Meditation and Mental Illness

Absolutely. But it is best done under the wise supervision of a Master.

Usually it is recommended not to use any direct methods that involve manipulating the energy-body as this can cause more disturbance than one who is steeped in emotional and mental obscurations can deal with.

As such, the usual recommendation, from my understanding, is an emphasis on emptiness meditation. Simply become a watchful witness to your thoughts, emotions and sensations without dwelling on them.

This takes time.

As for bipolar disorder itself - people are already crazy, but they do not realize it. When emotions come out and people cry and scream, have massive mood swings with such suddenness, how can one say that is not madness?

When people constantly brood over the past, their expectations, their worries and delusional thoughts, how is that not madness?

When you flicker from one thought to the next and then the next and hundreds of new thoughts within the minute, being unable to control one's own mind - how is that not madness?

The holy path of mystics is a way of out of this madness.

I went from daily depressive and mood-swings every week to being much happier and stable every day. To give an example, I generally only get bad moods when big rhythms hit me around once a month, compared to every day to every other day. I get up in the morning happy and ready to face the day, and my life is already so much better. This is after 2.5 years of consistent hard work, going through many tests and challenges.

But is it worth it? In my opinion, absolutely. Is it easy? No. If it was, everyone would do it, but people shy awya from truly getting to know themselves and ridding themselves of being controlled puppies by the whim of one's monkey mind. Instead, you want the mind to be a slave to you, not you a slave to it.

But you need an iron will, and you need to learn detachment. You are neither your thoughts, nor your body's emotions, nor your past or your future. You can observe all of these as an impartial observer.

This is a good start. Find a teacher and a tradition you like, and follow the instructions very closely.

It is very important to work on lifestyle as a foundation if you want this to work.

This is all part of the Noble Eightfold Path if you follow Buddhism, or the Eight Limbs of Yoga - the first two steps are sila / discipline, or right speech, right action and right livelihood. In Yoga this goes under Yamas and Niyamas. There are many great articles on this online and I suggest you gradually steer your lifestyle toward a wholistic Path that integrates all these aspects of your life into a unison whole. As such, more balance will be had, and your meditation and ability to deal with what comes up (emotions and erratic thoughts) improves tremendously. This aspect is covered in every single tradition of mental and spiritual development.

This is all my opinion, I am not a teacher, and simply wish to share this with you in the hope it can help you get on your feet, instill the curiosity to do proper investigation and move your life toward a more wholesome fruitful direction.

I wish you the best of luck.

/r/Meditation Thread