夜深了，掙扎著想要至少寫完一小段變態心理學的討論再來睡覺，無奈時差仍搖晃著我的思維，便想今晚就來用中文哈拉一下相關的主題，或許明天一早就有了寫報告的idea．
室友的貓很囂張地在我的床上、還有我的肚子上走來走去，他大概覺得我的新棉被軟軟的很舒服吧！屢屢賴著不肯離開．我的心裡有一點點焦慮他的腳掌和趴著的肚肚是不是乾淨，但練習著在深呼吸，練習著允許這隻貓在我床上窩 (此刻突然想到他的主人是不太准他上床的)，因為我也考慮著要來養一隻小貓．．．不過，看這隻貓咪很安穩地在我床上睡了起來，看了十多分鐘後，我感覺自己的胃變得緊繃，有種想明天就把被套拿去洗的衝動．請問愛貓人士，允許貓咪在床上睡覺、甚至覬覦我杯子裡的水 (我不確定他是不是已經偷喝了)，是養貓的一部分嗎？
岔題了，我要寫的第一篇題目是討論一個人被同時診斷有精神疾病、又有靈性經驗的可能性．目前其他同學討論的內容都是贊成這個可能性，並且舉了一些實際上遇到的例子，亦即，可能有些朋友有持續地靈修 (透過瑜珈等方式)，或者有些奇異的靈性經驗 (此時很難界定是有幻覺，還是靈性經驗)，但同時被診斷出有某些精神疾患．
我的腦子繞著定義打轉，一個是spirituality的定義，一個是pathology的定義；也想著何以有些人的靈性修為並沒有改善他們的心理問題，以及如何區分一個特殊的經驗(像是跟上帝說話)，是一個高峰經驗、亦或是精神疾患裡定義的幻覺？
註：寫到這兒，我不知不覺就開始寫英文版的討論內容了，因為這只是網路上的討論版，看大家都很輕鬆地在討論，所以這篇寫寫就貼上去了，因為才剛開始練習寫心理學方面的報告，我目前對自己的要求是很低的．．．只是還沒找到可以幫我修改文章、訂正文法的人，如果你們無聊讀到有錯的地方，請告訴我．
又註：我漸漸習慣室友的貓在我床上睡覺了．我也準備來睡覺了．
Hi All,
I just moved to Palo Alto two days ago and am now struggling with jet lag. I hope to follow up the discussion here soon.
I agree that one can have pathology and genuine transpersonal experiences. The question is: Does an individual have pathology plus spirituality or it’s just pathology masquerading as spirituality or, on the other hand, it’s one’s spiritual opening being diagnosed as pathology? This can be a difficult call.
Some people I met in a meditation resort in India had profound transpersonal experiences and behaved in strange ways. It may be like what Georg Feuerstein put in “The Shadow of the Enlightened Guru”. He said, “[This] raises the crucial question of whether enlightenment also leaves untouched traits that in the unenlightened individual might be called neurotic. I believe that this is so.” It seems to me that if someone uses spiritual practices as a shelter from facing psychological difficulties, the psychological problems won’t go away. One might enjoy ecstasy at one moment but suffer from severe depression, hallucination or so at the next moment.
I believe that centering is fairly important in applying spiritual practices to improve one’s life. ( It’s the same idea as Susan cited from the Kabbalah leader about the importance of having a solid core, I think) Imagine one who changes conscious status frequently without a centering. It will probably be diagnosed as pathology if he/her act out. On the other hand, imagine one who has a solid core, or a stable center, knows how to move between different states of consciousness, and has a sense of the field beyond himself/herself. This person probably has a greater chance to develop toward a healthy life.
At this moment, the word “dissociation” came to my mind. I guess one can really use spiritual practices to dissociate from or to connect with oneself.
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