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(More customer reviews)In his book "Cosmic Consciousness," published in 1901, Richard Bucke writes of "certain men who...are either exalted, by the average self conscious individual, to the rank of gods, or, adopting the other extreme, are adjudged insane." This is the earliest mention I have found of the potential problem inherent in the spiritual growth process: bouts of madness, or at least extreme dysfunction. The Grofs have put together a collection of essays by themselves and various other authors which explore the psychic/psychological dynamics of what they call "spiritual emergency." That's their term for when the growth process puts a person into psychic overload. The essays describe different aspects of such overload, as well as ways to help someone (or oneself) through it.
A repeating theme throughout the book is that too often such people are pathologized and medicated by well-meaning but materialistic-minded health care workers. This not only terminates the process so that breakthrough cannot occur, it can also drive the patient into permanent madness. Some of the contributors to this book include Roberto Assagioli, John Weir Perry, Ram Dass, Lee Sannella, Holger Kalweit, and others. There is a fascinating piece by Keith Thompson entitled "The UFO Encounter Experience as a Crisis of Transformation," which is the most profound way of looking at UFO abduction phenomenon that I've ever read. I recommend this book to anyone interested in personal growth--it is interesting, well-edited, and filled with a lot of useful information.
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