(page 352)
Table XII: COMPARISON OF MYSTIC AND PSYCHEDELIC LEVELS IN CHRISTIAN AND HINDU SOURCES
. . St. Teresa St. Francois
de Sales
Roman Catholic Patanjali Underhill,
Laski
Jhana # Stage Leuba 163-5 Leuba 167 Poulain 1912 Eliade '69:88 This volume
-2 C
R
E
A
T
I
V
E
MEDITATION
(the limit of
range of mental
activity)
MEDITATION
(on objects
which may
awaken love)
MEDITATION
(affective prayer;
prayer of simple
regard)
MEDITATION
(distractions)
MEDITATION
-1 P
S
Y
C
H
E
D
E
L
I
C
ORISON OF QUIET
(enjoyable)
(mind passive)
CONTEMPLATION
(total attention
to loved object)
thought immoblized
PRAYER OF
QUIET
(meditation)
(no distraction)
RESPONSE
EXPERIENCE
(nature mysticism)
(peak experience)
0 ORISON OF UNION
(sleep of the powers
absorbed in God)
AMOROUS
ABSTRACTION
(mental activity
reduced to nil)
UNION
(no distraction)
SAMPAJNATA
SAMADHI
(with support)
(timeless)
ADAMIC
ECSTASY
(time ecstasy)
1 ECSTASY,
(rapture, flight
of the soul)
(no percepts)
LIQUIFACTION OF
SOUL IN GOD
ECSTASY
(percepts
disregarded)
SAVITARKA
SAMADHI
(argumentative)
(total object)
KNOWLEDGE
ESCTASY
2 (no clear Christian distinction here,
although see quote from St. John of Cross
in sect. 4.74; siddhis appear including
sensation of levitation; mystic not
able to come out of ecstasy at will.)
NIRVITARKA
SAMADHI
egoless thought
KNOWLEDGE-
CONTACT 1
(object
transcended)
3 SAVICARA
SAMADHI
direct knowledge
KNOWLEDGE-
CONTACT 2
(rapture ceases)
4 NIRVICANA
SAMADHI
feelings cease
KNOWLEDGE-
CONTACT 3
feelings cease
time/space
transcended
5-8 U
N
I
T
I
V
E
SPIRITUAL
MARRIAGE
. TRANSFORMING
UNION
ASAMPAJNATA
SAMADHI
(without support)
INEFFABLE
CONTACT
INEFFABLE
UNION,
etc.
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*Let us consider the human being as an electric motor, and connect it to the numinous element so there is a completed electric circut. Using analogy of the electric motor, let us consider under what circumstances the motor will develop heat, and under what circumstances it will run "cool" and smoothly. As any high school student of physics can tell you, when the motor goes slowly, it will heat up, because there is no back EMF. When the motor is running fast, it generates nearly the back EMF of the line voltage and so will run fast and cool. But this analogy explains perfectly the difference between the psychic heating of the prototaxic (when the operation is not efficient) verses the "cool" smoothness of the syntaxic (when the operation is efficient).