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Two intelligent questions — Koan: “Nothing is the way it seems to be but neither is it otherwise.” — working with a koan as transformational tool — “quicker than an arrow, sharper than a two edged sword — joint participation in the good of god vs shared co-existence — value of clarifying concepts — facing up to meanings illuminates something about us — fear of being judged “religious” — understanding “God” beyond religion – relevant to life — problem with words — protections from the universal fear of being judged/diagnosed — immunity — “judge not lest ye be judged” (or diagnosed)”

What is our concept of marriage; joint participation in the good of God. Creative ideas, inspired perception, expressed verbally or in written form; Jesus speaks about new wine in old bottles; Metapsychiatry being both Spiritual and Existential; Six dumb questions; We do not think in terms of what to do; Meaning revealed of mode of being in the world; False sense of personal responsibility; mode of being in the world will induce panic and stimulate a false sense of personal responsibility; No therapy in first phone call or first sessions; Mode of being will unfold in first sessions; Get to see mode of being in the world before you can help patient; Not by doing but by knowing; Phenomenological discernment: discerning what seems to be; Seek to know the meaning of behavior. Very important hidden issues in patient’s life. Clarify with patient to be very helpful; Do nothing, just shed light on what seems to be; Counter transference refers to irrational responses to irrational thoughts; Phenomenological perception is a healthy awareness; Transrational perception; The Word of God; What does the Word of God mean? Metapsychiatry is neither religious nor psychological; Truth of Being; Blessed by phenomenological perceptivity; the discernment of thought; Revealing to patients the meaning of problems is called Hermeneutic clarification; Helps patient to remove darkness to see the light; We do nothing, but allow the light to reveal itself; Not the therapist nor the patient nor anybody; Truth does its own work.

Self-indulgence is self-confirmation, self-confirmation is self-destruction — self-confirmation leads to suicide – most people don’t die they gradually destroy themselves — connection between self-confirmation and self-destruction — traditional psychotherapy vs Metapsychiatry — student dialogue on valid and invalid values — self-esteem — healthy and sick self-esteem — healthy and sick humility — how do we know we are alive? — healthy way to be alive and unhealthy way to be alive — God confirmatory vs Self confirmatory — embarrassed to mention God due to religious associations

Case Presentation:
Amputee formerly an engineer seeking work. Very charming, talkative. Begins sessions over the phone with: “I need a wife, how can I get a wife? Will you marry me?” therapist gives operational help about what to do to look for a job. Comes back with same complaint: I’m lonely, want to get married.”
Operational vs Existential solutions to problems — tragic medical circumstances as self-confirmation — victimization — vengeance— possibility of healing existentially—detailed description of hidden thoughts as the source of suffering—possibility of healing—3 R’s of Metapsychiatry — While the patient is looking for operational solution – therapist is aware of the need for existential solutions.

Sloughing off fear ¬— Fear is prolific source of illnesses of any kind, mental, social, physical, economic — fear is self-confirmatory — possibility of fearfulness. If we could be fearless and loving, we could truly be healthy all the time. — what did Jesus mean by “fear not, believe only?” Trust god? How to trust god if sick —Fear is misdirected interest – when fearful we are interested in ourselves – when primarily interested in ourselves we are fearful — what we suffer from is a misdirected interest in self instead of in God, the transcendent, possible to be healed of self-confirmatory pre-occupations and thus become fearless and loving and harmonious and intelligent and joyful — difference between do-gooder and beneficial presence —stoicism vs healing through spiritual understanding, willfulness vs meekness —shouldnessness — “blessed are the shouldless for their lives shall be fussless.”

Futile questions: Why am I afraid and what I am afraid of? There are millions of explanations, but being able to explain something, doesn’t mean we really understand it. Example: “Drawing a blank in a psychotherapy session” = fear. What is the meaning of resistance to the therapist? Traditional psychotherapy is an intrusion into an individual’s personal life. Medical model: The patient is an object. The doctor has the professional privilege of violating the integrity of the object in order to benefit the patient. The patient resists because individuals don’t like to be violated. Resistance occurs when a therapist is treating a disease or the person. Instead, we treat MOBITW for which there need be no need to resist. Example: Steamroller Attorney. Resistance is replaced with a desire to find a better way. Jesus Christ models the existentially valid way, the better way, the qualities and values Jesus taught the world are available to anyone to contemplate and accept as a better way. Treating MOBITW, presses the patients integrity. In order to become fearless we must understand the meaning of fear. Fear comes from a habit of being concerned for ourselves. How am I feeling and how am I doing? The more concern we have, the more intimidating experiences we are likely to encounter => anxiety neurosis.

Therapist must discern meaning, help patient see meaning and help her assume responsibility for the problem, without blaming anyone else. Help her regret her mistaken assumption, that otters are causing her to be sick. The moment we have someone to blame, we become incurable, because our healing depends on someone else changing. If we want to be healed, we must assume responsibility for our own sickness. We cannot blame ourselves either. Three R’s. It is not inevitable for us to live in chronic rage. Diathesis, diseases that run in families. Choice of symptom is based on hypnotism. Three approaches to hypnotic suggestion: seduction, provocation, and intimidation. Immunity to hypnotism comes from God consciousness. Two modes of thought: Calculative thought vs. inspired wisdom. Calculative thinking is based on the illusion that man can produce thoughts and figure things out by himself. Inspiration: Creative intelligence obtaining in receptive consciousness from an infinite source of love intelligence. God inspired ideas. Enlightened man knows that he doesn’t produce thoughts. Thoughts obtain in consciousness. Calculative mind is like a computer. The programmer is our experience. Enlightened man’s programmer is God.

Case #1: We must first discern the meaning of the problem and help the patient understand the meaning, regret, and then reform their ideas. In every case of depression, there is a sense of loss (thing, person, idea, place that we are attached to). Depression Symptoms. The patient must understand that she is not suffering from depression. She is just overreacting to the loss of something for which she over-estimates its importance to her own happiness and survival. Patient must realize that she has not lost something vital, but something that she has overestimated the value of. The problem is the attachment. You cannot lose yourself. “The aim of the process of enlightenment is to felicitously lose yourself.” We must clarify the attachment and then the patient must realize that she is suffering from a mistaken idea. Then she must regret the mistake. With sufficient regret, we become willing to reform our thoughts, which produces a change in the patient’s mode of being in the world and a true healing, takes place. When we are regretful we have found something; when we are depressed, we have lost something. Psychosomatic Case #2: Bronchial Asthma Emphysema symptoms. Three R’s. Seek meaning of most significant problem. What is the patient’s mode of being in the world. She is suffocating (oppression/chronic resentfulness/ frustration). Can not be expressed verbally, so is expressed as asthma. What determines the choice of the symptom? A: What ever is fashionable in society or in a family. Thought is mental energy and may transmute itself into symptoms. What is a phobia? A: A fear of losing control, which presumes that one should have control. Therapist must discern meaning, help patient see meaning and help her assume responsibility for the problem, without blaming anyone else. Help her regret her mistaken assumption, that others are making her sick.

When we have learned the existentially valid mode of being in the world, we will be healed of our problems. Because our Mode of being in the world is in harmony with the fundamental order of existence, as defined by God Love/Intelligence. Sanity is living in harmony with Love/Intelligence. We have certain manners of thinking, which may manifest in psychosomatic disturbances. Problems are lessons designed for our edification. Problems help us learn to live more intelligently. There are grave conditions where the meaning is so obscure, or when the patient is so deeply involved in the situation, that there is no way of approaching the problem via phenomenological analysis, leaving only the traditional ways of alleviating the suffering, as unsatisfactory as they may be. The more we can learn to live in harmony with the fundamental order of the universe, the more protection we obtain from the common inflictions suffered by most of humanity. Everything has a meaning, though not all meanings may be discerned. If a patient is ready to face a meaning and if there is the humility to face up to the meanings, the problem can disappear, though the realization of spiritual reality. One surgery is commonly followed by another, because the problem though alleviated, is not solved, until it is understand what the problem came to teach. Medicine knows well that there is no direct relationship between a bacterial invention and the manifestation of the disease. There is an intermediate step, which is called receptivity. The question is where does receptivity come from?

The mind and the body are one. There is no separation. Metapsychiatry treats modes of being in the world. Adjustment is an operational function it can be done. Adaptation can be done. Lifestyles are chosen. Modes of being in the world are expressions of our basic assumptions values and education/culture which produce the way we see life. How can we understand an individual’s Mode of being in the world? A: Phenomenological analysis: the analysis of what seems to be. Everything that happens to us on life has a meaning. What is a meaning? A: The mental equivalent of a phenomenon, of what appears to be. A headache is a phenomenon. He that seeks reasons only finds excuses. We are not interested in causes of phenomena but in the meaning of phenomena. A meaning is always a thought that underlies a particular phenomenon. Nothing causes physical symptoms, but a thought can take on the form of a physical symptom. We seek the meaning of a phenomenon with patients. If the mind and the body are one, the mind cannot cause a headache, but a thought can take on the form of a headache. Transcending cause and effect reasoning. Language is a language and our habits of thinking interpret reality. Interpretation vs. phenomenological discernment. When we discern a meaning we see what a patient thinks really is. After we identify the meaning, the symptom will get worse, with a trace of humility will come embarrassment. What is healthy?