New Consciousness Review Spring 2016 | Page 62

METAREALITY ARTICLE Synchronicity: Enlightenment or Psychosis? by Chris Mackey H T How could an enlightened state of mind be confused with psychosis? How could legitimate mystical experience, which a person relates to their further spiritual awakening, be dismissed as mere pathology? his issue relates to how we define mental health. In my view, our mental health is too often viewed solely in terms of what we perceive as rational behaviour. This leads many people, including many health professionals, to dismiss any form of mystical belief as illegitimate. Mystical experiences are partly defined in terms of being virtually impossible to describe in words, and as being influenced by something beyond our will. They cannot be reduced to ready scientific explanation. To many, this means that they don’t exist. So, what do we make of people having visions, or seeing ghosts, or hearing voices, or thinking a radio program is sending them a personalized message, or having a compelling belief that they know what 62 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW