Why Trust a Guru over a Psychiatrist to Transform Insanity into Peace?

It is my understanding and direct experience that the single most important human endeavour, if the goal is to move from world insanity to world peace, is to…

Know thyself.
- Socrates

My Guru has said the same.

It’s not knowing the Ego-Self, which is illusion.

To know our True Self (or The Higher Self which, if I understand correctly, is a synonymous term Carl Jung uses).

Jung stresses that the Higher Self is paradoxical — and even contradictory — because it comprehends all the opposites.

As stated above, True Self is contradictory. It is what it is. It transcends rationality. You may not like it, but as you say, Truth doesn’t care about your feelings!

I see that the vast majority of humans do not know themselves. Their real selves, and therefore do not have peace.

The Ego-Self must die.

Author of The Immortality Key Brian Muraresku states,

There is a monastery on Mt. Athos in Greece, one of the most important sites of Orthodox spirituality, will come face-to-face with a beautiful Greek saying mounted on the wall of the reception area: “If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.”

He goes on to say:

And right there, plain as can be, is the stated goal of every mystic or saint who has ever tried to put any of the world’s religions to the ultimate test. To die before you die. Or rather, to psychologically maim the ego — even for a brief instant — in order to be initiated into an understanding of what lies beneath all the thoughts, feelings, and memories that have gone into the lifetime construction of our false, or at the very least incomplete, sense of self. The little ego (Latin for “I”) that seems so firmly in control is just an elaborate illusion.

Humanity is Insane

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

— Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau highlights an observation I’ve made by interacting with countless people in my life.

The vast majority of humans live a life of chaos, whether they admit it or not. They are ignorant of their True Selves, and so are a slave to the ‘roller coaster of life’ oscillating between temporary highs and lows, instead of experiencing what The Buddha described as ‘equanimity’, or what I call it:

Peace.

I noticed growing up that those who live ‘The American Dream’ or the traditional, conditioned idea of ‘The Good Life’, if honest with themselves are living that life of quiet desperation as Thoreau put it.

It doesn’t take much to ‘crack someone open’ by asking them a few probing questions that poke their Ego, which results in anger.

Anger is far from peace.

In psychology, its well established that us humans are fantastic at self-deception, which is why a psychologist or therapist employs much time, effort, and tactfulness to attempt to dig through the patient’s self-deception and psychological defence mechanisms to get to the uncomfortable truths.

The patient, employing self-deception!

Like the patient hating themselves, the patient’s fear of death, the patient’s guilt about not taking proper care of the kids, grief over the death of a loved one, regret of not doing things when they are younger…

The list goes on…

This is not to dismiss the great moments people have in life. There is definitely much good, and I am not here with a pessimistic-dominant attitude.

Another message I love from one of my one of my favourite saints (some would call him a thinker or philosopher, but he is far from that):

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

— Jiddu Krishnmurti

Krishnamurti sees through the illusion of Ego-Self. From this vantage point, it is easy to see that society (which is made of individuals) is sick. Or insane as I put it.

Psychiatrists Don’t Know Themselves

Seeing a psychiatrist is not the optimal way for most people to emerge from insanity into peace.

Learning from a True Guru is better, since the True Guru knows themselves and lives in a state of peace. A True Guru understands the mind magnitudes more than a psychiatrist.

I recall an amusing scene from episode 166 in the classic TV show: Bewitched.

Dr Chomsky is a psychiatrist who keeps seeing Samantha everywhere he goes, and ends up questioning his sanity to the point he admits: “I need to psychiatrist…”

The obvious irony here is that he is a psychiatrist himself! Illustrating that even being a qualified psychiatrist who has a vast understanding of psychology and the brain, is not sufficient to maintain sanity.

An article that cites studies states ‘Psychiatrists have the highest suicide rate of any profession.’

Interesting!

Another sentiment I love:

…your psychologists, even the founders — Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Adler, Assagioli — even they knew nothing about themselves, so how can they help you to know yourself?

— Osho

Osho is a controversial Guru, and I don’t consider him a True Guru since he still engaged in the energies of greed, lust, and power, however — It is my observation that he has experienced states of no-self (no Ego-Self but not necessarily True Self) to a high degree and on a consistent basis.

He also grew up as a debating champion and has a highly intellectual predisposition, yet sees beyond the limits of rationality.

What’s more important here is the claim he makes about psychologists not knowing themselves, which I would extend to include psychiatrists, since they’ve just got extra training to prescribe medication.

Psychiatrists Are Brainwashed: The Corrupt Medical System

I’ve been involved in the medical system since I was a child, because my mother was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

I saw her oscillate between severe depression and mania. I saw the challenges she faced with her psychiatrist enforcing and changing medication plans which caused volatile and often violent effects in my mother’s mental well-being.

I developed the impression that many psychiatrists are just ‘throwing shit until something sticks’!

It doesn’t take much investigation into the corrupt industry of Big Pharma to realize that psychiatrists are brainwashed in the education system to prescribe medications for profit incentives of the drug companies, regardless of the potential effectiveness and relevance to the patient.

Medication notoriously over-prescribed, ignoring simply dietary and healthy lifestyle habits that are proven to help that patient, without taking drastic risks with side-effects.

Why trust a psychiatrist with our well-being?

Conclusion

Humanity is insane. To move into world peace, we need to know our True Self. It’s better for most people to learn from a True Guru then see a psychiatrist.

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