THE POINT OF AWARENESS
The point of view and the beliefs of individuals are changing constantly, and a point of view is a location in matter or mind from which we view some external object or opinion.
As we gain new information about the object of our attention our point of view is shifted, and the appearance of the object itself is altered.
If a number of the mental faculties concentrate upon an object, the mental beams meet and form a powerful focus. The will power of attention is the will to perceive, and consciousness is in the midst of the converging rays of the attention faculties, and where the point of attention is at a given moment, the self is there.
The focus of attention is in constant motion, either in the physical nature or in the emotional nature or in the mental nature; and where it remains the greater part of the time is the key to an individual's dominant temperament
CHAPTER 8: THE POINT OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS AND THE TECHNIQUE OF SUGGESTION THERAPY
THE NATURE OF SELF -- THE CENTER OF AWARENESS -- BEAUTIFICATION AND ADORNMENT -- ATTITUDES TOWARD HEALTH PROBLEMS- -- SKILL AS A FORM OF SELF-CONTROL -- SINGING WITH THE MIND -- SUDDEN AND DRAMATIC COMPULSIONS -- THE NEGATIVE EMOTION OP FEAR -- HATRED, THE IRRATIONAL EMOTION - -THE SEVEN KINDS OF LOVE -- THE RELIGIOUS FIXATION -- INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLECT -- MOTIONS OF THE MENTAL POINT OF ATTENTION -- THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF WORRY -- DEMORALIZING REMORSE -- EGOTISM AND EGOISM -- THE DIVINITY COMPLEX -- THE NEED FOR USABLE DIRECTIONS -- TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RIGHT LIVING.
THE NATURE OF SELF
VERY few Occidentals have studied Buddhistic bio-physics. This is because Buddhism is a religion to most Westerners, with little consideration given to the philosophical and scientific aspects of the doctrine. Yet Buddhism is one of the few great systems of spiritual culture that in no way conflicts with the growing knowledge encompassed by the broad boundaries of physics, biology, and astronomy. We should not permit ourselves the error of supposing that ancient India was without knowledge of the physical sciences. Asia is the unsuspected source of much valuable scientific information now in general circulation, usually attributed to the Greeks or Egyptians.
Buddhism has a significant teaching about the nature of the ego, or self. In the Eastern system, the word sattva stands for the center of conscious awareness, the point of "I" or "I-am-ness." To the older Buddhists, the sattva was not a permanent ens, or being, but a complex of attention. This could shift from one part of the body to another, or change its quality or condition to a different one by the impulse of the will. The sattva is forever in motion, its physical motion is according to place, and its spiritual motion is according to state.
While all this sounds hopelessly abstract, it requires only a little thought to realize the practical implications of the idea. The consciousness of the individual is changing constantly. The beliefs that were held with fanatical devotion yesterday are not even of passing interest today, because the point of view has changed.
A point of view is a location in matter or mind from which we view some external object or opinion. Our viewpoint depends upon where we are, or what we are. The instant that either of these conditions is changed our perspective is correspondingly altered. Possibly we gain new information about the object of our attention, then in the light of .this further knowledge our point of view is shifted, and the appearance of the object itself is altered.
If our center of awareness, for any reason internal or external, moves away from a certain thing, that thing ceases to exist as a force in our lives.
Conversely, if the awareness focuses upon some factor, previously of no interest, suddenly we discover the vitality in this new object of our attention, and it becomes an important element in the pattern of our convictions.
A discovery may be either the finding of something previously hidden or unknown, or the perceiving, inwardly, of something previously unrealized. In the latter case, discovery is an adventure in attention. In our daily living we are constantly exploring distances of mental or physical dimension in search for solution to present doubts.
THE CENTER OF AWARENESS
How shall we define the center of awareness in man? We must realize that the human being has many perceptions and faculties, each of which records a fragment of sensory experience. While these mental powers are more or less alert all of the time, there can be no clear picture of the things they record unless a number of the faculties focus upon one point and bring in a composite testimony. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle caused his hero, Sherlock Holmes, to remind Dr. Watson that he had climbed the stairs of the Baker Street flat almost every day for years, but had never been sufficiently aware of the ascent to know the number of the steps.
If a number of the mental faculties concentrate upon a given object, the mind becomes definitely aware of the reality and substance of that object. As these mental beams meet, they form a powerful focus. The sattva, flowing on the will power of attention, takes up its place in this field of intensity, and functions from it so long as the attention is centered there. Attention is the will to perceive, and consciousness always moves with the will.
Thus we come to understand the nature of the sattva, one of the deepest mysteries of Buddhist philosophy. The center of consciousness is in the midst of the converging rays of the attention faculties, and wherever the point of attention is at a given moment, the self is there.
Although the sattva is in constant motion, we may say that the point of awareness is posited in that division of the personality where it remains the greater part of the time. This positing of the sattva is the key to dominant temperament. If the focus of attention is posited in the physical nature, the individual is a materialist: If the focus is in the lower emotional nature, he is an emotionalist: If the focus is in the higher emotional nature, he is an esthete: If the focus is in the lower mental nature, he is an intellectual: If the focus is in the higher mental nature, he is a philosopher: And if the focus is in the spiritual nature, he is a mystic or an occultist.
BEAUTIFICATION AND ADORNMENT
When the center of awareness is focused upon the physical nature, we become acutely aware of the body itself, its appearance, health, and comfort, and the circumstances by which it is affected. We live, and feel, and think in terms of body, and action is motivated by physical considerations.
Among the consequences of focusing attention on the physical body are the primitive impulses toward beautification and adornment. The ancient Chinese, Hindus, and Greeks, both men and women, used cosmetics and perfumes extensively. Dynastic Egyptian ladies enameled their toenails and fingernails, and carried powder, rouge, and lipstick when they traveled. Some central African tribes still regard rancid butter as a particularly fragrant hair oil. And Rajput gentlemen who wish to be in the height of fashion, henna their beards.
The human being, always desiring to be physically attractive to others of his species, has devised a variety of ways to supplement his natural charms. Adornment began with bones, feathers, flowers, and furs. Later, crude ornaments were carved from colored stones, moulded from clay, and pounded or cast from metals. Clothing was designed originally for protection or adornment, and not for concealment. It was also used to cover bodily defects, but the motive was esthetic rather than moral. Only in the last two thousand years has dress been associated definitely with morality, with the curious result that immorality has increased generally among clothed nations. This is because the constant emphasis on the effort for concealment has centered the focus of awareness upon the moral issue.
While thoughtfulness and good taste in matters of personal appearance are indicators of refinement, a fixation in this direction may result in an exaggerated form of vanity. If the individual is aware only of appearance, he may attempt to substitute external ornamentation for internal accomplishment. When Alcibiades, who was wealthy and a fop, came before Plato in an exceptionally extravagant attire, the philosopher observed quietly, "What a pity that a leaden dagger has so fine a sheath."
ATTITUDES TOWARD HEALTH PROBLEMS
The attention center may be drawn to the physical nature by pain or other bodily distress. Certain diseases, especially those ailments which affect the heart, draw the consciousness to their symptoms with an almost hypnotic power. When the physician takes the pulse of a healthy man, even this simple action, by directing awareness, often causes an increase in the rate of the heart-beat. Among sufferers from cardiac disorders there is a strong tendency to become 'pulse takers.' The fearful patient will hourly take his own pulse, and will feel that he is having a relapse every time he notices the slightest irregularity.
Another group has a symptom fixation, which degenerates rapidly into hypochondria.
Still others hold to the foolish conviction that out of pain is out of danger, and dose themselves with pain-killers.
It is well known that patients suffering from incurable ailments usually have a more sane attitude toward their condition than those whose health problems are trivial. The reason is, hopelessness frees the mind from uncertainty; the physical fixation relaxes because no cure is possible; the mind resolves to make the best use of the time remaining.
Deformities and peculiarities of physical appearance intensify body awareness, result in the inferiority complex and excessive self-consciousness. Where these can be corrected by cosmetic surgery, general improvement in the psychological pattern of living nearly always follows. If the physical condition cannot be improved, the individual can be taught that it is still possible to have a useful and successful life if he will overcome self pity and negative thinking. Aesop, the immortal writer of fables, was a slave and a hunchback; Socrates was bowlegged and pigeon-breasted; and the great poet Milton was blind. Helen Keller, both blind and dumb, has one of the most radiant personalities I have been privileged to know. Physical handicaps prevent accomplishment only when the focus of awareness is set upon them so firmly that all other considerations are denied.
Racial discrimination may cause a body fixation, by making the individual overly conscious of color or facial structure.
The athlete also is likely to become a victim of his own physical perfection, and forget that the body is the mortal vehicle of an immortal soul. A Greek Sophist once was invited to attend the public games held in Athens, that he might behold a famous local gymnast who could swim like a fish, run like a deer, and possessed the strength of a bear. The scholar declined with thanks, but added that he would be pleased to be a spectator if there was a human being among the entrants who could think like a man.
SKILL AS A FORM OF SELF-CONTROL
In most of the arts, sciences, and crafts, skill is necessary to proficiency. The hands, and sometimes the entire body must be trained to fulfill the impulses of the mind. What then is skill? To the popular mind, skill is technical ability developed, or acquired, by patience, perseverance, or specialized training. According to this viewpoint, the body is trained to perform certain actions much as we might train a seal for the circus.
Considered philosophically, skill is achieved by three processes: First, the consciousness must be completely informed concerning the laws and principles governing the subject under consideration. Second, the patterns of the physical effects desired, and the bodily processes necessary to accomplish them, must be visualized clearly in the mental nature. And third, the body itself must be disciplined to respond immediately to the impelling of the will.
Skill is a form of self-control, and one of the reasons why a particular technique is so difficult to acquire is, the body of the average person has never been subjected generally to the control of the will.
If the center of awareness focuses upon the bodily mechanics of an art, the result may be a serious technique fixation. In music, the cleverest technician is seldom the greatest genius, despite public opinion to the contrary. The musician who allows means to dominate end, will in spite of his virtuosity remain mediocre. In painting, drawing, and sculpturing the same is true. The most proficient draftsman may be the poorest artist, because he lacks imagination and creative power. A dancer is only a gymnast unless muscular control is directed by imagination and esthetic realization of rhythm and design.
Leonardo da Vinci's immortal painting, La Gioconda, (Mona Lisa), is priceless, but a perfect reproduction executed by a skilled copyist is worth only a few dollars. The true value of a picture lies in its spiritual content, in the vision which conceived it, in the intangible overtones which pervade it. An adequate technique is important, but certain it is that without inspiration skill is lifeless. The world's finest artists have painted bad pictures when the subject did not inspire them, and mediocre artists have produced great works under the pressure of a compelling spiritual or emotional impulse.
Art is impulse moving through the body, and its complete expression depends upon the relaxation of the physical structure. Wherever there is body awareness there will be body tension; and wherever there is body tension the flow of impulse is blocked.
SINGING WITH THE MIND
The Chinese had mastered the fine arts when Europeans were still living in caves and fighting bears with stone hatchets. To the Easterner, our Western singing is "a loud noise full of holes." He does not understand how anyone can enjoy an intellectual rendition of memorized compositions, accomplished by muscular gymnastics. The 'hole' occurs when the vocalist must pause for a mighty inhalation of breath before attempting high C.
The technique of singing is typical of the artistic method. If the student of voice is fortunate enough to have an intelligent teacher, he learns that tone is formed in the mind and not in the throat. We sing with the mind, through the body. Tone flows out from the tonal center of consciousness as vibration. It is carried on the surface of the will, sustained but never forced by the will power. The vocal cords transform mental tone into physical sound. The will still controls the tone, through the physical medium of the breath. Breath does not create tone; it merely floats the tone as the physical carrier of the transformed mental impulse. Singing is a spiritual experience, and not simply a physical technique.
Remembering always that tension destroys tonal quality, the enlightened singer keeps his center of awareness away from all the physical structures involved in tone production. Should the vocalist become breath-conscious he will attempt to force tone by increasing breath. Or, attention will cause tension resulting in shortness of breath. If he thinks about .his throat, the singer will interfere with natural placement; the tone will become throaty, and the tension will cause dryness and even irritation. Mouth-consciousness will cause tension in the facial muscles, cramping tone and resulting in unpleasant grimaces and those labial contortions so noticeable with badly trained singers. The rule is: Relax and sing, contract and bellow.
A simple formula to overcome the structure and function fixations which cramp the vocal processes is to place the center of conscious awareness in the magnetic field outside of the physical body, about twelve inches in front of the mouth. As the magnetic field is an extension of the body itself, the point of attention can be posited in the aura as easily as in physical structure. In a curious extra-dimensional way, this placement of the attention center permits the complete formation of tone before it reaches the awareness. By deliberately placing thought in a specific location, the attention is focused there; and the body is left free to fulfill its own functions without conscious interruption.
Actually, this is not singing outside of the body, but rather centering the awareness far enough from the delicate mechanism of tone production that it cannot interfere with natural processes. Then to increase volume, the singer does not push tone with breath, rather he moves the center of awareness away from the body and allows tone to flow toward this point. Become aware of the man seated in the back row, says the rule, and the tone will reach him; in proper volume and without the distortion that results from forcing.
A well instructed singer never tries to sing through a throat cold; he sings over, beyond, and away from the congestion, by keeping the center of awareness outside the body. The same technique would apply if a public speaker develops laryngitis. It is possible to overcome many limitations of the body by shifting the point of awareness, with resultant relaxing of tense nerves and muscles.
SUDDEN AND DRAMATIC COMPULSIONS
Many functional ailments are the result of poor health fixations supported by symptoms real or imaginary. A number of cases are recorded of persons completely paralyzed who have recovered as the result of a sudden and dramatic compulsion. A woman confined to her wheel-chair jumped up and ran a hundred yards to save a baby who had crawled to the edge of a swimming-pool. The attention of the mother was fixed with such intensity upon the danger to her child that her own health fixation was entirely forgotten; her body obeyed without question the will to reach the imperiled infant.
The Chinese have a story, perhaps a legend, about an old scholar whose habit it was to walk by the edge of a little lake, while he meditated upon the spiritual mystery of Tao. One day, while in deep contemplation, his attention fixed on his mystical speculations, he wandered out onto the lake, walking safely upon the water. After a time, he realized suddenly his strange position and fear came to him; he promptly sank and almost drowned. The account of the disciple who walked out on the Sea of Tiberias to meet the Master, has a similar meaning. So long as he kept his attention upon Jesus he was safe, but the moment his mind returned to a self focus, he was afraid, and phenomenal power departed from him.
A man wrecked on a small uninhabited island with his new-born son came to the terrible realization that without proper nourishment the boy would die in his arms. The baby clung to him crying piteously, and so great was this father's love and desire that milk formed in his mammillary glands and he was able to nurse his son until they were rescued several weeks later. In cases like this we realize the power of consciousness over body, and how completely the physical structure can respond to the purposes of the will.
When the human center of awareness is posited in the emotional nature, feeling and desire dominate the consciousness of the individual. Fear, hate, and love are the most intense of the emotions, and if they are permitted to control thought and action, physical complications may be expected as a natural result. Feelings are the most difficult impulses to moderate, but unless their extremes are tempered by a reasonable amount of self-restraint, the health of the body certainly will be impaired.
THE NEGATIVE EMOTION OF FEAR
Fear is the basic negative emotion, the source and substance of numberless painful disquietudes. Among the more common aspects of fear are dread, fright, alarm, dismay, consternation, panic, terror, and horror. The habit of fearing is acquired easily, and once established is extremely difficult to overcome. A fear is an irrational emotion, co-eternal with the animal life of man, and it must be included among those ailments for which no actual cure is known. Bravery is not absence of fear, but courage of conviction in the presence of fear.
Any action, circumstance, condition, object, or substance may cause anxious concern or appear dreadful to those who are fearful minded. It is usual to consider the unknown as potentially menacing. We are most afraid of that which we least understand. Then, of course, human survival is threatened by numerous natural hazards and man-made dangers, and those suffering from a general tendency to phobias, magnify these risks and ignore the more optimistic probabilities. One of the most debilitating types of fear is the morbid anticipation of disaster. The sufferer so devitalizes himself with his own forebodings that he has little strength left with which to face a crisis, when, or if, it does arise.
In addition to simple fears, a large number of curious phobias have been observed and classified. One group includes: claustrophobia, fear of closed places; anginophobia, fear of narrow places; and agoraphobia, fear of open places. In another interesting class we find: graphophobia, fear of writing; logophobia, fear of words; and ideophobia, fear of thoughts. Then there is blonephobia, fear of needles; eretephobia, fear of pins; and eisoptrophobia, fear of mirrors. If you have siderodropomophobia, you are afraid of railway trains, and if you have ergophobia you are suffering from the most fashionable of diseases, fear of work.
A great many fear fixations originate in childhood, that period being particularly sensitive to impressions. A number of cases have come to my attention in which otherwise normal men and women have suffered extreme mental anguish throughout their mature years as the result of being frightened into obedience, during childhood, by ignorant nurse-girls or stupid parents. Religious denominations which promulgate doctrines of sin, hell, and the devil have also contributed heavily to infant class emotional demoralization.
A fully developed phobia is an unreasonable and uncontrollable terror of some subject or object. The victim experiences the most violent internal panic and suffers indescribable torture, without knowing why; and often with a clear mental realization of the absurdity of his condition.
Many phobias originate in the natural human tendency to base false generalizations upon some particular circumstance. .A man was bitten by a dog, and as a result was afraid of dogs, on the assumption that all dogs are like the one that bit him. Or, to cite another example, a sensitive and naturally fearful child is locked in a dark closet as a form of punishment. Twenty years later, that child, now grown to manhood, is the husband who asks his wife to get his shoes for him, because he cannot go into the closet of his own room without great emotional disturbance.
There is one bright side to the problem of phobias: they usually dissolve in the presence of positive action. The quickest and surest way to overcome a fear fixation is to perform the action most feared. The man who feared dogs recovered when he bought several dogs and made them his constant companions. The first week he was very uncomfortable, but as the months passed he grew to love his pets. The husband with the fear of closets required a more extended program of treatment. He had a weak heart, and had he abruptly been locked in a dark closet for several hours he might have died of sheer terror. After considerable conditioning he was induced to enter the closet for a few seconds, with the door left open. Gradually his courage increased, and he could stay for several minutes without serious discomfort. Then, over a period of weeks, the door was kept closed for successively longer periods. One day, with a tragic kind of courage, he walked to the closet, like a condemned man entering the death cell, closed the door, and remained for half an hour. He came out calm and poised, a look of triumph in his eyes; all he said was, "Now I am not afraid," but that will speak volumes to those who have suffered long from strange blind fears, who know what it means to actually break one of these fixations.
Another irrational emotion is hatred; defined as an intense form of dislike, it is far more dangerous to the one who hates than to the object of the hatred.
HATRED, THE IRRATIONAL EMOTION
No one can hate and be healthy at the same time. It is essentially human for a person to dislike those who have injured him, filched his worldly goods, or frustrated his reasonable accomplishments. The other person's fault may be great, but the one who hates him, no matter how just the cause, has the fault which is the greater. The Scriptural admonition, to do good to those who despitefully use us, is not only a noble statement of spiritual truth, but a cardinal tenet of psychotherapy.
It has been my observation that most persons regard their hatreds as righteous emotions, and they have. no particular desire to get over them. They seem to feel that through dislike they accomplish a vicarious revenge. To work up an implacable hatred may require many years of brooding over real or imaginary ills, so that when this is achieved it is not unusual to learn that the despised one has departed, long since, from this mortal life. The ancient custom of forgiving the dead, and burying all grievances with the body, was not so much a kindness to the deceased, as a release for the living.
Energy expended in perpetuating grudges is not available for positive accomplishments, and those who hate impoverish themselves with their destructive emotions. A philosophical attitude toward life and people is a good remedy for hate fixations.
An old doctor, who had spent sixty years studying human nature in all its complex manifestations, once said to me; "I am entirely convinced, from a lifetime of experience and observation, that every man does the best he can, for what he is and what he knows."
The student of psychology becomes tolerant of people and their faults. He realizes that under similar motivations, and limited by the same training, circumstances, and traditions, he in all probability would make the identical mistakes that appear so despicable in others.
No man is ever hurt as badly by what is done to him, as by his own mental and emotional reactions to the injury. On one occasion, the Greek philosopher Diogenes was insulted outrageously by an ignorant soldier who publicly spat in his face: The great Skeptic was silent for a moment, and then observed with a smile, "I realize that I should be properly incensed by this unwarranted act, but addiction to wisdom and love of man have taken away my temper, and I know not how to be angry."
Hate is a destructive fixation of the point of attention. If the fixation is too intense for the individual to overcome by the power of his own will, suggestion therapy is indicated. In extreme cases hypnotic therapy is helpful. There are instances in which the person hated has become the patient's best friend, once the complex was broken. It is possible to hate anyone if only that person's faults are seen, and conversely it is equally possible to like anyone, after becoming aware of his virtues.
Particularly difficult aversion complexes can result from marital incompatibility, endured over a long period of time. Small irritations, lovingly fostered, develop into hate, and even loathing. It is a tragic mistake to permit human relationships to degenerate into domestic chaos. The wiser course is for the couple to acknowledge the failure. break up the marriage, and part as friends. Even if there are children, separation may be the better way. Inharmony in the home will blight the psyche of the small child, and so perpetuate the parental complexes in the next generation.
THE SEVEN KINDS OF LOVE
Love is the most mysterious of human emotions. According to the teachings of the Platonists, there are seven kinds of love: the love of man and woman; the love of parent and child; the love of friend for friend; the love of beauty; the love of good; the love of wisdom; and the love of God. In this concatenation is a gradual ascent of the emotional point of attention from the personal, through the impersonal, to the spiritual.
All the physical aspects of love include strong personal attachment to the object of the affection, and this attachment easily intensifies to the degree of a fixation. The emotion of possession also is stimulated, and frequently is mistaken for fondness. The desire to possess or to be possessed is present in most forms of human affection, and its absence is regarded as abnormal.
The tendency in modern psychology is to rationalize the emotional processes, and to seek natural explanations for attachments and antipathies. A considerable amount of evidence has been accumulated to prove that love is the result of subconscious impulses originating in the personality pattern. The love nature is formed in childhood and rarely changes in later years. If the parental home has been reasonably harmonious, the children will fall in love with persons reminiscent of their parents in appearance or temperament. The boys will select wives resembling their mother, and the girls will select husbands resembling their father. If the childhood home is unhappy, or the parents die, or the children are reared by other relatives, then the dominant personalities in the lives of the children will supply the types for which there will be a later affinity.
A daughter born to an elderly but delightfully companionable father, might have no interest in boys of her own age, marry a man twenty-five years her senior and be quite happy. One boy who adored his crippled sister, married a charming but physically frail young woman, and is rapturously happy ministering to her comforts. In cases like these is the indication that we prefer to continue throughout life in the familiar patterns that were pleasant in our childhood days. Unfortunately, we can be disappointed. For we may fall in love with a resemblance, only to discover that no two persons are alike, and the resemblance is a delusion when we have to live with the dissimilarities.
Extreme possessiveness is the most disastrous consequence of ardent attachment. It is almost impossible to feel possessiveness without the impulse to dominate. There are no happy endings for the situations set up by domination. If, for example, a strong willed parent fails to succeed in dominating a child, the parent is miserable; but if domination is achieved the child's life is ruined. Possessive parents are a serious menace to the future of their children. Widowed mothers are likely offenders, especially if there is but one child. If the child is a son, he will be in grave danger of becoming a homosexual; and if it is a daughter she may remain unmarried, and her entire personal life become a futile sacrifice to a selfish mother's comfort and happiness.
There is in practice a fine point where possessiveness ceases to be a delightful and heart-warming form of amative flattery, and becomes a disagreeable and destructive kind of tyranny. The younger generation is too independently minded to permit such a state of affairs, but a number of such cases have come to my attention concerned with persons beyond middle life.
A woman fifty-five years old, suffering from a variety of frustrations and profoundly neurotic, suspected that the cause of her unhappiness was a dominating husband. In their thirty-two years of married life he had never permitted her to select her own clothes, leave the house without him, have any close friends, visit her family, express a personal like or dislike; she was not allowed to learn to drive a car, she was given no pin money, could not vote according to the dictates of her own conscience, attend the church in which she had been reared, or have anything to say about the education of their children. The one opportunity she had to come to me was when her delightful spouse was in the hospital with a well-merited touch of gall-bladder. This of course is an extreme case, but in many homes the condition exists to some degree.
Buddha pointed out, twenty-five centuries ago, that possessiveness is the principal cause of sorrow. The dictionary defines sorrow as suffering or sadness arising from loss or disappointment. Loss is impossible without the sense of possession, and disappointment can be the loss or failure of something expected. Loss of physical goods possessed results in poverty, and loss of persons possessed results in loneliness, which is poverty of companionship. It is a sad but common mistake to invest oneself so completely in others that the loss of these persons destroys the reason and purpose for our own existence. Realizing how dependent we have become upon those we love, our natural instinct is to hold on to them regardless of cost. When, as must happen, they finally leave us, our sorrow is uncontrollable, and nothing remains but to live on with our memories. The only solution to this problem is to build a personal existence which can survive the loss of the external in persons and things.
It is not to be expected that the emotional life of the average person will be entirely satisfactory. Yet any serious departure from the normalcy pattern of humankind leads to tragic consequences. Nature has ordained that men and women should establish homes, bring children into the world, prepare them for life according to ability and estate, and then release them to establish their own lives. To depart from this simple cosmic scheme of things, regardless of the motives, is to increase the hazards of living and open oneself to dangerous complexes, fixations, frustrations, and neuroses.
When the emotional life has been frustrated, it is according to rule that the inhibited person should turn either to religion, or seek relief through gratification of ambition. The sufferer may fall heels-over-head into some strange cult, engage in philanthropic enterprises, join a club devoted to higher criticism, or become suddenly conscious of civic mismanagement. The process by which the neurotic becomes 'spiritual' is summed up tersely in a statement made to me some years ago by a prominent member of a metaphysical sect.
"My husband divorced me," she moaned; "then I lost my money through a bad investment; my children have all left me, my health is poor, and so having nothing left to live for, I gave myself to God." It hadn't occurred to this lady that she would be no more valuable to the Deity than she had been to the members of her own family.
THE RELIGIOUS FIXATION
Many psychologists consider religion a fixation as dangerous as acute alcoholism or chronic drug addiction. Without concurring in this opinion, it is useful to know why doctors of the mind come to such a conclusion. Theirs is a good sound argument, substantially as follows:
Most of those who take refuge in religion are running away from factual situations which they lack the courage to face. The Balm which is in Gilead is to them just a salve for bruises of the ego. As escapists, they should be inspired to go back into the world, meet their problems, solve them, and reestablish self-confidence and poise. While they nestle in the arms of the Lord these unhappy but well-meaning folk are only exchanging vagaries for ineptitudes.
The present state of many religious movements wholly justifies the viewpoint of the psychologist, and the factual material he has gathered can not be overthrown by sentimental opposition or by howls of heresy. The fault is in modern religions, especially those of the West, having divorced themselves from the great systems of spiritual philosophy which were the foundations of the faiths. Julian the Apostate, noblest of the Roman Emperors, attacked the early Church for this very fault and returned to the gods of his fathers. The substance of Julian's Oration Against the Christians can be summed up in a few lines: No man is worthy to enter a place of worship unless his mind is devoted to learning, his heart to virtuous emotions and his body to good works. God rejoices not in sinners but in just men, not in the foolish but in the wise, not in the well-meaners but in the well-doers. Only when men put their own lives in order is it proper for them to approach the House of God. The temple is defamed if men come only to beg favors; the pious should come giving thanks for the beauty of the world and the universal Good that governs all created things.
INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLECT
When the center of awareness is posited in the mental nature of the human being, thought dominates both emotion and action. Understanding of thought dominance requires definition of intelligence and intellect. The popular conception is, intelligence is intellect in operation. It seems to me, that the two words signify entirely different states of the mind.
Intelligence is the power to perceive the nature of externals in their relationship to ourselves. It is the ability to discern the inter-relationships of presented facts as they may affect us. And it is the aptitude to meet unexpected situations by appropriate personality adjustments.
Intelligence arises from experience and observation, and is present sometimes in a marked degree among those who are without benefit of formal education. There is little to indicate that schooling can bestow intelligence; scholastic training is even likely to prove damaging to basic intelligence.
Intellect, to me, represents intelligence that has been conditioned by formal education. An intellectual person is one who has acquired various forms of knowledge, and who makes use of these rather than native intelligence in the solution of his problems. As a great part of so-called knowledge is merely accredited opinion, with little foundation in fact, the intellectualist may be over-well versed in fallacies.
The educated man is the one most likely to involve his life in destructive complications. He lacks the ability. so evident among primitive people, to think simply and directly. Artificial values divert his attention, and his conclusions lose the name of action.
It is unfortunate that we must unlearn much that has been taught to us as sober truth before we can put our lives in order. The intellectual man, limited by his learning, is helpless in the presence of the unknown. The intelligent man, because he has not been narrowed by formalized training, applies common sense to the abstruse problem and generally finds a solution.
One of the commonest tricks of the intellectualist is to substitute words for ideas. He will argue with words in lieu of thoughts, then consider himself victorious if he has outtalked his opponent.
While it seems to have been the medieval Scholastics who discovered that long words in a strange language are an excellent means of concealing ignorance, yet when some learned man today calls a dandelion a Taraxacum officinale, we are apt to suspect that he has a profound knowledge of the plant.
It is well to remember that names can be memorized with no particular benefit, but thoughts must arise from diligent and intelligent consideration of facts.
The intellectualist has the type of mind that can deteriorate easily into a tumbling ground for whimsies. Straight thinking is rare in our time, and common sense the most uncommon of the senses. Many psychological difficulties have their origin in the effort to live in harmony with some immature system of opinions. Everyone has opinions and to their owners these notions are vitally significant, worthy to be passed on as a priceless heritage unto their issue. To differ with a man's opinions is a grave social error, not easily forgiven. But, opinions are of importance no greater than the mental achievements of the person who has them; and they are most abundant where the ability is the slightest. Even your own opinions on any matter are not to be taken by yourself too seriously unless you know you are thoroughly informed on the subject.
MOTIONS OF THE MENTAL POINT OF ATTENTION
Three basic attitudes, interest, indifference, and appreciation, control the motions of the mental point of attention. Each human being has a personal sphere of interests. With most of us, these interests follow the lines of the familiar. The moment we depart from the familiar we realize inadequacy, and this realization, outraging the ego, stimulates fear and doubt. This explains the human tendency to dislike, oppose, and condemn that which is new or different.
The pattern of the childhood home, and the doctrines and attitudes inculcated there; the public school, with its emphasis upon certain cultural and economic standards; the university, with its specialized curricula for various professions; the church, with its long established dogma and tradition; and finally, the occupation selected as a livelihood -- all these contribute to the reference frame of familiar things and direct interest. Experience, which results from the application of formulas to facts, rounds out the pattern and bestows the finished viewpoint.
As an attitude, indifference is lack of interest, which in turn is lack of awareness. That which is beyond our experience is beyond our comprehension. The center of attention passes over the unfamiliar without pause, or selects only the familiar elements in an otherwise uninteresting compound. There is an old saying that a shoemaker will look at all men's feet, and the haberdasher sees only their hats and ties.
Appreciation is a generalized awareness of certain matters beyond the sphere of specialized attention. A person may enjoy music without technical knowledge, and he may respect accomplishment in fields far removed from his own achievements. The impulse to appreciate is highly constructive, and is an indication of mental refinement.
In most persons, the center of mental awareness shifts with the interests of the day and the passing moods of the individual. There is little intensity of realization, and even less continuity of purpose. Things seen are not remembered; experiences add little to the sum of knowledge; and opportunities go unrecognized. The inability to control the wanderings of the point of attention, is just as surely a form of sickness as the inability to control the functions of the body. Persons lacking internal organization cannot be healthy, and most of them are suffering from nervous ailments which bear witness to inconsistencies in habits and thoughts. Few Occidentals even realize that it is possible to control either the mind or the emotions. They assume that it is necessary to obey every urge, and fulfill every whim, merely because they have the impulse.
The opposite extreme is the one-track mind. In this case the awareness is dominated by a fixation that places arbitrary limitations upon the perceptions. The one-track mind has certain advantages from a financial and intellectual standpoint, and many of our successful industrialists and scientists suffer from this ailment. When we think of success, however, we must remember that it is quite possible to succeed admirably in the economic world and fail utterly in our personal lives. And it is this personal failure that destroys us in the end.
THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF WORRY
Worry, which is intellectualized fear, is one of the most popular of man's destructive mental habits. Worry and the common cold are equally difficult to cure. The chronic worrier is forever imagining the worst, and then suffering in proportion to the magnitude of the expected evil. There is no universal remedy for worry, no simple formula by which the mind can be released from its anxiety complex. It is useless to tell a person not to worry, and it does little good to solve his problem for him. He will direct his attention to some other concern and continue in the same anxiety mechanism. The story of the man who was deeply concerned because there was nothing to worry about at the moment, is no exaggeration.
The economic factor contributes many worries in the life of the average person. The uncertainties which afflict us all are particularly difficult to the anxious type of mind. Many feel that they have not accepted their share of the common woe unless they worry industriously about private and public matters. An old lady once said to me, "But I don't want to stop my worries; I'd be miserable without something to worry about." Worry causes internal suffering, and suffering makes us feel important, a little akin to the martyrs of the olden days.
It is difficult to estimate the full degree of damage that is done to the physical body by the worry habit. Vitality is lowered, function depressed, and even the organic structure may be seriously affected. The survival of the individual in a state of reasonable health, and his ability to lead a useful and happy life, depend upon a constructive mental attitude, and to achieve this he must overcome the tendency to excessive worry. In treatment, religion and philosophy help more than psychology; the sufferer must develop a viewpoint toward life in which faith in good is stronger than fear of evil.
DEMORALIZING REMORSE
Remorse is another demoralizing mental attitude, in which the center of awareness is centered in old regrets, to the detriment of present efforts. It is curious, but true, that those who have committed serious offenses are not always the most remorseful. The fixation is apt to select some inconsequential mistake, and dwell upon it until it becomes an obsession. If, actually, a person has been guilty of some large fault, the only way to balance the books of his life is to compensate for the delinquency by other gallant and noble actions.
A case came to me of a woman who was so remorseful over an early love affair, in which she had been responsible for tragedy, that she made two subsequent husbands miserable for years with her sighs and moans.
Every man makes mistakes, but if he accepts their lessons and goes on enriched by experience, these same mistakes, in the end, can make the man.
EGOTISM AND EGOISM
No consideration of mental pathology would be complete without a few words on the subject of egotism. Here a distinction might be made that is not clearly indicated in the dictionary. I would define egoism as self-awareness; and egotism as excessive self-awareness. The ego is the self recognized as distinct from other selves, and egoism is the natural result of this realization. Psychologically speaking, the acceptance of the concept of the separate self leads to the impulse to protect or preserve individual existence. This brings into play the much abused libido, which is not necessarily the sexual nature but is better defined merely as the primitive will to live.
The quality of egoism is present as an equation in most human action, and is responsible for the greater part of progress, personal and collective. Because we are, we can do, and we can have, we can achieve -- yes, even, we can renounce, we can sacrifice, and we can die. It is said that no man can give more than himself. It is egoism that makes possible this supreme unselfishness.
We exist. Religion teaches us to exist morally, philosophy to exist ethically, and science to exist efficiently. With the sense of self comes the solemn determination to protect the dignity of our being. Plato permitted suicide to those who could no longer protect the honorable estate of the internal principle.
The Oriental philosopher is not problemed with the concept of the ego, because he does not believe in the reality of the personality complex. To him, all subjective life is universal; and the perfect human accomplishment is the overcoming of the delusion of separate existence. It seems therefore, that egoism is the burden of the West, the peculiar responsibility of the Occidental. Certainly, self-awareness is at the root of our entire theory of life, manifested to the full in our competitive system of economics. Herein lies the cause of rugged individualism, and the sincere, but sometimes unpleasant belief, that men must go on, age after age, struggling desperately to excel in wealth, position, or accomplishment.
A moderate amount of egoism is necessary in the life of the average man, to preserve him from the encroachment of other ambitious persons. But there is little to indicate that egocentricity contributes much to happiness or good health. In our time, personal ambition has become a dangerous disease in its own right; and, by aggravating other ailments, it contributes extensively to bodily infirmity. Most successful men are sick.
Egoism, unless tempered by the moderating influence of wisdom, gradually changes into egotism, which is self-obsession. The consciousness is focused on the fact of self, and the result is an offensive self-conceit. The condition may develop even further and produce a kind of mania, such as is evident in the lives of tyrants, despots, and dictators. The divinity complex is about the last stage of egotism, and causes the delusion of divine power and authority to arise in a personality least suited for a God-like career. Most world conquerors who have drenched the earth with the blood of their fellow creatures have suffered from the divinity complex.
Pride, arrogance, the desire to possess, the will to dominate, the urge to impress others with our superiority, and the willingness to sacrifice the good of those about us to our own interests, are common and often justified forms of egotism. Society has a tendency to reward those who have a high opinion of themselves, and to penalize the modest man. But the evidence remains, that egotism is a destructive mental attitude, and each person must decide for himself, either to do that which is best for his happiness and security, or suffer through a compromise of his standards to meet the stupidity of the world.
There is another form of egotism that manifests through a variety of negative attitudes. Constant self-censure, exaggerated humility, over-obvious modesty, some types of shyness and timidity, radical departures from conventions, and the public depreciation of one's own abilities, are all evidences of self-consciousness. The normal person is the one who is not conscious of self, and therefore does not need to extol or condemn himself or his actions.
Considerable space has been devoted to this problem because it plays such an important part in the health of men and women. Wherever the point of conscious awareness is posited, there will be stress and tension; and these forces are violently detrimental to normal function. When the focus of attention is upon the self, the individual cannot be natural, and he cannot relax. Life becomes a frantic struggle to satisfy ego-ambition, or to justify mistakes. These are as frequent, often more so, in the lives of egotists as in the careers of less intensive persons.
The man who will never change his mind, because to change it is to admit that he has been wrong in the past, is bound to have trouble both with his disposition and his digestion. And not in much better condition is the befuddled mortal who told me that he dared not acknowledge his errors for fear that he would lose faith in himself. The egotist is forever pretending to be more than he is, which makes for a most uncomfortable state of affairs for all lives concerned with his.
The tension caused by egocentricity can prevent the very accomplishments that mean so much to the self-centered person. An old Chinese saying maintains that the man who works for glory never does his work well. It is the man who labors for the joy of the labor who comes in the fullness of time to the fame deserved. When this happens he is hated by those who have done little themselves, the egotists who resent the greatness of other men. Seldom are the egotistical contented; with bad humor upsetting their body chemistry, acidity is their reward on earth.
THE DIVINITY COMPLEX
Some metaphysical groups have contributed to the always abundant crop of egotists by teachings which could be interpreted as justifying self-conceit. It may be true that every man is a potential god; but if he overworks this potential without evolving it into a true potency, he is in a fair way to develop a divinity complex. My case histories include several dealing with persons who believed, soberly, that they were God, and by this delusion, ruined their lives.
Some have told me of long conversations held with Deity, and how He had appointed them to correct the evils of the world. Others think they are great Initiates, possessed of celestial wisdom, acquired through degrees bought in fraudulent organizations; or because they have vastly overestimated some personal psychic experiences which they did not understand. Still others were party to esoteric secrets that would change the whole course of civilization, and their 'masters' had so informed them. In possession of such stupendous knowledge, these persons become puffed up with their own importance, egos distended to the bursting point. I have watched some of these cases over a period of many years, and not one of these poor deluded men and women had made the slightest contribution to human progress.
Most religious organizations depreciate the beliefs of other groups, and sometimes evolve elaborate explanations to sustain their prejudices. Each cult assumes its own infinite superiority, and this attitude is passed on to the membership as justification for the complex of spiritual aristocracy. As a result, the devotees come to look with smug pity upon those unfortunate mortals who have not the vision to join the self-elected. Thus the old fallacies of the orthodox sects are carried on to plague the metaphysically minded, and under various names the 'holier than thous' flourish exceedingly in our time.
While most mystical movements pretend to the brotherhood of man, not a few of them are making positive contributions to racial prejudices. The Aryo-manic is a common phenomenon among so-called advanced souls. At this time, especially, such a belief is a menace to the survival of civilization, for the security of the entire race depends upon the development of honest and constructive inter-racial and international viewpoints.
When a man has done nothing himself of which he can reasonably be proud, he is likely to fall back upon family, nation, or race, for the stuff with which to bolster up his ego. While it may be comforting to have illustrious forebears, or to belong to a dominant racial strain, personal superiority can· not be inherited or vicariously conferred. Confucius defined a superior man, not as one born to high estate, or of the ruling class or race, but as one who was above the performance of an inferior action under any condition.
Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done to help the chronic egotist, for the reason that he refuses to admit any fault in himself or his ideas. He always blames his numerous misfortunes on other persons and other causes, and often takes the attitude that all the world is to blame for his unhappiness. Only the laws of karma and reincarnation can work out his problem, and it may take many lives of pain and sorrow to break down the ego-complex. If the tendency to inflated ego appears in small children it should be broken up at once, before it has a chance to become established. Spoiled youngsters, or those coming from proud and wealthy homes, are the most likely to become offensive.
THE NEED FOR USABLE DIRECTIONS
Men and women of today seeking help for their personality problems are far more honest and cooperative than those of twenty years ago. Now it is the psychologist himself who may be at fault; he is all too likely to have academic fixations of his own, and prejudices without end. Instances are known to me in which patients, going to a prominent practitioner to unburden their souls, have listened for hours instead to the heart-rending tribulations of the psychoanalyst, and paid a substantial fee for the privilege. A number of patients have told me that their psychoanalysis would have been much more useful to them if the psychologist had been more idealistic and philosophical in his recommendations.
Most persons suffering from personality and character defects are profoundly ignorant of the simple truths of constructive living. They have lost impersonal perspective, and their own problems are magnified entirely out of proportion with their true values. They are confused, disillusioned, and discouraged. They fear the world because it has hurt them; and they fear themselves because of the internal weaknesses that have brought on past and present misfortunes. For these muddled ones, a few simple, usable directions are far more practical than profound psychological formulas, difficult to understand.
For such as these, I would offer the following summary of basic truths which apply to health and happiness.
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RIGHT LIVING
1. Thou shalt not worry, for by so doing thou shalt suffer the same disaster many times.
2. Thou shalt not try to dominate or possess others, for it is the right of every man to govern his own actions.
3. Thou shalt not desire after fame, for the burdens of greatness are an affliction unto the spirit.
4. Thou shalt not desire after great wealth, for there is no peace in the lives of the rich.
5. Thou shalt relax, for great tension is an abomination unto the flesh.
6. Thou shalt have a sense of humor, or thy years will seem much longer and more painful in the land.
7. Thou shalt love the beautiful and serve the good, for this is according to the Will of Heaven.
8. Thou shalt harm no other person, by word, or thought or deed, regardless of the cause; for to do so is to perpetuate the sorrows of the race.
9. Thou shalt not be angry at any person for any reason, for anger injures most the one who is angry.
10. Thou shalt never blame another for thy misfortune, for each man's destiny is in his own keeping.