Regaining the mental equilibrium 

Our problem is that we have lost our mental equilibrium, because of our reaction to the environmental stimulation of our senses. We not only react, we also personalize the reaction, thinking “I react.” Then we begin to experience the instability of what has been personalized. Our mind is then shaken by the changing vicissitudes of life. If, on the other hand, we depersonalise what has been personalized, our mind is not shaken any more by whatever happens to the impersonal phenomena. Thus we regain our mental equilibrium. 

This “self identity” or “notion of self" is indeed a tragedy because it carries with it all the miseries of life. We can turn our life into a joyful comedy by gaining freedom from this “delusion of self." This makes Buddhism a very optimistic way of thought, though some writers have mistakenly called it pessimism. Freedom from "self" is not death; on the contrary, it is the freedom from death. When there is no “self" who is there to die? Obviously, this loss of "self" is the only way to perfect happiness, however fearful it may look. It is also the only true way to immortality, which all religions ultimately seek. 

This is the Buddhist idea of awakening from the “dream of existence.” Of course, this process of depersonalization is not a sudden occurrence. It is a gradual process of growth and evolution. How long it takes depends on the individual's level of maturity in terms of readiness to give up the pleasure principle and accept the reality of impersonality. According to the Buddha, an intelligent and serious meditator can reach perfection in seven years the maximum. Some may take much longer. Yet some have done it in seven days, and very few overnight. The important point, however, is that every step one advances, a greater degree of happiness one experiences in life. 

This teaching of the Buddha is worthy of special study by modern psychologists. Such a study could end up in a major break through in the field of psychotherapy. 

It is interesting to note that modern psychiatrists and psychotherapists have been nicknamed "shrink" by Americans, because they are being compared to the Native American medicine men of old. It is believed that the ancient medicine men could, by some method, shrink the heads of their enemies, after killing them, and preserve them as trophies. This "head shrinking," however, can be given a more laudable interpretation in relation to Buddhist psychotherapy. A properly carried out psychotherapy, according to the Buddha, could be seen as a deflation of a person's "ego," which is head-shrinking. The removal of the delusion of "self" can be seen as a deflation of the “ego" of a person. 

This Buddhist approach to psychotherapy is a deflation carried to its ultimate end. This form of therapy does not merely make abnormal people normal; it makes normal people “supernormal.” This means that Buddhist psychotherapy is a radical therapy, and that the Buddha becomes the "Radical Shrink." 

THE END 

* Venerable Dr. Punnaji is a Sri Lankan monk of the Theravada tradition. He studied modern science and western medicine in Sri Lanka and obtained two doctorates while in the United States, one in western psychology and another in western philosophy & comparative religion. 

Venerable has made an in-depth research into the original teachings of the Buddha, which he believes is different from all the schools of Buddhism. He also did research into the form of Buddhist psychotherapy, which he thinks is the best way to introduce Buddhism to the modern world. Buddhism in its original form, was not a mere religion of faith and worship, but a psychological technique of growth and evolution of the human consciousness. Venerable travels regularly in the west sharing the Dhamma in the United States, Canada and Europe.