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From
 time to time people with mental health issues join the AtR  group. So 
I'll share some of my thoughts on this matter. First of all,  these 
people should not practice alone without guidance. They should not  try 
to do the inquiry and meditations on AtR blog especially without  direct
 guidance of a qualified teacher. This is because these  meditations or 
inquiries can be destabilizing on an already unstable  mind if done 
incorrectly. Depending on conditions, light shamatha or  mindfulness 
practice may be more beneficial than inquiry heavy forms of  practices. 
But is spirituality of no value to these persons? No, in fact  it can be
 quite important, especially guidance and help from a  qualified master.
 Unfortunately I will not be able to offer any help on  these matters. 
Afflicted persons should find an experienced master in  their vicinity.
I
 hold the same view as Yin Ling's (who is a  Western medical doctor) and
 Acarya Malcolm Smith's (besides being a  Dzogchen teacher, is also a 
trained and qualified Tibetan medicine  practitioner) views, mental 
health issues like schizophrenia are often,  or can be, spirit induced 
disorders. They are not just 'hallucinations'  of the brain, these 
people may be accessing spirits of other realms. By  all means, 
psychiatric help or medications are still necessary. But  working with a
 qualified and experienced dharma teacher is also  important.
This reddit reply by VulcanVisions advices well:
https://www.reddit.com/.../could_people_with_mental.../
This reddit reply by VulcanVisions advices well:
https://www.reddit.com/.../could_people_with_mental.../
1 day agor/Buddhism•Posted byu/curemydepression
Could people with mental health issues become enlightened?
Hi,
  I was wondering whether people with mental health issues such as  
sociopathy and psychopathy could become enlightened. I think it isnt  
possible, since to become enlightened the person must experience  
feelings and suffering to overcome this in the first place. Would like  
to know your opinions.
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Tibetan BuddhistVulcanVisions· 1 day ago
I am Tibetan and Buddhist, I also work in mental health in the West, I will give you my thoughts on this:
We
  are born into physical, mortal bodies, which are mechanical in a sense
  and as a result of samsaric existence, anything can go wrong with 
these  bodies
From
 a neurochemical  perspective, psychopathy is just one more thing that 
can go wrong with  these bodies. It represents another suffering of 
samsara, another  obstacle on the path to liberation, making awakening 
more difficult.
Such
  things are determined by our karma, carried over from our endless  
rebirths - whilst beyond our comprehension, there is a reason we are  
where we are in this moment.
Having
  psychopathy or schizophrenia makes the path more difficult, as does 
any  illness such as cancer or diabetes, but it does not make it 
impossible.
Several
  of the clients I work with have various forms of schizophrenia, and  
several of them are practicing Buddhist - there is nothing to stop them 
 practicing.
Now,
 as a religious  Buddhist of the Nyingma school, I must say that I do 
not agree with the  Western notions of mental illness. Whereas Western 
medicine holds that  "patients" are ill and that doctors are "above" 
them in a sense in terms  of being "healthy", I do not agree.
Western
  philosophy as a whole has an air of superiority, and anything that 
does  not pass its tests - such as firm atheism, scientism, and 
rationality -  are immediately rejected as primitive or stupid.
Whilst
  my clients hallucinating emaciated ghosts is interpreted in the 
medical  model as a neurochemical brain imbalance, I personally believe 
that the  client may be experiencing an attack by a preta, which in the 
Buddhist  world can harass and feed from human emotions.
Either way, the treatment is the same - we accept our situation, learn about dukkha, and practice the dharma.
I
  myself had what in the West was called "hallucinations" of spirits, 
and  Western medicine and therapy did nothing to treat this - when I  
reconnected with my Rinpoche and fully committed to the dharma, daily  
meditation practice made the "hallucinations" go away. I believe because
  I began to purify my bad karma.
Apologies if this was a bit long, but hopefully made sense to you 
17
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Yin
  Ling shared before her encounters in her medical practices with  
schizophrenia people without Buddhist religious background but described
  classic Buddhist description of pretas behavior in their visions, such
  as "a small head and big stomach, and likes to inhale smell from her 
food", and many other various interesting and resembling descriptions.
Also
  related reading, something I shared before, although this is not the  
Buddhist way of dealing with these issues but it's still an interesting 
 read: https://uplift.love/the-shamanic-view-of-mental-illness/
The Shamanic View of Mental Illness | UPLIFT
The Shamanic View of Mental Illness | UPLIFTUPLIFT.LOVEThe Shamanic View of Mental Illness | UPLIFT
Labels: Mental Illness, Schizophrenia       | 	      
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