(March 20, 2015 at 11:10 am)Simon Moon Wrote: And so says the vast majority of schizophrenics. They are also absolutely certain about their experiences...their descriptions sound identical to yours...As outsiders, how do we go about telling the difference between your above described experience, and those of schizophrenics?

Mystical experiences do not have the same content as the the products of mental illness. While each experience is unique, they are generally marked by feelings of unity with the divine and transcendence of ego awareness. The opposite is true of hallucinations and delusions which produced a heightened feeling of alienation between self and others. The objects seen and heard by the mentally ill are described as having an independent existence from the person having the experience.

Even if mystical experiences are purely mental constructs, they still should not be grouped with mental illnesses. Hallucinatory, delusional, and drug experiences are debilitating and interfere with a person's ability to function normally in society. The same cannot be said for mystical experiences that often result in people finding themselves better adjusted afterwards.

(March 20, 2015 at 12:41 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: Hallucinatory, delusional, and drug experiences are debilitating and interfere with a person's ability to function normally in society. The same cannot be said for mystical experiences that often result in people finding themselves better adjusted afterwards.

Numerous mystics are and were notoriously unable to function normally in society. And I've had plenty of experiences, as have others, involving psychodelic drugs, that left me feeling far better adjusted afterwards.

So, wait...

Mystical experiences are inherently good. So, I guess you'd consider all those times god spoke to parents to kill their children in violent ways to not be mystical on the basis that they led to a bad result, rather than anything inherent in their experience itself.

...yup, smells like bullshit to me.

Special pleading.

No matter what you experience, you can't be sure you are interpreting it correctly either. How do you tell the Holy Ghost from the Holy Hostess with the Mostess? Or the unholy demon preying on your mind to give you exactly what you think the Holy Ghost would be like?

Interesting. 2,000 to 4,000 years ago, god communicated with people by talking to them in dreams or appearing to them in person, or making the heavens roar or mountains quake. He brought the dead to life and healed the sick with a touch. He parted the seas and later walked upon them. He performed acts both fearsome and awe-inspiring.

Today, he communicates via the spiritual equivalent of tapping you on one shoulder then ducking behind the other.

He's lost his bottle I reckon.

I think god is just shy around cameras.

Or maybe he's allergic to reasonable experimental conditions.

Holy Spirit trying to call everyone on time probably looks something like this.

(March 20, 2015 at 1:02 pm)Nestor Wrote: Numerous mystics are and were notoriously unable to function normally in society. And I've had plenty of experiences, as have others, involving psychodelic drugs, that left me feeling far better adjusted afterwards.

However, keep in mind that if one is referring to cannabis, then the assumption that it is a drug must be removed from the argument, because it is not a drug. Cannabis is a plant and a flower. It grows naturally, therefore its classification can not be lumped in the "drug" category. I, for one, focus more, my attention span improves and I'm a lot wittier. Couple that with the Adderall XR I take for ADHD and I don't get the munchies. It has relieved the migraine headaches I often get and it helps with the pain of the herniated discs in my back. It's a total win-win.

All seriousness aside though, yes, I do feel a lot better after I have used cannabis. I'm looking forward to it being legalized here in PA.

We seem to be drifting away from the original question.