I started taking antidepressants around 1999, mostly for crippling anxiety (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). And they worked... but the side effects were rough (emotional numbness, worsening depression). Back then I was into "natural" stuff and grew to feel like taking these meds was not the right course for me. I quit, and the crippling anxiety came right back. Still, I was determined to do everything I could to stay off them. I did all the non-pharmaceutical things you're supposed to do -- exercise, diet, meditation, yoga, journaling, talk therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and on and on. After ten more years of immense suffering, not only for myself, but for those around me, I decided to go back on the meds. It had become impossible to continue on the way I had been. (In the meantime, I'd learned a lot about how they work, and learned simple ways of mitigating the side effects.) Within a few days I could feel my brain shifting back to a place of steadiness. It was a physical feeling. I could physically feel my brain trying to go to those dark places it had learned to go to... but then -- not actually arriving. Soon, the worst of my anxiety and depression were behind me. I take a few safe, over the counter nutritional supplements to balance the unhelpful side effects of the SSRI, and have finally, after a lifetime of intense suffering, found a balance that lets me get through life. I will always live with some degree of anxiety and depression, but without meds I'd be dead today. Not hyperbole. The whole universe is One Bright Pearl, and our paths, diverse though they may be, are never separate. The whole idea of "Can You Get Enlightened Whilst on Anti-Depressants" is ridiculous to me, unhelpful, and frankly dangerous. It's clickbaity junk that just drags Zen through the bullshit. Brad, you keep saying "not medical advice," "I don't know," "I don't think so" etc. Probably better not to muddy people's waters about something so important that you admit you have no firsthand experience with. Said with love.
I'm on antidepressants, and I haven't noticed a change in my meditation practice itself. However I have noticed that my desire to meditate decreased tremendously. But that's given me another opportunity to overcome sloth and torpor. But this is just my experience!
Another thought is that from what I understand, a headache is an acute condition whereas depression is a chronic one. Maybe not, but that's the theory behind taking antidepressants forever as I understand it.
Comparing mental disorders with headaches and a broken legs is not realistic. Yes, some people eventually get better to the point where they no longer need treatment, but for many people their disorder is chronic and the statistics show that many actually get worse with time and age. Comparing mental disorders to diabetes or heart conditions makes more sense.
Been on SSRIs for years. I know when its the antirepressants and when it isnt. My meditation isnt, in my view, on the effects of the medication. Its something else. Something bigger.
I have benefited from antidepressants and they were, indeed, a piece of a greater treatment. I have wondered whether meditation might hold some danger for the clinically depressed.
If you're interested in research around potentially negative effects from mediation, have a look at Jared Lindahl and Willoughby Britton's 2017 research in PloS ONE - it provides a comprehensive taxonomy of positive and negative experiences. Cheetah House also provides support for adverse meditation experiences. Not specifically aimed at people with depression, but could well be very relevant in that context.
Another follow up question, which you came very close to talking about but didn't really get into and I would love to hear your thoughts: why WOULD an antidepressant inhibit a kensho experience? As you say, a kensho experience is not a brain experience. So what could an antidepressant "mess up" if the relevant aspect of human consciousness does not depend on brain chemistry?
Do you have any fellow monks/teacher friends who have had kensho on antidepressants? This talk was very interesting, and it had lots of great food for thought on ancillary topics/questions, but the actual question itself might well be easy to answer by someone who has had different experiences than you have.
My old teacher made it seem like it was easier to have kensho on antidepressants, though he still looked down upon it. And don't the Sotoshu sell a miracle drug Dogen came up on by Kannon?
As far as not taking medical advice off the Internet goes I think that applies to a lot of things in life like for instance when you are talking about people who don't really know you and or don't really have a strong understanding of your personal and life situation. A doctor in order to give advice that is going to mean the most to you or be the most helpful to you there's certain things they've got to know about you and they got to sort of have to have some level of relationship or sense of connection to you even if it's not exactly equivalent of a friendship.You don't really get a sense of connection and you don't really get people who can gain a deeper grasp of who you are or what you went through on the Internet.Doctors, Therapist, professionals who deal with you and even friends are definitely quite helpful and useful especially when you compare them to random people online.
PART 2: 😂 How silly, C'MON BRO! Seriously? Can you experience Kensho if you're poor? Ignorant? Fat? Balding? Fugly? Shy? Inexperienced? Wealthy? Selfish? What if you dropped LSD when you were a teen? Can you Kensho? Can you if you slam danced to the oldies in a warehouse while Henry R screamed his lungs out about police brutality and rising above and Ian Mac bellowed the benefits of strait-edge? Gimme a break!! Are their prerequisites at all? How about we drop the judging dude and flip the frame: Under what circumstances are we MORE LIKELY to experience Kensho and should it be something we actively seek in the first place or is it something that just happens?
I"m surprised that Japanese don't like taking or are suspicious of things like anti-depressants. My ex-wife is Japanese, and in her family people took a whole lot of different medicines, her father in particular. I remember being horrified by how many prescription pills and powders the guy knocked down every morning. When I mentioned to them that it seemed like he took an awful lot, they used to joke about it and used an expression that I think wasn't exclusive to them: "kusurizuke", i.e., "pickled in medicine." From what I understood Japanese doctors are extremely free in prescribing medicines, in part because somehow doing so increases their own income. (Sorta like how for years doctors here used to benefit from prescribing Oxy to anybody who said they had pain.)
I've heard this too, about Japanese doctors prescribing loads of medicine. I can only say that in my own eleven years of seeing almost exclusively Japanese doctors in Japan, this didn't happen to me. In fact, I've had Japanese people say too me stuff like, "Oh you Americans, you're always taking lots of pills."
I'm glad you made a new video and addressed this more. I'm a fan of yours, but you lost me with this video. I feel like you were saying "If you want to get enlightened, stop taking your anti-depressants." Which is horrible advice. I've been taking mine for several years and I can't function without them. I know you didn't exactly say that, but that's what I inferred.
Hi Brad! Since this video is on a psychoactive drug and meditation, I will slip in this question I intented (probably will) to email you. Are you aware thru online research/personal/friends experience of the molecule 5Meo-DMT? I am asking about this molecule specifically because how the effect of awareness without content it provide very much speak to zen satori, taoism WU and Budhist Nirvana. And I am now fascinated to hear perspective from people of these lineage. May I add that a forcefull experience of the absolute void does indeed make you feel that yes: the everyday meditation practice with whatever content occurs is perfect as it is, (Seemingly at least) The Absolute forever is as it is, even a tiny glimpse of this is enought to apreciate this.
An excellent rendition of the singer-song writer/poet/zen monk Leonard Cohen, thank you. He and I are of the same generation. I was turned on to Mr. Cohen and his song 'Suzanne' while visiting one of my brothers in Seattle in the late 70's and have been a fan ever since. My favorite lifetime concert experience is being able to see Leonard preforming live late in his career. It was a bittersweet experience though because of the fact he was forced to return to touring after his manger/investment adviser stole his entire retirement savings during the time Mr. Cohen spent at Mount Baldy Zen Center. It's also a little known fact that he received no royalties from his second most popular song 'Suzanne'. His then early manger tricked he into signing away the right's to the song by having him sign two pieces of paper, the top copy being sone incidental form and the underneath copy being the rights to the royalties from 'Suzanne'
The way I sort of look at enlightenment and things like that is if you can reach that point then there is not likely a specific recipe or formula which can absolutely prevent you from or absolutely 100% enable you to reach that point however I do agree that in the case of medications or even other things there is simply stuff which makes it more likely to happen or less likely to happen or perhaps another way to word it is that there's not necessarily anything which makes enlightenment impossible there are simply things which could possibly make it easier or things which could possibly make it harder.
Can you get enlightenment whilst being gently clawed and nibbled on by a cat? Sorry, an odd question, but not meant to be a wisecrack. Monks and mystics are often ordinary working folk, not just monastics. Depressed people can awaken perhaps more than many who sit with intention. Enlightenment moments, fleeting as they are, might be for everyone, without regard for circumstances.
what the net is good for in terms of medicine is researching the side effects of pharmaceuticals which hardly anybody does it is usually eye opening, people seem unable to understand the nature of prescription medications is their toxicity and danger has to be balanced against beneficial effects in terms of treatment ! eg drugs for pancreatic cancer will kill you later than the cancer left unchecked
I'm 34 now and I read Hardcore Zen when I was 19, roughly when it was released. I've watched Star Trek TNG all the way through once, couldn't name a Neil Diamond song though I'm sure I know a few and Lenard Cohen is a name that I know. What is the average age of a Brad Warner content consumer???
It's not a one size fits all kind of answer. Firstly, I don't think the "kensho" many Zen practitioners speak of is the same thing as the "enlightenment" that other Buddhist schools (such as Theravada) speak of. But with that said, I think it also would depend upon two other main things: the individual person themselves, and also WHAT anti-depressant is being taken. Not all people are capable of "kensho" or "enlightenment" and not all anti-depressants are the same. With all that said, I believe it is absolutely possible for SOME people to experience kensho and/or Theravada's understanding of "enlightenment" while indeed taking anti-depressants, but again it would majorly depend upon the person, and the type of anti-depressant being taken. Consider this: this isn't too different from the question: "is it possible to get enlightened while drinking coffee or tea?"
I forget the name of the forrest dwelling monk, i think it was Ballaka, was praised by the Buddha for denying medicine and beating his sickness with mindfulness
PART I: NOPE!!😮 Alternatively, consider this. There are millions of people prescribed meds for long term, debilitating conditions, commonly called Chronically Mental Ill (or, CMI). For CMI, these symptoms are ORGANIC DEFICITS in nuerological functioning. The psychotropics CMIs are typically prescribed often return CMIs to "baseline." In many cases, one might describe this correction as a "normitive state," especially when combined with therapy. They create new neural pathways to detour cognitive distortions and maladaptive behaviors. I appreciate Brad that you repeatedly said you are not qualified to give advice. But the question ponders whether psychotropics blunt, block, or prohibit Kensho experiences? For CMI people, mood disorders ARE NOTHING like a "headache" over which you drop a couple of pills and the conditions pass. Neither is it a "crutch." Imagine your headache as a repeated series of blood clots. Suppose these clots affect your cognition. Next, suppose your doctor prescribed you a blood thinner to reduce the risk of future clots forming. If you stop taking the blood thinner, the deficit of your body's maladaptive nature will revert back to clotting. Surely, you'd take it forever, at the risk of your frontal lobes suffocating, rught? Even if you wouldn't, if someone with the same situation resolved themselves to the fact that they'd have to take blood thinners for the rest of their days, it would be a mischaracterisation to call them addicts, wouldn't it? This IS what it is like for the majority of CMIs with bona fide mood disorders ( *with the possible exception of Dsthymia, which may be short-term in duration for some patients). Anti-depressants are NOT "happy pills" that turn you into Sunshine Sally. We must stop perpetuating ignorance on this issue!! Given the right dosage negates deterimental perversions and cognitive distortions that thwart normative functioning. WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT CMIs ON APPROPRIATE LONG-TERM MEDS ARE MORE LIKELY, not less, TO ALLOW FOR AUTHENTIC KENSHO EXPERIENCES BECAUSE their medications stabilize neural deficits that result in distortion! Yes, I do think you should do a Q&A book - with a caveat that that you are at your best when you address things you have direct experience with. Please limit your statements to Kensho experiences - what does it feel like? Would you know if you had one? How might your world view change as a result? Is it a continued state of being or more like a glimpse of something as you walk by a department store window on a downtown jog? Would it always stay with you? Do you have to work to see/feel/sense/learn more? THISE are the questions I'd prefer you address.
They became annoying. Too many comments, mostly without any substance. I receive them in my email account and I had to waste several minutes every day deleting them.
Top marks from me for your deep singing voice - no need to go so deep, but maybe worth exploring further. I thought for a moment you were imitating Nick Cave, of whom I was once a big fanboy - having had an oceanic experience at one of his concerts (He was the wind, we were the sea)
There are lots of studies that show how anti-depressants are indistinguishable from a placebo. Also, the FDA approval process for drugs is quite bogus; you can basically trial a drug over and over until it passes. Not to mention, doctors don't understand how anti-depressants work exactly. The amount we know about serotonin is surprisingly little.
Even talking to a doctor is risky, some of them have never seen a healthy person. For a health issue I immediately got handed pills, not even a short talk about maybe doing some better life style choices.
Thanks for sharing your views on a sensitive subject. Don't listen to the haters. I lot of people have paid a lot of money for treatments and will believe until they day they die irregardless of new information.
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wPd7VFfWHIA/mqdefault.jpg)
I started taking antidepressants around 1999, mostly for crippling anxiety (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). And they worked... but the side effects were rough (emotional numbness, worsening depression). Back then I was into "natural" stuff and grew to feel like taking these meds was not the right course for me. I quit, and the crippling anxiety came right back. Still, I was determined to do everything I could to stay off them.
I did all the non-pharmaceutical things you're supposed to do -- exercise, diet, meditation, yoga, journaling, talk therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and on and on. After ten more years of immense suffering, not only for myself, but for those around me, I decided to go back on the meds. It had become impossible to continue on the way I had been. (In the meantime, I'd learned a lot about how they work, and learned simple ways of mitigating the side effects.)
Within a few days I could feel my brain shifting back to a place of steadiness. It was a physical feeling. I could physically feel my brain trying to go to those dark places it had learned to go to... but then -- not actually arriving. Soon, the worst of my anxiety and depression were behind me.
I take a few safe, over the counter nutritional supplements to balance the unhelpful side effects of the SSRI, and have finally, after a lifetime of intense suffering, found a balance that lets me get through life.
I will always live with some degree of anxiety and depression, but without meds I'd be dead today. Not hyperbole.
The whole universe is One Bright Pearl, and our paths, diverse though they may be, are never separate. The whole idea of "Can You Get Enlightened Whilst on Anti-Depressants" is ridiculous to me, unhelpful, and frankly dangerous. It's clickbaity junk that just drags Zen through the bullshit.
Brad, you keep saying "not medical advice," "I don't know," "I don't think so" etc. Probably better not to muddy people's waters about something so important that you admit you have no firsthand experience with. Said with love.
I don't see how asking a question could drag anything through the mud.
I'm on antidepressants, and I haven't noticed a change in my meditation practice itself. However I have noticed that my desire to meditate decreased tremendously. But that's given me another opportunity to overcome sloth and torpor. But this is just my experience!
When I was suffering from depression, Tim McCarthy told me to take my medication. So there's that.
In some cases I might say that, too. It depends.
Another thought is that from what I understand, a headache is an acute condition whereas depression is a chronic one. Maybe not, but that's the theory behind taking antidepressants forever as I understand it.
Comparing mental disorders with headaches and a broken legs is not realistic. Yes, some people eventually get better to the point where they no longer need treatment, but for many people their disorder is chronic and the statistics show that many actually get worse with time and age. Comparing mental disorders to diabetes or heart conditions makes more sense.
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. (Boethius, 480-524 AD)
Been on SSRIs for years. I know when its the antirepressants and when it isnt. My meditation isnt, in my view, on the effects of the medication. Its something else. Something bigger.
I have benefited from antidepressants and they were, indeed, a piece of a greater treatment.
I have wondered whether meditation might hold some danger for the clinically depressed.
If you're interested in research around potentially negative effects from mediation, have a look at Jared Lindahl and Willoughby Britton's 2017 research in PloS ONE - it provides a comprehensive taxonomy of positive and negative experiences. Cheetah House also provides support for adverse meditation experiences. Not specifically aimed at people with depression, but could well be very relevant in that context.
Had some interesting realizations whilst on anti depressant.
Could you elaborate?
Another follow up question, which you came very close to talking about but didn't really get into and I would love to hear your thoughts: why WOULD an antidepressant inhibit a kensho experience? As you say, a kensho experience is not a brain experience. So what could an antidepressant "mess up" if the relevant aspect of human consciousness does not depend on brain chemistry?
Do you have any fellow monks/teacher friends who have had kensho on antidepressants? This talk was very interesting, and it had lots of great food for thought on ancillary topics/questions, but the actual question itself might well be easy to answer by someone who has had different experiences than you have.
Great topic/approach for both videos and a book!
My old teacher made it seem like it was easier to have kensho on antidepressants, though he still looked down upon it. And don't the Sotoshu sell a miracle drug Dogen came up on by Kannon?
I've never heard about such a miracle drug! Dogen certainly doesn't mention it in his writings.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo 🎶👍
I like the idea of the questions book 👍
Tough question, nice job Brad.
I have had a Kensho experience whilst on anti-psychotics.
but can you get enlightened while juggling five bowling balls and riding a unicycle through a flaming hoop ?!?! 🤔
Shhhh... That's actually the ONLY way!
I've always wondered about that.
Evil Kenevil was the first. 😂
Follow up question: how important or valuable is a kensho experience in a zen student's development?
As far as not taking medical advice off the Internet goes I think that applies to a lot of things in life like for instance when you are talking about people who don't really know you and or don't really have a strong understanding of your personal and life situation. A doctor in order to give advice that is going to mean the most to you or be the most helpful to you there's certain things they've got to know about you and they got to sort of have to have some level of relationship or sense of connection to you even if it's not exactly equivalent of a friendship.You don't really get a sense of connection and you don't really get people who can gain a deeper grasp of who you are or what you went through on the Internet.Doctors, Therapist, professionals who deal with you and even friends are definitely quite helpful and useful especially when you compare them to random people online.
I think the real question is, why would you use something that artificially messes with you when you're working in that very same area for meditation?
PART 2: 😂 How silly, C'MON BRO! Seriously? Can you experience Kensho if you're poor? Ignorant? Fat? Balding? Fugly? Shy? Inexperienced? Wealthy? Selfish? What if you dropped LSD when you were a teen? Can you Kensho? Can you if you slam danced to the oldies in a warehouse while Henry R screamed his lungs out about police brutality and rising above and Ian Mac bellowed the benefits of strait-edge? Gimme a break!! Are their prerequisites at all?
How about we drop the judging dude and flip the frame: Under what circumstances are we MORE LIKELY to experience Kensho and should it be something we actively seek in the first place or is it something that just happens?
I"m surprised that Japanese don't like taking or are suspicious of things like anti-depressants. My ex-wife is Japanese, and in her family people took a whole lot of different medicines, her father in particular. I remember being horrified by how many prescription pills and powders the guy knocked down every morning. When I mentioned to them that it seemed like he took an awful lot, they used to joke about it and used an expression that I think wasn't exclusive to them: "kusurizuke", i.e., "pickled in medicine." From what I understood Japanese doctors are extremely free in prescribing medicines, in part because somehow doing so increases their own income. (Sorta like how for years doctors here used to benefit from prescribing Oxy to anybody who said they had pain.)
I've heard this too, about Japanese doctors prescribing loads of medicine. I can only say that in my own eleven years of seeing almost exclusively Japanese doctors in Japan, this didn't happen to me. In fact, I've had Japanese people say too me stuff like, "Oh you Americans, you're always taking lots of pills."
i feel like i have to remind you, the reader, that this is not medical advice
I'm glad you made a new video and addressed this more. I'm a fan of yours, but you lost me with this video. I feel like you were saying "If you want to get enlightened, stop taking your anti-depressants." Which is horrible advice. I've been taking mine for several years and I can't function without them. I know you didn't exactly say that, but that's what I inferred.
Hi Brad! Since this video is on a psychoactive drug and meditation, I will slip in this question I intented (probably will) to email you. Are you aware thru online research/personal/friends experience of the molecule 5Meo-DMT? I am asking about this molecule specifically because how the effect of awareness without content it provide very much speak to zen satori, taoism WU and Budhist Nirvana. And I am now fascinated to hear perspective from people of these lineage. May I add that a forcefull experience of the absolute void does indeed make you feel that yes: the everyday meditation practice with whatever content occurs is perfect as it is, (Seemingly at least) The Absolute forever is as it is, even a tiny glimpse of this is enought to apreciate this.
An excellent rendition of the singer-song writer/poet/zen monk Leonard Cohen, thank you.
He and I are of the same generation. I was turned on to Mr. Cohen and his song 'Suzanne' while visiting one of my
brothers in Seattle in the late 70's and have been a fan ever since. My favorite lifetime concert experience is being able to see Leonard preforming live late in his career. It was a bittersweet experience though because of the fact he was forced to return to touring after his manger/investment adviser stole his entire retirement savings during the time Mr. Cohen spent at Mount Baldy Zen Center. It's also a little known fact that he received no royalties from his second most popular song
'Suzanne'. His then early manger tricked he into signing away the right's to the song by having him sign two pieces of paper,
the top copy being sone incidental form and the underneath copy being the rights to the royalties from 'Suzanne'
You nailed Leonard Cohen!
The way I sort of look at enlightenment and things like that is if you can reach that point then there is not likely a specific recipe or formula which can absolutely prevent you from or absolutely 100% enable you to reach that point however I do agree that in the case of medications or even other things there is simply stuff which makes it more likely to happen or less likely to happen or perhaps another way to word it is that there's not necessarily anything which makes enlightenment impossible there are simply things which could possibly make it easier or things which could possibly make it harder.
Guys, Kensho and Satori experiences are just Japanese words for Ziggy! One needs to own a Ziggy to attain enlightenment.
Can you get enlightenment whilst being gently clawed and nibbled on by a cat? Sorry, an odd question, but not meant to be a wisecrack. Monks and mystics are often ordinary working folk, not just monastics. Depressed people can awaken perhaps more than many who sit with intention. Enlightenment moments, fleeting as they are, might be for everyone, without regard for circumstances.
As a mystic I would like you to know that there is no "regular ordinary working folk"
@@nornalhumsn7167Oy this guy...
As a regular ordinary person I want you to know that there is no such thing as a mystic
I think it was Shinzen that said 'whatever needs to come up will come up' even though youve taken drugs...
what the net is good for in terms of medicine is researching the side effects of pharmaceuticals which hardly anybody does
it is usually eye opening, people seem unable to understand the nature of prescription medications is their toxicity and danger has to be balanced against beneficial effects in terms of treatment !
eg drugs for pancreatic cancer will kill you later than the cancer left unchecked
I'm 34 now and I read Hardcore Zen when I was 19, roughly when it was released. I've watched Star Trek TNG all the way through once, couldn't name a Neil Diamond song though I'm sure I know a few and Lenard Cohen is a name that I know. What is the average age of a Brad Warner content consumer???
mid 30s im sure 😂
I think the song is by Neil Young not Neil Diamond.
It's not a one size fits all kind of answer. Firstly, I don't think the "kensho" many Zen practitioners speak of is the same thing as the "enlightenment" that other Buddhist schools (such as Theravada) speak of. But with that said, I think it also would depend upon two other main things: the individual person themselves, and also WHAT anti-depressant is being taken. Not all people are capable of "kensho" or "enlightenment" and not all anti-depressants are the same. With all that said, I believe it is absolutely possible for SOME people to experience kensho and/or Theravada's understanding of "enlightenment" while indeed taking anti-depressants, but again it would majorly depend upon the person, and the type of anti-depressant being taken. Consider this: this isn't too different from the question: "is it possible to get enlightened while drinking coffee or tea?"
I forget the name of the forrest dwelling monk, i think it was Ballaka, was praised by the Buddha for denying medicine and beating his sickness with mindfulness
Do you think the experience is more likely with psychedelics? Or would it be the same answer as just a chemical
PART I: NOPE!!😮
Alternatively, consider this. There are millions of people prescribed meds for long term, debilitating conditions, commonly called Chronically Mental Ill (or, CMI). For CMI, these symptoms are ORGANIC DEFICITS in nuerological functioning. The psychotropics CMIs are typically prescribed often return CMIs to "baseline." In many cases, one might describe this correction as a "normitive state," especially when combined with therapy. They create new neural pathways to detour cognitive distortions and maladaptive behaviors. I appreciate Brad that you repeatedly said you are not qualified to give advice. But the question ponders whether psychotropics blunt, block, or prohibit Kensho experiences? For CMI people, mood disorders ARE NOTHING like a "headache" over which you drop a couple of pills and the conditions pass. Neither is it a "crutch." Imagine your headache as a repeated series of blood clots. Suppose these clots affect your cognition. Next, suppose your doctor prescribed you a blood thinner to reduce the risk of future clots forming. If you stop taking the blood thinner, the deficit of your body's maladaptive nature will revert back to clotting. Surely, you'd take it forever, at the risk of your frontal lobes suffocating, rught? Even if you wouldn't, if someone with the same situation resolved themselves to the fact that they'd have to take blood thinners for the rest of their days, it would be a mischaracterisation to call them addicts, wouldn't it? This IS what it is like for the majority of CMIs with bona fide mood disorders ( *with the possible exception of Dsthymia, which may be short-term in duration for some patients). Anti-depressants are NOT "happy pills" that turn you into Sunshine Sally. We must stop perpetuating ignorance on this issue!! Given the right dosage negates deterimental perversions and cognitive distortions that thwart normative functioning. WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT CMIs ON APPROPRIATE LONG-TERM MEDS ARE MORE LIKELY, not less, TO ALLOW FOR AUTHENTIC KENSHO EXPERIENCES BECAUSE their medications stabilize neural deficits that result in distortion! Yes, I do think you should do a Q&A book - with a caveat that that you are at your best when you address things you have direct experience with. Please limit your statements to Kensho experiences - what does it feel like? Would you know if you had one? How might your world view change as a result? Is it a continued state of being or more like a glimpse of something as you walk by a department store window on a downtown jog? Would it always stay with you? Do you have to work to see/feel/sense/learn more? THISE are the questions I'd prefer you address.
I cannot answer any of the questions you want me to answer. But I might try anyway.
Thanks Brad!
Agreed in full. Thank you so much for this passionate but clear response, @notpub.
the fact that the comments are turned off for the jelly fish video is really sus
They became annoying. Too many comments, mostly without any substance. I receive them in my email account and I had to waste several minutes every day deleting them.
Enjoyed your intro song Brad lol
And don't take this guy's medical advice everyone!!!!1!!1!
You really shouldn't be giving medical advice. I hope no one is listening! ;)
Didn't watch the video yet but already ready to recieve a NOPE.
Is there just one Enlightenment, period, or, as one teacher put it, many aspects (or facets) to Truth?
Are you kenshoing today? Or do you more feel like satoriing? Or maybe tomorrow?
Top marks from me for your deep singing voice - no need to go so deep, but maybe worth exploring further. I thought for a moment you were imitating Nick Cave, of whom I was once a big fanboy - having had an oceanic experience at one of his concerts (He was the wind, we were the sea)
How bout a book that turns the lotus sutra into an action fantasy thing.
Today I learned how to say doobildedoo in japanese. 😁
What do you mean by “getting” enlightened, like it’s an attainment?
That's what people think.
Ziggy is the most potent antidepressant there is. Addictive af too!
If you have no sense of self, can't be depressed.
mmm try a hangover ?
@@notpub what is the sound of one hog washing?
@@colonelbrandoHilarious m'brother!
@@colonelbrando Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?
lol
Nope. Not into Len.
Neil was ok.
They're both Canadian! How can you like one and not the other?
i thought the Q & A was interesting
Ghasso.
That's the most cheesy acting I've ever seen!
Just stop this
There are lots of studies that show how anti-depressants are indistinguishable from a placebo. Also, the FDA approval process for drugs is quite bogus; you can basically trial a drug over and over until it passes. Not to mention, doctors don't understand how anti-depressants work exactly. The amount we know about serotonin is surprisingly little.
Even talking to a doctor is risky, some of them have never seen a healthy person. For a health issue I immediately got handed pills, not even a short talk about maybe doing some better life style choices.
That doc sounds sus
Thanks for sharing your views on a sensitive subject. Don't listen to the haters. I lot of people have paid a lot of money for treatments and will believe until they day they die irregardless of new information.