I'm depressed, one person says. I feel anxious, says another. My relationships don't work out the way I want them to, says a third. I can't stop drinking. I can't get over the death of my spouse. I'm afraid all the time. I lack direction. I'm consumed by anger.
To the extent that any of these conditions are not simply chemical imbalances that can be successfully and happily treated with allopathic, herbal, homeopathic or other medications, or with changes in diet, or with other bio-chemical or neuro-biological interventions, we are left with the necessity to engage in some form of self inquiry in order to seek out and discover where we are lacking in wisdom. Where we are living our lives in ways that promote psychological (and emotional and spiritual) imbalance and distress instead of balance and well being.
So let's think of psychotherapy - applied philosophy - as dealing essentially with self inquiry, and inquiry into the nature and experience of wisdom, along with the methods for translating the discoveries of these inquiries into pragmatic action and behavior in the service of providing the lived experience of happiness. Some actions are likely to produce unhappiness, and others are likely to produce the opposite. And more than that, we encounter the subtleties of "not black and white", or the art of happiness, alive, dynamic, shifting, vital and vibrant and complex.
Wisdom is more than mere knowledge. It is not enough to have information at our disposal (even, I'm afraid, in this, the great Information Age); it is necessary to truly understand, to truly see into the nature of Reality, so that we can live our lives in accordance with this Reality, in harmony with It. This is wisdom, and this is the way to happiness and well being.
