=kit059.txt

KIT 59 - Healing the Wounds of the Psyche

Pain is a faithful companion that collects more of its kind on the
way and does not let itself be fooled by our facetiousness. Yet
pain wearies when we give ourselves over to glorification. In fact
pain is a host at the center of the cosmic drama that extends the
cosmic celebration to the existential realm.

Its lineage may be traced to what Dr. Stanislav Grof calls the
perinatal stage of our life's trajectory in nebulous strata of our
memory. However fleeting memories of our pre-natal uterine sojourn
may sometimes break through from the unconscious. Nature protects
us somewhat from the memory of the trauma of birth by blanking out
consciousness, so that we embark upon our terrestrial episode with
a (relatively) clean slate. But this is where it starts: childhood
memories - vaguely erased, yet sometimes erupting with
uncontrollable force.

Of course, there is no way of cataloguing these, since the
scenarios of our childhood background vary so greatly; sometimes
from the sublime to the horrendous, depending upon the case. It
may be somewhat innocuous - a toothache, an upset tummy; or worse:
being left unattended by one's parents, perceiving quarrels or
even violence - being frustrated from one's wish, or confined, or
unjustly treated, or punished, or abused, or derided. Whether
actually trivial or traumatic, these impediments assume in our
childish perception humongous proportions.

Mother nature was putting us through the apprenticeship of pain in
preparation for possibly yet greater trauma as we grown to
adulthood. Later upon reflection, one may come to realize that
just as muscular stress, (within certain limits) tonifies the
muscles of our body, so does psychic trauma toughen our mettle. 
This is providing trauma does not exceed certain thresholds, after
which it can prove to be psychologically depleting. Yet, it is
good to bear in mind that the threshold between stress and over-
stress shifts according to one's determination and realization.

Doubtless a traumatic event, however past, leaves a mark in the
psyche, most likely a wound which if not tended is likely to
fester and even grow disproportionately out of hand. Physical
wounds offer us an apt model for what happens to the psyche: the
way is open to bacteria, even viruses. The difference between
bacteria and viruses: bacteria are attacked by the immune system;
viruses are more insidious, they take over the very programming of
the host cells and deplete their attackers.

Just as a timorous person is more prone to be mugged than a
valiant character, since our wounds constitute our weak spots, so
people inadvertently perhaps, perceive this weak spot. And if
adversely disposed they will aim their attack right there; and if
not, life will somehow find a way of doing this to one.
Alternately thoughts and emotions accruing from outside and then
ingested and incorporated, may infect the wounds, manifesting as
bitterness or despondency. Painful thoughts may haunt one
obsessively if not dealt with.

How does one effect a cure? In medicine two methods are availed
of:

a)  administering a foreign product that attacks the bacteria -
rarely the virus
b)  enhancing the organism's own defense system (likewise with the
psyche)

What healing processes does meditation have to offer? Positive
thoughts auto-suggested in meditation themes provide a most apt
antidote to the negative self-defeating thoughts often triggered
off upon our reflections and our psychological trauma. These will
sometimes counter the negative thoughts forcefully and effectively
protect the psyche from further infection. The sheer
repetitiveness of a meditation theme as a mantra, conditioned by
its association with a sound sequence will act as a protective
dressing smeared with a balm upon one's sensitized heart.

Where the wounds are more deep-seated, affecting the overall
structure of the psyche, then it is incumbent to call upon our
psyche's inbuilt immune system. Indeed nature does provide us with
a degree of inner resilience against upsetting impressions,
thoughts and emotions. This ability is effected by the traditional
'indifference' illustrated by the 'imperturbability,' (vairagya)
of the Hindu anchorite (sannyasin).

The strategy devised by our smart programming is to refuse
admission to unwanted elements in based upon a differentiation
(vivea) between self and non-self. In other words to refuse upon
our sense of identity, albeit that this sense of identity is
extended to the zones in the environment which are usually
considered as lying beyond oneself but bear an affinity with one's
nature. Certain meditation practices extend one's sense of
identity to everything in which one discovers attributes akin to
one's own and thus leads to further reaches of self-discovery.   

This sense of recognition (replicated in artificial intelligence)
rests upon a more advanced therefore more subtle process than the
commonplace subject-object relationship based on otherness (the I-
It relationship of Martin Buber). This is identity based on
resonance, similarity - in practice a blend between absolute
identity and difference. For example, two gongs may have certain
frequencies in common and others dissimilar, but owing to the
similarities, if one strikes one gong, the other will start
vibrating in resonance. This function built into our psyche allows
us to enrich our personality with elements in harmony with our
being. They have something in common with our own nature, yet
differ in certain respects; on the other hand there is a turning
down of any response (indifference) with regard to anything that
is too foreign.

Also our programming needs to consider that our heredity is a
hybrid consequently extending to zone of identity, while setting
certain limits for example to cross-pollinization and breeding
based on similarities versus incompatibilities. So our genetic
programming provides the organism and indeed the psyche with some
accommodation by which it can ingest elements in which the
heterodox features may even outweigh the homeostatic ones. This is
exactly where we are at risk to make a compromise and accommodate
elements that prove toxic, harmful, destructive to our being.

Let us bear in mind that since this defense mechanism of the body
and the psyche is inborn, it does not depend upon the feed back of
experience. The defense mechanism is genetically determined, so
there are vast differences of innate susceptibility accountable by
heredity. (It is a feed-forward.) Actually we need to account for
pre-conceptual features: in the parlance of esoteric lore, (let us
call it meta-psychology), we differ in the particular composition
or admixture of qualities. The qualities are our divine
inheritance, (called 'ayan al Thabita' by the Sufis); yet it
covers a vast range. This is predetermined.

It its incipient stage, therefore the immune system acts as a
deterrent, repelling harmful intruders, likewise with the psyche.
However, once in function, the system adapts itself to the
environment. If the intruder manages to gain access within the
organism or the psyche, the organism or psyche learns how to
attack it, ultimately defeating it totally by killing it or
eliminating it. The genetic code that mostly exhibits much
stability throughout our lives to provide a template for the
structuring of our tissues, does mutate greatly in respect of the
immune system. The ability of the individual to respond to a
particular antigen needs to be tailored to the nature of that
antigen. Even this is foreseen in our planning so that it may be
held that the wherewithal to resist harmful psychic elements is
written right into the pool of our divine inheritance. We are
provided with a psychic defense system highly adaptable to what
seems to be unexpected trauma.

The macrophages first neutralize the disturbing element by
engulfing it, then disintegrating it; precisely so does the psyche
when its function has not been impaired by over-stress both
emotional and mental. But the stress of our lives in our present
day civilizations being the way it is, harmful psychic elements
tend to gain access into our psyche and our defense mechanism gets
over-stressed. This is where psycho-therapy and meditation -
optimally a judicious combination of both will prove to the
ultimate resort when disturbing thoughts have become ingrained and
persistently obsessive. Mercifully the challenge of the assailant
will enhance the immune system.

In the psyche, the antigens need to be reinforced by a concerted
volitional act since in our civilizations, we have turned down the
autogenic psychic defense mechanism actuated by the myths of old.
Certain methods of meditation are devised precisely to trigger off
archetypal psychic forces that effect recovery. The organism and
psyche know how to self-heal, if we know how to let them take
over: our will acts as the catalyst triggering off an unconscious,
cosmic will, if we know when to let the transit take place. This
does rest upon an act of faith: to enlist the action of those
archetypal factors of our being, we need to honor our higher
being.

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