Observations placeholder
Custance, John - Adventure into the Unconscious - Only a lunatic would want to do anything so grandiose
Identifier
001933
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
John Custance – Adventure into the Unconscious
Once upon a time there was a very conceited young soul, so conceited and so puffed up with pride that he thought he was Bramah, the Atman, and very All itself and wanted to put the world right. So he went to Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity, who with Socrates and Plato presides at the place (rather like the jumping off platform of a parachute tower) where souls wishing to be born choose their lives, and asked what sort of lives were still available.
Lachesis greeted him kindly and said that she was very sorry but he was last in the queue and the only life left was that of a lunatic. Naturally the conceited young soul was very upset and began to protest that he was a very important soul indeed with a special mission from the gods, and that he must have a special life arranged for him. At this point Socrates intervened to ask what his mission was.
'Why' replied the conceited young soul, 'surely the Gods must have sent a message to you about me. I am going to put the planet Earth in order'
'Then' said Socrates 'chance or the goddess Tyche has left you the right life. For in the first place, only a lunatic would want to do anything so grandiose and in the second place it is possible that as a lunatic, wholly subject to the will of the Powers instead of to your own, you might be used for some purpose of this kind.