RE: How often does the holy spirit talk to you?
March 20, 2015 at 12:41 pm
(This post was last modified: March 20, 2015 at 12:43 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
(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.
