Scientist or a Mathematician ,might be seeing strange equations,graphs and shapes.
If these visions , have a bearing on reality ,then we call these people as leaders in their fields of specialization...Otherwise, they are called insane.
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Ramakrishna, was considered a mad Brahmin, during his life time.But Narendra Nath , later Swami Vivekananda,realised him to be a Prophet and preached his ideas to the World and established the Ramakrishna Mission , to translate the preachings of Ramakrishna ,to action.
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Mathematician Prof.Cantor, was called insane during his life time and died in a mental asylum ...His works ,however,were recognised many years after his death.
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Modern art, seems to me , the works of mentally deranged people...But to some other artists, they might be great creative works
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