Mental Health Versus Mysticism And Self-Sacrifice

Question 1

The standard of mental health- of biologically appropriate mental functioning- is the same as that of physical health:

Answer 1

MAN’S SURVIVAL AND WELL-BEING.

Question 2

A mind is healthy to the extent that its method of functioning is such as to provide man …?

Answer 2

With the control over reality that the support and furtherance of his life require.

Question 3

The hallmark of this control is …?

Answer 3

SELF-ESTEEM.

Question 4

Self-esteem is …?

Answer 4

THE CONSEQUENCE, EXPRESSION AND REWARD OF A MIND FULLY COMMITTED TO REASON.

Question 5

Reason, the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by the senses, is man’s basic tool of survival.

Commitment to reason is commitment to …?

Answer 5

1. To the maintenance of a FULL INTELLECTUAL FOCUS.
2. To the CONSTANT EXPANSION of one’s understanding and knowledge.
3. To the principle that one’s actions must be CONSISTENT WITH ONE’S CONVICTIONS.
4. That one must NEVER ATTEMPT TO FAKE REALITY or PLACE ANY CONSIDERATION ABOVE REALITY.
5. That one must NEVER PERMIT ONESELF CONTRADICTIONS.

==> One must never attempt to subvert or sabotage the proper function of consciousness.

Question 6

The proper function of consciousness is:

Answer 6

1. PERCEPTION.
2. COGNITION.
3. CONTROL OF ACTION.

Question 7

What is a healthy consciousness?

Answer 7

An UNOBSTRUCTED + INTEGRATED CONSCIOUSNESS.

Question 8

What is an unhealthy consciousness?

Answer 8

==> A BLOCKED + EVADING + TORN BY CONFLICT AND DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF.

==> A consciousness DISINTEGRATED BY FEAR or IMMOBILIZED BY DEPRESSION.

==> A consciousness DISSOCIATED FROM REALITY.

Question 9

In order to deal with reality successfully- to pursue and achieve the values which his life requires- man needs …?

Answer 9

SELF-ESTEEM.

==> HE NEEDS TO BE CONFIDENT OF HIS EFFICACY AND WORTH.

Question 10

What are the antipodes of self-esteem?

Answer 10

ANXIETY + GUILT.

==> INSIGNIA OF MENTAL ILLNESS.

==> DISINTEGRATORS OF THOUGHT.

==> DISTORTERS OF VALUES + PARALYZERS OF ACTION.

Question 11

When a man of self-esteem chooses his values and sets his goals, when he projects the long-range purposes that will unify and guide his actions…?

Answer 11

It is like a bridge thrown to the future, across which his life will pass.

==> A bridge supported by the conviction that his mind is COMPETENT TO THINK, TO JUDGE, TO VALUE, and that HE is worthy of enjoying values.

Question 12

This sense of control over reality is not the result of special skills, ability or knowledge.

==> It is NOT …?

Answer 12

Dependent of PARTICULAR SUCCESSES or failures.

==> It reflects one FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONSHIP TO REALITY, one’s conviction of FUNDAMENTAL EFFICACY and WORTHINESS.

==> It reflects the certainty that, in essence and in principle, ONE IS RIGHT FOR REALITY.

==> SELF-ESTEEM IS A METAPHYSICAL ESTIMATE.

Question 13

It is THIS psychological state that traditional morality makes IMPOSSIBLE, to the extent that a man accepts it.

Answer 13

NEITHER mysticism NOR the creed of self-sacrifice is compatible with mental health or self-esteem.

==> These doctrines are destructive EXISTENTIALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY.

Question 14

The maintenance of his life and the achievement of self-esteem require of man the fullest exercise of his reason- but morality, men are taught, rests on and requires …?

Answer 14

FAITH.

Question 15

Faith is …?

Answer 15

THE COMMITMENT OF ONE’S CONSCIOUSNESS TO BELIEFS FOR WHICH ONE HAS NO SENSORY EVIDENCE OR RATIONAL PROOF.

Question 16

When a man rejects reason as his standard of judgement, only one alternative standard remains to him:

Answer 16

HIS FEELINGS.

Question 17

A mystic is a man who …?

Answer 17

Treats his feelings as TOOLS OF COGNITION.

==> FAITH IS THE EQUATION OF FEELING WITH KNOWLEDGE.

Question 18

What is required to practice the “virtue” of faith?

Answer 18

One must be willing to:

1. Suspend one’s sight and one’s judgement.
2. To live with the unintelligible, with that which cannot be conceptualized or integrated into the rest of one’s knowledge.
3. To induce a trancelike illusion of understanding.
4. To repress one’s critical faculty and hold it as one’s guilt.
5. To drown any questions that rise in protest.
6. To strangle any trust of reason convulsively seeking to assert its proper function as the protector of one’s life and cognitive integrity

Question 19

Remember that all of man’s knowledge and all his concepts have hierarchical structure.

Answer 19

1. The foundation and starting point of man’s thinking are his SENSORY PERCEPTIONS.
2. On this base, man forms his FIRST CONCEPTS, then goes on building the edifice of his knowledge by IDENTIFYING AND INTEGRATING new concepts on a wider and wider scale.

Question 20

If man’s thinking is to be valid, this process must be guided by …?

Answer 20

Logic ==> “The art of noncontradictory identification”.

==> And any new concept man forms must be integrated WITHOUT CONTRADICTION into the hierarchical structure of his knowledge.

Question 21

To intoduce into one’s consciousness any idea that cannot be so integrated, an idea not derived from reality, not validated by a process of reason, not subject to rational examination or judgement-and worse:

An idea that clashes with the rest of one’s concepts and understanding of reality- is to …?

Answer 21

Sabotage the INTEGRATIVE function of consciousness, to undercut the rest of one’s convictions and kill one’s capacity to be certain of ANYTHING.

“The alleged shortcut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short circuit destroying the mind”.

Question 22

There is no greater self-delusion than to imagine that one can …?

Answer 22

Render unto reason that which is reason’s and unto faith that which is faith’s.

==> Faith CANNOT BE CIRCUMSCRIBED OR DELIMITED.

==> TO SURRENDER ONE’S CONSCIOUSNESS BY AN INCH IS TO SURRENDER ONE’S CONSCIOUSNESS IN TOTAL.

==> Either reason is an absolute to a mind or it is not- and if it is not, there is NO PLACE TO DRAW THE LIDE, no principle by which to draw it, no barrier faith cannot cross, no part of one’s life faith cannot invade.

==> ONE REMAINS RATIONAL UNTIL AND UNLESS ONE’S FEELINGS DECREE OTHERWISE.

Question 23

Faith is a MALIGNANCY that no system can tolerate with impunity;

Answer 23

And the man who succumbs to it, will call it in precisely those issues where he needs his reason most.

==> When one turns from reason to faith, when one rejects the absolutism of reality, one undercuts the absolutism of consciousness-

==> And one’s mind becomes an organ one cannot trust any longer.

==> It becomes what the mystics claim it to be: A TOOL OF DISTORTION.

Question 24

Man’s need of self-esteem entails the need for a sense of control over reality.

But …?

Answer 24

NO CONTROL IS POSSIBLE in a universe which, by one’s own concession:

1. Contains the supernatural, the miraculous and the causeless.
2. A universe in which one is at the mercy of ghosts and demons, in which one must deal, not with the unknown, but with the UNKNOWABLE.

==> No control is possible if man proposes, but a ghost disposes.

==> No control is possible if the universe is a haunted house.

Question 25

His life and self-esteem require that the object and concern of man's consciousness be reality and this earth. But morality, men are taught, consists of ...?

Answer 25

Scorning this earth and the world available to sensory perception... ==> and of contemplating, instead, a "different" and "higher" reality, a realm inaccessible o reason and incommunicable in language, but attainable by revelation, by special dialectical processes, by that superior state of intellectual lucidity known to Zen-Buddhist as "No-mind", or by death.

Question 26

There is only one reality- the reality knowable to ...?

Answer 26

Reason. And if man does NOT choose to perceive it, there is nothing else for him to perceive. ==> If it is not of this world that he is conscious, then he is not conscious AT ALL.

Question 27

The sole result of the mystic projection of "another" reality, is that ...?

Answer 27

IT INCAPACITATES man psychologically for this one.

Question 28

It was not by contemplating the transcendental, the ineffable, the undefinable- It was NOT BY CONTEMPLATING THE NON EXISTENT, that man ...?

Answer 28

Lifted himself from the cave and transformed the material world to make a human existence possible on earth.

Question 29

If it is a virtue to renounce one's mind, but a sin to use it; if it is a virtue to approximate the mental state of a schizophrenic, but a sin to be in intellectual focus; if it is a virtue to denounce this earth, but a sin to make it livable; if it is a virtue to mortify the flesh, but a sin to work and act; if it is a virtue to despise life, but a sing to sustain and enjoy it, then ...?

Answer 29

NO SELF-ESTEEM or control or efficacy are possible to man. ==> NOTHING IS POSSIBLE TO HIM, but the guilt and terror of a wretch caught in a nightmare universe. ==> A universe created by some metaphysical sadist who has cast man into a maze where the door marked "virtue" leads to SELF-DESTRUCTION and the door marked "efficacy" leads to SELF-DAMNATION.

Question 30

His life and self-esteem require that man take pride in his power to think, pride in his power to live, BUT MORALITY, MEN ARE TAUGHT, ...?

Answer 30

HOLDS PRIDE, AND SPECIFICALLY INTELLECTUAL PRIDE, AS THE GRAVEST OF SINS. ==> Virtue begins, men are taught, with HUMILITY: ==> With the recognition of the helplessness, the smallness, the impotence of one's mind.

Question 31

Is man omniscient?- demand the mystics. Is he infallible? Then how dare he challenge the word of God, or of God's representatives, and set himself up as the judge of-anything?

Answer 31

Intellectual pride is not-as the mystics preposterously imply it to be-a pretence at omniscience or infallibility. ==> On the contrary, PRECISELY BECAUSE MAN MUST STRUGGLE FOR KNOWLEDGE, precisely because the pursuit of knowledge requires an EFFORT, the men who assume this responsibility properly feel pride.

Question 32

Sometimes, colloquially, pride is taken to mean a pretense at accomplishments one has not in fact achieved.

Answer 32

But the braggart, the boaster, the man who affects virtues he does not possess, is NOT PROUD. ==> He has merely chosen the most humiliating way to reveal his humility.

Question 33

Pride is ...?

Answer 33

One's response to one's power to achieve values. ==> The pleasure one takes in one's own efficacy. ==> And it is this that the mystics hold as evil.

Question 34

But if doubt, not confidence, is man's proper moral state; if self-distrust, not self-reliance, is the proof of virtue; if fear, not self-esteem, is the mark of perfection; if guilt, not pride, is his goal, then ...?

Answer 34

MENTAL ILLNESS IS THE MORAL IDEAL. ==> The neurotics and psychotics are the highest exponents of morality, and the thinkers, the achievers, ARE THE SINNERS, those who are too corrupt and too arrogant to seek virtue and psychological well-being through the belief that they are UNFIT TO EXIST.

Question 35

Humility is, of necessity, ...?

Answer 35

The basic VIRTUE OF A MYSTICAL MORALITY. ==> IT IS THE ONLY VIRTUE POSSIBLE TO MEN WHO HAVE RENOUNCED THE MIND.

Question 36

Pride has to be earned.

Answer 36

It is the REWARD OF EFFORT AND ACHIEVEMENT. ==> But to gain the virtue of humility, one HAS ONLY TO ABSTAIN FROM THINKING-nothing else is demanded-and one will feel humble quickly enough.

Question 37

His life and self-esteem require of man loyalty to his values, loyalty to his mind and its judgments, loyalty to his life. But the essence of morality, men are taught, ...?

Answer 37

Consists of SELF-SACRIFICE. ==> The sacrifice of one's mind to some higher authority, and the sacrifice of one's values to whoever may claim to require it.

Question 38

It is not necessary, in this contexts, to analyze the almost COUNTLESS EVILS, entailed by the precept of self-sacrifice. Its irrationality and destructiveness have been thoroughly exposed in Atlas Shrugged. But there are 2 aspects of the issue that are especially pertinent to the subject of mental health. The first is ...?

Answer 38

THE FACT THAT SELF-SACRIFICE MEANS-AND CAN ONLY MEAN-MIND-SACRIFICE.

Question 39

A sacrifice, it is necessary to remember, means the surrender of a higher value in favor of a lower value or of a nonvalue. If one gives up that which one does not value in order to obtain that which one does value-or if one gives up a lesser value in order to obtain a greater one-this is NOT A SACRIFICE, BUT A ...?

Answer 39

GAIN.

Question 40

Remember further that all of man's values exist in a hierarchy.

Answer 40

He values some things more than others; and, to the extent that he is RATIONAL, the hierarchical order of his values is RATIONAL. ==> He values things in proportion to their importance in serving his life and well-being. ==> That which is inimical to his life and well-being, that which is inimical to his nature and needs as a living being, HE DISVALUES.

Question 41

Conversely, one of the characteristics of mental illness is a ...?

Answer 41

DISTORTED VALUE STRUCTURE. ==> The neurotic does not value things according to their objective merit, in relation to his nature and needs. ==> He frequently values the very things that will lead him to self-destruction. ==> Judged by objective standards, he is engaged in a chronic process of SELF-SACRIFICE.

Question 42

Do mystics declare that all they demand of man is that he sacrifice his HAPPINESS? To sacrifice one's happiness is to ...?

Answer 42

Sacrifice one's desires. ==> To sacrifice one's desires is to sacrifice one's values. ==> To sacrifice one's values is to sacrifice one's judgement. ==> To sacrifice one's judgement is to sacrifice one's mind. AND IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN THIS THAT THE CREED OF SELF-SACRIFICE AIMS AT AND DEMANDS.

Question 43

The root of selfishness is man's right-and need- to ...?

Answer 43

ACT ON HIS OWN JUDGEMENT. ==> If his judgement is to be an object of sacrifice-what sort of efficacy, control, freedom from conflict, or serenity of spirit will be possible to man?

Question 44

The 2nd aspect that is pertinent here, involved not only the creed of self-sacrifice but ...?

Answer 44

ALL THE FOREGOING TENENTS OF TRADITIONAL MORALITY.

Question 45

An irrational morality, a morality set in opposition to man's nature, to the facts of reality and to the requirements of man's survival, ...?

Answer 45

Necessarily forces men to accep the belief that there is an INEVITABLE CLASH BETWEEN THE MORAL AND THE PRACTICAL. ==> That they must choose EITHER TO BE VIRTUOUS OR TO BE HAPPY. ==> To be idealistic OR to be successful. BUT THEY CANNOT BE BOTH.

Question 46

This view establishes a ...?

Answer 46

DISASTROUS CONFLICT on the deepest level of man's being. ==> A lethal dichotomy that tears man apart. ==> It forces him to choose between making himself ABLE TO LIVE and making himself WORTHY OF LIVING. ==> YET SELF-ESTEEM AND MENTAL HEALTH REQUIRE THAT HE ACHIEVE BOTH.

Question 47

If man holds life on earth as the good, if he judges his values by the standard of that which is proper to existence of a rational being, then there is ...?

Answer 47

NO CLASH BETWEEN THE REQUIREMENTS OF SURVIVAL AND OF MORALITY. ==> HE ACHIEVES THE SECOND BY ACHIEVING THE FIRST.

Question 48

But there is a clash, if ...?

Answer 48

Man holds the renunciation of this earth as the good, the renunciation of life, of mind, of happiness, of self. ==> Under the ANTI-LIFE MORALITY, man makes himself worthy of living to the extent that he makes himself UNABLE TO LIVE. ==> And to the extent that he makes himself able to live, he makes himself UNWORTHY OF LIVING.

Question 49

The answer given by many defenders of traditional morality is: "Oh, but people don't have to go to extremes!"-...?

Answer 49

Meaning: "We don't expect people to be FULLY MORAL. We expect them to smuggle SOME self-respect into their lives. We recognize that people have to live after all."

Question 50

The defense, then, of this code of morality is ...?

Answer 50

That few people will be suicidal enough to attempt to practice it CONSISTENTLY. ==> HYPOCRISY is to be man's protector against his professed moral convictions. ==> What does THAT do to his self-esteem? ==> And what of the victims who are INSUFFICIENTLY HYPOCRITICAL?

Question 51

What of the child who withdraws in terror into an autistic universe because ...?

Answer 51

He cannot cope with the ravings of parents who tell him that he is guilty by nature, that his body is evil, that thinking is sinful, that question-asking is blasphemous, that doubting is depravity, and that he must obey the orders of a supernatural ghost because, if he doesn't, he will burn forever in hell?

Question 52

Or the daughter who collapses in guilt over ...?

Answer 52

The sin of not wanting to devote her life to caring for the ailing father who has given her cause to feel only hatred?

Question 53

Or the adolescent who flees into homosexuality because ...?

Answer 53

He has been taught that sex is evil and that women are to be worshiped, but not desired?

Question 54

Or the businessman who suffers from an anxiety attack because, ...?

Answer 54

After years of being urged to be thrifty and industrious, he has finally committed the sin of succeding, and is now told that it shall be easier for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?

Question 55

Or the neurotic who, in hopeless despair, gives up the attempt to solve his problems because ...?

Answer 55

He has always heard it preaches that this earth is the realm of misery, futility and doom, where no happiness or fulfillment is possible to man?