--- In [email protected], "Llundrub" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > Holy Land overwhelmed with 'Messiahs'
Vaguely related, from Swami Beyondananda (not one of his usual knee-slappers, but interesting nonetheless): Dear Swami: With the Middle East peace process on the rocks, I noticed that someone actually had a functional idea for the future of the Holy City of Jerusalem -- put it under God's jurisdiction. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, the major religions could come together and submit to a higher authority than their own ... until I read later in the week that the Catholic Church declared itself the only sure way to get to heaven -- and even more important, to avoid going to hell. Swami, is there any hope that religions will ever work together to achieve a higher good? Waylon Wall, Knoxville, Tennessee Dear Waylon: I went back into the anals of psychology, and I think I found you a reason for hope. Some 40 years ago, Dr. Milton Rokeach, a resident psychiatrist at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, performed an intriguing experiment. Three mental patients at the hospital all had delusions of being Jesus Christ. Dr. Rokeach wondered what would happen if the three Christs were put together in a therapy group. Would they relate to each other? And how would they accomodate each other's delusions? The result of the experiment was a book, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti. At the beginning, the three Christs were a lot like that old TV show, To Tell the Truth: "My name is Jesus Christ." "My name is Jesus Christ." "My name is Jesus Christ." But after being together for months, and despite their differences -- not to mention their similarities -- they actually began to enjoy being together. And at least one of them began to suspect that maybe we're all Jesus Christ. In many ways, these three major religious systems are like the Three Christs of Ypsilanti. Each lives in a delusional system that it alone is the One True Path. And now, in the Mother of all Psychology Experiments . . . God has placed them all in therapy together in a city which all three hold holy to see if they can heal their delusions enough to walk their dogmas instead of merely talking them.... http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2000/October/swami.htm I read "Three Christs of Ypsilanti" many years ago; it's utterly fascinating. Re Swami Beyondananda--If you've never encountered his stuff, he's worth a look. He's the most ingenious wordplay artist I know of, and there's quite a bit of substance to him as well. One of his better lines: "Trillions of dollars spent on weapons of mass destruction -- and we're still not safe?" To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
