TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
Other
ASPECTS
of the Ultimate Sickness
in addition to being emotionally-intoxicated
FANATICISM / OBSESSING / BEING SELF-DEFEATING
Another key aspect of the Ultimate Sickness is that it is always accompanied by fanaticism. In literature, there are "flat characters" and there are "round characters" (as in well-rounded). Flat characters are one-dimensional. They are subsumed with one particular issue and thus suffer from monomania (from the Greek words monos, meaning "one" and mania, meaning "madness" or "frenzy").
The Monomania Personality Disorder is a mental illness marked by an exaggerated or obsessive enthusiasm for - or preoccupation with - one thing.
Thus, the Monomania P.D. usually manifests in tandem with the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder and the Self-Defeating Personality Disorder, all of which are commonplace among those who are trapped in the Ultimate Sickness.
Those with the Ultimate Sickness display the same traits and behaviors as persons with the Self-Defeating Personality Disorder. As explained in the DSM III-R:
The Self-Defeating Personality Disorder is evidenced by a pervasive pattern of self-defeating behavior which drives persons to act in ways that are not in their own best interests. The pattern, which typically begins by early adulthood but is often evidenced even in early childhood, can manifest in a variety of contexts.
To use a colloquialism, those with the Ultimate Sickness - meaning almost all persons among the masses - are typically willing to "cut off their noses to spite the face." That is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem:
"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" has been defined as "a warning against acting out of pique, or against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger."
Mad at past political leaders? Then elect someone who is far worse, someone who is a sociopath, someone who is clearly a full-blown psychopath. "That'll show 'em!"
or
Did the boss offend one of your ego-states? Then tell him to "Take this job and shove it!" prior to finding another job and prior to having lined up another income source before quitting your current job.
The DSM III-R reports that self-defeating persons may often avoid or undermine pleasurable experiences, be drawn to situations or relationships in which they will suffer, and prevent others from helping them, as indicated by at least five of the following:
** chooses people and situations that lead to disappointment, failure, or mistreatment even when better options are clearly available
** rejects or renders ineffective the attempts of others to help them
following rewarding events (e.g., new achievement),
** responds with depression, guilt, or a behavior which produces pain (e.g., an accident)
** incites angry or rejection-type responses from others and then feels hurt, defeated, or humiliated (e.g., makes fun of spouse in public, provoking an angry retort, then feels devastated)
** rejects opportunities for pleasure or is reluctant to acknowledge enjoying themselves (despite having adequate social skills and the capacity for pleasure)
** fails to accomplish tasks crucial to their personal objectives despite having demonstrated an ability to do so, (e.g., helps fellow students write papers but is unable to write one's own
or is uninterested in doing so)
** rejects people who consistently treat them well
and / or
engages in excessive self-sacrifice that is unsolicited by the intended recipients of the sacrifice.
Examples of the things which monomaniacs and obsessives become consumed with:
a. The object of their addictions, including control and power and a Power or Powers; authority; drugs; alcohol; sex; manipulation; porn; shopping; nicotine; caffeine; gambling; anger; food, cell phones; texting; talking; anger; food; work; money; accumulation; attention and approval and applause; reforming; helping (in order to get "love"); seeking (yes, seeking!); recovery and recovery programs; inhalants; Nascar; working out and / or body building; carbs; people; "love"; knowledge gathering and knowledge displaying; drama / histrionics; sports;
hunting and fishing;
judging and criticizing; whining; hoarding; isolating / escaping / avoiding / dissociating; masturbation; praying; worshiping; people pleasing; cults, sky cults and self-help or self-improvement groups; self-help books; building huge libraries of books written by the famous; aligning with the famous and / or with those Maharaj warned seekers to stay away from, namely "Big Name Teachers"; therapy; steroids; getting revenge; television and computers; social networking; toxic relationships; adrenaline; and / or chaos. (Yes, people who are bored can become addicted to chaos, to "stirring things up" so they can "feel alive" or "feel something . . . anything").
b. They also obsess about and become consumed with religion and / or spirituality or different sects or different denominations
c. They obsess about and become consumed with their own political parties and with those who are aligned with parties that are different from their own
d. They obsess about and become consumed with their city / state / nation / favorite sports teams, etc.
e. They obsess about and become consumed with abortion, with the use of contraception, with their beliefs about who should marry whom and who should not marry whom; and with other concepts dreamed up over the centuries by the men at the top of the Catholic hierarchy
f. Relatedly, they obsess about and become consumed with getting rid of government control while at the same time wanting the government to control what can and cannot go on in the privacy of peoples' bedrooms
g. They obsess about and become consumed with those "others" who engage in same sex relationships or same sex marriages
h. They obsess about and become consumed with transsexuals
i. They obsess about and become consumed with their pride in being white and superior
j. They obsess about and become consumed with "non-whites" / "blacks" / "browns" / "reds" / "yellows" / as well as any and all "others" whom they deem to be "different" and, therefore, "inferior"
k. They obsess about and become consumed with "liberated women"
l. They obsess about and become consumed with international conquests and conquering
and
m. They obsess about and become consumed with everything else that they have an opinion about but which is actually none of their business
THE MAIN POINT FOR TODAY
Pain is about the body; suffering and misery are about the mind, and mind-generated suffering and misery are rooted in the Ultimate Sickness. Moreover, much of the chaos and suffering and misery on the planet involve what Maharaj identified as three of the key symptoms of the Sickness (namely, "ignorance, stupidity and insanity") and involve the three aspects discussed today (namely, fanaticism, obsessing, and humanity's propensity for being self-defeating).
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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