From: Carmen Chimento
Date: 26 Oct 1997
12. Within each of God's creatures are objects of existence. The physical objects of existence are the material things, such as food, clothing, shelter, pleasure, and so on. The spiritual objects of existence are determined by each creature's knowledge of the divine, such as divine joy, divine love, and so on. When a person tastes the Divine, the object for existence becomes eternal life with the Divine. That person is guided by those things that tend toward that object of its existence.
The tasting of the Divine can be termed "being in God's presence", or being in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or as the term is used in eastern religions, union with the Universal Spirit. Those persons who have admitted to being in God's presence will also admit to experiencing the divine gifts which are described in my book. Those gifts in Western religions are referred to as the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and one can readily refer to them likewise as the gifts of God, for God IS the Holy Spirit. When one possesses the gifts of the Holy Spirit, one can be said to be "in the presence of God".
The Presence of God vs. Schizophrenia
The problem down through the ages, however, has been to define what it is "to be truly in the presence of God". Since God is suprasensorial, we can eliminate any one's being in the presence of God if the person hears audible voices, sees describable images, and experiences any other sensations. However, when a person speaks of having communicated with God, and they relate that God told them to do this or that, one must be careful not to misinterpret what exactly that person is describing. For example, in various holy books, a person may be simply translating in words what they believe God communicated to them in spirit, so they may not have actually been hearing voices, but since they have no other way to express those thoughts, so to speak, that God is projecting to them, the only way they can describe the event is through verbal translations, that is, translating God's communications to them verbally. As recent as this morning (I fell asleep during the World Series 6th game with the TV blaring), I woke up to the sound of someone preaching. I heard some televangelist (I believe his name was Rev. Schuler from somewhere in California, claim that God told him he must build a continuation of his crystal cathedral and had received around $2,000,000 dollars in pledges and that was hardly enough. He needed more like 20 plus million dollars to complete it. It would consist of bronze statues and marble, and all the other trimmings. Which leads us to the subject of schizophrenia as it relates to religious experiences.
Schizophrenia in most cases manifests itself in vivid delusions, such as a person believes that they are God, that they have special access to God that others do not have, and they may actually experience visions or conversations with spiritual beings including God. To these people, those visions or delusions are very real and they in fact use these delusions to reinforce their belief systems. It is therefore, very difficult to separate those individuals who have truly experienced being in God's presence from those individuals who suffer schizophrenic delusions.
Those who have truly been in the presence of God, although they would like to share this joyful experience with others, may be frustrated from either their lack of communication skills, or the simple fact that even with the best communication skills, the event is intensely personal, private and most difficult to convey to others. Since schizophrenia has its roots in other factors aside from excessive religious interest, such as physiological and/or traumatical events going back as far as childhood in some cases, it must be carefully observed when claims are made of Divine knowledge as to whether the individual has mirrored what they have read of other persons' religious experiences or if they are their own. Schizophrenics in religion have existed from time immemorial where they have claimed some form of divinity.
Persons have sought my advice on the vocal communications they claim to have had with God and the Holy Spirit. Centuries ago, a man named Mani claimed that he was the Holy Spirit. My advice to all is that God does not vocalize, and if God did vocalize, God would not be God because by definition, God is an infinitely pure spirit devoid of matter, and matter is necessary to vocalize. However, I also advise these same people that all of us vocalize either physically or mentally with God because that is the way we were taught to communicate with others, and there is nothing wrong with that because our vocalizations end up being thoughts and prayers to our Creator. It is only when we hear voices coming back that we must be concerned, for more times than not, it is our own voice coming back to us and that is when we might be concerned as to whether or not we are becoming delusional.
In the case of Rev. Schuller who told his congregation that God told him he must build an addition to his church, it is difficult to state without interviewing him whether he heard God speak to him, whether he was hearing his own voice echoing back, or whether God actually communicated to him non-verbally that he wanted Rev. Schuller to build an extension. I find it difficult to believe that God spoke to him vocally, and I found it just as difficult to believe when Oral Roberts said that God told him that unless he received six million dollars by the end of the month God was going to take him to Heaven. If he was sincere and believed what he was saying, I would have to conclude that he was delusionally schizophrenic, but then again, we do not know all the facts. Some psychologists believe that the person who suffers from delusions with respect to religious imagery are simply expressing their altered state of reality, which finds itself in these delusions. My personal view is that those people who believe in and have vivid religious imageries of Christ, Buddha, Muhammad, or others of being God personified, so to speak, must obviously suffer from some form of delusionary trauma or schizophrenia since we all know that God can never assume human form by virtue of the fact that God is infinitely pure in spirit and is absolutely devoid of matter. Yet, perhaps for those who do suffer from these delusions, in a mental sense, it is an outlet or an expression of their altered view of reality or truth. So in a way, without this belief system, they would self destruct since they would have nothing else to support their need for continued existence. It may be compared to taking away Linus' blanket. It would be too traumatic an experience, and so they continue with their belief systems.
Additionally, there are drug-induced visions or trances which can cause serious harm and the use of these drugs may even death, especially illegal drugs, which are advertised as being able to cause a feeling of euphoria and which mimic the experience of being in God's presence. Cases have been reported where anaesthesia, such as ether and other chemicals, have caused "out of body" experiences. People using LSD have reported similar experiences. What these experiences indicate to me is that they are either hallucinatory (because they are not for the most part superconscious experiences) or that they are of the dream variety, that is, the imagination is not under control of the will. But in all cases, unlike the residual effects of a true vision or presence of God, the residual effects of these illegal drugs and alcohol as well, are devastating in almost all cases. For example, alcohol although legal, has a devastating effect upon the mind and the liver when taken to effect or mimic the Divine union. Some or most of the illegal drugs produce irreversible chromosomal damage, mental disorders of all kinds, and so on. When a natural union with God is achieved, there is the opposite effect, a restoration of health to the soul, the mind and the body. So that rather than cause schizophrenia or some other mental disorder, this natural union with God will have a most beneficial effect.
Getting back then to subject we are discussing, I can produce a very small list of things to look for when one is truly "in the presence of God", that is, when one has experienced Nirvana, the Beatific Vision, oneness with God, or whatever description or term one feels comfortable with.
The list includes the experiences one undergoes within oneself or about oneself:
superconsciousness
ego-less (no concern for yourself)
desirelessness (explained in my book)
freedom from restlessness (calmness may also be used here)
objectless
bodiless
free
immortal (the soul knows immortality)
free of things finite
free of good and evil contrasts
union with God but not within God
fearlessness (no fear of things except the fear of insulting God through sin or otherwise)
and many more too numerous to list, such as real humility, but which are explained in my book.
It is important for those who suffer from any form of mental disorders to seek counseling from a reputable person in that field. This information that is of a psychological nature is only presented in order for you to be able to discern what "being in the presence of God" means. God does not produce mental disorders, simply because God is infinitely good and wishes for you and for me to be healthy spiritually, mentally, and physically. And so do I wish the same for both you and me.
May God bless you with health and happiness in this life and the life to come.
Carmen