Early in my psychiatric career, while treating psychotic patients who had experiences with powerful religious imagery, I started wondering whether the great mystics of the past would have been considered the psychotic patients of the present, and whether the patients I was caring for would have been considered great saints in the past. Is the mystic psychotic? Is the psychotic patient a misunderstood mystic?
i am mysterious 
The vast majority of my non-ordinary experiences are mystical experiences. The distressing parts of them include darker themes from Christianity that come in the form of delusions. I had no way to orient my non-ordinary experiences given the programming from the Churches I attend so it became extremely terrifying. I thought I was the devil, demon posssessed, or the anti-christ, because the literature (the Bible[old and new testaments]). I had 25 years of biblical scholarship behind me when I first became psychotic at age 33. There was no real foundation for what I was really seeking when it came down upon me.
I have since found a frame work for my experiences in Hinduism and Buddhism. I am still very wary of religions though, I try to stick to the practical aspects: basic yoga and some meditation practices. I wish I would have encountered Buddhism a long time ago, it has helped me get to know the nature of mind and Hinduism is helpful for the body and the spirit as well. Its something I will work with until I die, They at least have the tools.
Here is an interesting video that talks about this, its from The Crazy Wise film You Tube Channel ( documentary movie I have been waiting for years to come out). Coincidentally enough it is an interview with a Guru “Sadhguru” I have been following for a while now and had no idea he was associated with the documentary.
You can find more information about the “Crazywise” documentary film project at the following youtube channel…
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he is doing a crap job then…sack him god !?! 
… 
take care 
When I was psychotic… I didn’t say anything that made sense there was no enlightenment in my emphatic ranting. Nothing insightful came out of anything I was doing or saying.
People will believe what they want to be believe I guess. Is it your theory that ALL schizophrenics are mystics? Because I personally am not a mystic. None of friends or the people in all my hospital visits who were schizophrenic seemed to be very mystical. I’ve heard the theory before and I don’t buy into it.
St.Dymphna was no mystic. She suffered by the actions of her crazy father.
Saints can usually be attributed to certain people like St. Nickolas for instance.
Another of my favorites is St. Joan of Arc a great warrior and patron saint of France.
I have found that religion helps protect me from sz that I believe was invented by the devil to torment humanity.
Usually getting closer to God or praying can help snap me OUT of a relapse eventually.