Chapter 22

Mental Health:

A Modern Day Delusion

Humans have a complex consciousness, with the mind, which can be muddled or evolved - it’s a personal choice. Our understanding of what is around us and how we relate to it is a “personal choice”. And the personal choices or decisions that we make as individuals, can be influenced by all of humanity. As a species, just like other species, we often find the easiest way or path is to “conform” to the established beliefs, understandings, and customs of those around us. We conform to what is expected of us as individuals within a larger society. This conformity helps to keep us moving in a similar direction but conformity does not lead to Enlightenment. Craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) demonstrated with the accumulation of ego and protection of a self, with all these motivations being rooted in our consciousness, humanity can become easily corrupted, destructive, and self serving as each person chooses to just follow another without investigating to discover the truth and acquire wisdom to make their own wise decisions. Conforming will only keep the mind trapped in its own false beliefs and misperceptions. We often think we are the “center of the universe” and “intellectually superior” to prior civilizations. But with little known of civilizations that existed even just a couple centuries ago, let alone thousands of years ago, this is very egotistical. Sure, we have historical records of what might have transpired in one century or another but what motivated the people, their decisions, and how they conducted their daily life is mostly lost to the impermanent nature of all things. We can be sure that the makeup of the human mind has not changed throughout history. What’s in the mind and how evolved we are as a species has changed, but the way the mind functions has not changed. This is why The Teachings of Gotama Buddha are just as applicable today as they were 2,500 years ago. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are related to the human mind and how the mind functions remains unchanged since Gotama Buddha’s lifetime.

The daily lives, motivations, and decision making of humans have all changed but how the mind functions has not. In our current civilization, we tend to think that “new” is “better”. We tend to think that if we have just invented something, that it has to be better than the past because it was just created and because our thinking is that “we are so intelligent”, much more than in the past. So, this new thing must be much better. In the past, humans rubbed sticks together and it took a long time to make fire. Now, we can instantly create fire at will with minimal effort. So the advances in technology make it much easier to do things that could not be done in the past, and this bolsters our false sense of ego and superiority that we must be so much greater than past civilizations. This is a delusion with extensive amounts of ego and self serving thoughts that cause some to look down on humans of past civilizations. This is not how civilizations before us thought or processed their understanding of their own existence. It was well understood, in past civilizations, that anything that existed and any knowledge they had to improve their existence, was based on their ancestral past. Honor, respect, and gratitude of the past was paramount in their quest to improve their lives. But, all too often in modern society we look down on the past with dismay and with ego, not understanding how those past civilizations could not have understood what we now know today. In many cases, we lack the humbleness to acknowledge that without the past decisions of humans before us, we could not have the modern advances we now enjoy. If it was not for the developments and advances of past civilizations, we would not understand much of the world that is around us today nor could we have built upon our ancestor’s knowledge. In many cases, we have discovered healthy and productive ways to build on prior knowledge which benefits our modern society. But, in many cases, as craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with accumulation of ego and protection of a self, have permeated our consciousness more deeply, the destruction of the planet, the individual mind, and humanity becomes more and more apparent. Because the functioning of the human mind has not changed, any conditions of the mind that exist today also existed in prior civilizations. However, because we think that our knowledge is far more advanced than prior civilizations, we have developed “new ways” of looking at the mind.

With our ego being center stage, we assume these new approaches to understand the mind must be better and more profound than anything in the past. However, any new developments or new approaches to understanding the mind are highly unfounded and unproven with an extremely short timeframe of development and use in society. The modern mental health discipline has only been in existence for a relatively short period of time compared to the length of time these Teachings have existed in the world. Considering the entire span of time that Gotama Buddha’s Teachings have existed, over 2,500 years, the short timeframe of knowledge developed in the field of mental health is highly unfounded, unproven, and untested. Modern day society is, all too often, looking for an easy answer with a “quick fix”. So, when humans are feeling sad, lonely, anxious or experiencing wide ranges of discontent feelings, in our “new approach” to the mind we label these feelings as “mental illness” and now have an enormous discipline of treatments that we claim are going to improve the unwelcomed thoughts and emotions of the human mind. We have a highly medicated humanity that uses “drugs” to escape the reality of our existence rather than accept responsibility for our personal choices that lead to either a miserable existence or a Higher Consciousness with the ability to relate to the world around us in a more healthy way.

Humans are more content to blame their unwelcomed thoughts and

emotions on “brain chemistry” along with blaming unwholesome intentions, speech, and actions on brain chemistry. Humans accept the notion from people in positions of authority that they are not in control of their intentions, speech, and actions therefore are relegated to a lifetime of expensive medicine, medical care, and treatments to treat a mental illness because they truly believe they are sick or ill, yet, they may never be cured.

Instead, humans could understand through the practice of these Teachings

that they are 100% in control of their thoughts, emotions, intentions, speech, and actions, thus, we can resolve all internal and external conflicts finding inner peace. We are not “mentally ill” and we have the ability to improve the condition of the mind through gaining wisdom and we can liberate the mind from 100% of all discontentedness and the suffering it causes through these Teachings.

By eliminating the delusion that we are “mentally ill”, we can eliminate a lifetime of expense and unwelcomed thoughts or emotions. Discontentedness of mind is not permanent, and a diagnosis of “mental illness” is not permanent. These Teachings have existed for over 2,500 years and are well founded, proven, and tested. They continue to exist on this planet because they work and help people attain a more peaceful existence.

There is no external substance that will eliminate unwelcomed thoughts

and emotions to produce a content mind. Only inner development of the mind and having a “life practice” of causing no harm to yourself nor other beings, can 100% resolve your inner and external conflicts. Remember, the mind is not the brain. The brain is the organ that controls function of the body while the mind is our consciousness that originates the intentions (thoughts), speech, and actions we produce in each moment. The mind, or consciousness, governs our “free will” or individual choices. Mental illnesses are thought to be a chemical imbalance of the brain and often treated with medications. While medications do change the chemistry of the brain and can be helpful in certain situations, they also sedate the mind suppressing past traumas, cover up unwelcomed emotions, and hinder certain aspects of our thoughts while complicating wise decision making that will lead to improved outcomes. Medications never permanently “fix the problem” as an individual struggling with unwelcomed thoughts and emotions needs to train the mind.

Medications will not permanently eliminate the accumulated unwelcomed

thoughts and emotions because these feelings in the mind are not generated by the chemicals in the brain. The brain is not the mind, therefore brain chemistry does not generate thoughts and emotions of the mind which produce our intentions (thoughts), speech, and actions. It is not brain chemistry that causes pleasant feelings, painful feelings, or feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant (i.e. discontentedness). It is craving/desire/attachment that causes discontentedness. Discontentedness in the mind then influences and affects the chemistry of the brain. Brain chemistry does not cause discontentedness; therefore, discontentedness cannot be permanently eliminated through changing brain chemistry.

Attempting to change inner feelings through changing brain chemistry is

attempting to solve a problem based on a false theory that can lead to continued suffering.

To eliminate unwelcomed thoughts and emotions, we must empty the mind through elimination of cravings/desires/attachments which will eliminate discontentedness of the mind. An individual can’t eliminate discontentedness by changing brain chemistry because it is not the brain chemistry that is causing the discontent feelings. With proper guidance, The Teachings of Gotama Buddha can lead a Practitioner to stability of mind eliminating all unwelcomed feelings and emotions permanently.

Discontentedness will be eliminated, and the brain chemistry will become

balanced.

Examples of Mental Illness and Connection to These Teachings

Mental Illness

Connection to Teachings

ADHD, ADD

Craving mental stimulation. Lack of “Right Concentration”.

Anorexia, Bulimia, Eating

Disorders

Craving false image of beauty, identification of a self or personal identity.

Anxiety

Anticipation or fear of a future event, situation, or outcome.

Bipolar Disorder

Craving sexual contact, craving material possessions, craving excitement

(i.e. mania). Untrained mind experiencing pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant.

Depression

Attachment to past traumas, events, or expectations of the future. Experiencing significant painful feelings.

Hoarding

Craving for material possessions.

Insomnia

An awakened mind needs little sleep. As the mind awakens, interrupted and erratic sleep patterns emerge. Craving a permanent or fixed sleeping schedule.

OCD

Craving perfection.

Personality Disorders

Craving to conform to others’ expectations for your personality. Observance of past lives.

Phobias

Personal existence view, protection of a self, craving existence.

PTSD

Clinging to past traumas with the mind untrained in “letting go”.

Schizophrenia

Lack of “Right Concentration”, communication with beings from other

realms, and observance of past lives.

Substance Abuse

Craving pleasant feelings, happiness, and escape from life.

Suicidal Thoughts

Craving pleasant feelings, happiness, and escape from life. Clinging to past traumas or expectations of the future. Craving for extermination of life. Desire to exterminate life to escape a discontent mind and the suffering it causes due to observation of significant amounts of suffering in the mind and in the world.

There is no medication that will improve our intentions, speech, and actions as these can only be improved through training in wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline. The mind is liberated through wisdom and a medication will not produce wisdom in the mind. There are many unknowns that we currently have related to how the human body functions. Doctors or scientists will often share that we do not currently understand everything there is to know about the human body. Out of everything that we do not understand about the human body in modern science, we understand the least about how the brain and mind function. In modern medicine and modern science, we currently understand very little about the brain and mind. In all that we do know, we know the least about the brain and the mind. There is more to learn and more to discover that can be highly beneficial to all of humanity. The challenges and difficulties experienced in the human existence and the human mind is because we do not understand what we do not understand. The unEnlightened mind is hindered by a lack of wisdom not by a defective brain. Awakening the mind to Enlightenment is to eliminate ignorance (unknowing of true reality), along with the other pollution of the mind, through acquiring wisdom. While brain trauma can affect an individual’s ability to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings, the mental health conditions described in this

Chapter are not inclusive of individuals experiencing brain trauma or

brain injury. This previous table is not meant to be an exhaustive or thorough categorization of all mental illnesses and their relationship to these Teachings. Instead, this table provides a brief example of insight into how mental illness is a misunderstanding of modern society and how these Teachings, when practiced, can eliminate the symptoms of what some people refer to as “mental illness”. There are other physical and emotional symptoms that can be misunderstood as a medical condition that needs medical treatments but can be resolved through these Teachings to train the mind. I have not explored this topic to exhaust all possible options. For example, many of the symptoms of “multiple sclerosis” are common to one who is approaching Enlightenment and this illness may also be a modern day misunderstanding. One approaching Enlightenment could be diagnosed with this condition and offered medication rather than assisted to complete the process of waking up the mind into Enlightenment. Further research could be explored by qualified doctors and scientists who also deeply understand and practice these Teachings and are Enlightened.

The mind can produce hallucinations, delusions, and countless other thoughts, emotions, and feelings that when looked at by an individual unfamiliar with the process of a mind awakening to a Higher Consciousness, could be viewed as not normal and labeled as “mental illness”. The mind can produce many hallucinations and delusional thinking as the mind wakes up into a Higher Consciousness but lacks the stability of an established practice with guidance in these Teachings. With an established meditation practice and the support of a practice in these Teachings, one can attain a stable, calm, and content mind free of medication. The symptoms experienced are not a medical issue and there is nothing “wrong” with the brain chemistry, but instead, the mind is untrained and, thus, the individual experiencing the awakening does not have the ability to control the mind.

Through proper training in these Teachings that includes meditation

techniques, the individual can learn how to control the mind to completely eliminate all hallucinations, delusional thinking, desire for self harm, sad depressed feelings, and all other unwelcomed emotions that are now associated with mental illness. If the mental health industry was effective at improving mental health, we would see mental health cases consistently decreasing as these disciplines are shared worldwide. As the new mental health discipline is shared more widely, we would see the mental health of humanity consistently improving throughout the world with more and more stability of mind. In the countries of origin for these mental health disciplines and those countries where these practices are shared most widely, if the new mental health discipline is effective at improving the quality of mind, we would see that population of people as the most mentally stable in the entire world. This is not the result of what we see in the new mental health industry. Furthermore, if the conditions described in the mental health industry such as sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and others are based on chemistry in the brain that can be resolved by expensive medications, we would see the same conditions throughout all populations of humanity. If the premise of the mental health industry is that these conditions are a result of a defective brain that does not produce the proper chemical balance for the human being to function normally, we would see all populations across the world suffering from these same conditions that are currently labeled as “illnesses” in modern times. We would also see these conditions dating back throughout history as humans have evolved.

Humanity and the human mind could not have truly become unbalanced and defective in a matter of a few decades. The feelings of sadness, loneliness, anxiety and others have been experienced by all humans throughout time, yet they were not considered illnesses until recent times. Not all populations across the world experience the same instability of mind. This is proof that mental illness is not a human condition experienced throughout all of humanity and, thus, there is no medication that will change the way one thinks, speaks, or acts.

Civilizations in the past who learned and practiced these Teachings,

understood the process of a mind that is awakening and understood how to assist these people with guidance and support to find stability, calmness, and a peaceful mind.

An unawakened mind with significant cravings will have poor concentration,

lack motivation, and experience many difficulties in life, along with other symptoms. All these symptoms and many more are now associated with mental illness that rarely gets fully resolved through costly medications and are merely symptoms of an unEnlightened mind. While the suffering and anguish of mental illness is “real”, the reason for why humans are having unwelcomed emotions is “not real”. Mental illness is not due to brain chemistry but instead that the mind has not been trained to eliminate craving/desire/attachment and attain the qualities of a mind that has gradually awakened to Enlightenment and is waking up to its Higher Consciousness. A trained mind can be controlled through healthy practices known to humanity for over 2,500 years. Enlightenment is a mind that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy. This permanent mental state is achievable by all human beings who choose to apply dedication and commitment to learning and practicing these Teachings.

A mind with Enlightenment will have an unshakable calmness, steadiness,

and be “content” or “satisfied with what is” rather than constantly craving more and more. If our new approaches and these new medications are helpful to resolve the conditions of mental health or the mind, we would see a reduction of mental health cases and significant improvements to humanity’s mental health.

However, since the introduction of these medications and discipline of

mental health practices, we have seen a continuous degrading of mental health across humanity represented in the actions of humans through

increased war, conflicts, hate, terrorism, mass shootings and countless other problematic actions created by humans. With modern disciplines being created in the mental health field being based upon, but not proven on brain chemistry, these new disciplines overlook the past developments, discounting their significance. This mindset is based on the ego of modern humanity thinking that what we have developed in “new” disciplines is more advanced than past civilizations, and that our understanding of the mind must be more profound than in the past. We put more significance on our intelligence and scientific methods than our ancestral knowledge of the past. The make up of the human mind has not changed since Gotama Buddha’s lifetime 2,500 years ago, therefore, the thoughts and emotions experienced by humans also have not changed. Humans 2,500 years ago had sadness, loneliness, and anxieties. Rather than look for the “quick fix” and the “easy methods” to resolve these unwelcomed thoughts and emotions, people who learned with The Buddha looked for answers within themselves. Humans, in the past, took responsibility for the thoughts and emotions they had and looked for methods to rid themselves of the unwelcomed and uncomfortable emotions through means of a permanent solution, seeking insight and wisdom of the mind and its function. Humans trusted that they had the ability to eliminate the unwelcomed conditions of the mind and they found the answers. People of past civilizations that attained Enlightenment did not look for impermanent things to create inner peace. Enlightenment, Nibbāna, or a Higher Consciousness was discovered and realized by humans. Later, due to impermanence, these Teachings were degraded and, thus, the collective condition of humanity’s mind has also degraded. The destruction of humanity’s mind can be seen in the planet, the news of human actions, and our blaming of others for our despair or misery. Many are waiting for the return of a savior that will sort out all of this mess and instantly save us all. Some are expecting that a universal power from a higher entity will resolve the crisis of humanity and ask for favors through daily prayer. But, the wise understand that we got ourselves into this mess and “we are the only ones” who can get ourselves out of this mess.

There have been countless prayers and ceremonial worship for many

generations, however, humanity continues to get worse and worse and worse. Why is humanity continuing to hold out hope for a third party to resolve all the conflicts and mess “we” created? If a third party had the interest or ability to instantly “save us all”, that would have happened already. We can resolve the issues of the world through gradual training and development of our individual mind. Humanity is a collection of humans with individual minds. If individuals in humanity decide to purify the mind through these Teachings, we will create a kinder, gentler, and more peaceful civilization. There is not one person or one entity that can decide for you to pursue a Higher Consciousness. You must decide for yourself and pursue to evolve your own Higher Consciousness to attain Enlightenment.

Diagnosis of mental illness is devastating large populations of people

convincing them that they are sick, ill, and relegating them to a lifetime of medications and treatments with no cure and a lifetime of expenses. If you are not sad prior to the diagnosis, you certainly will be after being convinced by a person of authority that you are sick and your brain is defective. There are people with diagnosed mental illness who have eliminated all unwelcomed thoughts, emotions, medications, and medical treatments through these Teachings and practices. Belief is a powerful persuader of the mind. If you believe you are sick and ill, then you will continue to believe this and be relegated to medications, doctors, hospitals, and treatments for an imbalance in the brain chemistry. This imbalance cannot be proven through any test and there is a good chance you may never become fully well through the mental health industry. Or, you can understand that the mind is not the brain, and that the mind produces unwelcomed thoughts and emotions. The mind can be trained and then controlled by you to eliminate unwelcomed thoughts and emotions just like has been done for the last 2,500 years. This knowledge has been largely lost and pushed aside due to the egotistical thinking of our modern age along with overwhelming greed. The last several decades has seen a tremendous increase in craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) because these Teachings are only practiced by 500 million people rather than all of humanity.

Currently, we are seeing a surge of meditation practices around the world, increased awareness of mindfulness training and development, and we are putting more importance on having a calm, stable, and steady mind without ego, recognizing that we all have the ability to accomplish this for ourselves without medication and that a content mind is achievable through healthy mind practices. Medications could be helpful in acute circumstances to bring the mind to a place where it can receive Teachings and decide to acquire wisdom through mental training. It is training the mind through these Teachings that will bring long term success in developing wisdom to improve one’s life practice that will create stability in the mind. A population of people who choose to practice these Teachings as part of their way of life can experience a significant reduction in long term use of medications and increase long term success of establishing good mental health in their community averting the constant struggle and crisis of a lack of mental health around the world. We can accept the notions of our modern society continuing to think we are smarter, more intelligent, and better off than past civilizations. Or, we can look at the past realizing that the simple and humble life they lived in harmony with the planet and each other, was a peaceful and content way to co-exist with all beings. The future of the world and the planet is based on the individual decisions and personal choices of all that exist and occupy this planet.

While craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with

accumulation of ego and protection of a self are pervasive throughout humanity, we will continue to see conflict, fighting, wars, terrorism, substance abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, famine, suicide, harm to animals, orphans, childhood deaths, financial disasters, poverty, corrupt politics, and destruction of the planet and its resources - and much more. We created this “mess” and we are the ones that need to fix it. The way to start is to accept full responsibility for our intentions (thoughts), speech, and actions, realizing that we have the ability to create a peaceful existence by giving up our notions that we are the “best this planet has ever seen”. We must eliminate our ego and look to the past for the answers they provided, answers that we have overlooked due to our delusion of superior intelligence.

Millions of people can be liberated from long term medications and a lifetime of expense, treatments, and confinement through the healthy mind practices discovered and taught by Gotama Buddha. If an individual is interested in improved or excellent mental health, The Path to Enlightenment is the way to accomplish that goal while taking into consideration any potential need for medical intervention until the mind gains its stability and steadiness on its way to being peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.

Learning Resources for Further Exploration

Audiobook

(Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - Chapter 22) - Mental Health: A Modern Day Delusion (Read & Listen)

https://youtu.be/uqTPCYbWONI

Ep. 522 - (Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - Chapter 22) - Mental Health: A Modern Day

Delusion

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/buddhadailywisdom/episodes/Ep--522---Audiobook---

Volume-1---Chapter-22---Mental-Health-A-Modern-Day-Delusion-e272us9

Youtube Video(s)

(Group Learning Program) - Chapter 22 - Mental Health: A Modern Day Delusion

https://youtube.com/live/Mo2i9WShXE4

Guided Breathing Mindfulness Meditation and Student Questions - (Group