“MIND” and MEMORIES: When Nature’s “Assets” Become Warped into “Liabilities,” Part Fourteen

[Continued from yesterday]

F.: The “mind” has been shown to be the source of all assumed personality. Personality, in turn, has been shown to be the source of most of the relative existence problems on the planet, and each of the nine basic types generates a particular set of personality disorders. Before looking at the personality disorders that each of the basic types generates, a point should be offered that comes from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 1994 (commonly referred to as “DSM-IV”):

A personality disorder is a pattern of deviant or abnormal behavior that the person doesn't change even though it causes emotional upsets and trouble with other people at work and in personal relationships. It is not limited to episodes of mental illness, and it is not caused by drug or alcohol use, head injury, or illness.

So, all of the (relative) negatives of personality, negatives which have motivated Advaitin sages for centuries to encourage the abandonment of personality, are becoming better understood. What additional motivation to Realize could possibly be required among those with any wisdom at all, once the facts about personality are understood: (1) to identify with the personality, formed as a childhood exercise, is a disorder; (2) the behavior that follows the assumption of personality is deviant and abnormal; (3) it is persons--not the Realized--who cling to false personas as identities; (4) emotional intoxication is rooted in personality; (5) relative existence problems, whether at work or at home or in between are rooted in personality; (6) personality has nothing to do with mental illnesses; and (7) personality problems are not caused by addiction, physical injury, or mental illness.

As a relevant example of the DSM-IV definition, apply it to the billions who are suffering from the Addictive Personality Disorder (APD). Take drug or alcohol abuse as an example. Per definition, the disorder is “not caused by drug or alcohol use.” The drug or alcohol abuse is a symptom of a personality disorder. Neither the drug nor the alcohol is the core problem; therefore, if an alcoholic suffering from APD merely stops drinking, that will have no effect at all on removing the negative traits and behaviors of the personality disorder. The traits and behaviors will continue as a result of what the primary literature calls the “grave mental and emotional disorders” that APD’s exhibit. (Also, note that the literature did not say that APD’s have “grave mental and emotional illnesses,” though some do. Most are suffering personality disorders, not mental illness. That applies to all APD’s, no matter whether they are addicted to food, power, gambling, shopping, another person, alcohol, religion, drugs, sex, love, spirituality, chaos, money, etc.)

As noted earlier, the reason that persons with disorders typically do not change is because consequences are not imposed or because they are not imposed to a degree that inspires taking the necessary action to be free of the effects of one or more personality disorders. (That is another reason that few will ever seek Realization and why fewer still will ever Realize fully.)

Further, any rationalizations and justifications and denial and excuse-making in regards to those with personality disorders—such as “His/her behavior must be understood or tolerated as a result of mental illness” or “She/he is an alcoholic or drug addict and that must be considered” or “He/she has some injury or illness”—are (as shown by the definition above) totally unfounded, inapplicable, and irrelevant in regards to personality disorders. Tolerance of the warped thinking and warped behavior of persons with such disorders only prolongs their entrapment in personality and guarantees the continued manifestation of the effects of their disorders.

Now, pause to reconsider the information quoted above from the DSM-IV. Then, list all of the roles that you have assumed that are inspiring you to feel anxious or to fight. Are there certain self-images that are you trying to defend? Is there any evidence that you are forfeiting the fullness and freedom of AS IF living in order to maintain some assumed personality/persona? Are you having trouble in a relationship because “The Boss” persona is fighting for control? Are you angry with someone who is not supporting your false image? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

NOTE: This series includes excerpts from the book

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND”
(There is Only Peace if You’re Out of Your Mind)

to be released around May 1st for $14.99 + S&H.

Do you know someone who could benefit from reading a book about the hazards of the modern mind and the impact that personality has on the relative existence? Do you want your own copy of the book that covers the content of these postings and more?

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SPECIFICATIONS: Paperback; Language: English; Binding: Spiral Binding

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“MIND” and MEMORIES: When Nature’s “Assets” Become Warped into “Liabilities,” Part Ten

Three factors cause persons to attach to their false identities, to be driven to fight to defend their false personality / personalities, to descend into the depths of what some professionals term “an unhealthy psyche,” and then to suffer the effects of personality disorders. Those three factors are (1) stress, (2) extreme piety or spirituality, and (3) the linking of money / income with a persona.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: your mind/memory series is interesting, but I don’t get the exact connection with the direct path you claim to offer.

[Continued from yesterday]

F.: To clarify for the sake of the one who sent the above e-mail, consider: there’s a regular visitor to this site who had prostate cancer. If the passing of blood had not happened, he would have never known the problem so he would never have sought the solution. This series is identifying the root of the widespread problems of the planet in order that site visitors might (a) better understand the cause of their problems and also know that (b) the Advaita Teachings offer a solution.

While many would dismiss other persons as “insane” if they disagree with them, most behavior that appears to be insane is actually rooted in personality. So that is the problem. Then, knowing the problem, one might be willing to seek the solution, namely, Realization. For some, the direct path offered on this site or in the retreats being offered again will "work" for some persons; the traditional path might work for some seekers; and other, newer approaches might work for other seekers. The solution is found when the suitable "path" is followed to its end.

So, the problems of the planet are, for the most part, rooted in “personality conflict.” That is a term that is typically used to minimize the reasons that a "relationship" "failed," but the term can be used accurately in light of the statistics posted yesterday: while up to 5% of the planet’s population was shown by research to have mental illnesses, 99% have personality disorders. As evidence, one estimate is that 99% suffer from ...

This is an excerpt from the book
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND”
(There Is Only Peace if You’re Out of Your Mind)

For information on the book, visit http://advaitavedantabooks.blogspot.com/

To order the book, visit
http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm
(You can use the Special Message box)

Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued] For additional information, click

here

“MIND” and MEMORIES: When Nature’s “Assets” Become Warped into “Liabilities,” Part Eight

Psychiatrists and psychotherapists attempt to treat mental illnesses. Realization offers the treatment for personality disorders.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Loved your expression “brain-flush”?! Now that resonates. I’ve been visiting your site off-and-on since the early days - you did a piece one time on the brain and mind and consciousness but I can’t find it in the search. Can you tell me how to find that and then tie it in with “brain-flush”? LOL Thanks.

[Continued from yesterday]

F.: “Mind” and “personality” cannot be separated since the former generates belief in the latter. The latter, in turn, generates all emotional intoxication. [Search the site for “feelings” vs. “emotions.” The short version is, while the Realized can witness feelings rise and fall, only ego-states—only assumed personas—emote. When personas believe that they are experiencing some slight, hurt, threat or interference, a series of actions and reactions are inspired that trigger emotional intoxication as well as destructive and/or self-destructive behavior.] When persons are trapped in the agendas of their false roles, then emotions will always overwhelm cognitive functioning, so now a new pointer is available:

It has been seen that the “mind” can override the constructive functioning of the brain; now it is seen that persona-generated emotionalism can also subdue the manner in which nature had originally intended that the brain should function. Now the degree of wisdom behind the Advaitin pointer that one must relinquish identification with the “mind” and the personality as well as with the body becomes clear. Review the evolution of the brain in regards to this latest understanding:

Humanity functioned with a mind-less brain for thousands of years. The brain evolved, developing an area for storing memories and an organ that could retrieve memories. Those two areas of the brain were intended to help humanity survive and to behave constructively. No personas were taken to be identities.

As language developed, information being stored in the brain was less and less of the character of things observed and became filled more and more with the remembering of things told. To observe a friend who touched a burning log, to see his pain, to file away that memory, and to recall that memory when next in the presence of a burning log produced behavior that would be considered “sane.” To the contrary, to observe crops dying as a result of the lack of rain, and then to be told that the rain is being withheld by an angry god who wants a priest to fornicate with a virgin and who wants the priest to cut out her beating heart with a sharp-edged rock and pass it through the crowd during a commune-with-god service produced behavior that would be considered “insane.”

The result of thousands of years of being conditioned to believe in whatever one is told rather than witnessing objectively and believing in that which is observable and provable has resulted in a planet that is populated with masses of ...

This is an excerpt from the book
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND”
(There Is Only Peace if You’re Out of Your Mind)

For information on the book, visit http://advaitavedantabooks.blogspot.com/

To order the book, visit
http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm
(You can use the Special Message box)

Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued] For additional information, click

here

REALIZATION AND ADDICTIONS, Part One

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Received 11 Feb 2007] “You mentioned today that 95% or more are addicted to something. Is it possible that Realization can treat addiction? I’ve tried off and on for years to cut back on my drinking, and a lot of what you talk about is what I’ve heard in treatment. Of course, a lot of it is different cause I’ve been told only a higher power can help me and you don’t seem to believe in Him.”

F.: First, thanks for writing. Next, it should be no surprise that some estimates suggest that close to 100% of all people on the planet suffer from the addictive personality to some degree, considering everything that persons can become addicted to—including alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, spiritual programs, crack, computer games, gambling, eating, “love,” heroin, gurus, nicotine, work, power, religion, control, ad infinitum. The addictive personality is multi-faceted, and treatment often requires a plan that is holistic in its approach. Recent research proves that childhood trauma almost always precedes adult addiction, so treatment for PTSD is now included in the more comprehensive treatment approaches.

As for “Realization treating addictions,” the pointers offered on this site are not presented as a treatment for any illness or disease other than “The Disease of the Planet”: the corrupted consciousness. (Is the corrupted consciousness a major element of the addictive personality? Definitely.) That said, the content of many treatment plans for the addictive personality share some commonalities with the Advaita message. Why? Because addicts—trapped as they are in their particular personality—are exactly like the other persons on the planet who are also trapped in personality: all of them are almost always mistaken but never uncertain. In fact, all of them are quite sure that their thinking is "right" and that their beliefs are true and that their perspectives are clear when nothing could be farther from the truth.

So first, see that personality—including the addictive personality—is at the root of all personal problems. Furthermore, getting in touch with reality and being restored to sanity is common to both the Advaita teachings and to the treatment of the addictive personality (and the sane would never suggest that sanity can be restored merely by the asking). Also, both speak of regaining the ability to differentiate true from false; both speak of casting aside ideas, emotions and attitudes/beliefs; and both concur with the Advaitan poet’s advice, “To thine own Self be true.”

Also, the teachings contained in treatment plans and in the Advaita teachings are being offered to a similar audience, namely, those who lack awareness, those who have lost reason, and those who are staggering through this existence as a result of corrupted consciousness while (1) thinking they know exactly what they are doing and while (2) convinced that their perspective is totally accurate (when, in reality, it is totally inaccurate, twisted, warped, and distorted).

Furthermore, as with the Advaita teachings, many treatment plans for the addictive personality point out that ego / the false self / the phony “I,” is at the root of the selfishness, the self-pity, the self-destruction, the self-centeredness, and the self-absorption that typifies persons trapped in the addictive personality (which, again, includes almost every person on the planet). All of that attachment to self prevents being restored to sanity—to being in touch with reality—and prevents knowing the True Self and that which is beyond. Of course, “personality” is also common to those assuming false roles as well as to those ensnared in the addictive personality. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]