Treat the part that is not schizophrenia

Related stories

• The man sentenced for having a cold

  In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls Samuel Butler's satire Erewhon, read as a student: a society where what we call crime is treated as sickness needing…

  Read full story▾▴

  there's a wonderful book written written over a hundred years ago it's called "Erewhon," by Samuel Butler. And apparently, that really influenced the great British playwright George Bernard Shaw. It changed the way he looked at some of these social problems and the reason why it was a very effective argument against the way we treat "criminals," or people who've done harm, with punishment, was that it used the satire. It envisaged a society in which, what we call crime today, is looked upon as being a sickness and therapy, therapy, therapy is the only response to crime. If somebody steals, they go and see a doctor. If somebody rapes, that's looked upon as being a sickness. Punishment is not really looked at at all. But somehow, a rehabilitation of trying to work out and remedy that glitch in human nature. But, when it came to health matters, if you were sick and ill, that was because you were careless and you were punished. Part of that book, a chapter which I will always remember, was of a court scene in which there was a poor man who had a cold. And when he had a cold (there's many colds going around right now [directed at audience], there's a cough already, you'd be in trouble in this society), because he had a cold he was in the dock, charged with being sick. And because he was sniffling, he had no defense and so the judge pronounced him guilty of having a cold and he, before he gave judgment, uh, sentence sorry, the punishment, he said, "This is not the first time you appeared before me, you were here last week or three weeks ago with a cold. I warned you then, if you don't eat better, take better care of your health, let go of your stress, it's your responsibility to be healthy and you have been negligent, and your cold is causing a danger to other people! You're being heedless, you're not caring for others, you're spreading your germs to other people, that's not appropriate, you should be punished: three years in jail for having a cold, being a repeat offender!

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• Alms offering on Pat Pong Road

  In brief: Western monks visiting Bangkok are taken to Pat Pong, the red-light district, where sex workers clean their premises, dress appropriately,…

  Read full story▾▴

  they'd just been a few weeks before to Pat Pong Road. The monks, for those of you who don't know Bangkok, Pat Pong Road was the red light district of Bangkok. Every year, well, this in those days, you know, these were prostitutes. They would clean up their um premises, dress appropriately because we monks are very sensitive and invite the monks to do an arms offering. You know, they wanted to make good karma as well. You know, feed the monks, you know, take the precepts for the day and then just, you know, make some uh charitable donations to the temple

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• Dismembered heads that could not be doubted

  In brief: An article Brahm read describes someone who lived through schizophrenia and came out wise and free: at the extreme they saw dismembered…

  Read full story▾▴

  I remember reading an article of a person describing their battle with schizophrenia and and just how they came out the other side just wise free living a beautiful life and they said that it was so extreme that sometimes they would see like heads dismembered heads rolling around the floor in front of them Visions which were totally irrationally logical which couldn't actually exist but to them it was obviously true that they had no way that they could doubt the logic the reason of a dismembered head rolling in front of them on the ground and I can understand that how that works once you have a certain world view once you really think that that's that that is actually the truth

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• The priest who recognised Buddhist monks

  In brief: Early Australia: asks a Catholic priest if 'monk/nun' is alright; priest says yes — not for robes or bald heads but for poverty, service…

  Read full story▾▴

  Catholic priest I got to know here say is it right are you happy that we call ourselves monks or nuns because that is like a Christian word and he said well look I've looked how you behave you know you ask simple you just have few possessions you know you're serving and being kind you have surrendered a lot he said we would recognize you as monks or nuns

  Open story page·Watch this telling