THINKING AT THE ROOT OF UNHAPPINESS: A Manifesto
Sorry I haven't kept up with this thread. I suck. I did, however, have some opportunities to clarify my worldview. Here's my manifesto.
THINKING AT THE ROOT OF UNHAPPINESS
It's not so much thinking, but the way thinking possesses us--the way it puts us in a trance. Thinking obstructs happiness and intuition. Not the intuition that Jung talked about, but the intuition that arises when you mentally STFU and are 100% honest with yourself about your situations, how you've been feeling, and more importantly, what you need to be doing in your life to get yourself back on track towards meaning and peace of mind. We you are this mentally still and quiet, you actually are happy, in a mild form or deep form. Intuition is just thought that resonates with that happiness. All thoughts, if you think about it, resonate with one's internal state. If you're feeling beauty, you see beauty everywhere. If you feel anger, you see what's lacking and frustrating about everything. Likewise, when you feel peace, you understand what's compatible with that peace. That's intuition.
Intuition is a type of thinking, sure, but very different from habitual, obsessive thought. Habitual thought leads you into possibilities. Habitual thought concerns gains, and it always thinks you have more to gain somewhere else. Even if you don't actually take action, your thoughts will harass you and make you feel uneasy and confused. Intuitive thought it the opposite. It's goal isn't gain but peace, and it doesn't tease you with endless possibilities. It knows what goals you really need for peace, not advancement.
There are 2 types of psychological disorders: disorders that arise from situation and disorders that arise from habitual thought and the compulsive, insatiable need for progress and gain. Personality disorder typically arise from habitual thought, i.e., from the need for gain and self-preservation though the particular gain might not be so apparent. Anxiety-based disorders concern ego maintenance and gain through the reduction and avoidance (or control) of fears. These fears threaten one's positive sense of self. I would classify most Axis II disorders (and other disorders that don't fall into the DSM's narrow, arbitrary scheme) as anxiety-based. Those thoughts concern thoughts of the future that protect the self. Other habitual thoughts that are fed to consciousness concern the past and are also intended to protect the sense of self by rehearsing threats to the person, the self, and threats to progress. It's habitual thought that creates the distress by replaying past and future scenarios and making the person lose touch with their inner joy and peace.
Other times situations cause distress and disrupt a person's path to meaning, peace and self-actualization. A bad job, a fractious family members, a bad living situation. Even here, thinking is the problem because it leads to confusion. Not thinking opens up intuitive channels and guides a person towards the "right" decision, "right" being defined as what ushers in peace and harmony.