So-called 'Schizophrenia' as Intense Transpersonal or Spiritual Experience:

Transformation Process, Spiritual Awakening or 'Spiritual Emergence'

"If the human race survives, future men will, I suspect, look back on our enlightened epoch as a veritable Age of Darkness. They will see that what was considered 'schizophrenic' was one of the forms in which, often through quite ordinary people, the light began to break into our all-too-closed minds." (Ronald D. Laing)

Much needless suffering results from ignorance of the nature of the human personality or 'human nature'. Insights into the workings of human nature are provided by the healthy process of healing in which the individual experiences the psychic overload of uncontrollable spiritual growth and crisis i.e. so-called 'schizophrenia' or 'spiritual emergency'.

HUMAN NATURE AS A FUNCTION OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH OR 'SPIRITUAL EMERGENCE' Western scientific research combined with Eastern psychologies such as Buddhism provides new concepts which shed light on the nature of the multidimensional human psyche and the human personality i.e ‘human nature’. Human nature is a social nature and the human organism is a social organism with instincts for sociability. The development of human socialisation can be characterised in terms of biologically based motives or 'human needs' which include both 'lower' psychological needs for self-esteem - the 'ego needs' - and 'higher' psychological needs for spiritual development - the spiritual needs or 'metaneeds'. Metaneeds are subconscious needs which must be fulfilled in a process of normal spiritual development or 'moral development'. Moral development is a function of personal evolution from the limited sense of self or 'ego' and its egocentric perspective to the expanded sense of self or 'Self' and its transpersonal perspective of ego-transcendance... a function of moral consciousness or 'rational conscience'. Rational conscience is a function of consciousness of social values of sociability... moral justice, 'knowledge' as understanding, ‘peace’as social responsibility, 'lovingkindness' as wisdom of compassion and so on i.e. 'human values'. Human values are the universal moral values required for survival of the species as a social species. Awareness of human values results in heightened intuition of social intelligence which is necessary for effective adaptation to the complexities of changing social conditions i.e. 'adaptability'. Human adaptability depends on self-empowerment and the preservation of the integrated functioning of the personality as a whole... integrity of moral consciousness a function of the moral values of humanness i.e. 'self-knowledge' is a function of the gradual and fluid process of spiritual growth as development of conscience and involves the attainment of knowledge of one's true nature or 'higher self' as the source of personal power required for adaptability... i.e. transformation or 'enlightenment' of 'spiritual emergence'. Spiritual emergence results in the understanding of the ultimate unity of all things, human divinity, peace and an expanded sense of compassion which results in increased creativity... a naturally ordered and integrated process which takes place over a period of years and depends on conditions of freedom in education.

Each person is at a different stage of spiritual emergence depending on the level of their spiritual or 'moral development'.

TRANSFORMATION CRISIS OR 'SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY' If in highly sensitive individuals the processs of spiritual emergence is blocked for any reason they might be warned that their growth is in grave danger and that they rapidly need to make essential adjustments in order to adapt effectively. The transformation process of spiritual emergence can be so dramatic as to become uncontrollable and reach a point of crisis... 'spiritual crisis' or 'spiritual emergency'. Spiritual emergency is a crisis of transformation in which the person experiences unbearably distressing psychic overload involving chaotic and overwhelming sensory experiences. As a process involving a positive transformation of the self it is also known as transpersonal experience, transpersonal crisis, psycho-spiritual transformation, psycho-spiritual crisis, spiritual journey, hero's journey, dark night of the soul, spiritual opening, psychic opening, psychic awakening, spiritual awakening, enlightenment, kundalini awakening, kundalini process, kundalini crisis, shamanic initiation, shamanic crisis, psychotic-visionary episode, ego death, ego loss, alchemical process, positive disintegration, post traumatic stress disorder with psychotic features, night sea journey, psychosis, shamanism, mysticism, gnosis, inner apocalypse, and so on. Spiritual emergency is a process of healing and renewal which is characterised by spontaneous alternative consciousness states or ‘realities'... individuation and self-actualisation. The person learns to grow beyond fear based ego-consciousness, beyond cultural conditioning and the expectations of others to a new level of awareness or higher consciousness state of spiritual renewal or 'rebirth'. Spiritual rebirth is characterised by an inner sense of emotional liberation which allows for the discovery of ideas and behaviours conducive to the affirmation of a life of total well-being or 'high level wellness'. Since psychological wellness is a dynamic, on-going process of personal development into greater maturity and spiritual awareness, spiritual emergency is a part of the human condition and a concern of so-called 'depth psychology' which is concerned with the transpersonal dimension of the human psyche - the source of motivation for human creativity... also known as 'spiritual psychology' or 'transpersonal psychology'.

"Mistreatment of so-called ‘schizophrenic’ people must surely be the greatest untold human rights violation on Earth." (John Weir Perry)

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Schizophrenia has been described as a disease by the psychiatric profession...

In fact 'schizophrenia' is not a disease or ‘mental illness’ but a natural and temporary self-healing process which involves the removal of illusions and false beliefs originating in the programming of social conditioning which prevents the psychological growth necessary for effective adaptability. The 'craziness' of so-called schizophrenia is the sign of a passage into higher consciousness.

contributors to understanding of so-called 'schizophrenia'...

Dr. Ronald Laing: radical psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist who profoundly altered our understanding of so-called 'mental illness'...

Dr. John Weir Perry: Jungian psychiatrist... interview on mental breakdown as healing process...

Dr. Stanislaus Grof: pioneer in the exploration of consciousness...

'spiritual emergence' as normal process of spiritual awakening ...

if the process of spiritual emergence is so chaotic and overwhelming that it is too distressing for the individual to bear then it can become a crisis of transformation or 'spiritual emergency'... so-called 'psychotic episode'... death of incomplete personality as 'ego-death'...

spiritual emergency involves the peeling away of layers of conditioned behaviour to find the human core... a personal process...

Spiritual emergency is a state of being in which the conscious mind is overwhelmed by inner psychic events... involves a shift of energy...

criteria for defining a person in spiritual emergency...

characteristic features: metaphorical speech... problematic behaviour... hallucinatory voices...

what brings on spiritual emergency?.. there is a wide range of triggers ... 'pre-psychotic personality' is unbalanced...

responsibility of dysfunctional families: role of parent with 'narcissist personality disorder'...

trauma of psychological injury as cause for spiritual emergency ...

the body reacts by switching to the biological panic mode or ‘fight or flight’ response to stress...

Human growth lies in transcending the limited sense of self or 'ego' and so obtaining an even clearer perception of reality through purifying and sharpening the consciousness and so enabling effective adaptability.

Spiritual emergency as 'hero's journey' or 'spiritual quest'... the pattern of experience which shapes human growth and human life...

psychotic episodes: aim is to liberate emotions...

inspired by confrontation and connection in karmic experiences...

t he direction it takes depends on whether or not the person is validated by immediate social surroundings...

p ositive ideas to deal with emergent states come from Buddhist psychology…

deal with the condition through an active role in a therapeutic setting in which the person is addressed as an equal...

therapy must let the process run its course freely...

transpersonal psychotherapy...

therapeutic interventions...

'normalisation' involves education about the crisis as a normal process...

solution focused brief therapy...

neurolinguistic programming (NLP)...

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stages of spiritual emergency:

status quo stage...

separation from the known world...

chaos stage involving surrender process... crossing the threshold...

initiation involving surrender to the process...

trials and tribulations...

It is the capacity to integrate spiritual experiences into one's self-concept and functioning in the world which is the key determinant in the outcome of spiritual emergency.

reintegration stage involving process of 'individuation' or 'self-realisation' as a function of kundalini process... renewal or 'spiritual rebirth'

transformation as preparation for 'at-one-ment' with the new self i.e. 'atonement'...

return to the known world of mundane reality...

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post episode functioning synchronicity...

dual nature of spiritual emergency: danger/opportunnity...

danger of pathologising spiritual emergency... mainstream psychiatry...

role of visionary states in social and cultural evolution...

consciousness and the transpersonal perspective... scientists and thinkers...

personal spiritual growth: implications for the planet... the work of personal transformation is necessary for healing the planet...

references

quotation references...

related reading...

If a person in spiritual emergency is coping with unpredictable rushes of energy, their system may be incapable of handling much food...

Schizophrenia has been described as a nonspecific disease by the psychiatric profession. This supposedly devastating condition had been named by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) as 'dementia praecox' from the Latin meaning 'prematurely out of one's mind'... 'dementia' (meaning infatuation, idiocy or enfeebled mind) signifying what he believed was irreversible mental deterioration. It later became clear that the term was a misnomer. In 1910 Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) coined the term 'schizophrenia' (from German 'schizophrenie' from Greek 'skhizein' meaning 'to split' and 'phren' of unknown origin meaning 'diaphragm, heart or mind') because the condition seemed to involve a mental split between thought and emotion or a 'splitting of the mind'. Bleuler was professor of psychiatry at the University of Zürich and head of its Burghölzli Clinic which at the time was regarded as the most significant institution of its kind in the world. He was Carl Jung's teacher and noted for his kindness and humanity. There are few so-called 'mental illnesses' that have not at one time or another been called 'schizophrenia' - a term which covers just about everything a person can think, do and feel... a set of socially and culturally unacceptable thinking and behaviour patterns which other people greatly dislike... sometimes even the so-called 'schizophrenics' themselves... thus making it a model of 'unwanted conduct'. Misunderstanding of the condition originates from people's fear of the unknown. There is still no universally accepted definition of schizophrenia." Contrary to popular misunderstanding the term 'schizophrenia does not refer to multiple personality syndrome . The Greek etymology of the word actually means 'broken soul' or 'broken heart."

Schizophrenia is not a disease or ‘mental illness’. In fact the 'craziness' of so-called schizophrenia is the sign of a passage into a higher consciousness state. It is not a hopeless condition but a brilliant condition... a personal 'story' which involves unbearably distressing psychic overload in the form of chaotic and overwhelming sensory experiences. It is a self-healing process... a natural and temporary self-organising transformative process, a crisis of transformation, a psychospiritual crisis, spiritual crisis or 'spiritual emergency'. Spiritual emergency involves the dissolution and removal of illusions and false beliefs which originate in the programming of social conditioning and give rise to pathological thought complexes preventing the person from transcending their limited sense of self or 'ego' i.e.ego- transcendance of 'spiritual growth'. Ego-transcendance is necessary for effective adaptability because it purifies and sharpens consciousness and therefore results in a clear perception of reality. Perception is true if it is pure, sharp and therefore accurate. Accurate perception depends on moral consiousness or 'conscience' which is a function of complete moral or 'spiritual development'.

"Schizophrenia is one of the greatest myths of our time." (www.antipsychiatry.org/schizoph.htm ).

“There is in short, no such thing as schizophrenia" (Thomas S. Szasz, M.D Schizophrenia - The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry Syracuse University Press, 1988, p. 191).

" ...the schizophrenia model of unwanted conduct lacks credibility... schizophrenia is a myth" (Theodore Sarbin, Ph.D and James Mancuso, Ph.D Schizophrenia - Medical Diagnosis or Moral Verdict? Pergamon Press, 1980, p. 221)

"There is a heightened awareness of the dangers inherent in labeling somebody with a disease category like 'schizophrenia', and many people are beginning to realize that there is no such entity" (Jeffrey Masson, Ph.D Against Therapy, Atheneum, 1988 p. 2).

"They (biopsychiatrists) search for signs of hyperactivity in the dopamine system of schizophrenics without acknowledging that if they find it, it could be the normal response of a normal brain to the prolonged expression of an intense emotional state." (Breggin, Toxic Psychiatry.)

human growth lies in transcending our limited sense of self or 'ego' and so obtaining an even clearer perception of reality through PURIFYING and SHARPENING the consciousness

Complete growth... growth for complete consciousness which is morally pure, intuitively accurate and perceptively 'sharp' i.e. 'conscience' of 'humanness' required for effective adaptability. Growth can take place at any time by letting go of the thoughts and fantasies of the waking state, thereby removing distorted perceptions and bringing about the liberation of the mind which is characteristic of the holistic or 'transpersonal perspective'. The word 'transpersonal' means through or beyond the ego or 'existential level' of consciousness. In order to live beyond the ego level of consciousness and on the transpersoal level... the person must let go of identifications with personality and personal dramas which interfere with the full functioning of the transpersonal dimensions. They must let go of all thoughts... all beliefs and fantasies of the usual waking consciousness state to remove distortions in the perceptions of reality... conditioned attachments to persons, objects, self-images and behaviour patterns... they must also let go of the personal dramas of other people, a detachment which appears to detract from involvement with society and is thus easily misconceived and wrongly understood as selfishness. An understanding of the transpersonal model proves that pursuing self-knowledge beyond the ego level of self-interest, an individual fulfills an instinctive need to live on the 'higher' levels of consciousness and lives by values which preserve the interconnectedness of human beings... the human values of justice, truth, beauty, freedom, generosity, love as 'compassion', selflessness etc. As the person is liberated from interests, desires and anxieties of the 'ego' realm of the conscious, then obstacles to growth are removed making it possible for them to attain a 'higher' state of consciousness... perspective of the transpersonal level... characterised by an awareness of their connectedness with the rest of humanity... expressed as suprapersonal caring for fellow human beings ... love as 'lovingkindness' and 'compassionate wisdom' as the wisdom of compassion.

Full functioning in mundane society depends on the ability to think and understand in transpersonal, spiritual or 'magical' terms... to 'think magically' while retaining the ability to keep a reasonable grip on consensus reality i.e. so-called 'rationality'. A severe departure from mundane reality may be productive for a time but it is preferable to have an experienced guide to assist one’s journey or better still to have a retreat where one can go to and work through changes in the view of reality... and also experience non-ordinary states of consciousness intermittently or at the same time, and with some effort one can be functional to some degree within society and grow and expand one’s consciousness into new realms, and formulate new views of reality.

Transpersonal phenomena cannot be explained by applying the techniques of the behavioural sciences. Scientists and experimenters have to be trained as participant-observers, less interfering and more sensitive to an individual's subjective experiences. The main limiting factor in their intellectual understanding of the transpersonal dimensions of the human personality is their own limited personal growth. They first have to extend their own personal growth beyond the ego level to the transpersonal level. Before they can comprehend any individual's transpersonal experiences, they must themselves have attained a transpersonal perspective and this requires mental liberation.

There is a revival of interest in the study of the spiritual aspects of human nature and Jungian psychology with its use of dreams, myths and archetypes. According to psychiatrist/author Carl Jung schizophrenia can more accurately be understood as a natural psychological or spiritual healing processs."Schizophrenia is a condition in which the dream takes the place of reality." Also "When conscious life is characterised by one-sidedness and false attitudes, primordial healing images are activated – one might say instinctively – and come to light in the dreams of individuals and the visions of artists." Jung's approach was explored by some of the most influential scientists and thinkers of the twentieth century. Prominent among these... anthropologist/biological philosopher Gregory Bateson through his research in the way that self-organising biological and social systems govern themselves; comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell made a global survey of cosmologies and eloquently described the deep structure shared by mythologies of different cultures... speaks of 'radical awareness'; anthropologist Terrence McKenna through his ethno-botanical explorations; four members of Global Vision's international adviser group – medical anthropologist Joan Halifax through her trans-cultural study of shamanism and the human encounter with death; psychiatrists Dr. R.D. Laing (author of The Divided Self), Jungian psychiatrist Dr. John Weir Perry who developed a variety of drug-free, non-repressive approaches to 'schizophrenia' which have helped to bring about a fundamental paradigm-shift in our scientific understanding of the human psyche and therfore of 'human nature'. Perry was and author of many books including The Far Side of Madness, whose deep insight into the nature of so-called ‘schizophrenia’ opens the way for a radically new, more compassionate approach to this condition and psychiatrist Dr. Stanislav Grof (author of Realms of the Human Unconscious) with therapist Christina Grof... researched the field of non-ordinary awareness and personal transformation.... coined the term 'spiritual emergence' to describe the whole range of phenomena associated with spiritual experiences and development from those... the majority of which are not problematic and do not disrupt psychological/social/occupational functioning and do not involve psychotherapy... to crisis situations for which they coined the term 'spiritual emergency'.

"True sanity entails in one way or another the dissolution of the normal ego, that false self competently adjusted to our alienated social reality... and through this death a rebirth and the eventual re-establishment of a new kind of ego-functioning, the ego now being the servant of the divine, no longer its betrayer." (R.D.Laing)

The transpersonal approach has been explored by some of the most influential scientists and thinkers of the twentieth century. The concept of spiritual emergency has been around for thousands of years in many, if not most cultures. Shamans, mystics, and spiritual explorers have regularly experienced the same states of awareness as people today undergoing spiritual emergency. Non-ordinary states of consciousness have been understood to serve a healing or transformative function in every tribal society studied by anthropologists. They are particularly evident in the last remaining hunter-gatherer and nomadic indigenous peoples who still survive in the remoter parts of North and South America, the Arctic, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Australia. In such cultures, visionary states are always associated with the healing function of the shaman. In this context, the vision of the shaman forms the quintessential religious experience.

"The shaman, a mystical, priestly and political figure... can be described not only as a specialist in the human soul, but also as a generalist whose sacred and social functions can cover an extraordinarily wide range of activities. Shamans are not only spiritual leaders but also judges and politicians, the repositories of the knowledge of the culture's history, both sacred and popular... Above all however, shamans are technicians of the sacred and masters of ecstasy... The initiatory crisis of the shaman must...be designated as a religious experience, one that has persisted since at least Palaeolithic times, and is probably as old as human consciousness itself, when the first feelings of awe and wonder were awakened in primates. From this perspective, the initiation of the shaman is an historical event, transcending the confines of culture and bringing into focus ontological concerns that have existed within the human mind for aeons... The healing image that the shaman projects is of disease as a manifestation of the transformative impulse in the human organism. The crisis of a powerful illness can also be the central experience of the shaman's initiation. It involves an encounter with forces that decay and destroy. The shaman not only survives the ordeal of a debilitating sickness or an accident, but is healed in the process. Illness then becomes the vehicle to a higher plane of consciousness. The evolution from the state of psychic and physical disintegration to shamanising is effected through the experience of self-cure. The shaman – and only the shaman – is a healer who has healed himself." (Joan Halifax Shamanic Voices)

In modern urban civilisation, non-ordinary states of consciousness are not understood to serve a healing or transformative function. At the onset of the hallucinations of the visionary experience, the person is inflicted with insult, humiliation, suffering and rejection and is inevitably surprised and frightened.

The historical events which led to the taboo against visionary states in Europe... In the fifteenth century, the proto-scientific experiments of medieval alchemists produced the first philosophical seed-stones of scientific thought which dramatically changed the relationship of humankind to the universe. In the hundreds of thousands of pre-urban societies existing since Palaeolithic times, the existence and validity of psycho-spiritual non-ordinary states of consciousness is or was socially recognised and endorsed by cultural ritual. Until only recently with the industrial civilisation has the unconscious been taboo.... see M. O'Callaghan When The Dream Becomes Real: The Inner Apocalypse in Mythology, Madness, and the Future www.global-vision.org/dream

Psychoanalysis and psychedelic research have partially eroded the taboo against the unconscious. A considerable body of scientific data about the inner aspects of the visionary episode have been accumulated by pioneering researchers in the fields of clinical psychology, biophysics, neurophysiology, epistemology, cybernetics, comparative mythology, anthropology and the humanistic and transpersonal approaches to psychology. Irish-American Harvard Professor Timothy Leary re-established the validity of visionary experience with his experiments using the psychedelic drug LSD.

What is spiritual emergence? Spiritual emergence is the irreversible process of moving into higher levels of evolutionary development... a natural fluid process of growth and change... a personal awakening into a level of perceiving and functioning which is beyond normal ego functioning i.e. 'spiritual awakening'.

"As spiritual emergence unfolds into new areas, it can bring with it elements of surprise about the nature of oneself and one's world. This is true whether someone is actually moving into a higher developmental level or integrating a spiritual experience into a developmental level which has not yet attained mature ego functioning. The disorientation and instability that results from intense spiritual experiences in either case can turn a spiritual experience into a spiritual emergency. "(Bragdon, 1988, p. 21)

"In the most general terms, spiritual emergence can be defined as the movement of an individual to a more expanded way of being that involves enhanced emotional and psychosomatic health, greater freedom of personal choices, and a sense of deeper connection with other people, nature and the cosmos. An important part of this development is an increasing awareness of the spiritual dimension in one's life and in the universal scheme of things. Spiritual development is an innate evolutionary capacity of all human beings. It is a movement towards wholeness or 'holotropic state', the discovery of one's true potential. And it is as common and natural as birth, physical growth, and death - an integral part of our existence. For centuries, entire cultures have treated inner transformation as a necessary and desirable aspect of life. Many societies have developed sophisticated rituals and meditative practices as ways to invite and encourage spiritual growth. Humanity has stored the treasure of emotions, visions and insights involved in the process of awakening in paintings, poetry, novels and music, and in descriptions provided by mystics and prophets. Some of the most beautiful and valued contributions to the world of art and architecture celebrate the mystical realms. For some individuals, however, the transformational journey of spiritual development becomes a ‘spiritual emergency', in which the changes within are so rapid and the inner states so demanding that, temporarily, these people may find it difficult to operate fully in everyday mundane reality. In our time, these individuals are rarely treated as if they are on the edge of inner growth. Rather they are almost always viewed through the lens of disease and treated with technologies that obscure the potential benefits these experiences can offer. In a supportive environment, and with proper understanding, these difficult states of mind can be extremely beneficial, often leading to physical and emotional healing, profound insights, creative activity and permanent personality changes for the better. When we coined the term spiritual emergency we sought to emphasize both the danger and opportunity inherent in such states. The phrase is, of course, a play on words, referring to both the crisis, or ‘emergency’, that can accompany transformation, and to the idea of ‘emergence’, from the Latin emergere: 'to rise' or 'to come forth'. This name thus indicates a precarious situation, but also the potential for rising to a higher state of being. The Chinese pictogram for crisis perfectly represents this idea. It is composed of two elementary signs, one of which means 'danger' and the other 'opportunity'. The potential for spiritual emergence is an innate characteristic of all human beings. The capacity for spiritual growth is as natural as the disposition of our bodies toward physical development, and spiritual rebirth is as normal a part of human life as biological birth. Like birth, spiritual emergence has been seen for centuries by many cultures as an intrinsic part of life, and, like birth, it has become pathologized in modern society. The experiences that occur during this process cover a wide spectrum of depth and intensity, from the very gentle to the overwhelming and disturbing." (Stanislav and Christina Grof The Stormy Search of the Self 1990)

Non -lasting spiritual experiences induced by drugs are potentially dangerous... Drug induced spiritual experiences may give a glimpse... brief visit into the higher transpersonal levels, but the person's personality structures may remain unchanged

It is simultaneously a blessing and a curse.

Spiritual experiences can occur at any time and place, although there are specific times and particular circumstances in which they are more likely to emerge. Some categories of circumstances of occurrence: experiences which occur any time, ranging from deja-vu to mystical experience. This category also includes the 'dark night', which refers to the typical mid-life crisis, especially among individuals who have achieved some real level of stability and prosperity in the world. They have met their material goals and still haven't found inner satisfaction. The pursuit of ego gratification is no longer enough and then one encounters an existential meaninglessness, which is very often a yearning for spirit, a greater sense of wholeness, and interconnection with the eternal, universal principle. This dissatisfaction and yearning can also occur at adolescence or anytime. 'Destiny Calls' is another aspect of this first category in which individuals may suddenly feel impelled to advance their lives into transpersonal levels; spiritual practice. The practice of spiritual disciplines, intense prayer, yoga, breathing exercises, chanting, meditation and other purificatory practices from a wide range of religious and spiritual traditions around the world significantly influence a growing number of people today in reaching transpersonal levels of consciousness; physical distress... refers to intense physical workout, disease, injury, near death experiences, surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, abortion, and miscarriage; emotional distress caused by intense encounters in a wide variety of life adjustments, transitions, and physical and psychological therapies.also feelings of fragmentation partly brought on by breakdowns in social norms, lack of continuity in rapidly changing culture and society... All these experiences tend to lead the person to question their sense of reality and meaning of life.

The psychic or psychological dynamics of the spiritual growth process of spiritual emergence... the person questions reality... tests reality... makes 'reality checks' by examining values and beliefs and thinking for themselves.

If the process of 'spiritual emergence' is very rapid and dramatic... if the sensory and psychic experiences become so intense... chaotic and overwhelming... so traumatic that it is too distressing for the individual to bear it becomes unmanageable and the person experiences psychic overload... it becomes 'spiritual emergency' (also known as 'transpersonal experience', 'psycho-spiritual transformation', 'spontaneous psychospiritual crisis', 'spiritual crisis', 'crisis of transformation', 'transpersonal crisis', 'spiritual madness', 'divine madness', 'holy madness' , 'dark night of the soul', 'psychotic visionary episode', 'post-traumatic-stress-disorder with psychotic features', 'night sea journey', 'alchemical process', shamanic initiation process, 'shamanic crisis', 'gnosis', mysticism, 'individuation', 'self-actualization',.spiritual awakening, 'kundalini awakening', 'kundalini process’, ‘kundalini crisis’, 'hero's journey', 'acute schizophrenic break', 'regenerative process', 'renewal', 'resilience', 'positive disintegration' (Dabrowski www.members.shaw.ca./positivedisintegration/) and so on.

Each of the many names given to such crises illuminates a different facet of the process.

'Schizophrenic break syndrome' refers to the initial spontaneous onset of a non-ordinary state of consciousness involving visual and/or auditory hallucinations.

Spiritual emergency is not a pathological phenomenon but a complex phenomenon characterised by an extremely introverted, psychospiritual mode of relating to the world... i.e. 'perception'. The normative ego-enforced boundaries between self and world break down... the person loses their conscious personality structure or 'ego' thus 'ego-loss' or 'ego-death'. As a result they find themselves identifying with everything within their scope of perception. With fragile personal boundaries the person sees, hears, senses, perceives and understands things which other people do not. In reality the person is in a state of consciousness involving 'extreme empathy' which typically causes the person to feel responsible for the fate of others. Spiritual emergency is a turbulent period of spiritual opening and transformation ... an acute... severe crisis which allows for the elevation of the person to a higher state of consciousness. The crisis is due to intense activation of the psyche... The person finds they are living in a psychic modality quite different from their surroundings... they are immersed in an inner world of myth and image... 'myth world'. Psychological upheaval can happen as a result of the radical clearing of various old traumatic memories and imprints ... normal event for the gifted mind involved in the realization of a deeper, mythic process which is permeated with deep symbolic meanings... a 'divine drama' (Jung)... inhabits its psyche.. There should be no stigma attached to the experience, since it is a sign that the psyche is functioning properly. The purpose is to activate spiritual energies but often leaves the individual in a highly vulnerable state. Episodes of unusual experiences involve changes in consciousness which manifest in perceptual, emotional, cognitive and psychosomatic functioning... a necessary subjective experience involving growth of the authentic Self... an inner psychological process like a molten state involving an inner free play of imagery through which the alienated psyche spontaneously re-organises itself in such a way that the conscious ego is brought back into communication with the transpersonal perspective of the subconscious. Attainment of the transpersonal perspective depends on mental liberation in four dimensions: consciousness, conditioning, personality, and identity. Consciousness is awareness of awareness and the central dimension that provides the context for all experience. Conditioning is the dimension of attachment to any objects, persons, particular self-images or behaviour patterns. Conditioned attachments are the source of pain and suffering and keep the mind in bondage. Personality or 'ego-self' is the identification with emotional baggage and personal dramas which hinder optimal growth. Identity is identification with sets of thoughts and beliefs. According to Buddha "We are what we think and with our thoughts we make the world." With emphasis on the transpersonal, the person approaches the transformative process in an internalized way while at the same time retaining their capacity to cooperate with people trying to assist in appropriate working relationships. With the whole systems approach to the condition, most individuals emerge from the ordeal with renewed enthusiasm for life. Extreme sensations of joy and fear are usual. It can happen to anyone at anytime. Normal life can be interrupted suddenly and unexpectedly by the spontaneous and powerful onset of dramatic visionary experiences of non-ordinary state of consciousness... The visions can be bothbeautiful and terrifying...

There is no sharp division between emergence and emergency although there are distinguishing criteria... an 'emergency' has more depth and intensity... during an 'emergency' it is very difficult to function in everyday life.

"Throughout human history in many cultures, tribal members in spiritual crisis are provided with special care and loving support. This is obviously not the case for Western capitalistic societies. You cannot find the light of truth or 'Self’… unless you enter the darkness. Search for the truth leads to spiritual awakening or ‘enlightenment’ that is difficult to describe in words… involves shift in awareness... a re-connection with the spiritual or 'divine' aspect of human nature... this becomes clearer and feels more natural. Old ways and false beliefs cease to be of interest. The new way is all that matters. Somewhere along the journey of remembering who we really are, we may find ourselves in a very uncomfortable space… a void in which we realize that we haven't totally let go of our old beliefs and yet we haven’t fully plugged into the new truths that we have discovered. This awkward situation can bring on an internal crisis of uncertainty, instability, confusion, frustration, and a most unspeakable despair… the ‘dark night of the soul’. Along with the rapture of remembering our divine connection, there can be intense feelings of depression, madness, detachment, hopelessness and an extraordinary loneliness that is not only relentless but may last for months or years on end. Then comes the waiting, and the wondering if and when the dark night will ever end. Ultimately, it feels as though we have lost control over our lives but we must not give up. When the madness is over, when one finally ‘lets go’ in an act of surrender, acceptance and trust - without resignation and with gratitude for the experience - the dark night will end. At that point, one’s life is no longer dictated by the ego but by a light bringing with it synchronous events… a new spiritual adventure and purpose in life…(Stanislav Grof, M.D and Christina.Grof The Stormy Search for Self)

Spiritual emergency is a state of being in which the conscious mind is overwhelmed by inner psychic events and involves a shift of energy. To understand the inner life of the person... The deepest levels of the psyche are activated drawing vast amounts of energy away from the higher levels of psychic functioning. The higher functions are robbed of their energy and motivation to care for the body drops away. In this 'high arousal state' the deepest levels of the psyche are working at such a high pitch that all the other functions are deprived of energy. The person becomes withdrawn in their preoccupations... their attention is absorbed in the spontaneous sequence of mythic images which constitute the natural content of deeper levels of the psyche. The whole field of awareness is flooded with archaic forms... The mythic world is totally out of keeping with consensual reality. The sense of reality shifts from outer to inner... The innate process which ultimately leads to self-determination and self-fulfillment occurs on two levels... first, growth of the personality and second, an elaborate image sequence of the archetypal individuation process which involves a play of opposites eventually uniting in the restoration of harmony (the struggle between hope and utter despair can be frightening to onlookersas well as to the person on the inside of the experience).

A 'psychotic episode' represents an evolutionary crisis... natural evolutionary process... which helps the individual elevate to a higher consciousness level. Episodes of spiritual emergency are unusual experiences that involve changes in consciousness ... and changes in perceptual, emotional, cognitive, psychic and psychosomatic functioning, in which there is a significant transpersonal emphasis in the process. In nonordinary states of consciousness the psyche transcends the dynamics of the conscious and connects with transpersonal domains.

Spiritual emergency is non ordinary states of consciousness accompanied by various emotional, perceptual and psychosomatic manifestations... sensory experiences such as electrical sensations and tremors... spontaneous visions of other times and places... constant pain throughout the body, excruciating headaches behind the eyes, emotional ups and downs... visual and auditory 'hallucinations' Hallucinatory voices represent a part of the person that have to be left behind in order for them to move on. Threatening voices are overblown reflections of fear... often a re-run of abuse or trauma.

So-called 'symptoms' such as the ability to 'see' things that others do not see or 'clairvoyance', and the ability to hear voices that others do not hear or 'clairaudience' are considered by many as desirable attributes. Every symptom extends outwards allowing the sufferer to detach emotionally. The person may appear to be lacking in emotion... emotions no longer connect with ordinary things. The new delusional world becomes incredibly frightening because it matches the negative emotions that have been buried for years. If they are not dealt with they turn into negative traits. The buried emotions are expressed in scrambled language that is difficult for others to understand... the person creates words and meanings in order to avoid any connection to the familiar world so that they can psychologically cope with experiences that they are unwilling and unable to confront.

Spiritual emergence... .. the person struggles to contain and integrate the experiences... eventually wakes up to the dreamlike nature of reality... . the person needs to be both honored and supported in their process. The person who passes through this process successfully returns bearing incredible gifts and blessings of wisdom and healing for everyone... becomes an accomplished shaman, healer, or teacher. The temporary unbalance precipitated by such a crisis may resemble a 'nervous breakdown' but it cannot be dismissed as such.

A spiritual awakening is almost always precipitated by a severe emotional crisis... and often organically grows out of unresolved abuse issues from childhood. In a fully-flowered spiritual emergence, one discovers how to transmute the symptoms and wounds into blessings.

One might look out the window and see the city more ragged than usual... seems to be on fire.... broken glass and rubble litter the streets... people seem to be dead as they lie on the pavement and in doorways... a rat gnaws on a corpse... these terrifying experiences bring on a sense of panic and one might start screaming and rush to the bathroom to throw up and then see a skeletal reflection of oneself in the mirror... empty eye sockets staring back from a hollow skull... and then one takes the visions literally and imagines that one has died and this could be the end of the world. or 'apocalypse'. But in fact one has only experienced a hallucination of the visionary experience and it is only one's false personality which has died.

Spiritual emergency is a crisis of moral consciousness or 'conscience'... 'social conscience'... a warning to the organism that spiritual growth is in grave danger and adjustments need to be made which are essential for adaptation and self-preservation.... Spiritual crisis as 'spiritual emergency' is not illness but a strange sign of wholeness or 'health' ... an attempt to heal... a stage in a developmental process which transports the subject beyond sickness or health and into the reconstituted pathway of the Self. Spiritual crisis is activated by healthy motivation... natural self-interest or 'egoism' as opposed to unhealthy motivation by egocentric over-evaluation of one's own importance and activities i.e. stupidity of 'egotism'. Spiritual emergency is a healthy psychological condition in which the unconscious overwhelms the ego consciousness… the contents of the deepest unconscious take mythic and symbolic form... highly activated mythic images erupt from the psyche's deepest levels in the form of turbulent visionary experience. It is the healing crisis of the whole Being. At the core of the experience the soul/spirit demands recognition, healing and transformation.... there is a cry for freedom and true expression... to awaken to the truth of one's identity... to shed limiting beliefs and old ways... to strip away the illusions and false images one has of oneself... to know oneself... 'self-knowledge'...

Depression can be vehicle of growth and transformative process. The depression often has an ethical content of remorse over past moral failings

Consciousness transforms when the ego is threatened and the heart is challenged to open.

Due to the ecstasy and exhilaration of the experience, there is a real temptation, like the mythic Icarus, to fly too high, which is only to set one self up for a corresponding fall. During these experiences it is of the utmost importance to be as grounded as possible. Psychiatrist/author Carl Jung understood the importance of this during his own 'confrontation with the unconscious'. He used to keep pictures of his family around, so he could remember that he was, in his words, "an actually existing, ordinary person." Jung understood very well that one of the greatest dangers that you encounter during this experience is to become inflated, thinking that you are someone special... becoming identified with the archetype instead of relating to it from the standpoint of a conscious human ego.... swallowed up and possessed by the deeper, more powerful transpersonal forces, falling totally into the unconscious. One can become truly insane, thinking, for example, that one is the Christ or Buddha, instead of recognizing that everyone is Christ or Buddha. Jung understood that the thing which swings the balance one way or the other is the capacity of the human ego to confront and relate in a conscious way to these transpersonal forces. This is why creative work which channels and transmutes these deeper, very powerful, archetypal energies, is of the utmost importance. At a certain point, the entire ordeal reveals itself to be an initiation for actualising and giving expression to one's true genius or 'daimon', which is none other than one's inner voice, guiding spirit and unfabricated true nature, which has never been lost. One discovers one's unique calling... true vocation as a Bodhisattva who is here to help other beings. One becomes a master creative multi-dimensional artist whose canvas is life itself.

...an aspect of the awakening... part of the journey to the underworld... an initiation into the deeper mystery of infinite and unspeakably magical being.

Thereis a difference between the expression and the intention ofany problematic behavior... The person confuses realities if they act in the external world while still in the non-ordinary state of consciousness. With the changes in perception of reality, there is conflict between he person's super-normal experiences and consensus reality in which the person's thinking is considered to be non-rational and departs from what is considered normal. The person's strange, incomprehensible behaviour looks totally bizarre and very threatening to people absorbed in the collective mainstream trance of consensus reality.... a very difficult and problematic situation for those unable to understand what the person is going through, as it is so far off their map of reality... saying the person is mentally ill fits into their very limited, comfortable view of the world. The expression is intrusiveand melodramatic and so gets the attention of unknowing onlookers so that what the person experiences as a wonderful healing process is misconstruedas a disease process. The constructiveintention which is covered over by layersof wild behaviour is concealed inside the person and must be looked for or it can be missed. Neither the person nor the onlooker understands the perspective of the other. Family issues, spiritual and social interests, desires for healing the world are misunderstood as delusions and obsessions and considered as symptoms of illness... there are grave repercussions when the transformative healingprocess is mistraken for a pathological one.

The medical model is an impoverished frame of reference which prevents doctors from thinking about the possibility of spiritual emergency as being off their map of reality. Psychiatrists with self-assured, expert manner can be very convincing... their good intentions can be destructive when they tell the person that they are in denial of their medical disorder by insisting that they are in spiritual crisis. If the person accepts this 'medicalmodel' of their experience they might be consumed by despair... completely demoralised... devastated and then feel suicidal.

Within a shamanistic framework, a schizophrenic break is understood as evidence of a trauma that has fragmented the core self – the seat of the soul

Psychiatrists who understand the concept of spiritual emergency can accept the legitimacy of the nonordinary statesof consciousness and compare them to crisesthat many people pass through successfully. It is crucial for the person to have people outside themedical profession who understand the metaphorical. The person can emerge from despair if other people interpret the experience positively and look for the reasons behind the problematic behaviour. The person feels completely sane until onlookers who don't understand what is happening... don't understand their behaviour ... become alarmed and tell the person otherwise. With the right support and understanding, the person comes to realise that they have got to let go of their doubts, believe in themselves, know and visualizewhat they want and understand that they can do anything they put their mind to.

What brings on spiritual emergency? The process is started by a sense of isolation and alienation… feeling that one is unable tofit into the world... feeling like a stranger.

the role of trauma... Trauma is emotional distress which results from experiencing extreme personal injury or witnessing it… Trauma makes a tremendous impact on the psyche and the effects may last for years.

The causes of trauma... three things in common: external cause... violation... loss of control A spiritual emergency is almost always precipitated by a severe emotional crisis. The person unconsciously creates a set of circumstances that recreated a pattern of a far earlier trauma when unprocessed emotions were frozen. Both remembered and forgotten traumas drive most of people's behavior and emotional life, completely outside of their conscious awareness. Traumatic experiences are stored, and later ‘played back’ when they are triggered by outer circumstances. The playback is an entire bodily experience, as if the younger traumatized self is partially taking over the body. From a biological viewpoint storing our responses to traumatic experiences makes sense, since we survived the experience by responding in those ways.

discussion on indexing and triggering of trauma, see The Adventure of Self Discovery by Dr. Stanislav Grof and Beyond Psychology by Dr. Frank Gerbode.

The effects of trauma are surprisingly commonplace... the person is bewildered and confused, unable to understand what is happening or why it happens, has a strong sense of denial, is unable to convince themselves that the experience is real... reinforced by the denial of other people and especially those in authority, sleep problems, nightmares and waking early... they are unable to switch off flashbacks and replays... impaired memory and intermittent forgetfulness especially of day-to-day trivial things, exaggerated startle response, deep sense of betrayal, obsessiveness with the experience which takes over one's life, depression, excessive shame and guilt, undue fear, emotional numbness unable to feel love, hope, joy, physical and mental paralysis at any reminder of the experience.

There is a wide range of triggers or precipitants of powerful spiritual experiences... spiritual emergency. Spontaneous signs such as dreams, threats to one’s life such as serious illness, accidents or operations, extreme physical exertion or prolonged lack of sleep, perinatal events such as childbirth, miscarriage or abortion, powerful sexual experiences or stress of emotional experiences such as loss of close relationship and life failures, exposure to psychedelic drugs, music and repetitive activities; deep involvement in spiritual practices... meditative practice aim of which is to bring about dissolution of the 'false self'...

the stress may cause highly activated mythic images to erupt from the psyche's deepest levels in the form of turbulent visionary experience.

As a result the psyche 'reacts' as a whole and forces a transformation in the form of a profound compensating psychic emergency of dramatic proportions and this forces continued development… As a result the individual experiences profound disorientation and instability… an acute episode of ‘ego-collapse’ (also known as ‘schizophrenic break’) which can last several months... during which time the alienated psyche reorganises itself in such a way that the conscious ego is eventually brought back into communication with the unconscious. With this eventual positive transformative outcome the person has a sense of newly gained knowledge or ‘gnosis’. For individuals on the spiritual path the person’s core beliefs open up the way for new ways of thinking. .. long-held attitudes and values are challenged pushing one on to further spiritual growth involving rapid changes... shift... in values and belief systems. As values rapidly change there is a restructuring of old patterns of behaviour.

These experiences... profound religious experiences include voices, visions, telepathy, exaltation, ecstasy, Kundalini energy, channeling, paranormal abilities, near-death experiences, karmic experience and beliefs of possession... their occurrence provides a rapid elevation in consciousness. Fear may become paramount during these unusual experiencesof a spiritual nature... The intense fear producing experiences... as themes of personal death, world destruction . the process may result in a spiral of fear that clouds the larger perspective and has to be put in the proper perspective. As spiritual experiences they have power which enables the person to break down certain mental structures, cultural assumptions, and conditioning... the breakdowns constitute a coming to terms with the roots of awareness. Breakdown can represent opportunity for breakthrough... see interview with John Perry The person looks into the process at a deep level in order to cement new found knowledge... The most profound theme is going into the void to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. All images whether they are presented in dreams, meditations or visions are used to bring about a renewal or new birth in the individual's unique spiritual journey... Many of the spiritual traditions of the world warn against being carried away by positive revelations and mystical mind blowing experiences that the individual may encounter.

The goal is to restore self-esteem and to engender a capacity to love and be loved... depends on connection with another human being who instills warmth and trust thus allowing for a forward progression of the inner imagery… the person benefits from feeling understood… what is important is basic human consideration or ‘kindness’…

the person's readiness for inner transformation is by far the most important factor. For some people it can be very intense and frightening, for others it may be a gentle unfolding.

Regular spiritual practices, such as meditation, prayer or yoga, are designed to activate spiritual energies. It may begin as a sense of longing for something more, a longing that leads one to explore the inner depths of one's being... to embark upon a quest for meaning. It can also be triggered by emotional intensity or stress, physical exertion, disease, childbirth, shock or other forms of trauma, artistic or creative practices. These are all powerful experiences that have the potential to open us fully, and open a way to the hidden depths of the psyche.

Spiritual emergencey is intense spiritual experience... the individual enters new realms of spirituality… kind of 'birth pang' which is conducive to healing. Spiritual emergency is by its very nature potentially healing and transformative process... experience of personal growth... a stage of developmental process that transports the person beyond sickness and health and into a positive transformation of the self... a mental syndrome which is in actuality a natural effort of the psyche to mend its imbalances... a state of mind characterised by abstract, non-linear thought patterns which coincide with unpredictable, non-conformist behaviour and attributes of clairvoyance and clairaudience.... To a careful observer the emotions are quite appropriate to the situation at hand.

Spiritual emergency as a healing process: The process is a healing one... the person is naturally rid of any shame which they were made to feel about being a disappointment to parents or whatever... feelings of inferiority fall away and are replaced with feelings of changed meanings for their life experiences or 'past lives'... deep transformation of meaning

If properly understood and treated as a difficult stage in a natural developmental process, spiritual emergency can result in emotional and psychosomatic healing, deep positive changes of the personality, and the solution of many problems in life.

Spiritual emergency can be likened to peeling an onion to find the true core. As outer layer issues are cleared away deeper psychological issues and concerns involving past family history and present relationships are brought to the forefront for clarification… come forth literally reworking and restructuring the personality. Repressed material…anger…may surface from the subconscious. The higher ‘Self’ continues the journey by presenting unique and unusual powerful psychic or ‘spiritual’ experiences. After a highly charged experience where energies are transmuted from lower to higher consciousness, the person may feel that they have lost their groundedness... they feel vulnerable and exposed.

"A spiritual emergency is a critical and experientially difficult stage of a profound psychological transformation that involves one's entire being.... a crisis point within the transformational process of spiritual emergence. It may take the form of non-ordinary states of consciousness and may involve episodes of unusual thoughts, intense emotions, visions and other sensory changes, as well as various physical manifestations... often revolving around spiritual themes. The term spirituality should be reserved for situations that involve personal experiences of certain dimensions of reality that give one's life, and existence in general, a numinous quality. C.G. Jung used the word numinous to describe an experience that feels sacred, holy, or out of the ordinary" (Grof & Grof, 1991).

Depending on whether the interactions between the individual and the immediate surroundings tend toward affirmation or invalidation, comprehension of these visions can turn the visionary experience into a step in growth or into a disordered menta