I think that a normal
person, if he's thinking
about somebody, alive or
dead, thinks in a monologue.
This monologue starts
with an intentional
thought, followed by an
unintentional thought,
then back to an
intentional thought
and so on.
     In a person with what
is called an abnormal
mind, the first thought
is intentional, so it is
thought to be the
person's own self, and
then the unintentional
thought is split off,
so there is a dialogue
between the intentional
self thought and the 
unintentional other thought.
This creates the
illusion of a dialogue
between the self and
another. This is a
condition of "hearing voices".

In a person who channels
the dead, this is the
same thing. The self
voice thinks of a dead
person, and the unintentional
thought is seen as the
other, in an illusion
of one person talking
to a dead person.
When this dialogue
thinking occurs, someone
might think they are
talking to a neighbor, or
someone sitting next to
them, so they might
think they are telepathic.
All of these ways of
thinking are a creation
of the mind, which makes
sense of things in
different ways.

In Zen meditation, an
experienced meditator
sees the carpet or wall
in front of him, and
the mind puts together
the patterns of the
carpet in new ways,
much like one sees
objects in an abstract
painting. This could be
faces, demons, alien
looking things, Jesus,
insects, etc. The
meditator is advised
to simply look and
to concentrate with
energy on his breath
or mantra or koan.
With enough concentration
effort, the hallucination
disappears.
     In the case of someone
who hears voices outside
of themselves, the same
thing happens. The person
hears a sound and the
mind makes sense of it,
like the faces in a 
rug pattern, by creating
illusory voices. If the
person is thinking
intentionally or unintentionally
of a certain person,
the voices that the mind
creates may sound like
the person that he is thinking
of. This is also
called "hearing voices".
     Normal people and
spiritual people can
experience these same
things and not be troubled
and mentally ill people
can experience the same
things, except that it causes
them problems. The 
difference between a 
normal person and an
abnormal person then
is the severity of 
suffering, not
necessarily a difference
of the mind, but only
a difference of what
is perceived as
suffering. So, if
we say doctor and
patient, there may
be nothing more than
a doctor with a degree
of, say, 3 on a severity
scale and a patient
with a degree of 7
on the scale. It is
one sick person treating
another.
     In Zen, a student
learns a practice called
"Katz". One way that it
is done is to strike
a chair with a stick
hard and scream at 
the top of his lungs
"Katz!". This releases
built up tension and
stress, and the student
feels better. The
master with him might
approve. This is intentional.
     What if a schizophrenic
person in a hospital hits
a chair with a stick in 
the hospital, and yells
"Katz!". Again, this relieves
tension and stress and
the patient feels better.
The nurse next to him
is likely to express
disapproval for
unacceptable behavior
and other disciplinary
action may follow. This
is intentional for patient
and nurse.
    In Zen interviews
students scream, swear,
jump over the master,
and other seemingly
irrational behaviors
in order to show their
understanding, wisdom
and liberation to the
master.
A master strangled
a student and nearly
killed him to teach
him a lesson about death.

If a mentally ill person
does these actions,
intentionally, like the
student or the master,
what is the effect?
What would the patient
be diagnosed with?
Police, being tasered,
restraints, ambulances,
confinement, medication,
hospitalization, etc.

The difference is the
rating on the severity
scale. Low suffering
happens in Zen, high
suffering happens in
mental illness. You could
say there is no qualitative
difference, only a
quantitative difference.
An enlightened Zen master
then, is no more sane
than a mentally ill
person. The difference
is the degree of pain.
     A sane person who
exhibits these behaviors
has different
effects, with no qualitative
difference, except a 
greater or lesser
amount of suffering.
     The obvious conclusion
of this is that mental
patients suffer from
a greater amount of pain,
and Zen masters, students,
nurses, doctors, and what
are called sane people
suffer from a lesser
amount of pain.
     The difference is
quantity, not quality.

     A temple
     is little Zen,
     everyday life
     is medium Zen,
     and a mental hospital
     is big Zen.
     It hurts everywhere.

     A woman doing her
laundry may be in as
much pain as a doctor
treating a patient, and
the patient being treated,
or a Zen master
or a student.

     So, we can make another
conclusion that there
is no qualitative or
quantitative difference
in health or sickness,
mentally or physically
between any of them.
Society makes differences.
"The only difference
between a madman and me
is that I am not mad"
     Salvador Dali

"The only difference
between a madman and
me is none"
     Kongsaeng Chris Everson

"Some believe that there
is no such thing as
mental illness"
     Andreas Marcotty, MD

     One might then think
that people are all the
same. Our quantities are
different and our 
qualities are different,
yet we are all similar.

"We are all in this
together, alone"
     Kongsaeng Chris Everson
     with help
     from another
     Zen student
     and Lily Tomlin

"If someone is thinking
about me, I am probably
thinking about them"
     Kongsaeng and Muji