Θρησκεία και ψυχιατρική ή "Leave nothing for death but a burned-out castle"

Διάβασα σήμερα την ομιλία του Irvin Yalom κατά τη βράβευση του από την Ένωση των Αμερικανών Ψυχιάτρων στη Νέα Ορλεάνη το 2000. Αφορά το ότι οι θρησκείες και η ψυχιατρική πραγματεύονται περίπου τα ίδια κεντρικα ζητήματα και εξετάζει τις διαφορετικές τους προσεγγίσεις σε αυτά. Κάποια σημεία μου φάνηκαν πολύ ενδιαφέροντα και τα παραθέτω εδώ:

περί θρησκείας και επιστήμης:

"I felt sympathetic to Schopenhauer’s metaphor of religion being like a glow worm that was only visible in the darkness. Schopenhauer predicted, incidentally, that once the light of scientific insight dispelled the darkness of ignorance, religions would shrivel. Given the current resurgence of religious belief in the United States, it’s very curious how far off the mark was this prediction."...
"It’s not easy to acknowledge one’s lack of belief in this country today – where over 80% of Americans profess on the Gallup poll to believe in life after death. These figures are, as we know, vastly higher than reported rates from any other nation. Anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of people in France, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Japan and the Czech Republic believe that there is, alas, no life after death. Only 3% of Americans will say they don’t believe in God in contrast to 6-7 times that number in European countries."

περί ψυχοθεραπείας και θρησκείας:

"Four ultimate concerns, to my view, are highly germane to psychotherapy: death, isolation, meaning in life, and freedom."...

το νόημα της ζωής...

"I recently read a beautiful book called “The Listener,” the memoirs of Alan Wheelis, the San Francisco psychoanalyst and marvelous lyrical writer. One passage relevant to this discussion has stuck in mind. The author is walking with his dog, Monty:
If then I bend over and pick up a stick, he is instantly before me. The great thing has now happened. He has a mission… It never occurs to him to evaluate the mission. His dedication is solely to its fulfillment. He runs or swims any distance, over or through any obstacle, to get that stick.And, having got it, he brings it back: for his mission is not simply to get it but to return it. Yet, as he approaches me, he moves more slowly. He wants to give it to me and give closure to his task, yet he hates to have done with his mission, to again be in the position of waiting.For him as for me, it is necessary to be in the service of something beyond the self. Until I am ready he must wait. He is lucky to have me to throw his stick. I am waiting for God to throw mine. Have been waiting a long time. Who knows when, if ever, he will again turn his attention to me, and allow me, as I allow Monty, my mood of mission?"

ο θάνατος... [ "dying remains the loneliest of human experiences" ]

Η ψυχιατρική υιοθετεί την ιδέα ότι "still another way to put it is that though the physicality of death destroys us, the idea of death can save us" ( in the sense that the confrontation with the idea of death creates a dramatic perspective-altering opportunity ) προκειμένου να βοηθήσει τον άνθρωπο να σταθεί αντιμέτωπος με το θάνατο. Οι θρησκείες από την άλλη
"for the most part the believer is offered powerful consolation through the denial of the finality of death – through the idea of the survival of the soul, through judgment, redemption, and paradise, through reunion with loved ones, and with God, through reincarnation, through merging with the universal life force."

πως οι θρησκείες "απαντούν" στο ζήτημα της απομόνωσης:

"Religion provides powerful forms of connectivity. A religious person is offered the consolation of a personal eternally observing deity, who is not only aware of his/her existence but also promises ultimate reunion – with lost loved ones, with the Godhead, with the universal life force. And of course it is readily apparent that organized religion provides connectivity through community: the church provides a stable congregation of like-minded individuals, sponsors enormous numbers of small groups including social groups, special interest groups, bible study, book groups, marriage encounter groups, singles groups. Large numbers of individuals undoubtedly join the religious community for reasons of social connectivity rather than allegiance to the substance of a particular religious doctrine."

Ολόκληρο το κείμενο βρίσκεται εδώ

Κι αν κάποιος αναγνωρίζει τον αφορισμό στον τίτλο (είναι του Καζαντζάκη) πολύ θα με ενδιέφερε η ελληνική εκδοχή...

Πάω να βρω κάνα κόκκαλο για να κυνηγάω αύριο...