DELUSION : CHANDRAGUPTHA THENUWARA

"Greater than all physical dangers are the tremendous effects of delusional ideas, which are yet denied all reality by our world-blinded consciousness. Our much-vaunted reason and our boundlessly overestimated will are sometimes utterly powerless in the face of “unreal” thoughts. The world powers that rule over all mankind, for good or ill, are unconscious psychic factors, and it is they that bring consciousness into being and hence create the sine qua non for the existence of any world at all. We are steeped in a world that was created by our own psyche. "

Carl Gustav Jung, 1933

July 1983 has infamously come to be known as "Black July." It has been 40 years since this shameful tragedy. It was the darkest and most horrendous pogrom in Sri Lanka's recent history. We have continued to face many conflicts and war-related tragedies since July 1983, all of which have gone unresolved due to inaction, apathy, and a lack of political will.

Last year, there was another discussion about the 13^th Amendment. Should we activate or delete it? Those who were in hiding or were silent during the Aragalaya were once again being openly malicious. They changed their old masks for new ones. In our society, fiction has again become a reality. More people believe false and fake evidence while ignoring hard evidence. The ICCPR has become an instrument to control dissent and suppress unpopular opinions.

The monks and extremists who supported Sinhala-Buddhist centric ideologies, who were in hiding or had retreated during the Aragalaya, once again chanted that "devolution can only happen over our dead bodies." It was unfortunate to see all the Mahanayake Theros of the Buddhist Nikayas collectively express their unwillingness to support the devolution of power.

The word "devolution" sounds like "delusion" if you pronounce it without the "vo" sound. I came up with this pun because I enjoy playing with words to create new meanings.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica and most dictionaries, a delusion is defined as (1) a belief that is not true: a false idea, (2) a false idea or belief that is caused by mental illness.

Many contemporary issues in socio-political, legal, and cultural contexts are increasingly delusional. Those who hold power in Khaki and Saffron - military and religious institutions - are often the ones who condemn critical thought. They are the ones who raise false allegations and spread fake news. 

Why are internationally recognized rights being used as tools of torture and imprisonment? What is the role of the state and independent legal authorities? Why do power-hungry politicians manipulate situations for their own gain, and why do citizens knowingly become pawns in their games? Why do we not look at recent history without bias? Why do some people claim to be apolitical when the world and all its affairs are political? Why do we mindlessly follow words when visual evidence tells a different story? What happened to our sense of consciousness? Is our society affected by delusional disorder?

Delusional disorder is a mental health condition in which a person cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. It can manifest in a variety of ways, including erotomanic, persecutory, jealous, grandiose, somatic, and mixed types.

People with erotomanic delusional disorder believe that another person (often someone famous or important) is in love with them, even though there is no evidence to support this belief. People with grandiose delusional disorder have an inflated sense of self-worth, power, knowledge, or identity. They may believe that they are special or unique, or that they have special powers or abilities. Individuals with delusional disorders marked by jealousy tend to believe that their spouse or sexual partner is being unfaithful to them, even though there is no evidence to support this belief. People with somatic delusional disorder believe that they have a physical or medical condition, even though there is no evidence to support this belief. People with persecutory delusional disorder believe that they are being harmed, mistreated, or spied on by someone or something. They may complain repeatedly to legal authorities about their perceived persecution. A mixed type of delusional disorder is one in which a person experiences two or more of the above types of delusions.

Delusions related to grandiose ideas and beliefs, especially religious content, can cause fear and anxiety in communities. For example, someone with a grandiose delusion may believe that they are the reincarnation of a religious figure or that they have the power to perform miracles. These beliefs can be disruptive and harmful, and they can lead to conflict with others.

As Carl Jung says, with a truly tragic delusion, ‘these theologians fail to see that it is not a matter of proving the existence of the light, but of blind people who do not know that their eyes could see. It is high time we realised that it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is much more needful to teach people the art of seeing.'

Chandraguptha Thenuwara

July 2023

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