I was a copy editor for years and edited books on many topics I would not have delved into otherwise. One of the books I edited included many stories about Socrates. I had heard, of course, of the Socratic method of teaching by asking questions. In this book, the author explained how terribly clever Socrates was, asking questions that led to absurd conclusions, such as that a dog is a better philosopher than a man. As I was working my way through the text, I found myself muttering, “Shut up, Socrates!” This went on for a number of pages. I was getting more and more annoyed with this esteemed philosopher.
Suddenly I felt something in my mind crack. It was so strong it was almost physical. It was very unusual, yet it felt familiar, like something I had experienced before. It was some hours before I could identify that sensation and name it. It was the breaking of the human mind, pushed to its limits and beyond by Socrates’ line of questioning. It was as though my brain was saying, “You know perfectly well, Socrates, that what you are pushing me to admit is not true. So stop boxing me into a corner!”
Some days or weeks later, I had forgotten the whole thing. I was thinking about something entirely different, when in a Holy-Spirit flash, I understood what Socrates was doing.
“What if,” I found myself thinking, “what if Socrates was actually running a mystery school, teaching spiritual mysteries? What if by his questions, he was attempting to prove to his students the limitations of the human mind, by giving them the experience of feeling their human mind break under the strain of its own logic?” And if the human mind breaks by being forced to its limits, what is left? There must be another mind, the Christ Mind—another “I,” the Higher Self. A very Buddhic insight.
It was a totally amazing realization, and a great grace for which I am most grateful. I found out later that Socrates did indeed have a mystery school and that he taught such concepts as reincarnation. But what I learned by experiencing the breaking of the human mind far exceeded what can be found in the historical record.