According to Podvoll (1979b) both psychosis and mystical experiences begin with a non ordinary state of consciousness, where discursive, analytical thinking has lost its dominance. These experiences are profound personal events which initially are characterized by confusing thoughts and an inability to relate these experiences with others except with those who have had prior experiences.

      The mystic and the psychotic share more than a fundamental structure. They also seem to share a means, a path, and even at times a common discipline, used for the production of altered states of consciousness. These altered states are characterized by changes in thinking such as the appearance of deep connections between the body and emotions, changing perceptual abilities, and many other phenomena. The mystic and psychotic have the ability to easily enter these altered states of consciousness, which then becomes a vehicle or transitional stage for experiencing the self, the environment, and others in a new and different way.

      Forman (1982) divided the mystical path into a series of 5 stages. Awakening of the self, Purgation, Illumination, The Dark Night of the Soul, and Union. In the awakening of self stage one has an opening or insight of the reality they exist in. It is the beginning of an ego liberating awareness. It is characterized by selflessness and genuine concern for others. Stage two Purgation, the mystic seeks to purify the inner and outer self. He or she becomes discontented with themselves or any hindrances that may inhibit a unification with reality or the Almighty. Born-again Christians call this 'dying to self'. The next stage, the illumination stage, is an intimate one. Knowledge, wisdom, or the divine is experienced. The mystic may be characterized as elated and or blissful. Immense emotional energy is released during this stage. Following this stage or ecstatic experience there tends to be a rebound. This brings us to the dark night of the soul stage, a stage of reflection. The mystic is drained from the enormous amount of energy used from the previous stages. This stage is inevitable, for it is the final one before entering into the unification stage. The unitive stage is a transcending one. It is a marriage between the individual and the Almighty. Reality is reached, meaning and existence have substance.

      Authentic mysticism signals an increase in the capacity for forgiveness, affection, and care for others. For example, St. Teresa set herself against the stagnant and lethargic religious establishment of her day and her Carmelite order but she did so with integrity and compassion. Authentic mysticism also is balanced. True mysticism acts with discipline as well as with tenderness; it promotes living "in the world but not of the world, but never promotes disregard for the physical well-being and welfare of self or others (Bullis 1992).

     The goal of union with God both requires and reinforces the goal of unity of self. The dialectic of conscious and unconscious mind results in self-awareness and growth and begins to integrate opposites within the personality, ultimately allowing a conscious experience of sustained spirituality.

      Psychologist Carl Jung approached the analytic process of the mind as a dialectical discussion between the conscious mind and the unconscious, a development or an advance towards some goal or end (Ryckman, 1993). This goal or end is known as individuation. Individuation is a process which unites ego and self, consciousness and unconsciousness, God and humankind, or being and becoming. These are characteristics of Jung's collective unconscious. For the mystic these characteristics must be unified and balanced in the conscious mind. Once this is accomplished one can unite with God. The mystic then can hope to transform into a purely spiritual being, and therefore unite psyche and soul, mind and spirit. According to Daschke(1993) one might say that the mystic's quest for unity is analogous to that of a person with a psychopathological disorder: both seek integration of personality, balance of opposites, and final unity" (p 32). Daschke claim that knowledge of this transformation provides a key to mental and spiritual healing in therapy and counselors and therapists should value insight into the psychology of mysticism. Understanding mysticism reveals spiritual goals which contain mental health goals within them.

     Normative mystic characteristics (Greengerg, Witztum, and Buchbinder 1992a) include hallucinations, grandiose and paranoid delusions, and social withdrawal, yet these phenomena do not distinguish the mystic from the psychotic. Diagnosis of psychosis (and other mental disorders) is made on the basis of duration of the state, ability to control entry into the state and the associated deterioration of functioning, particularly the neglect of daily religious practices or the religious. The relationship between mysticism and religion is seen to be complex. The mystical experience is perceived as a deepening of normal religious life - yet also destabilizing. This posed three interesting questions for (Greenburg et al. 1992b); One, does mystical study precipitate mental illness or does it appeal to the mentally unstable whose attraction to mysticism is part of their psychotic withdrawal? Two, what is the effect of local religious attitudes towards mysticism on the development of psychopathology? Three, how do religions distinguish between mystic and the psychotic? The following three paragraphs are how I understood Greenberg and associates to answer such questions.

      Cultural beliefs and behaviors in a society play a central role of what is normative and what is pathological. For traditional eastern religions, Buddhism & Hinduism mystical visions are crucial and meditation is part of everyday life. In both, the mystic is considered a remarkable individual of society. In Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, these experiences are treated with caution even though their founders had mystical revelatory experiences.

      It is the similarities between mystical and psychotic states that have received the most attention, such as social withdrawal, delusions, hallucinations and strange behavior. The characteristic features do have a differentiating point according to case histories of (Greenberg et al., 1992b). While hallucinations are common to both, predominately the psychotics are auditory, and the mystics are visual. Delusions of personal grandeur and omnipotence may be features of paranoid psychosis. They are unusual in the mystic who views himself as a privileged vessel who must deny his own importance and not give way to self-flattery. Social functioning may be effected during transient states, for the mystic it usually lasts for hours whereas in the psychotic it may last for months even years.

      Affective behaviors can also differentiate the two, the mystic experiences joy and sweetness or ecstasy while the psychotic may be terrified or indifferent to his psychotic experience. (Greenberg et al., 1992c) also noted that duration and deterioration of social functioning may distinguish mystical states from many psychotic episodes; however, this distinction does not apply to schizophreniform disorders. They speculated that both may be responding to ecstatic affective changes.

     Similarities between psychotic and mystical experiences have long been acknowledged. Philosopher and psychologist William James considered religious mysticism to be only one half of the great mystical stream, and that insanity was the other half of mysticism.

      Stifler, Greer, Sneck, and Dovenmuehle (1993) comprised an empirically designed test that explored the relationship of mysticism to psychosis. Their purpose was to measure and define the differences and similarities between them. They hypothesized that reported mystical experiences of psychotic patients with religious orientated delusions, hallucinations, and or preoccupations would not differ significantly from the reported mystical experiences of mature religious contemplatives when measured by Stace's (1960) Hood Mysticism Scale. They also hypothesized that the psychotics will show significantly greater degrees of narcissistic self interest and ego-grasping orientations than mature religious contemplatives" (p 366).

      Three groups were assembled as independent variables, psychotics, religious contemplatives, and for a control group, normal's. Their dependent measures were the Hood Mysticism Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and the Ego-Grasping Scale. Their results were significant in terms of their hypothesis. Religious contemplatives and psychotics scored with in one point of each other on the Hood Mysticism Scale while the normal's scores were significantly lower. On the Ego-grasping scale the psychotics scored significantly higher than religious contemplatives and normal's. In terms of narcissism the psychotics scored significantly higher than the normal's and religious contemplatives.

      It is important to note that the authors of this article wanted the readers to know that the Hood Mysticism Scale is a generic measure for the varied aspects of the mystical experience. They also suggested there is a need for the design and validation of instruments to measure more subtle and varied aspects of mystical experience.

      Mysticism is a discipline that has as its object the possible elevation of the soul towards divinity. It is this state of consciousness which permits such elevation, and ultimately permits the contemplation of things divine and union with God.

      Author of Mysticism and Parapsychology, Emilio Servadio (1986a) disputes views of many psychiatrists and psychologists that mystics are drawing away from concrete reality. Servadio (1986b) states that many have placed the mind of the mystic in terms of pathological regression or psychopathic aberrations (p.1). Servadio further contends that scientists seek mystical intervention with questions of how rather than with the why of what they observe. The way I understand this even though I am more interested in why is because it is the how that is easier to communicate, quantify and qualify, and compare. From an epistemological approach one can question, is the scientific method the only possible instrument for gaining knowledge of reality or is the concept of separate realities more plausible? Interesting as it may seem this concept would require graduate work which is temporarily outside my level of intellectualization.

      Servadio (1986c) differentiates mysticism from medium-ship and initiation. His view more closely fits my personal view which discriminates against psychics, mediums, and initiates. The attitude of the mystic is quite different. The mystic has a profound faith in a superior order of things, a sense to purify the inner self in light of morality - of what is good. When the mystic enters into an altered state of consciousness he knows with certainty what can bring him closer to God or the Almighty. The medium fits more into a trance like state. He abandons himself to something other, of which he does not generally know the nature or the origin. Mediums do not remember what happens or vaguely can describe what takes place in their trances. The initiate or other wise known as eastern mystics is more of a technique which serves to distinguish between the self and the universal self. Considering this the initiate more closely resembles the mystic.

      Secular science has always tried to verify paranormal happenings of mystics, from the stigmatics of Christian Saints to miraculous disappearances of clinical physical abnormalities. Some of the major problems for scientific investigation are as follows; many happenings occur in sacred buildings such as a convent or hermitage that are not accessible to the public. Another problem is that the mystic places little importance on such phenomena and often try to keep such things from the public. Finally there is one of personal experience where ignorance is at fault (I use the term ignorance by its lexical definition, lack of knowledge at the experiential level). This ignorance was shown by Dr. James Randi who is an internationally known magician and investigator of unusual claims. Dr. Randi was the guest speaker at the 29th annual New York State Undergraduate Psychology Conference at Buffalo State College. His ability to disclaim magic was astounding; however, when questioned about religious mystical events he resorted to a childlike explanation (psychoanalytically speaking) and poked fun at such occurrences. For example, when asked to give professional insight about the weeping statue of the Virgin Mary he said he was not permitted to investigate, and so made a derogatory comment which obtain laughter from his audience. Nothing further was said. Although I was fully entertained by Dr. Randi's show it appeared as a one sided nonprofessional biased view.

      The role of God in the biblical text functions as a pattern momentarily structuring the Bible reader's perception on his own actual situation. If a person, knowing his Bible, finds it impossible to cope in a technical or ordinary human way with his situation, a model of performance from the Bible, one of its human roles, can be actualized for him, since the activity of the brain and the nervous system amounts to finding patterns permitting the coping process to go on. A situation which to begin with is structured in an ordinary way can be restructured is such a way that the individual experiences himself to be in interaction with God (p 367).

     What must now be confronted is what distinguishes the psychotic from a religious prophet? Goldwert (1990b) attempted to reveal some basic distinctions yet stressed that answering this question is a touchy situation. His first of three distinctions is one of historical appropriateness. A sane persons ideas of reality do not stretch out too far from that of which is current knowledge. Secondly the psychotics theology may intrigue other people, but when rejected they typically isolate themselves into a private world. Mystics may also stir up something basic in fellow human beings; however, they typically do not isolate themselves into a private world. Lastly the egos of religious persons, either psychotic or mystic, are capable of coping with life's necessities. It is the psychotic who can't manage his everyday affairs.

      Kroll and DeGanck (1986) studied the life of mystic Beatrice of Nazarth. Her stormy asceticism, ecstatic states and mood swings lend themselves to potentially competing hypotheses regarding the spiritual and psychopathological significance of her adolescent development and eventual life course(p755). Evidence was supported for both mystical experiences and psychotic symptoms. The issues these authors wanted to get at were not of discerning between either but one that encompassed both systems operating at once. Beatrice is both a mystic and a manic depressive with colorful personality traits (p 755). The authors mentioned that it is commonly accepted that physical illness can serve to humble and purify the body as it struggles against worldly pleasures and pride. Physical illness can teach us that earthly values are fugitive, and they can strengthen the soul. Why then can't mental tribulations exist along side mysticism? The answer is they can but in terms of coherent functioning it depends upon the severity and duration of these impairments.

      Western psychology has tended to see mysticism as pathological. Ecstatic and visionary states have been and are as much a part of the history of culture, religion, healing, as that of the history of madness. There is a gathering body of work that sees the mystic experience and the mystic experience within psychosis as an attempt to transcend intolerable images of self and life situations.

      Mysticism can be a gracious gift that can be nurtured and expressed in a culture in need of spiritual values. Therapists can play a significant role in; discerning authentic mystical experiences, balancing the mystical experiences, and in grounding mystical experiences for the benefit of both the mystic and society (Bullis 1992).

      The distinguishing features between mental illness and mysticism may be simple, but not simplistic. " By their fruits you shall know them " (Doubleday 1968). - The two fruits of authentic mysticism are compassion and balance.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994).
   Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
   Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Bullis, R. (1992). Psychotherapists and the Mystical
   Process. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy,
   22, 43-49.

Daschke, D. (1993). Individuation and the
   Psychology of the Mystic Union. Journal of
   Psychology and Christianity, 3, 245-252.

Doubleday & Company. (1968). The New Jerusalem
   Bible. Garden City, NY: Author.

Forman, R. (1987). A Psychological Account of
   Meister Eckhart's Mystical Transformation.
    Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 6, 21-33.

Goldwert, M. (1990). Religio-Egocentricity in
   Reactive Schizophrenia. Psychological Reports,
   67, 955-959.

Greenberg, D., Witztum, E., & Buchbinder J. (1992).
   Mysticism and Psychosis: The Fate of Ben Zoma.
   British Journal of Medical Psychology, 65,
   223-235.

Kallstad, T. (1987). The Application of the Religio-
   Psychological Role Theory.Journal for the
   Scientific Study of Religion, 26, 367-374.

Podvoll, E. (1979). Psychosis and the Mystical Path.
   Psychoanalytical Review, 66, 571-590.

Ryckman, R. (1993). Theories of Personality (5th
   ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Servadio, E. (1986). Mysticism and Parapsychology.
   Parapsychology Review,17, 1-5.