Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00658)

Some responses to Eldon:
>Jerry S.
>>You are saying that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia
>>are *caused* by psychism.  Is this not correct?
>
>Eldon:
>No. I'm saying that some forms of mental illness like
>schizophrenia can cause accidental psychism. The mental
>illness causes the body to malfunction and one's perceptions
>to include subjective images from the astral light.
	I am not at all sure about the causal relationahip
in this case.  And again, maybe we need to define psychism.
I am not using it here in the sense of "powers" or "abilities"
at all.  I am using it in the sense of accidental or spantaneous
opening up of one or more chakras due to the premature
awakening of Kundalini.
	If we have a person who hears voices and sees things
that no one else does, I would say that s/he is having a premature
awakening of Kundalini.  A doctor would examine the same person
and say schizophrenia.  They are two separate diagnoses of
the same illness, one medical, and other occult.  I don't know how
much you know about the chakras, Kundalini, and so on, Eldon,
but your statement of seeing images in the astral light is exactly
what happens when Kundalini stirs up the Central Channel.  An
unprepared person will not know anything about the astral light,
and will confound it with the physical world.

> In one posting, I came to
>what I consider the significant point with mental illness:
>the process of curing it can be examined by us for helpful
>clues to the process of treading the Path.
	I have been studying psychology for a while now,
and have concluded that psychology is very good on
diagnosis, but very poor on cure.  Treatment for most
mental illness is sadly lacking.  The hardest of all to cure
are those caused as defense mechanisms as children--
usually the result of physical and/or sexual abuse.  But the
idea of tying this to the Path is intriguing.

>This is a different subject than budding psychic abilities,
>that would arise on their own, not out of mental illness but
>because the individual has a predisposition to perceive the
>non-physical.
	Agreed.  However, premature psychism such as
seeing images in the astral light without any initiation, can
lead to mental illness.  I strongly support getting proper
prepartion and/or initiation into these things.  Knowledge
is one's only real hope here, serving as an anchor.  And
here one area in which something like a universe map
(globes, planes, etc) can really help.

>If we have Kundalini active, we certainly have to deal with it!
>Like if we were in a car, stalled on a train crossing, watching
>a train racing towards us at 90 mph! This is a subject that I'd
>consider carefully before discussing it in public.
	After she rises within us, it is too late to start
teaching Tantra.  With all of the books currently available on
this subject, I wonder why you are reluctant to talk publically?

> Although we've never met in
>person, I feel as if I know you pretty well, from having
>communicated with you over the past several years on theos-l,
>and hope that if you're ever out at Pasadena, that you'll
>call and come by. (Brenda and I live about 32 miles from
>the library in Altadena.)
	Thanks.  I was in Pasadena a few years ago and
visited that library, and hope to get back there someday.  I
will look you up.

	Jerry S.
	Member, TI