by Milton Rokeach
I just thought of one book I (surprisingly) left off my list. It's a book few people have ever heard of, even within the mental health field. It's called "The Three Christs of Ypsilanti" and tells the story from the 1950's (long before the modern catch-phrase of de-institutionalisation) where they brought together three long-term schizophrenic patients onto the same ward in a hospital in (you guessed it) Ypsilanti Hospital.
Anyway, each of these three patients was suffering from the delusion that they were Jesus Christ. The book is the chronicle of their interaction with each other and the staff as they each tried to maintain and defend their 'identity'. I have never read anything quite like it as a 'case study'. And given the latest trends in the field, it is probably an unrepeatable undertaking.
It's a fascinating read - or at least I found it so. I actually carried it around for several years as a kind of "Bible". Not for the so-called psychiatric insights but for the dialogue & interplay between 3 human beings all claiming to have the same identity. Actually, I found very little on the web about this book except one classic comment:
Maybe "Leon" of Ypsilanti really WAS Jesus... and everybody tried to "CURE" Him!!
I did identify with Leon in many ways.
I may one day get the time & energy & inclination to type up the best bits of this book. In the meantime, enjoy a few scans of some old photcopies I have. I found it's tough to scan a thick book but not so tough to scan photocopies of that thick book. You learn something every day. Well, read these excerpts and you'll learn a thing or two. Call Leon 'deluded' if you must, but I think he has one of the most creative minds you would ever wish to encounter. Reading these words again, I am reminded of that song about Van Gogh, 'this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you'. But enough of my ramblings, here's some of Mr. Rokeach's ...
Mind you, even this smattering gives just a taste of the book's contents. You'll have to hunt down a copy to get the total experience. The ISBN is ... well, on second thoughts,
click here for the book info.
Pages 216 & 7
Pages ?? - where Leon says 'I have to see the relationship to infinity. If I can see that, I'm satisfied.', which may be as profound a statement you'll ever hear from someone who is supposedly 'deluded' and 'out-of-touch' with 'reality' ... unfrotunately I sliced the scanned image up a little bit so I haven't found what page it comes from ... so be patient ... all will be revealed in the fullness of time ...
Pages 144 & 145 - scanned from the actual book rather than from the photocopies ...
Pages 234 & 5 - need re-doing but almost legible
Pages 310 & 1 - mentions Laing
Pages 336 & 7 - reflections 'twenty years later' ...
Page 238 - has 'the relationship to infinity' but I need to re-scan it ...
More scans soon ... unless I happen to be abducted by advanced intergalactic travelers who have zeroed in on my brainwaves from the vastness of interstellar space. But that's probably not going to happen in the next five
Some Links
Most of the following come from a search using the Google search engine -
Quote from Milton Rokeach
Article about the identity of Christ mentions the book
Interesting discussion of the book {added May 17, 2002}
{Or click here}
Rapunzel - a poem which mentions the book
The message I mentioned previously suggesting maybe Leon actually WAS Christ
Article at Successful Schizophrenia site
The Politics of Experience by R.D. Laing
Swami Beyondananda Karma Talk
Interesting message at a dicussion board
An article called Rogue Messiahs
Another site which mentions the book
The actual Google search which I used. Many of which i have yet to fully peruse. You may like to do so in your spare time.
Back issues of Abraxas - one of which discusses 3 Christs ... could send 'em an email ...
... use other search engines ... you never know ...
Another article which discusses the book
More discussion of the 'messiah complex'
{Oddly enough, this reminds me of a quote attributed to Buddha: 'Don't just do something, sit there!'
Excerpts from The Troubled Mind
October 2002 Update:
Page 107 - Leon defines the word parable. "Parables go from higher level ideas to lower level expression so that a person with less education can understand."
PLus "I love truth even though it hurts ..."
Page 126 - "Truth is the Boss."
Page 204 - Leon speaks about an infringement on his emotional life ...
Page 126 - Leon speaks of his 'light brother' and the spirit of 'truthful energetic happiness' ....
I really ought 2 scan pages 196 to 199 - about the ethics of conducting such an exercise ... "I was about to explore an obscure area of the human psyche by means of a method never before tried ..."
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