Yesterday, I wandered into a Borders book store. Two books by Buddhist monks were prominently displayed in the front. Half the shelf space in the psychology section was given over to books about Buddhism.
What gives? Granted, this is California, but still ...
Buddhism has very much influenced how I practice my life and manage my illness. It forms the backbone to such essential recovery tools as mindfulness and optional ones such as meditation, not to mention therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. In this context, we are talking about a psychology - a guide to practical living - rather than religion or spirituality.
Following is a brief overview of some of the principles, all which overlap and interrelate:
Mindfulness
Think of the mind watching the mind. Mindfulness, says Buddhist expert and molecular biologist Jon Kabbat-Zinn, “is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to things as they are,” rather than as we want them to be.
As we learn to watch our thoughts in a detached manner, we slowly develop the capacity to reel in our runaway brains and more skillfully negotiate our way though the mine field we call life. Being microscopically attuned to subtle shifts in our thoughts and feelings and energy levels allows us to act before events spin out of control.
I have a long way to go before I can claim mastery over my brain. My tendency to overthink and panic nearly resulted in my failing my road test a second time just two weeks ago. But I can deal with stress and head off anxiety and anger a lot better than I used to. As for nipping incipient mood swings in the bud, I regard mindfulness as my ultimate mood stabilizer.
(Check out my six-part series on mindfulness, part of my Recovery feature here at BipolarConnect.)
The Here and Now
We tend to fret over our futures and obsess over our pasts, totally oblivious to the present. In the arena of life, we tend to be a no-show. Be mindful. Stop. Smell the roses. As you start living in the present, your past will lose its terrible dominion, your future its strange attraction.
Suffering
We suffer. This is the Buddha's First Noble Truth. Not only that, we excel at suffering. Received ten compliments recently? Chances are you are obsessing on the one negative one.
Illusion
We tend to live in an unreal world created by our fantasy thoughts and expectations. I recall going to pieces because a girlfriend broke off our relationship. The reality: we were enjoying a short-term fling. The fantasy: this was the woman I could spend the rest of my life with.
Guess which world I was invested in? Guess which basket all my happiness eggs were sitting in? How stupid was that? We do it all the time.
Detachment
Our suffering derives from our perverse ability to attach ourselves to our fears and desires. Letting go frees us to focus on what is important in life. This is the essence of the Buddha's Second and Third Noble Truths. Since our fears and desires are hardly real in the first place, we set ourselves up for a lot of suffering.
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