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Please note that the text below was written by the feeling-being ‘Peter’ while ‘he’ lived in a pragmatic
(methodological), still-in-control/same-way-of-being Virtual Freedom before becoming actually free. |
Psyche
psyche –– The human soul, spirit or mind. Oxford Dictionary
Peter: In the real world, the human psyche or entity that dwells within the
physical body is defined as being permanent and real and, as such, deemed to be actual. This entity as soul, spirit or mind is a
non-corporeal entity that is ‘inside’ the physical flesh and blood body, looking out through the eyes, hearing through the ears, smelling
through the nose, etc.
This entity can be conveniently seen to have two component parts: who one thinks
one is – a psychological entity – and who one feels oneself to be – a psychic entity. Broadly speaking, who one thinks oneself to be is
one’s social identity – the sum of the morals, ethics, values and psittacisms that have been instilled from birth by one’s peers in order
to make one a fit and fitting member of one’s particular group in society.
Who one feels oneself to be is ‘me’ at my very core – the instinctual animal
sense of being implanted by blind nature to ensure the survival of the species. This genetically inherited sense of ‘self’ is the very
basis of the self-survival instinct.
The study of the psyche blossomed in the West when academic study broke free from
the churches and has been formalized in the last centuries as the discipline of
- psychology – (The science of the nature, functioning, and development of the human mind (formerly, of
the soul), including the faculties of reason, emotion, perception, communication, etc.; the branch of science that deals with the (human or
animal) mind as an entity and in its relationship to the body and to the environmental or social context, based on observation of the
behaviour of individuals or groups of individuals in particular) Oxford Dictionary
and the discipline of
- psychiatry – (The medical treatment of mental illness, emotional disturbance, and abnormal behaviour). Oxford Dictionary
Thus both the social programming and the neuro-biological
programming of human beings are now accepted as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ – inherent in the Human Condition. The instinctual passions of
nurture and desire are given credence and kudos whilst fear and aggression are to be controlled within ‘acceptable limits’. Given that fear
and aggression are both emotional responses caused by chemical surges that originate from the primitive brain or amygdala, the treatment of any
excesses is ultimately a chemical treatment. Anyone exhibiting excessive fear, depression, anger or violence beyond what is considered ‘normal’,
and such that they cannot control it themselves, are given chemicals to suppress or counter-balance those sourced from the amygdala.
The sole aim of psychiatry is to treat those whose psychological
behaviour exceeds the limits of what society deems normal. In short, when moral and ethical self-restraint fails, and where treatment is
available and sought, chemicals are relied upon to stem the tide of instinctual passions. Of course, this usually happens after the event, as
in murder, rape, attempted suicides, etc., or not at all in the case of mass ‘outbreaks’ of passion such as demonstrations, riots, wars,
genocides, etc.
The Eastern spiritual interpretation of the psyche essentially is
that the inner realm consists of two parts – ego and soul – and the aim of spiritual practice is to sublimate and eliminate the ego such
that one identifies as being only the soul. This shift of identity is typified by the teachings of self becoming Self, of having discovered one’s
Original Face, or in popular jargon, ‘getting out of one’s head and into one’s heart’. Thus the spiritual believer turns away from the
real world of ‘mind’, the physical body, and earthly suffering and enters into an imaginary heartfelt, meta-physical, blissful realm.
By giving full reign to passionate imagination one taps into and enters a psychic
world – well-trodden and extensively mapped by millions upon millions of devotees, billions of sacred words, poetry, platitudes and countless
ancient ceremonies, divinations, rituals and traditions. This psychic world of imagination is so strongly felt, so vast in scope and so
seductively overwhelming to the senses as to be convincing real. For those who ‘travel’ in this psychic world there are no limits to
affective imagination, and a visit to any New Age bookshop will testify to the both the plethora of beliefs and the passionate conviction of
the believers. This collective psychic world seems so all-encompassing – a world so powerful as to be convincingly real – one feels as if
one has discovered the Hidden Secrets of humanity – all has been revealed!
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