Breaking Down is Waking Up

Psychiatrist Russell Razzaque asks if psychological suffering can be a spiritual gateway, answering the question in the affirmative. This is a particularly important question at a time when mental illness is on the rise and the journey recounted here is both a personal and clinical one of knowing oneself, waking up and transforming through treatment. An essential dynamic is the overcoming of the ego's intrinsic sense of separation, which the author considers to be an illusion. This becomes apparent as the journey towards and underlying Self is undertaken. He describes a wheel of awakening towards greater self-awareness and non-attachment. The mindfulness movement is playing an important role within a more secular context, but it is also important to cultivate compassion, both for others and oneself. The message of hope is that we break down so that we may wake up and we get lost so as to find ourselves again. The spiritual journey, as the author observes, is the journey of life itself.