meditation as psychotherapy

[Rajan Arulganesan]

Is it harmful in the long run for one's spiritual development to use yoga and meditation techniques as psychotherapeutic tools? I have always been tempted to seek out a yoga instructor or meditation advisor to calm my psychological and emotional unbalance, but,been fearful that this may simply treat the superficial 'existential' crisis and create a false sense of well being. The doctors are always Prozac happy and I do not want to go down this route. Is it better, in the long run to persevere with the various psychological phenomena that plagues you so that you may eventually work out what you are about? Any thoughts are welcome.

[Kareana Kee]

Hi mike we must have been posting at the same time...yes I know what you mean about finding the kinda job that you dont have to drug yourself for. Id be tempted to go on a rant about the capitalist, consumer cuolture we live in that dehumanises everyone and places incredible pressures on people to have to live a certain way that is far removed from our intuitive selves. But it is probably enough to say I think I know what you mean! I guess that is where trying to be in the world but not of it comes in...easier said then done.

[Kareana Kee]

Hi Rajan and Michael,

I think this is a very good question you ask and relates well to thoughts I have also been having. Actually i raised this question of sorts to my teacher who reminded me "the group" was not therapy. Well at least as I understand it not the kinda of therapy where we talk about how we feel and get loads of empathy and understanding (oh god i miss those days:)). Cause that isnt how the 'real' world works. It is interesting after years of therapy i noticed my therapist gently set me free and show to me she trusted me to stand on my own two feet emotionally, but I always knew she was there if i needed it, but found myself increasingly trusting myself to calm and soothe myself or reach for what was needed. Interestingly though I have found the Sufi practice and the way seems to fly a little in the face of what I learnt in therapy and a lot of self doubt and despair have returned and I feel unhinged a lot of the time. I will give an example. One of the things I spent years learning in therapy was a flight response. It was very difficult for me to recognise and leave abusive or exploitative situations. Know I find myself in a sprititual group with a person to whom i have a history that I have felt hurt and betrayed by. Everytime I attend the group i feel intense humiliation, or if I am able to tune that person out enough not to notice them, I then feel "bad" like im not being a very good person; im abusing them by ignoring them. Of course 9 out of 10 times I drive home in tears and wonder why i keep going back there!!! And I titter on ringing my therapist, but I'm worried she will tell me "get out of there" (and she may not). Yet there is a part of me that know's my learning lies in staying, in taking responsibility for myself and not flying away.

Meditation seems to give us access and presence to our shadow side and that by it's nature is not going to be a pleasant experience. Having said that only we can hold our feet to the flame. I dont think I could have done this prior to my years of therapy. What ive learnt is that it's not the having of emotions that is problematic but the ability to accept and tolerate them. Sufism certaininly unceremoniously teaches you how to do this. I also think teachers generally choose students who they assess as being up for it.

Since doing practice's I find my sensitivity is magnified 100 fold, I often cry which funnily i dont see as such a bad thing anymore, i didnt use to be able to cry. And I go through phases of not wanting to socialise or leave the house but just be alone with myself, which is the opposite to before of not being able to stand to be alone.

At the end of the day you are the best judge.

And everything passes.

[Mike MacLeod]

One of the most troubling aspects of the Path these days is that modern life is so hypnotic that often the most desperate people wind up on the doorstep to it. This makes real problems for groups.

As one of them, I had decades of therapies of one sort or another. My view now is that A.H. Almaas is correct that addressing psychological issues is essential to liberation, and in fact working on oneself is of a piece rather than handling different issues.

I have had dozens of different drugs, legal and otherwise, in pursuit of some stability. In my case Zoloft made it possible for me to hold my job longer than I would have otherwise, but the real problem is finding work I can do that doesn't require drugging myself to get through it. Not much luck on that front. I've been out of work since February.

In passing, it seems that doctors are not sure what their drugs do. Zoloft is classed as an antidepressant, but it actually works by buffering all signalling between nerves (an SSRI). So it is an anti-mania drug as well, and cured my vasomotor rhinitis as well.

VR is a funny little disorder where the lining of your nose is hypersensitive to stimuli such as cold, heat, odors, and so forth. And sneezing, so I would get these sessions where I would sneeze two or three dozen times in a row. It's like a sneezing version of hiccups.

The Zoloft interrupts this; I can feel the irritation and the sneeze is triggered, but the impulse dies out before the end of the cycle. A graphic illustration of what Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors do.

Now that I'm not working, though, I don't have to take it to carry on and I don't.

[Rajan Arulganesan]

Thank you Michael, it is more difficult when one 'discovers' spirituality at a stage when they are not psychologically grounded and this is very true of me because as you mentioned, I am not able to differentiate among the various mind states that I go through. Despite this, I am not completely debilitated by this, its just confusion I don't think its clinical and I am going to try and be calm and observational.

[Michael Larkin]

Hi Rajan,

There are possible medical implications in your query, Rajan, and I for one wouldn't feel competent to address those.

I know that decades ago when I had a severe depressive episode, I took myself off to the doctor, and duly swallowed the pills he dispensed (not Prozac!) for as long as he advised me so to do. I'm very glad I did, and they definitely helped me recover. There wouldn't have been any point trying to tough it out - for all I know, I could still be doing that without his help.

As I mentioned in a reply to you elsewhere, there are all sorts of things that come at us. It's very useful to have as objective a viewpoint as possible, and understand what each thing is. Sometimes it’s a psychological issue, sometimes an “animal” issue, sometimes a spiritual issue, and if we’re not careful, we’ll mix them up and deal with them inappropriately.

The observing self is something that helps one develop commonsense – or maybe, commonsense helps one develop the observing self. Or both reciprocally. We need to keep our feet on the ground even when our heads seem to be in the clouds...