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The Definition of Health on the Mental-Spiritual Level

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The Definition of Health on the Mental-Spiritual Level

To give a concise definition of health on the mental-spiritual plane is a rather difficult task because one must identify the most important mental-spiritual qualities, which if disturbed may seriously injure the mental equilibrium.

After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that peace of mind can be drastically affected by egotism, selfishness, and acquisitiveness. The more egotistical and selfish an individual is, the greater his potential for mental derangement.

It is a known fact that a person who is very egotistical can be quite upset when his authority, knowledge or attainments are challenged. A humble man with the same attainments will hardly react to the unjust criticism of others, and will actually see the positive side of the criticism and correct his course of action accordingly. The same “shocks” that can set off an egotist and destroy him can leave a humble man almost unaffected.

An egotistical industrialist who fails in his business and loses his factory cares more about the opinion that others now have of him than the fate of the families, including his own, that will have no means to support themselves. It is his ego that has been hurt. Even if he has plenty to live on without the factory, he will feel miserable after the failure and is bound to develop a host of symptoms because of his “false” and selfish grief.

In a similar way, acquisitiveness could become the core of mental disturbance. Can you imagine how an avaricious man might react to the loss of his physical wealth and the deep symptomatology that could result?

Hardly anyone today is totally free from the feelings of egotism, selfishness, and acquisitiveness.

It is also a fact that the person engrossed in his own ego can neither see objectively nor perceive the truth. He thinks he always knows everything and knows it better than anyone else. Humanity has suffered great disasters because of such attitudes. Looking back in history we frequently recognize this quality and label it insanity.

We speak about the insanity of Hitler, Idi Amin Dada, even of the captain in charge of the Titanic whose arrogance cost the lives of hundreds. In our own way, every one of us is dealing with similar issues on a smaller scale. This “disease” called egotism and selfishness seems to be universal. That is why we are so likely to admire and worship the saints; we believe that they actually managed to subdue their egotism and sacrifice their own lives for the sake of others. We worship them as “superior” human beings because their accomplishment seems beyond our comprehension. Although rare, this “saint-like” attitude is the healthiest to possess; in such a state true peace of mind and happiness is achieved.

It is peculiar, though, that this state of health can only be achieved through conscious efforts of the individual, while the state of health of the physical body is a birthright.

There is a natural legacy and an inherent urge for human beings to evolve into people of “Love and Wisdom.” Only then A New Model For Health and Disease will there be hope for the human race. Not until we start seeing the issue in all of its dimensions will there be hope for a better state of health.

This imbalance we feel on the mental-spiritual plane is perhaps the most challenging and complicated issue we have to face. Nobody is exempt from this imbalance, though there are different degrees. The greater an individual’s egotism and selfishness, the greater are his possibilities for a mental break- down.

We can therefore define mental health as: Freedom from selfishness in the mental sphere, having as a result total unification with Truth.

So now we summarize the whole definition of Health: Health is freedom from pain in the physical body, a state of well being; freedom from passion on the emotional plane, resulting in a dynamic state of serenity and calm; and freedom from selfishness in the mental sphere, having as a result total unification with Truth. A truly healthy indi- vidual should therefore combine both divine qualities of Love and Wisdom.

It is obvious that such a state of health is an ideal and that nobody can possess it in its entirety; but the defination points to an ideal Model of health toward which therapeutic treatments should aspire. The more a patient under treatment approaches this state, the healthier he becomes; and the more he moves away from it, the less healthy he becomes.