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Most modern men simply do not believe this, and they do not at all
recognize its connection with mental illness. Modern incredulity of the
reality of spirits is powerful and pervasive. Every one of us is affected
by it to some degree. We are programmed to disbelieve in spirits. Modern
religions should serve a deprogramming function, but, with few exceptions,
they do nol. People may call themselves Christians or Jews or Buddhists
or Muslims. But most of them -- if they are civilized'' and especially if
they ate "well-educated" -- have somehow managed to explain away or
conveniently ignore what their religions' founders taught about the spirit
world.
What if it turns out that there really are spirits and they really do affect
human beings? What if the view which takes into account the existence and
influence of spirits turns out to be valid? What if Christ and Buddha and
Rama and Muhammad and all of the other teachers were right? In that
case, much of modern psychological theory would have to be discarded,
and our practice of psychiatry would need to be reconstructed from the
ground up.*
-.«-/
'JK,
^ ^
24 Magazine, October 1976
149