[Altair]

Originally Posted by inavalan

That is also why the overwhelming number of people never get a glimpse of the wider reality, even though some of them believe they did / do.

It's because religion for the masses focusses on different things. Did you also consider the possibility that many people don't create conditions, i.e. they don't starve themselves, sleep on nail beds, or have an eating disorder. If I follow you correctly, than do you come to the conclusion that anorexia, schizophrenia, depression, and severe malnourishment are possible signs of spiritual living (?).

Originally Posted by inavalan

There are mentally ill people who don't know that they are. There are also mentally ill people that have many followers that believe in them.

There's the possibility that religions started with confused men that impressed the crowds with fancy tales, based on their prolonged sense deprived practices that induced certain experiences. Jesus and Buddha were both fasting for prolonged periods. It's interesting how those suffering from an eating disorder or starvation are more likely to experience hallucination. The guy stranded in the wilds who couldn't find food, etc. Others then get mesmerized by these ''otherworldly'' preachers, and may feel determined to also create conditions that deprive the body of health.


Creating Hallucinations Without Drugs Is Surprisingly Easy: https://www.sciencealert.com/how-to-...y-easy-science

What Happens To The Body And Mind When Starvation Sets In?: https://wamu.org/story/16/01/20/what...ion_ sets_in/.

''The role of extreme forms of asceticism associated with a lack of proper sleep, inadequate food, and self-induced bodily and mental pain also make a contribution to stimulating the production of certain neurochemicals that affect a person. Taking into consideration these various potential influences on the brain and body, it is plausible to conclude that the ascetic imagines certain types of powers.
The imaginings and hallucinations about being powerful are more than infantile fantasies that become delusions when they are believed. Instead the ascetic's vivid imagination gives rise to flights of fantasy where anything is possible, enabling an ascetic to creatively remake the past, create a new future, and to invent something for the present despite the penchant of many Indian ascetics to be free of the cycle of time.''

Carl Olson, Indian Asceticism: Power, Violence, and Play.