Classic 'Dark Night' or Clinical Issues

If a person seems to be perennially in Dark Knight territory.

I will.

First sort of ask them questions. I do my own little differential diagnosis, and try to determine if what they're going through is.

100% an artifact of the experience of emptiness through their practice or whether it's possible that there's just an element of regular.

Old fashioned depression anxiety that's involved I'll try to make a guess.

If I suspect that it's 100% based on practice, then I'll give my stand my standard treatment regimen for that which is Twofold. If the fact that everything is empty is freaking you out will clearly there's something that's not yet empty, which is your freak out, so use the momentum of emptiness to empty your freak out. That's

Sort of the 1st element in the prescription and the 2nd element in the prescription is well good now. You're nothing whatsoever. And this will give us natural basis from which you can literally reconstruct a new and better self through focus on positive practice and I look upon myself in that case as.

Something like a physical therapist that's going to have to constantly be prodding that person to do. The exercise that strengthens their atrophy aid human muscles, so to speak and we rebuild. Those muscles in a new and better way through focus assiduous and continuous focus on positive feel image talk so that's

What I do if I suspect that it's really the classic dark night of the soul or the classic pit of the void that is described on one hand and the Christian and on the other hand in the Buddhist traditions, however.

Usually that is not the case.

Usually if a person is bummed out burned out freaking out and so forth their subject to.

Unreasonable anxiety and unreasonable paralytic sadness and so forth.

Usually that is actually the result of psychological.

Elements So what I do is I never tell People that they should use psychotropic medications or anything like that often People will come to me. With that question should I go on Celexa Lexapro or what have you. I never tell People Oh yeah, I think you should? Do that because I'm not qualified to tell a person that.

But if I suspect that they may have a clinical depression or an anxiety disorder of some sort In other words, If I suspect that it's not 100% based on their practice. An usually I do. That is the case. Usually, I suspect that there could be just a plain old psychological even clinical biochemical aspect here.

If I suspect that that is possible. I strongly encourage People to go to a mental health professional and consider the possibility of standard treatments for these things which.

At this point is usually medications. I don't advocate, the medications but I definitely advocate being open to the possibility that they may need them, and encourage them to find a competent expert who can give them a differential diagnosis based on Western Medison and if need be prescribed. The meds now a lot of times People think Oh well, I shouldn't take these medications because it covers over the stuff.

I should just let it come up and deal with it well. Yeah, if you can productively deal with it. Sure, but remember the metaphor is exercise. It doesn't make any sense to attempt to bench press �200. The first day in the gym. You want to take manageable weights. If you have a clinical depression situation that is probably too much weight.

To try to be lifting on your own, without some reduction in intensity do too.

Through appropriate medication and anything that needs to come up will come up. I tell People that if you do have a clinical situation. You are already in a natural state. The meds will get you in some way closer to a natural state where it will be easier to do the meditative practice. Now it's true that psychotropic medications can have side effects. A person has to decide whether those side effects.

Are worth the main effect?

That's case by case person by person. But if they decide that the good effect is sufficient to justify the side effects, then I would say this.

You can those side effects only come up in touch feel image talk. You can use the mindfulness practice very productively to work with those side effects to purify consciousness to gain insight to reduce the suffering that they cause and so forth.