Self Analysis - Is it helpful???

thelittlestprince

Hi,

Hope everyone is great! I have dealt with anxiety and depression for years now. Nothing seemed to help until I started reading about Buddhist teachings, and mindfulness. For this I am very grateful because although I am very much a novice at mindfulness, I am beginning to see its calming effects. I tend to think a lot, specifically analytical. Examples of questions I would ponder are "Why am I not happy?", "How do I build self-esteem?", "Why am I anxious this at this moment?", etc.

I'd love to hear from a Buddhist perspective:

Is analysis of life and self-analysis helpful? Is analysis not conducive to being in the moment? What if I don't ever ask these questions? Is that preferred?

Thanks so much people!

thelittlestprince

Oops, second question has a typo: "Why am I anxious at this moment?". Regards.

taiyaki

there is a practice in buddhism called noting. you note the various sensations that arises and fall.

buddhism would ask what does it feel like to be anxious? are you breathing fast? is there a heaviness in the chest? once you figure that you then you can just mindfully watch your "anxiousness". then you can question the anxiousness. is this really anxiousness? just allow it all as they are just states/processes that arise and fall.

this same practice can be used for all the things that arise. examining our body and mind is done right here and right now.

SherabDorje

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is generally thought to be more effective than self-analysis for depression and anxiety. There are some similarities between CBT and Buddhism. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy incorporates an element of mindfulness with CBT and can be effective with anxiety and depression too.

You can self-analyze all you want to, but when all is said and done, if you're still anxious and depressed, it hasn't helped much, and could even make things worse.

I can speak from experience having had Panic Disorder for some 37 years and Major Depressive Disorder Recurrent for approximately 25 years. I was once told by a very high Tibetan lama not to meditate too much because of this.

I am almost always the first on the site to suggest professional help. Why prolong your suffering? If it significantly interferes with your life, get professional help.

thelittlestprince

taiyaki:
Thank you, very insightful response.

SherabDorje:
Thanks for the advice. I have received professional help, namely CBT. It was helpful, but I don't have the means for it at the moment.

Something I was taught by my therapist was the "rational response exercise" which I'm you've probably heard of. So along the lines of my original post: from a buddhist perspective, is it beneficial to challenge one's negative automatic thoughts? Is it preferred to rather be in the moment? From my own experience, it seems like the less I think, the happier I am.

Jeffrey

I think you are letting go of some thinking that has made unhappy. That is good.

taiyaki

being able to identify and really examine the processes that happen is an important step in acceptance/letting go.
just being present in the moment and abiding in open presence is useful too.

lol do both or do what is most obvious when you are meditating.

Jeffrey

its ok not to think. you will think again naturally when it is necessary. If it is necessary and you are trying not to think you will feel dukkha from the strain against what naturally has to happen. Like the tao in taoism you go with the way..

Of course taoism misses that there are bankrupt values at the center of some mandalas and you need to let go of whole mandalas to find the ones to value.. Or rather taoism can be misunderstood to mean not to dig deep.

SherabDorje

Buddhist practice may help you to challenge your negative thoughts with a lighter touch and eventually just watch them form, come up, show themselves, and drift away again with less and less reaction on your part. It's like you can just say to yourself "negative thought- insubstantial" or something similarly brief and watch the thought go away again.

thelittlestprince

Thanks people, some great responses here. But I still need to dig deeper down the rabbit hole(see my dilemma).

Socrates once said "the unexamined life is not worth living". He sought to find truth through thought. Conversely, from what I understand, Buddhists aim to be mindful and "see".

What do you guys think about Socrates' famous quote?

Jeffrey

Either it is or it isn't. We can only know that by examining.

taiyaki

socrates also said that he knew that he didn't know.
the more intelligent you are, the more and more you'll see the mystery.

we use thought to transcend thought. just make sure you don't mistake the symbol for the real thing.

Jeffrey

Yes examining isn't something that only seers can do. Its what we already do.. What it means to lead an unexamined life is that we don't realize the suffering. We think that if we could only get that golden ticket we would be happy.

Theres a story about different gates. A gate of emptiness and a gate of suffering. The gate of suffering its like you can't get away from it. Every web of the chain is on fire. You have been trying to cast off that itch by letting go of everything but the only thing you can do is stop.. It has a totally different texture than letting go as I had thought letting go meant. It isn't a release. You just continue to contact unease.. Whenever you make a big deal out of it there is suffering to you but when you just make the best out of things and stop trying to do anything with it.. well there we go back into conceptuality. Just let it phase into burning confusion again and rest in that.

SherabDorje

I thought you were talking about self-analysis in the context of depression and anxiety. Self-analysis or self-examination is entirely appropriate in Buddhism in the correct balance. After all, wasn't it self-analysis that led you to study Buddhism?

Jeffrey

I think the gate of emptiness is like when you get it. And its liberating. The gate of suffering is when you cannot say the words to someone and they are gone. And that is true emptiness. It doesn't break like rocks crushed to powder. Instead it is like a flower being ripped to pieces in strands..

You go into out and worlds of static open scratchy and suffocating. And you keep just going with that energy.

It will all be ok and they all lived happily ever after...

thelittlestprince

SherabDorje:
I only mentioned depression/anxiety because it led me here (Funny how there's a good in every bad). I really wanted to know the community's thoughts about analysis vs. just seeing.

I'd like to rephrase my last Socrates question. I read that the Buddha would remain quiet when asked the big questions from his students(ie. meaning of life, etc.) On the other hand, Socrates sought to find the answer of life through logic and reasoning. I'd like your view on this.

From my experience, the more I analyse myself and life, the more questions I uncover, and the more confused I get... leading to suffering. However, not asking these questions seems sad as well.

Jeffrey

what happens with the sadness? I think you are onto something.. that is worth seeing.. I bet that sadness isn't a lie.. the confusion is probably due to misunderstandings, but the sadness is more true.

thelittlestprince

Sadness in the sense that I've seen something, and I can't force my mind to unsee it. I can see life and see the big questions in life, but I can't understand life. Not asking these questions would be not trying to understand life. I would still remain confused.

Now I'm really confused!

Jeffrey

"Not asking these questions would be not trying to understand life. I would still remain confused."

These questions if they are not helpful wouldn't be any loss. I think you need to get back to the original. What is the longing? Socrates asked what that longing was and it lead him somewhere. Start at the beginning.

seeker242

From my own experience, it seems like the less I think, the happier I am.

Seems to me you have found your answer.