". . . alcoholics and heroin addicts had the highest incidence of mystical experiences of all the
studied groups, including neurotics, mental health professionals,
and individuals dying of cancer."
-- Stanislav Grof, M. D. and Joan Halifax, Ph.D. in The Human Encounter With Death (1977)
They are more likely to:
|
The circumstances would also include those
|
"Since the temporal lobe contains the projection areas for the experience of hearing and the sensation of movement, transients within this portion of the brain should be predominated
by auditory or vestibular experiences. No doubt these experiences could contain
visual, olfactory, or taste images. . . . In general, the more severe
the disturbance, the more intense the God Experience."
-- Michael A. Persinger. Ph.D.
The power of the God Experience shames any known therapy. . . .
With it comes the personal conviction of truth and the sense of self-selection. . . . In the God Experience
. . . (n)ext to 'feeling the presence of God, ' Hearing God' is probably the most common mode of experience. . . .
-- Michael A. Persinger, Ph.D.
The Visitor Experience
MOVEMENT TINGLES VISION
| NEGATIVE
Fear |
|
burn or have chills |
|
tobacco |
demon |
inspire fear |
noises, screams, etc. |
Negative |
||||||||||||||||||||||
POSITIVE |
|
|
|
unconditional love" |
Incenses |
angel or God |
salvation, healing, safety |
|
God |
"One may reasonably ask: 'Why does a complete re-experience of early Pain have a curative effect?' The answer is that partially felt Pain in infancy and childhood is "partial" because of blocking, a gating (higher threshold) to protect the organism from excessive Pain. The energy of the Pain does not go away. It remains sequestered in the system, and is the origin for acting out in neurosis, and acting in, in neurosis; the later represented by increased EEG amplitude and (all) psychosomatic symptoms. When the Pain is felt in its entirety, in Primals, blocking is no longer necessary, and neurosis dissolves.'
-- E. Michael Holden, M.D. - Primal Man: The New Consciousness (co-authored with A. Janov, Ph.D.)
"As St. John of the Cross has shown, the path to mystical union with God passes through two phases, an active and a passive. During the active phase, self-discipline mortifies the errant senses and the wayward spirit. It is in the second or passive dark night of purgation that the mind tends to be invaded by its own stored interior contents. These, accord to the 'Mystical Doctor', are made up of all the evils that the soul has suffered
or taken part in, and concealed from its earliest days. If holiness is to possess the soul, these elements
must be extruded."
-- Frank Lake, M.D., Clinical Theology: A Theological and Psychiatric Basis to Clinical Pastoral Care, pps.832-3
"Against data, social opinion, and sometimes direct confrontation that the experience was a lie,
people will still persist (in the) validity of their own perceptions. . . . I cannot overemphasize
the importance of the sense of conviction produced by these experiences. Following these
small alterations in the temporal lobe, the person becomes convinced that what he or
she has experienced is absolutely right. No amount of rational conversation or data
can sway the opinion."
-- Dr. Michael A. Persinger,