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Illnesses caused by genes
Deshy
Veteran
Certain mental disorders like anxiety for example have their roots in the physical body in certain individuals. For example, some people have anxiety due to their genes. My question is, if its causes are in the physical body, how can it be remedied through the Buddhist practice? No matter how much one practices he might still have anxiety symptoms caused by the physical conditions, don't you think?
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Comments
yes. but does it really matter?
think of it as:
a big, suffocating sweater.
Let say that you always had the sweater on. Everyone has one of these big sweater on and everyone believe that they are the big sweater.
if the sweater is pink:
"i'm pink"
if the sweater has holes:
"there are holes on me"
With meditation, you observed reality, and figured out that you are not the sweater.
You figured out that it is just something that you have, rather than being you.
All of a sudden, it change the way you see everything.
"i'm pink" become "my sweater is pink"
"there are holes on me" become "there are holes on my sweater"
Eventually, you will learn things that you would have thought impossible in the past.
When you thought you were the sweater, you would have never even consider the possibility of taking it off.
So slowly, you will get more freedom.
You learn that you can relax the turtle neck, you learn that you can raise the sleeves when it's too hot, you can stain the fabric, make holes...
perhaps there are imperfections on your sweater, that are impossible to fix.
But eventually, you may go the whole way and learn how to take the whole sweater off.
but in the end, it did not matter if the holes in your sweater were built in it from the beginning, or that you made hole in it yourself by being unmindful and clumsy.
Anxiety is particularly interesting as it, like so many mental illnesses, is explained using the diathesis-stress model. That is the person inherits a tendency or the potential to develop a condition, but whether they do or not depends upon environmental factors, and that can include exposure to Buddhist teaching. There is no such thing as a gene 'for' anxiety as there are genes for hair or eye colour. No one has found a gene or combination of genes that mean that it is certain that person will develop a particular mental illness. The concordance rates for anxiety and panic disorder in identical twins vary widely depending on the study. If it was completely genetic then it should be 100%. This indicates that there are significant environmental contributions.
Makes sense, thanks
Got to disagree. There are cases where even babies show symptoms of anxiety related disorders
Physical conditions are just that, conditions.
As has already been stated, the symptoms may not be completely alleviated but through practice it is certainly plausible that the interdependent relationship between body and mind can be utilized to diminish their severity.
As for the concept of the 'deluded gene' I assume that there is some language difference here.
Buddha nature can be seen in infants because they have not acquired layers of conditioning that most older children and adults have. There are however some definate, innate preferences such as for the mother's voice and smell, and fears for example of falling and of loud noises, but of little else.
So? I am almost certain that I had separation anxiety at a very young age
What exactly are you both talking about when you say 'Buddha nature' in connection with a baby? This term can have different meanings in Mahayana. Can you explain, please?
Kind regards,
Dazzle
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But these are very helpful, baby need to react when something is wrong (hungry, pain), otherwise mom would not know that anything is wrong.
just sometimes we forget that we don't don't need those anymore when we grow up.
We all know someone who gets really cranky when hungry
However, Buddhism and meditation seem to help in that they peel away the layers of my mental and social conditioning, leaving only the bare bones of who I am, at least temporarily, while I'm sitting and during the moments after my sessions.
Like others have said, maybe meditation and the Dharma can't make the physical situation completely disappear, but they can certainly give you the tools to manage the feelings and symptoms in a much better way. The tools to make it all easier to deal with and easier to handle. The tools to make your symptoms easier to interpret and understand. And for this alone, meditation and Buddhism are invaluable as an aid in your quest for increased well being.
Yes, I agree with this
What about nirvana, though? If somebody achieved nirvana, the anxiety should be gone, right?
Take one generally happy person, then make this person think only fearfull and angry thoughts for 1 year, and the chemistry of that person brain will have changed dramatically. (brain activity as well (what part of it that is active))
To take medicine to change the chemistry of the brain is to deal with the result of the problem, not the problem itself.
If the brain chemistry of the baby was fine, and there were no brain damage from injury, or drug abuse that could have damaged the brain physically, then brain chemistry causing depression and other ailments is caused by unskillful behaviors.
So if what i explain is your case, be hopeful because you can do everything about it.
You sure? Aren't there situations of chemical imbalances in the brain been produced without you asking it to do so? Are all metal disorders, however mild they may be, always caused by behavioral patterns?
I don't think so. For example, an infant's behavioral patterns can be affected by chemical factors in the brain not always vise versa
Nor, I think, can we presume that a neo-nate is a tabula rasa. We don't even need a belief in kamma to know that we are all born with an inheritance, genetic and familial, environmental and interuterine.
Every circumstance is workable but it causes additional suffering to think that you should be enlightened or that you can't be. The heart of the dharma is working with suffering as it is right here and right now. It is not at the mountain top with arms raised in triumph.
It could be a view to say the baby is a buddha but then you also include the mass murderer. And that isn't a kitchen sink view. And most people take that to mean that the subject is not overcome by anger, greed, and ignorance which is not what that view is saying. I don't understand that view, but I have heard its part of tantra to view everyone as a buddha.
Beautifully said. I need to get this through my head ASAP.
The term 'Buddha Nature' in that sense is supposed to apply to 'all sentient beings'.... so the mind of a slug would also have the same potential as the baby that you mention.
When a baby is vomiting and defecating and screaming for its mother's attention, does it have a clear radiant mind? ..Of course it doesn't. A baby's mind doesn't have the qualities you mention...and how can you prove that it does?
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Be careful, Dazzle: you can't prove it doesn't, either. Believe what you like, there's no proof either way.
All I am saying is that the baby has less to overcome. It has not acquired addictions to nicotine, alcohol, drugs, money, success, sex etc. It has not developed any symptoms of mental illness such as depression or eating disorders. It has no preconceptions about the world or those around it. It has basic desires for warmth, food, comfort, human contact, but no preferences for that colour of blanket or this style of babygro.
On the other hand the infant, once hungry, cold or uncomfortable is consumed by that state and has no way to rationalise or deal with it other than exhibit distress. As adults we have the advantage of a rational mind and the ability to control mind and behaviour if we develop it.
Exactly what I am saying. When you find anxiety related symptoms in such a baby's mind it should have something to do with physical factors not necessarily behavioral
Thank you for your comment Simon, but why tell me to be careful, I didn't say there was any proof for my opinion either, did I? However, if a baby's mind is caught up with physical discomforts and attention seeking, how can it also be empty,clear and radiant at the same time ?
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Ok. So you don't believe in rebirth then, I assume ?
If you are a rebirther, please can you explain how the baby can be close to the goal if it was a mass murderer in its last life? .Additionally, does a baby slug like 'all sentient beings' with 'Buddha Nature' also have 'closeness to the goal' ?
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I counselled care, Dazzle, because you made the statement baldly, whereas it is only a personal opinion. As you know, I'm sure, there are many who believe that a neo-nate's mind is a tabula rasa - another opinion.
That the baby's body/mind can be a mass of inherited characteristics, needs, drives, preformed growth, etc. and, at the same time, empty, clear and radiant is the fundamental paradox of the Mahayana and Original Blessing paradoxes.
I think that we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Simon. Different strokes for different folks as they say.:)
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That is no problem to me, Dazzle. I am never surprised or upset when others do not find themselves 'awakened' by the paradox as I was. As you say: "Different strokes..." That's what I love about the pilgrim way: lots of other paths meet it and veer off after we have spent a little of the journey together. I always go on the richer.