Public Comment

The sea is bigger than any man or woman is. A human being can't beat up the waves, can't overpower them, or (in many cases) can't outsmart them either. Surfers and swimmers, some of them experienced, probably have respect for the waves.

When I was younger and had physical competence, I could still barely manage a swim in a swimming pool and would never dare venture very far into the water at a beach. That's just because I'm usually aware of my limitations.

When my mind and body were taken by psychosis, the feeling of it resembled being at the beach, going too far into the waters, and being swept out to sea, at the mercy of a massively overpowering undertow.

This is the power of psychosis. You may believe your mind is strong. You may believe your will is strong. Psychosis--that is strong. If you are subject to psychosis, you need help.

Practitioners of Zen Buddhism seem to believe themselves superior to normal human folly. This is not accurate. A reason to feel superior and a feeling of being a "master" as a higher status, that's where Zen seems farcical. I practice mindfulness, but it doesn't make me superior. Human error is inescapable and practicing meditation and/or yoga don't cure schizophrenia. 

When you are subject to psychosis and have aspirations of Buddhist attainment, you had better be careful. Buddhism attracts many people with mental differences, and many who find it hard to manage their emotions. Buddhism attracts a lot of mentally disabled people. Many of us have sought some better path than being medicated, being restricted, and being disabled. 

Zen doesn't bring immunity to the conditions of life. It doesn't cure a substance abuse problem. It doesn't cure a psychiatric condition. It won't make you immune to disability following a stroke. It won't make you immortal. Zen, however, is mostly not farcical. It does attract the worried well who find it hard to like themselves. When they believe they are attained, it symbolizes an accomplishment, one that makes them better, superior, compared to others. 

I studied under two different men who never acted superior. They connected to me as equals. I didn't realize it at the time, but they were my teachers. They never advised going off medication. They were not immune to the effects of aging or of any other of the myriad of human conditions that make people flawed and suffering. 

Schizophrenia is a very rough disease to have. When psychiatric practitioners saw me doing well, they decided to change the diagnosis. This is hypocrisy as opposed to Hippocrates. It is where doctors rule out a person's individual efforts to get well, and where they rule out that a person with schizophrenia could accomplish anything significant. 

But if you are sick, you need medicine. Why suffer when you don't have to? The extreme force of relapsing into psychosis is nothing to play games with. You can't get rid of schizophrenia with mindfulness. You can make life better, but still live with the disease, through mindfulness. You can ease a portion of the symptoms. But medication is needed, and meditation doesn't repair a brain defect. The point is, there are many parts to the brain. And it doesn't matter how good your brain is or isn't. What matters is how well you use it.