22/05/2022
Einstein said that if you can’t explain something simply it probably means that you don’t understand it.
Often the words that we use don’t help to explain simple but important things. Modern language often uses ancient words without knowing the original meaning, and then professionals monetize ancient wisdom by making it "medical science." This ends up harming a lot of people who need simplicity. Simplicity is needed for people to make progress.
Look at the picture I have given you. Although I like the categories of body, soul and spirit, these words complicate understanding. Let me propose these modern words: Body, balance and flow. The body's needs are helped by the wellness/sickness model. The intellect and emotions are helped by the balance model, and the world of energy inside and all around us is seen in how things flow (or are obstructed).
Presently, many people use the sickness model for all three categories. The body is sick, the emotions are sick, and everything around us that flows is either well or sick. The sickness model makes everything hard to understand. It is unscientific to do this.
Do we really want the sickness model to explain everything about human existence?fic.
Do we really want the sickness model explaining everything about human existence?
The other day, I was explaining the three models from ancient languages to a specialist in the Army. The Greeks expressed it in a way that we best know today: body, soul, spirit. So I was telling this young soldier about these 3 models, and I said something I had never said before as I was explaining it simply. I said, “in modern language, these words would be ‘ body, balance and flow.’” The three models are health and wellness, intellectual and emotional balance, and unhindered flow. The big mistake that Western thinking has made is to use health and wellness as pretty much the only model. That’s why we talk about behavioral health rather than balanced behavior or mental balance. Even our computers have viruses because that’s the main model of understanding our modern world. Computers don't have viruses and behavior is not sick or healthy. That notion of mental health (thanks to Sigmund Freud) is very new in human language. And how is it working for us? Are we getting closer to being better than our ancestors who lived without understanding "mental health" in the area of intellectual and emotional balance? Not at all! The modern world is experiencing a pandemic of suicidal behavior. People are more depressed than ever. The path to su***de is paved by depression.
That's all you need to read, but if you are interested, continue on. If you stop here, then please practice bodily wellness, balance in emotions/intellect, and get into the flow in all things. Keep it simple.
In this short article, I hope I can simplify what “mental health“ and “behavioral health” are. They seem hard to understand without the DSM5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental distorders, version 5) and mental health doctor-priests to interpret one's "sickness" from this "Bible" of disorders. Sorry, you will never understand you own psychology by the sickness model. It's impossibly complex because it is build on a foundation that ancient thinkers would have rejected. Simply stated, people do not have "mental disorders" but what we’re truly looking for is balance in our lives when it comes to our thinking and feeling and not “healthy” thinking. If it were health, we would have to go to a doctor to get it right because we are sick.
Let's get simple:
The other day, I was explaining the three models from ancient languages to a specialist in the Army. The Greeks expressed it in a way that we best know today: body, soul, spirit. So I was telling this young soldier about these 3 models, and I said something I had never said before as I was explaining it simply. I said, “in modern language, these words would be ‘ body, balance and flow.’” The three models are health and wellness, intellectual and emotional balance, and unhindered flow. The big mistake that Western thinking has made is to use health and wellness as pretty much the only model. That’s why we talk about behavioral health rather than balanced behavior or mental balance. Even our computers have viruses because that’s the main model of understanding our modern world. Computers don't have viruses and behavior is not sick or healthy. That notion of mental health (thanks to Sigmund Freud) is very new in human language. And how is it working for us? Are we getting closer to being better than our ancestors who lived without understand "mental health" in the area of intellectual and emotional balance? Not at all! The modern world is experiencing a pandemic of suicidal behavior. People are more depressed than ever. The path to su***de is paved by depression.
I have long been using these three models, but my biggest realization in trying to find simplicity was in the last word, using “flow“ for "spirit." The ancient words in many languages for "spirit" were mostly not theological; so "spirit" no longer is a good modern word. Spirit in Greek meant wind, breath and also "spirit" as we use the word. "Flow" is a better modern word. As I was explaining it to the young soldier, it occurred to me from the German term for bodily circulation, they have the word Kreislauf (circle-run). But look at how incredibly pervasive the entirety of creation is flowing in circles in good ways! The planets are three-dimensional circles and they are circling the sun. Even at the atomic level, we see electrons circling. Of course, the German word itself is talking about the circulation system in the body. Even "the system of circulation" literally means “the system of circling." From atoms to the universe, how Flow works is pretty amazing.
If you say "spirit is all around you," that confuses people and causes people to think you are a bit nuts or overly "spiritual." But "flow is all around you" makes more sense. It's a modern word that we understand. As I just mentioned, one of the common uses of “spirit “in Greek (pneuma) also meant “wind” in everyday usage. And what is the most powerful force of the wind? A cyclone. A cyclone is truly a vicious circle! The flow of water and wind was the most powerful sources of energy in the ancient world. Flow, man. You cannot deny the existence of Flow! The word for flow in Chinese is "Chi": The energy that flows in the body. Acupuncture unblocks the obstacles of flow or chi. Without spirit (flow) our highways have traffic jams, and monitory systems don't have enough cash in circulation. Without flow, our veins are clogged. And if you are not out circulating with others, your social system no longer is helping you to balance your thoughts and emotions. Without flow our conversations are dull or argumentative. If flow is working in your life, you are probably an ethical or spiritual person. That is the nature of living a life of Flow.
In three short phrases, the simplicity all comes together in with my hope for you today and every day:
May you be well.
May you be balanced in intellect and emotions.
May the Flow be with you, my friend.
Mark
PS. Looking for a coach for these three things in your life? Contact me at [email protected] or send a private message to me on FaceBook if you don't hear back from me.
