Joseph Campbell Quote

[Tim R]

“The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight."

 

What is it with "crazy"/"psychotic" people? What can we learn from them? Why do we misunderstand and ridicule them? Obviously the distinction between "human healthy consciousness" and "psychosis" is completely arbitrary. 

If their state of consciousness isn't "dysfunctional" in the first place, why "treat" them? What's there to fix?

There isn't a single shared state of consciousness / perception in the universe, so how could we declare a "normal" state of consciousness?

Is it possible as a society to understand and solve this linguistic fallacy? It would be accompanied by total Deconstructionism, are we ever going to get there?  

[Leo Gura]

Joseph Campbell never experienced a truly psychotic state of consciousness.

It is not the the same as a mystical enlightenment.

It's a moot point to say that the waters are the same because it's all Consciousness. But Consciousness can take some radical states.

You swim in the same waters as a kangaroo and a glass of orange juice. But that will not console you if you find yourself turned into a glass of orange juice.

[Elisabeth]

Talk to a psychotic. These people have often experienced the HOROR, a bad trip lasting months or years on end with no hope for relief. 

We've talked to a girl in the local psychiatric ward, who volunteered to offer insight, about what she's been through. She seemed exhausted just remembering these years. She recalled having no idea whatsoever that the demons were hallucinations - it was her literal reality.

Another girl I know tried to kill her own mother with a knife. She's very kind and loving otherwise. 

If the mystic can encounter the same demons and return to the self safely at will - so what? It doesn't help any of these people. Maybe some of them can learn to transform their psychotic state into something more conscious, some of them really can't. That's why treat them. 

[Observore]

54 minutes ago, Tim R said:

What can we learn from them?

I think the biggest thing we can learn from them is that how society helps them needs to be improved. They need the kind of support that recognizes where they are at, in terms of the mystical development process, and can help them get to the next stage.  

[Jacobsrw]

23 hours ago, Tim R said:

“The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight."

 

What is it with "crazy"/"psychotic" people? What can we learn from them? Why do we misunderstand and ridicule them? Obviously the distinction between "human healthy consciousness" and "psychosis" is completely arbitrary. 

If their state of consciousness isn't "dysfunctional" in the first place, why "treat" them? What's there to fix?

There isn't a single shared state of consciousness / perception in the universe, so how could we declare a "normal" state of consciousness?

Is it possible as a society to understand and solve this linguistic fallacy? It would be accompanied by total Deconstructionism, are we ever going to get there?  

It’s all approximated relatively speaking. A psychotic person in an absolute sense is no different than any other being. However, since other beings operate under a presuppositional human bias the “normal state”, psychotic individuals are considered abnormal.

This is somewhat appropriate given the context of human society but I agree that our measuring stick between these boundaries are obscured. More openness is required in this matter. Those who are psychotic are not fairly represented.

Really it is one who is lost in their own mind convinced they are not lost within it who is psychotic, not the one whom realises their insanity.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Jacobsrw