The Spiritual Foundations of Mental Health

Your body is not synonymous with the insecure, self centered aspect in you.  While it is inclined to comfort and cannot generate its own sense of purpose, it is ready, willing, and able to be guided by the soul - with love and acceptance.  Is your soul loving and accepting of your body?  Is it deeply grateful for the body's role in accomplishing anything of value in this world?  Does it have affection and warmth for the body in having been paired together on such a wondrous journey?  Let the soul share its vision with the body and ask, "How do you feel about that?"  You'll be surprised by the dialogue/insights that unfold.

The great reset buttons of our lives are happening all the time - resets from dark and insecure feelings, lack of vision, hopelessness.  Purim is an especially rich time to sense the power of our capacity to reset, to transform from darkness to light.  Are we getting in the way of those resets?

Every one of us has experienced a place in our lives where we once had no access to something important - a skill, a wisdom, confidence in some arena - and then we had access.  How does that happen?  Certainly persistence, courage, and asking for counsel make a difference.  Are we open to seeing how all change includes an ingredient that cannot be chalked up solely to us and our efforts?  The wisdom, grace, and resolve that accompanied our change were themselves something we can't claim we "did" fully.  There is a magical and mysterious ingredient to our efforts that is indispensable to change; having "eyes" for it is a life changer.  Imagine a farmer who had know idea the earth is fertile ground for growing.  He's worried: how will he manage the seed's growth after he plants it?  We are seed planters.  When we know that there is a Life Force waiting to receive and grow our efforts, we live in a different world.  (For more on this specific topic, see my newly launched podcast, Partners In Creation).

Much of the suffering we experience in life is built on the premise that someone - myself or others - or some event is causing my pain.  Now, if we can just find the culprit or what's to blame, we can get respite.   But this analysis is built on a misunderstanding.  Painful feelings are built in to the design of life: all humans flow with negative, insecure feelings.  They are safe, not dangerous.  They needn't be fixed or fled from.  When we are less busy resenting and protesting those feelings, we are present to the wisdom source behind them and more susceptible both to new feelings as well as the presence of a warm and wise Source.     

When we see loved ones act in unhealthy ways, we can get concerned - even frightened - and react.  But reactive efforts to help are generally unwelcome.  Reactive efforts to help are grounded in a belief that "So-and-so's behavior is causing me distress and therefore I must get him to change."  Even if we don't say those words, So-and-so picks it up and doesn't like it.   He shuts down, reacts defensively, or even digs in.  Our desire to be of influence to others begins with knowing that all feelings - distressing fearful ones as well as new peaceful ones - come from a single simple Source.   We don't author those feelings; we don't control those feelings; we needn't run from them or fix them.  Through our willingness to look for the truth about our fearful feelings relating to So-and-so's actions, we set the stage for ourselves and him to see let feelings cycle through us and change us for the good.

This is not just another FOMO conversation.  In this episode we look at two fundamentals truths about what you are and are not accountable for in your life.  When you let go of what's not your job and settle in to what is, you will be pleasantly surprised by how smooth and satisfying your ride can be. 

It is very easy to disdain and disrespect the body - the aspect of ourselves that becomes preoccupied with immediate gratification at the expense of a more meaningful and pleasurable life.  Yet, the body is the soul's essential partner in every single good thing we have and do in life.  Try to show affection to a loved one, learn something new, or do anything you value without a body!  The body is great!  And it's a package deal: it's impossible to have a good life without it and it's wholly lacking insight about how to get that good life.  Yet, it awaits the guidance of the soul, especially when it doesn't feel derided, disdained, and neglected.  Let your soul treasure your body, celebrate its accomplishments, listen to and validate its needs.  And then let your soul guide it; it wants to be guided by a loving and respectful guide. 

A father helps a boy see that his being teased by others is not wholly unwelcome in his life and can even add value.  Don't focus on the technique the father used but on a simple truth:  we can be in our lives unconditionally.  The difficult feelings we have can seem unbearable but in fact are part of a safe and healthy world.  By being with those feelings, rather than escaping them, we become open to new paths of essential learning and insight.

How do we best grow and change?  Rewards and punishments have some place.  But the real mechanism of change comes from seeing our inherent dignity - who I am has no place doing this!  who I am yearns for that!  What is the primary obstacle to seeing our inherent dignity?  How do we cultivate it?

The Jewish people have a literal meltdown at the Sea of Reeds.  "Moshe, we're all going to die!  Where's God?  The Exodus was pointless and we told you so!" A few verses later, God tells Moshe, "Moshe, the Jewish people are awesome believers.  The exquisite merit of their devotion to spiritual truth is going to crash through all physical boundaries and split the sea.  Just tell them to jump in!"  Huh?  They're busy tantruming against God and He's singing their praises.  How does this work and what does it tell us about our greatness even in "emergency moments"?