Here's something you might be interested in.
By Eric Kolvig, Ph.D, an experienced Buddhist teacher of Vipassana. Taken from "The Oak Tree in the Garden (Journal of the Hidden Valley Zen Center)
We cannot heal ourselves alone, and we cannot liberate ourselves alone. Both require a deep, active support network. Are we willing to swim against the stream of our illness in order to build that network? Are we willing to see the relationships in our lives that reinforce our distress, and then to let those unhealthy relationships go? Are we willing to see the relationships that reinforce healing and freedom, and then to strengthen and increase those healthy relationships?
For tens of centuries now, Buddhists have taken refuge in three precious things: Buddha, the awakened mind and our own innate capacity to awaken; Dharma, the way to awaken; and Sangha, the community of those supporting each other to awaken. Those three things constitute a safety net below which we cannot fall. For those of with mental illness, Sangha becomes extra-precious: a reliable network of support that can shelter us through the storms of both emotional healing and spiritual awakening.
Unshakable Purpose
Having an internal network of support, in your own psyche, seems equally important as having an external one like Sangha. The most important internal support for me on this long journey has been to set and to hold in my heart a heroic purpose even greater than Dante needed as he walked through hell. This is an aspect of what Buddhists call Right Intention.
The Buddha said that freeing our hearts from suffering and the causes of suffering is the most difficult thing that any human can accomplish. Forgive me for being the bearer of bad tidings, but if you have serious mental illness, it's going to be yet more difficult! That valiant, tenacious spirit, Mary Lyon, the founder of our first women's college Mount Holyoke, said, "it is one of the nicest human activities to distinguish what is very difficult from what utterly impossible. Attaining liberation despite emotional illness may at times seem utterly impossible. It's only very, very difficult.
You need to want to be free more than you want anything else. You need to be ready to sacrifice everything else, if necessary, in order to pursue this purpose.
To be continued tomorrow...
By Eric Kolvig, Ph.D, an experienced Buddhist teacher of Vipassana. Taken from "The Oak Tree in the Garden (Journal of the Hidden Valley Zen Center)
We cannot heal ourselves alone, and we cannot liberate ourselves alone. Both require a deep, active support network. Are we willing to swim against the stream of our illness in order to build that network? Are we willing to see the relationships in our lives that reinforce our distress, and then to let those unhealthy relationships go? Are we willing to see the relationships that reinforce healing and freedom, and then to strengthen and increase those healthy relationships?
For tens of centuries now, Buddhists have taken refuge in three precious things: Buddha, the awakened mind and our own innate capacity to awaken; Dharma, the way to awaken; and Sangha, the community of those supporting each other to awaken. Those three things constitute a safety net below which we cannot fall. For those of with mental illness, Sangha becomes extra-precious: a reliable network of support that can shelter us through the storms of both emotional healing and spiritual awakening.
Unshakable Purpose
Having an internal network of support, in your own psyche, seems equally important as having an external one like Sangha. The most important internal support for me on this long journey has been to set and to hold in my heart a heroic purpose even greater than Dante needed as he walked through hell. This is an aspect of what Buddhists call Right Intention.
The Buddha said that freeing our hearts from suffering and the causes of suffering is the most difficult thing that any human can accomplish. Forgive me for being the bearer of bad tidings, but if you have serious mental illness, it's going to be yet more difficult! That valiant, tenacious spirit, Mary Lyon, the founder of our first women's college Mount Holyoke, said, "it is one of the nicest human activities to distinguish what is very difficult from what utterly impossible. Attaining liberation despite emotional illness may at times seem utterly impossible. It's only very, very difficult.
You need to want to be free more than you want anything else. You need to be ready to sacrifice everything else, if necessary, in order to pursue this purpose.
To be continued tomorrow...