Awake Minute 58: Psychiatry vs Guruchiatry (C)

[@nicolerichards8416]

I love the chemistry and friendship between the group. Thank you for sharing the poem at the end. That tied into what the podcast was about. It was a beautiful prayer. Jai Guru Jai Ma

[@ShyamalaMa313]

Thanks for acknowledging the chickens, it is a first, I thought there was something wrong on my end at first. 😂 As a person who has dealt with mental health concerns for over 30 years (I am in my mid forties) I can say that having a good therapist and an Avatar for a guru has changed my life. While I still experience episodes of depression, PTSD, and panic attacks they are few and far between. Sometimes I am not able to meditate because it exacerbates the anxiety but Guruji has given us a plethora of techniques to use including chanting, practicing the presence of God, and affirmation which help tremendously when meditation is not possible. I have been on medication in the past however I am using Ashwaganda (an Indian adaptogenic herb) along with trauma therapy, and Guruji’s techniques and my life has been better and my mental health has thrived for very long periods without any major declines. The Leo Cox book is a must for any devotee who has struggled on the path. He gives us naughty babes hope. Guruji will NEVER fail us, or desert us, no matter how many times we struggle or fall. ❤ another wonderful episode.

[@YoganandaPodcast]

Thank you for your honesty regarding your experiences, no doubt many of our listeners will take some comfort and inspiration from your methods. Ashwaganda sounds very interesting, we will look it up :) thank you again for your kind words, Jai Guru .

[@mariarosenberger3571]

Yes, kudos on the word Guruchiatry. Re humans not wanting to change until the water is at their nose: someone said that the only ones who like change are babies with wet diapers. Rilke has a lovely sonnet “Archaic Torso of Apollo” which speaks to this. Am ordering the Leo book. Re mind clutter. I’ve been focusing lately on the chant “who is in my temple.” Must be something in the air right now😌 it was a bit shocking the first time I read Guruji stating that God wants us to be happy. Wish all churches and religious institutions would impart this idea. Thank you Deeksha for your work on behalf of SRF devotees. Thx to you guys, par usual.

[@YoganandaPodcast]

I love the comparison to the baby and wet diapers! So apt, and a profound sonnet, though I did not grasp the baby message from any of those lines. Jai Guru, Priyank

[@mariarosenberger3571]

@@YoganandaPodcast Rilke sonnet last line “Stephen Mitchell translation” is “You must change your life.” Not necessarily a baby connotation. Just that there is no “place”/space that is not looking at you. The torso lacks a head so is therefore itself blind.

[@YoganandaPodcast]

@@mariarosenberger3571 Thanks for the additional info, the poem and your reference is beginning to make more sense to me now! Regarding the last line, I was at a Krishnadas live concert last night and he retold a story in which Shankaracharya saw an old man, teaching Sanskrit, who did not have long to live (though he did not know it), and encouraged him to change his life, rather than focussing on his intellect, with two simple words - Bhaja Govinda (which means to chant God's name). Krishnadas then chanted this kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4jGhId3d6qciKM

[@Remember_Who_You_Are]

There have been some notable alliances between psychiatry and guruchiatry. Carl Jung comes to mind, and Freud's unconscious is roughly equivalent to the subconscious as Yogananda describes it. And then there is the great spiritual anthropologist Ernest Becker. He was a thing in the 1970s due to his Pulitzer prize-winning book "The Denial of Death", which Woody Allen carries around and discusses throughout the movie Annie Hall. Becker's main thesis was that the fear of death is the worm eating away at the core of our being, striking existential terror into our hearts that is so overwhelming we can't deal with it directly, so we push it entirely into the unconscious. Becker was an anthropologist and social scientist, but I think he deserves an honored place among the gurus. The Denial of Death and its important sequel Escape From Evil were the keys that unlocked important spiritual insights for me. Becker says we're still cavemen in our thoughts and actions in many ways, and I think it's probably true. My kids love the movie The Croods. The opening scene features a gut-wrenching fight for survival to acquire breakfast, and that was the entire existence every day for early humans, fighting the ever present terror of death every minute in order to survive. According to Ernest Becker, those impressions are still imprinted on our psyche, and we are still very much animalistic in our evolution in many ways owing to our early history as a species. My key takeaway on Ernest Becker's thought relates to one of his main sub-theses, that competitive jealousy is the main force that drives human behavior and human history. In Escape From Evil, he tracks the concept masterfully from early humans all the way through modern history, and in doing so I believe he cracks the code on human behavior. I had a spiritual problem I had been trying to solve for 20 years while living in Hindu and Buddhist spiritual communities. I was constantly confused and frustrated about why I was always doing the right thing for others, but so often others were not returning the favor. Hostility, misunderstanding, and just plain abuse seemed to be what I always received from my brothers and sisters in the spiritual communities, and very often from friends and family too. This was a problem for me my whole life and I finally solved it when I found Ernest Becker's books The Denial of Death and Escape From Evil. This was the missing key that unlocked everything for me because it gave me permission to stop struggling with people in the world. It gave me a deep understanding of why people behave the way they do, with competitive jealousy dictating the tone of everything in human affairs. Ernest Becker's insights allowed me to see that it's okay to abandon the things of this world without feeling any sense of guilt about not helping people. Whenever I tried to help people it didn't work out, and now I know why, thanks to Ernest Becker. I think it's a simple and obvious waste of time to get involved in competitive jealousy dramas, but since they're everywhere you turn, the only way to be free of them is to make a lifestyle where you seal yourself off from them. Ernest Becker revered Freud, but he corrected him on a few things, and I believe he elevated Freud into the realm of the spiritual with his mindblowing theories. He built onto and extended Freud's theories into the spiritual realm, because he put his finger on the problem in ashrams and spiritual communities, and frankly all institutions, which is the problem of competitive jealousy. The problem in governments is the problem of competitive jealousy. The problem with war is the problem of competitive jealousy. The problem in every social institution and every family is competitive jealousy. I feel that Ernest Becker's great scientific theories should be characterized as "spiritual anthropology", because he put his finger on the root problem of human behavior like no one else ever has. We're still cavemen trying to survive, like in the opening scene of The Croods. Human consciousness has not evolved yet to the point where we're free from those fears and impulses. Competitive jealousy was necessary to survive for early humans, and although it is not necessary anymore, most people haven't woken up to that yet. Ernest Becker gave me permission to abandon that whole program. He helped me see that human beings are scientifically scripted for conflict. It's necessary for them to compete, to measure themselves against other people, to see where they stand in comparison to others in terms of reaping God's rewards they feel are due them. This was the deep mentality of early humans, and it is still the deep mentality of humans today. I concluded that as a spiritual practitioner who wants to realize God, there is no obligation for me to participate. I decided I didn't want to have anything to do with the caveman operating system anymore. If Ernest Becker was alive today I'm sure he'd be commenting on celebrity culture and celebrity worship, and how the desire for fame is at the root of human behavior on so many levels in America and the world today. Fantasies of money, fame, and power rule the day in people's minds even if they don't actualize those fantasies. Kim Kardashian is a good representation of where human desire is at in the current age. We all want to be famous and powerful without really having to do anything for it. But Kim Kardashian's world is a world of competitive jealousy. Kanye West's world is a world of competitive jealousy. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's worlds are worlds of competitive jealousy. So many of the big power players in today's world are playing those same old scripts. It seems we're not yet close to evolving beyond those primitive impulses, but I do still have hope, and I'll do everything I can to help the cause in my own way without getting sucked into peoples' competitive jealousy dramas. Last week I saw a beautiful sign of hope for the future. I read that the surviving Beatles and Rolling Stones are going to collaborate on some new music! We can probably thank Yogananda and George Harrison for that great blessing. Both showed us that you can be the greatest of great without competing and without being jealous of anyone else.

[@YoganandaPodcast]

Competitive jealousy, caveman mentality and celeb/fame aspirations are certainly massive problems today's digital society! likely more so than ever before in history even though things are meant to be more conducive for spirituality in the ascending dwapura! Fascinating conundrum and seeming contradictions, at least from our own limited view of the world and social structures. I do not anywhere near as good a grip on the theories as you do but I have certainly experienced them. I hated the competitive jealousy streaks in my close family and friendship circles, even when it occurs in business i despise it (though it is much more expected in the latter). I have chosen many times the escapist attitude in dealing with this, though on the face of it it seems like a cowardly approach, it seems to have worked! I have reduced my friendship circle by 90% and my family ties by a similar ratio, I have chosen less competitive (more wholesome) roles in business etc. As you know I am a results focussed person, even though my wife disagrees with my fundamentalist approach (and cant subscribe to it herself) she can't deny the benefits! Jai Guru, Priyank

[@Remember_Who_You_Are]

I'm with you, man. I'm at about 90% reduction on all that noise, and always looking to cut more!