TODAY’S CONSIDERATIONS
[Continued from yesterday]
So Maharaj eventually came to see that all of humankind’s problems are rooted in the mind and are, therefore, properly treated by addressing person’s mental aberrations, not by expanding their “religious fitness” or their “spiritual fitness.” Maharaj came to understand that, contrary to the idea set forth by most, neither becoming more religious nor becoming more spiritual can possibly address psychological problems which are centered in the mind and which are rooted in personality disorders, neuroses, psychoses, and full-blown insanity.
A man named Larry Dawson was recently shot trying to enter the U.S. Congress with a gun. He had been arrested in the House of Representatives chamber on an earlier occasion when he stood in the visitors’ gallery and shouted “I am the prophet of God!” He is a Christian pastor of St. Luke’s Church in Tennessee who said that he “has been chosen by God” and that “it is our job to do the will of God in [sic] the earth.” He once propositioned an underage (teenage) girl to have sex with him, claiming that “God had told him to seduce her.”
(Even after dealing with the police over that attempted act of pedophilia, he was arrested for harassment because he continued sending the same girl letters which “professed his love for her and his desire for her to become his wife and bear him a child.”)
Since Larry has not taken the personality inventory test which I use with seekers and clients, I cannot say specifically what personality disorders and other mental issues Larry has, but even a novice observer could probably chose which of the following is likely a more accurate diagnosis of Larry's mental condition:
Since Larry has not taken the personality inventory test which I use with seekers and clients, I cannot say specifically what personality disorders and other mental issues Larry has, but even a novice observer could probably chose which of the following is likely a more accurate diagnosis of Larry's mental condition:
(A) either Larry is likely dealing with some mental issues which would end if he would only be more spiritual; or,
(B) Larry is a religious fanatic who believes that he is already quite godly and already highly spiritual even as his fanaticism has played a major role in rendering him insane.
Now many repeat on a daily basis their belief that Larry and other insane persons like Larry could be restored to sanity if he would just “turn his will and his life over to the care of God” and would “ask God to remove his shortcomings.” Those types claim that if he, and all other insane persons, would just does those things, then God would take remove all of those personal liabilities and would heal all of their mental illnesses . . . no charge.
If asked, Larry would likely say that he had already turned his will and his life over to the care of God. And while some would claim that “a Power greater than Larry could restore him to sanity” if he would only work to stay "in conscious contact with God," Larry might well be as schizophrenic as all persons who claim that they are already hearing an entity in another world who is speaking to them and guiding them throughout each and every day.
The fact: this is much like pregnancy. Either one is pregnant or one is not; likewise, either (1) mental problems need to be addressed via psychological techniques with a proven track record or (2) mental problems need to be addressed by a Power or a God or gods and goddesses in other worlds and by working throughout the day, every day, to become more religious and more spiritual.
Maharaj in the end came to see the nonsense of #2 above and shifted his focus in the end to offering a version of the Ultimate Medicine which was based in #1 above.
Maharaj in the end came to see the nonsense of #2 above and shifted his focus in the end to offering a version of the Ultimate Medicine which was based in #1 above.
He came to understand that the problems of humanity are centered in the mind, and he understood that personality identifications are stored in the mind and become a part of all the rest of the fictional beliefs stored therein; thus, personality issues are mental issues, and if they can be addressed, they can only be addressed when treated as mental issues, not as issues of dogma and not as issues of the soul.
Hence, the sharing of information here on the ramifications of personality.
Today’s post is excerpted from CHAPTER SIXTEEN of the book "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State," that chapter entitled, “The Masochistic Personality Disorder, the Sadistic Personality Disorder, and the Sado-Masochistic Personality Disorder”:
The sages have discussed the negative impact of personality on the relative existence for ages. Is it any wonder why after reading the discussions in these chapters which are revealing the results of the use of ego-defense mechanisms as well as the personality defects and disorders that always accompany the assignment or assumption of personality? Consider next:
THE MASOCHISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
Masochists are taught early on to hate themselves and to feel useless and unworthy of love. As a result, they become self-destructive and self-defeating. Moreover, if assistance is offered, they will reject it and become angry at anyone suggesting they need help.
Masochists avoid the pleasures available during the relative existence as well as relationships and circumstances that are likely to result in success or gratification; thus, they avoid intimacy and companionship and are only attracted to people and circumstances that will lead to disappointment and mistreatment and failure.
Ironically, they disdain and reject people who would treat them well, further guaranteeing misery in relationships and assuring they will not have to become intimate or grow close to anyone.
Masochists actually find caring and loving persons to be unappealing and sexually unattractive, preferring a hard and mean person over a kind and considerate person who might try to engage them (and that no-choice "choice" usually happens on a totally-subconscious level).
When masochists fail to self-sabotage, they can react with rage, depression, and / or guilt. They often "compensate" [see the "ego-defense mechanisms" discussed earlier] for their undesired accomplishments and unwanted happiness by engaging in behaviors that produce abandonment, frustration, hurt, illness, or physical pain.
Because another mechanism is at play with them - namely, "the projective identification defense mechanism" - then masochists deliberately provoke anger and rejection in order to feel the false "comfort" of "familiar territory," and their most familiar territory has humiliation, defeat, anger or suppressed anger, depression, and hurt as some of that territory's major landmarks.
THE SADISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
It has been observed here, after dealing with thousands of persons (who have sometimes disclosed facts hidden for decades or who have revealed their personality drivers by taking the test offered here or by revealing, via their words and deeds, the personas that are driving them) that the Sadistic Personality Disorder often manifests alongside the Sociopathic / Psychopathic Personality Disorder.
Unlike psychopaths, however, they rarely use physical force; instead, the sadists' aggressiveness is embedded in an "interpersonal" context and is expressed in social settings, such as the family or the workplace. In those settings, persons with the Sadistic Personality Disorder exhibit a pattern of cruel, demeaning, and aggressive behavior (which can manifest at a very early age or, sometimes, later as an adult).
They engage in physical cruelty or violence for the purpose of establishing dominance in a relationship and will leverage their explosive violence to ensure their unchallenged dominance within a relationship. Because sadists have a narcissistic need for an audience, they have no qualms about humiliating people in front of witnesses (an act which makes them feel omnipotent). "Power plays" are important to them and they are likely to treat people under their control or entrusted to their care quite harshly.
That can include a subordinate, a child, a student, a prisoner, a patient, or a spouse, and all are likely to suffer the consequences of the sadists whose "disciplinary" measures are evidence of their being "control freaks" to the max.
As they treat or discipline anyone under their control in an unusually harsh manner, they can be observed to find amusement and pleasure in the psychological or physical suffering of people and / or animals as they exhibit their patterns of gratuitous cruelty, aggression, and demeaning behaviors.
Additionally, they will lie for the purpose of harming or inflicting pain on others, and they will use intimidation or even terror to instill fear in others in order to force people to do what they want. If one studies history, it can be seen that entire cultures and nations, both past and present, have (and still do) suffer this disorder as well as the Sociopathic Personality Disorder.
THE SADO-MASOCHISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
Those with the Sado-Masochistic Personality Disorder display amazingly high levels of instability and perversity, moving back and forth between the agendas of the sadist and the agendas of the masochist.
THE
KEY POINTS
1. Note that many discussions of sadism, masochism, and sado-masochism focus on the way that those mental / personality illnesses manifest in the realm of sexual conduct, but the explanations above show that far more frequently, the disorders are exhibited in both non-sexual "personal relationships" and "work relationships," and
2. again, the sages have discussed the negative impact of personality on the relative existence for ages.
Is it any wonder why, after having seen the results of the use of ego-defense mechanisms as well as the personality defects and disorders that always accompany the assignment or assumption of personality, that sages such as Maharaj advised seekers to be rid of all personality and all identifications and all of the rest of the content of the always-warped-and-distorted mind?
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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