Self-help techniques and tips

bluemason3 said:If someone needs psychological help, they should just go to psychotherapy.

If they’re paying for any kind of expert advice—whether it's alternative methods or "orthodox" ones—they have every right to expect pure professionalism. If someone is charging people just to indoctrinate them into a cult, they’re a total idiot.

If someone needs any kind of professional help that they’re paying for (whether it’s alternative or "orthodox") then they definitely have a right to expect a purely professional service. If someone is charging them money just to indoctrinate them into a cult, they’re honestly an idiot.

bluemason3 said:What does the Bible have to do with any of this?

There are countless different schools of psychotherapy out there, but if they want to be taken seriously, they have to pass specific vetting processes. They’re managed by professionals who follow strict regulations, which I think is a completely different ballgame than a religious group.

And what's the connection between how long a religion has existed and its validity? Over all those years, beliefs have constantly shifted as people searched for new answers. It isn't some unchanging, monolithic block...

Besides, for thousands of years, people believed gods controlled the rain or that humans were formed from anything and everything—from dust to corn. Does that mean we should still believe that stuff more than actual objective evidence?

I guess it’s more about lost knowledge buried in different translations than it is about actual differences in belief. Like, when people talk about Egyptians back in the day, they weren't necessarily worshiping specific deities; it was more like they were talking about certain universal principles or forces. I think this whole idea of "polytheism" was mostly framed by outsiders who looked at the worship of human-like or animal-like figures and just labeled it as multiple gods. If you look at the zodiac, for instance, it seems more like an early attempt at science—trying to make sense of the world. People were observing everything from diet to seasonal shifts through the lens of these eternal principles. Even when you look at those old Greek "gods," a huge part of their identity was basically just personifying human emotions. A lot of that religious thought was tied to astrology and trying to find the link between nature and humanity—basically how these "gods" influenced people's lives. In a way, it was ancient psychology or even early understandings of energy flows coming from the East. Certain customs probably started out as ways to prevent disease (like basic hygiene rules) or to build the mindset of a warrior—and I don't just mean muscle and weapons, but mental toughness too. It was about keeping a community organized. Religion was really just a vehicle for gaining knowledge. If someone said the gods brought the rain, they were probably just observing that certain seasonal cycles lead to rainfall and flooding, which is vital for farming. I heard a story once about an eminent Greek scholar in Egypt who was told the Nile flooded because of melting snow, and he basically called that idea total madness. Some things were personified, while others were represented symbolically by animals—using certain traits of an animal to explain a cosmic principle. But since most regular folks weren't deep into astrological studies or priestly secrets, rituals eventually turned into festivals, trade days, and social gatherings rather than deep acts of devotion. That’s where the forgetting happens, especially during political upheavals. Just like how Stalin wiped out anyone who didn't fit his agenda, astronomers and scholars throughout history have been purged during political reforms. Festivals and cultural identities survived, but the core knowledge either vanished or got twisted by whoever was in power. There was also a lot of "secret knowledge" kept away from enemies or the uninitiated. As communities grew from small tribal groups into massive kingdoms and empires, these "gods" were reinterpreted to serve the goal of national unity. Different groups fought each other over what was considered "sacred," which usually boiled down to what they ate, what they wore, or how they used local resources. So, polytheism became this weird mix used to buy peace or assert dominance—it shifted from being about nature to being a tool for political control. In the end, I feel like a lot of religions aren't even original. They’re often just compilations of elements from older ones, which creates this total chaos of interpretation. You see it when one dominant religion tries to smear another by highlighting tiny, insignificant differences just to make itself look better, even if they actually share the same roots.

Using the Bible as an illustration for the point you made—where the same tactics used to smear smaller cults are actually present within mainstream Christianity—makes sense. I guess indoctrination starts from a very young age; churches and clergy get paid for all sorts of things, and nowadays, the government even steps in to help manage that. Whether it’s indoctrination for a tiny sect or a major religion, it's pretty much the same thing. When they were smaller, they just asked more from their members.

But getting back to the main point, if we're talking about confessing to a priest or a psychologist, you're really talking to professionals, since both are people trying to make a living. However, if we were to frame anything that smells like "self-help" as something less serious, we’d run into that same biblical example again; which brings me back to technique number 1.

Matthew 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Matthew 6:18 so that people don't see that you are fasting, but only your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Luke 11:1 Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

Luke 6:12 On those days he went out to a mountain to pray. And he spent the night praying to God.

There’s that old song "Only in God I Trust"; regarding that, humans usually function through various interactions and circumstances that aren't always exactly pleasant. In trying to find where they stand, all kinds of conflicts arise, along with an inability to communicate assertively even with those closest to them. So, maybe God comes in as a method for searching for one's true self. Since every faith is defined by doubt—because it's not about absolute knowledge—the idea of whether God exists and how we define that concept becomes this mental exercise where everyone turns inward. If we could describe any idea of God as a sort of polygraph test for the soul, then in that sense, it's a confrontation with oneself in a way that might surpass any human communication. By accepting the idea that nothing can be hidden from God, a person is essentially being honest with themselves; or perhaps they are digging through their own ambitions and desires, searching for peace, self-actualization, meaning, and so on.

Things like prayer, fasting, specific postures, and stuff like that can be parts of a process meant to pull consciousness out of its usual habits, the daily grind, or that feeling of being lost when facing power dynamics and deciding how to act toward someone or something to achieve a certain outcome... However, these activities can also be misunderstood; they can turn into an idea of making a sacrifice, trying to buy favor through rituals, or reciting prayers as penance. This just turns into habit and a series of reactions rather than a space for a contemplative meeting with oneself. The idea of God and the divine—through various ways of sacralizing elements and content—can end up having almost nothing to do with what that self-examination could actually be. People might oscillate toward "God" simply because they are helping themselves or indulging themselves, creating a false sense of peace, or turning to God out of fear because they committed a sin, treating it as a sacrifice out of reverence. The forms this relationship takes are endless—everything from various pilgrimages to trying to meet God by looking at "holy" objects, listening to mantras, or meditating with a specific focus.

In a way, this self-help technique for actual life can also be self-destruction or an escape from it, much like how sunlight can either warm you or give you a nasty sunburn. And being in massive crowds at Mass and such creates the same reaction as crowds singing at a stadium or a concert; when you bundle all those elements together, the rituals and services start to feel like participating in an opera. It can even become an attempt at identity-building and gaining or maintaining social status, which is why Jesus criticized that kind of relationship with "God" as hypocrisy.