In this connection, can anyone suggest a term for autosuggestion of the kind described by William James in Varieties of Religious Experience, calling it "mind-cure"

Something desired by all but achieved by few, it can take a lifetime to achieve though in rare instances can happen in an instant, as with revelation or conversion, a flash. It need not be a religious experience

Thesaurus.com isn't of much help. It may be that the word I'm lookibng for doesn't exist

As with Zen the recipient must be susceptible to suggestion; indeed, as with Zen and Islam, it helps if he is open to entertain conflicting ideas

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The closest anyone has come so far is "epiphany" from Jane Doe in a site I'm not sure protocol allows me to mention

...but I am dalehileman@verizon.net

Forgive me for bubbling this one back up but I'm still looking for that word

Incidentally speaking of Budddhism, I wonder if anyone famliar with it might not agree that one of Zen's unapoken tenets is that mental health depends upon being able to entertain conflicting ideas

This is especially true in conventional religion, where faith is de facto the ability to believe something having no basis in fact

But getting back to the word I'm seeking, a successful mind-cure might also strongly depend on the foregoing ability

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My problem is that I don't understand the concept that you describe! Maybe that's because there's no word that describes it.

Rich your perplexity is understandable, and in fact perhaps even to comprehend this kind of flash the recipient must himself be susceptible to suggestion; indeed, as with Zen and Islam, it helps if he also is open to entertain conflicting ideas. Thus a skeptic is invulnerable

The Buddhist apparently gains a feeling of satisfaction from the idea that reality is unreal, the very apogee of the principle

....not at all adverse to the Christian idea that even though heaven is purely supernatural, Mary's physical, corporeal body rests there in state. Would it be sacreligious to suggest that it must have exuded strong vapours for a while even though nobody else there could smell it

Of course skepticism is a relatively rare but invaluable commodity and essential in today's world of nonsense and Orwellian Doublespeak, but it deprives one of potential epiphany

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You may welcome me to the grand and ancient order of sceptics. I am pleased to learn that our craft is a rare one; I will do my best to ensure that its tenets are spread as far as they can be - scepticism of the messages' meaning notwithstanding.

Well, Rich, then welcome

But I don't know how much headway you can plough; for at least half the pop can be made to believe literally anything

From a correspondent nunc:

I think another word you might be able to use is 'satori.' It is generally used in a zen context, however, its definition is generally interpreted as the clarity that is achieved after holding a complex and often unsolvable paradox or problem in your mind. It is the 'Aha' moment or 'Eureka,' however, it is often associated with more profound realizations that elude the majority of us

From me:

nunc, thank you for that, I believe the closest anyone has yet come

Pron:

/səˈtɔri, -ˈtoʊri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

Hi, dh, I would agree with nunc. My reading on the subject is rusty but was quite extensive back in the day. Satori, also known as the moment of enlightenment, is the goal. A typical technique which nudges the training mind toward satori is meditation on conundrums such as 'the sound of one hand clapping.' Zen artwork provides humorous examples of 'entertaining opposites,' such as the huge banner unscrolled with great flourish across the sky by two smiling monks who are floating in mid-air. The banner is blank.

be: Thank you for that commet. The average clod (me) needs to rationalize everything, leading to repression, partisanship, anxiety, and headadches; as well as nurturing a vicious attitude that lashes out at anything remotely suspected of nonconformity

The last is often encountered in forums where a few participant make everyone else miserable. I am privy to the inside story of one that lost half its members on account of such hostility, pulling out and forming a separate community

I believe a satori such as you have described can indeed release one, but I maintain that it shouldn't require years of study and application but only the sudden realization

Are you thinking of Gestalt?