ABSTRACT
It seems probable that the founders of religions, as of new psychotherapeutic systems, are genuinely intent on discovering new (or perennial but freshly experienced) truths and transmitting these to others. Probably, they are indeed in closer touch with God, mystical experience, the Unconscious or whatever, at least temporarily. But inevitably, it seems, a process of corruption sets in, whereby initial raw contact with new and profound discoveries is imperceptibly converted into dogma and institutionalisation. The closest I have personally come to any understanding and holistic experience of profound truths has been through the writings of Krishnamurti in particular, but also those of mystics generally. I have also had a number of experiences across the years, sometimes in therapeutically oriented groups, which belong to the realm of the profoundly authentic and apparently unrepeatable (by any effort or method), in which personal problems lessen, dissolve or take on new perspectives (Cohen and Phipps 1979). I would refer to this realm as ‘holistic’, except for the reservation that this word has become an empty cliche. The core problematic issue here is that priests, philosophers, counsellors and others invariably attempt to systematise, colonise and bureaucratise that realm and to license themselves as its gate-keepers.
