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Posted By: dalehileman Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/08/07 06:50 PM
This really is a question about a word, has nothing to do with politics or religion and my most profuse apologies in advance to anyone who misunderstands

Can anyone suggest a term for autosuggestion of the kind described by William James in Varieties of Religious Experience, calling it "mind-cure"

Something desired by all but achieved by few, it can take a lifetime to achieve though in rare instances can happen in an instant, as with revelation or conversion, a flash. It need not be a religious experience

Thesaurus.com isn't of much help. It may be that the word I'm looking for doesn't exist. However, Jane Doe at a site I'm not sure protocol allows me to mention, "epiphany" is very close and Jane if by chance you also use the present site, thank you again for that. However, if there is a closer one, I need it

The recipient must be susceptible to suggestion; indeed, as with Zen and Islam, it helps if he is open to entertain conflicting ideas. Thus a skeptic is invulnerable
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/08/07 07:03 PM
a skeptic, in a moment of revelation, is put in mind of thought-terminating cliches.

-joe (but no good will come of that!) friday
Posted By: dalehileman Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/24/07 04:13 PM
Forgive me for bubbling this one back up but I'm still looking for that word

Incidentally speaking of Buddhism, I wonder if anyone familiar with it might not agree that one of Zen's unspoken tenets is that mental health depends upon being able to entertain conflicting ideas

This is especially true in conventional religion, where faith is de facto the ability to believe something having no basis in fact

But getting back to the word I'm seeking, might a successful mind-cure might not also strongly depend on the foregoing ability
Posted By: Faldage Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/24/07 04:43 PM
I'm no expert in Zen, but I've always thought that the basic idea that you are interpreting as being able to entertain conflicting ideas is really the notion that ideas are just part of the unreality that our perceptions seem to observe.
Posted By: dalehileman Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/24/07 04:49 PM
Fal, quite so. But isn't the ability to consider reality as unreal exactly the phenomenon covered by the idea of conflicting ideas
Posted By: zmjezhd Re: half-baked eddyism - 12/24/07 06:11 PM
How about James Henry Leuba's term: psychotherapic cult for the mind-cure movement or New Thought. I think that mind-cure comes under the more general heading of psychoceramics, which field of study encompasseth many. The lay-term for this multitude is crank or kook. Pseudoscientific crackpottery is alive and well mainly thanks to the easy access of the Web.
Posted By: dalehileman Re: half-baked eddyism - 12/25/07 05:38 PM
zm thank you for those links; you must be a prodigious reader. The beauty of entertaining conflicting ideas, however, doesn't necessarily entail rationalizing any of them

...something like true libertarianism, conservative in fiscal matters but liberal on social isues. Undoubtdly there are conflicts but on the whole I think it's preferable to the usual partisanship

Posted By: themilum Re: half-baked eddyism - 12/26/07 04:47 AM
Ah, Dalmatian, who cares what you think? Two things: do you need to know all answers because you think that you will soon slip into that absolute goodnight? Or do you have the absolute answer for those of us here who have more time?

I bless your good heart.
Posted By: Hydra Re: half-baked eddyism - 12/26/07 06:09 AM
>psychoceramics

Ha ha!
Posted By: dalehileman Re: half-baked eddyism - 12/26/07 04:13 PM
Originally Posted By: themilum
Ah, Dalmatian, who cares what you think?

********Gypsy. She is not a Dalmatian but an adopted stray

Two things: do you need to know all answers...

*****I am receptive if you can supply one or two

....because you think that you will soon slip into that absolute goodnight?

**********No doubt I should have departed some time ago as I've done virtually nothing to deserve this longevity at 78 rpm

Or do you have the absolute answer for those of us here who have more time?

*****I truly envy all of you. Especially No. 1 Son at 33 rpm. As the days grow fewer each becomes disproportionally more valuable. Those very few answers I have, I'd be most happy to share at dalehileman@verizon.net

I bless your good heart.


*******Thank you but it won't do me much good because God doesn't believe I exist

***Happy new year
Posted By: nuncle Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/28/07 02:16 AM
I think another word you might be able to use is 'satori.' It is generally used in a zen context, however, its definition is generally interpreted as the clarity that is achieved after holding a complex and often unsolvable paradox or problem in your mind. It is the 'Aha' moment or 'Eureka,' however, it is often associated with more profound realizations that elude the majority of us.
Posted By: dalehileman Re: Mind-cure and epiphany - 12/28/07 04:27 PM
nunc, thank you for that, I believe the closest anyone has yet come

Pron:

/səˈtɔri, -ˈtoʊri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
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