Poor vs Rich - the happiness factor?
Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 1:15 pm
It seems to me that very often in these discussions of comparisons between poor and rich, developed and developing societies etc., the issue of happiness falls between the cracks. Homeopaths know that any attempt to heal must lead to levels of increased happiness in order to achieve true cure. Even conventional medicine is beginning to acknowledge the fact, although they tend to put the enzymes (cart) before the spiritual sensations (horse), and give psychiatric drugs to depressed people.
Part of the problem in today's confused society is that happiness has become synonymous with elements like wealth, appearance, status, and people have lost the ability to recognize happiness when they experience the stirrings of it. The de rigeur cynicism of the age means that it's become banal to admit to happiness, to grin walking down the road on a spring day with trees in full flower, to allow oneself to smile more.
When I was a student there were a lot of discussions about the differences between health and disease, but I don't remember happiness figuring largely in the discussion. Part of the problem for patients is often a refusal to recognize the buds of their own happiness because their health isn't so good, because their relationships are far from perfect, because their lives are hard. I believe that being able to recognize these buds and to allow them to flower is an essential part of cure, and I'm wary of generalisations about poor/rich or developed/developing societies that assume that all personal individual experience is included within cultural definitions.
One of my teachers once told me that she moved her family away from the polluted city to live an organic life in more natural surroundings, but after several years of breathing pure air she realized that they would have to move back. It wasn't healthy for her family to be away from their social peers, they were not happy. For this family, the spiritual and physical pollution of the city provided a healthier environment than the organically correct countryside. This demonstrated for me the difficulties of determining obstacles to cure in the modern world, and the necessity to emphasize the importance of happiness, often in the face of health logic, in determining the route to health.
To me, in terms of what to do about the situation, part of the answer is to emphasize the importance of happiness - not in meditational tranquility but in the everyday elements of life. A patient recently said that a remedy had helped her to laugh again - it wasn't important what she was laughing about, only that she'd managed to touch her internal happiness.
Vera Resnick
Simon King wrote:
This conversation reminds me of books that came out in my early
twenties "Future Shock" and "Super nature" - if I have remembered the
names and content right - they discussed these very issues, way way
back then. (70's)
Sadly as then, I think 'what can be done about it?'
I have not had the pleasure of practicing outside Europe but many
colleagues have commented similarily that when treating Px in the
'under developed ' countries they respond much more thoroughly and
faster to homeopathy, and they have been stunned at the level of
pathology that has shifted
Simon
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Part of the problem in today's confused society is that happiness has become synonymous with elements like wealth, appearance, status, and people have lost the ability to recognize happiness when they experience the stirrings of it. The de rigeur cynicism of the age means that it's become banal to admit to happiness, to grin walking down the road on a spring day with trees in full flower, to allow oneself to smile more.
When I was a student there were a lot of discussions about the differences between health and disease, but I don't remember happiness figuring largely in the discussion. Part of the problem for patients is often a refusal to recognize the buds of their own happiness because their health isn't so good, because their relationships are far from perfect, because their lives are hard. I believe that being able to recognize these buds and to allow them to flower is an essential part of cure, and I'm wary of generalisations about poor/rich or developed/developing societies that assume that all personal individual experience is included within cultural definitions.
One of my teachers once told me that she moved her family away from the polluted city to live an organic life in more natural surroundings, but after several years of breathing pure air she realized that they would have to move back. It wasn't healthy for her family to be away from their social peers, they were not happy. For this family, the spiritual and physical pollution of the city provided a healthier environment than the organically correct countryside. This demonstrated for me the difficulties of determining obstacles to cure in the modern world, and the necessity to emphasize the importance of happiness, often in the face of health logic, in determining the route to health.
To me, in terms of what to do about the situation, part of the answer is to emphasize the importance of happiness - not in meditational tranquility but in the everyday elements of life. A patient recently said that a remedy had helped her to laugh again - it wasn't important what she was laughing about, only that she'd managed to touch her internal happiness.
Vera Resnick
Simon King wrote:
This conversation reminds me of books that came out in my early
twenties "Future Shock" and "Super nature" - if I have remembered the
names and content right - they discussed these very issues, way way
back then. (70's)
Sadly as then, I think 'what can be done about it?'
I have not had the pleasure of practicing outside Europe but many
colleagues have commented similarily that when treating Px in the
'under developed ' countries they respond much more thoroughly and
faster to homeopathy, and they have been stunned at the level of
pathology that has shifted
Simon
ATTENTION PLEASE:
The Minutus Group is established purely for the promotion of Homoeopathy and educational benefit of its members. It makes no representations regarding the individual suitability of the information contained in any document read or advice or recommendation offered which appears on this website and/or email postings for any purpose. The entire risk arising out of their use remains with the recipient. In no event shall the minutus site or its individual members be liable for any direct, consequential, incidental, special, punitive or other damages whatsoever and howsoever caused.
****
ATTENTION PLEASE!!
If you do not wish to receive individual emails, send a message with the subject of 'Digest' to ashahrdar@yahoo.com to receive a single daily digest.
---------------------------------
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