Dumariae Love-Jackson

Course: Psychology 459, Spring 2007, Generation 26
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Introduction to Theistic Psychology  at  www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic/ch1.htm
My Home Page:  www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459s2007/lovejackson/lovejackson-home.htm

Class Home Page:  www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/classhome-g26.htm
Instructions for this Report:  www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/459-g26-weekly.htm

Examining Theistic Psychology a Little Deeper

By, Dumariae Love-Jackson

Report 2 for sections 1.03 – 1.07

I am answering questions 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.7, 6.1, 6.8, 6.7, and 6.9.

5.1.
(a) Describe the psychobiology of "conjunction" with God from the perspective of the positive bias. You need to include the concept of how thoughts and feelings are spiritual substances operating inside mental organs.
(b) Explain why this is called psychobiology. Explain the degrees of conjunction.
(c) What happens to this psychobiology when we are in the negative bias?
(b) How do you see this concept as applying to you?

The psychobiology of junction starts with a simple notion. The readings give the equation, “to be able to react” = “being effected” = “conjunction. Lets take a deeper look into the origin of this equation. The reading states that we do not own our lives. We are merely vessels that take in the spiritual substances of light and heat which represents good and truth. These substances come directly from God. If this is this the case, then the relationship between the spiritual race and God is apparent. God powers our vessels through the light and heat that radiates through the spiritual race through his omnipresence and omnipotence. The power source is endless but the amount of life that he gives us is finite. This is why we have physical death in the natural world.

Now that we know what gives the effect, we need to know how this effect is received. This can be understood through how the natural body takes its information in through different sensory outputs and interprets it in ways that give meaning to the spiritual race. The ears hear, the eyes see, the tongue tastes, the fingers touch, and the nose smells. All of these sensory stations react with the environment around us and converts the information received in a way that is meaningful and rational. The cognitive organ reacts to the inflow of God’s good and truth just the same. The cognitive organ is made up of spiritual substances that are tailored in such a fashion that they are able to receive the good and truth that God gives us. In addition to this, our perceived life isn’t continuous. It is actually the death and reconstruction of a finite number of moments. Each time life in our vessels are reconstructed it is built just as it was the instance before. The divine human then takes up all the pain and suffering associated with death and places it with in him. This gives the spiritual race the sense of continuity within their life instead of a collection of instances.

Feelings and thoughts come in to play in that they are not things that belong to us. In fact they are products of the good and truth that God gives us. In their purest nature, these substances are the meat and potatoes of the life within our vessels. When we begin to think as this life as belonging to us, they become evil and falsities, it conflicts with the inflow of the pure good and truth that God gives us. This is where our hellish traits stem from. Also, our opportunity to choose good and truth over evil and falsities take place. From here we have a chance to exhibit our love which is one of the goals that God has for us during our life on earth.

This is called psychobiology because it explains the biology of the cognitive organ. The analogy in the reading made a connection between how the ear takes in information and processes it in a manner that we can make sense out of it. The processes of the cognitive organ happens in very much the same way as I previously described.

The degrees of conjunction are described as consciousness and sacred scripture. Consciousness is an organ within our natural mind that is some what of a mediator between our sensuous mind and our physical self. When something has the potential to negatively affect the things we do, our conscience serves as an alarm. Here, we are presented with a choice. We can either follow our conscience or ignore it. When we ignore our conscience we are potentially creating evil. Our conscience tells us what is good and true.

Sacred Scripture is God’s Divine speech manifested in a form that the human natural mind can understand. Sacred scriptures begins at the highest point of our mind starting at the celestial and spiritual sections which are unconscious, and filters all the way down to our natural mind.

The degree of this conjunction happens in four stages, the first stages deals with disjunction from God that stems from thinking in the negative bias. The following stage deals with natural conjunction with God. The next stage is spiritual conjunction with God. The final stage is Celestial conjunction with God.

When we are in the negative bias, this psychobiology is altered in that instead of good and truth coming in we receive evils instead. The reason for this is that the negative bias deals with things that are empirical in a tangible sense. The discrepancy here is that God isn’t tangible. Since God doesn’t show himself in the physical world we can not measure his existence while we are in the negative bias.

This concept applies to me in a variety of ways. The part of the reading that stood out most was the idea of conscience being a degree of conjunction. I deal with my conscience on a day to day basis. Sometimes I do right by listening to my conscience and other times I do wrong by taking up some of my “hellish” traits.

5.2

a. Describe the infrastructure of physical things from the perspective of substantive dualism.

b. show that the inmost of any object is the mental world of humanity

c. how does this change the way you look at objects around you

d. are you able to explain this to a friend and be heard

The infrastructure of physical things consists of physical matter and eternity. The physical matter is the outermost portion. This area contains tangible things that have a finite existence in the physical form. The innermost portion of physical things is what we know as eternity. Eternity is classified as having a beginning but no end. The components of this infrastructure interact with one another in order to make life possible. In other words, it seems as if the eternity of physical things is the fuel for the actual vessels in which eternity resides.

The inmost of any object is the mental world of humanity. This is a rational statement because the mental world is made up of the spiritual world of everyone. The members of human kind do not have ownership of their mental world, rather they are just pieces to the puzzle that create the mental world. These pieces are given to us by God, the Divine Psychologist through things such as sacred scripture and divine speech.

When I look at objects around me I can understand why the statements above are true. Since God made the world and everything in it, it is easy to attribute the properties of the chair that I am sitting in to its physical construction of a place to sit. The thought of the chair having an eternity within it stems from the notion that God took a pieces of himself, and gave it to the chair so that it could exist with purpose.

I tried explaining this to my girlfriend. It was easy for her to grasp the concept that we have a physical body that is finite which is located at the outermost portion of our existed. She was also able to except that the inmost portion of our existence is eternity. I was able to explain the relationship between the two of them with use of the car and gas analogy that was used in the reading. The trouble she had was in attributing the same properties to things that did not have life such as a bed or a pair of shoes.

5.3.
(a) Explain why God hides from people. Include the concept of sensuous vs. rational spirituality.
(b) What would happen if God showed Himself to your friends?

From the readings, it doesn’t seem that God hides from people. In fact it seems that people are merely incapable of experiencing God through their physical senses. There are a few reasons for this. One reason has to do with the evolution of the celestial race to a spiritual race. This point in evolution resulted in humans having a split brain rather than the previous whole brain. I’d like to argue that this evolution to a split brain is result of something God was doing. I speculate that God introduced free will here and no longer wanted to allow a sensuous relationship with physical matter. The reason behind this is that the celestial race lived in a perfect world of robots. Now, with this new spiritual race we are only allowed a rational relationship with God while we are living in our physical bodies. The difference between sensuous and rational is that a sensuous relationship is having a direct connection to God and a rational relationship deals with things we receive through divine scripture. From this follows that the rational relationship is located within the construct of the mind and far exceeds any external physical relationship that we could dream of experiencing. The spiritual race cannot have a sensuous relationship with God until the mind and physical body part ways. When we awaken in the mental world we are then able to have a sensuous relationship with God.

Now if you think about it, this all makes since. With the introduction of free will it gives us a chance to choose the things that are good and true. By choosing these things over our hellish traits we are then expressing love for god. This creates a more meaningful and genuine relationship with God.

If God showed himself to my friends I think that there would be a mixture of reactions. I have quite a few friends who are religious and have been previously exposed to the subject of God. In regards to their reaction I think that this group of friends may be overwhelmed by the experience. They would more rooted in their faith as this would be enough proof for in their eyes to continue in their walks of life. If God appeared to this particular group of friends he would speak to him through his divine speech which would then filter down through our celestial and spiritual minds onward through our natural minds and converted in such a way that they could understand. According to the readings, God’s speech would sound very much like divine scripture repeated over and over again. The reason for this is that God is made up of good and truth. He is also omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Since divine scripture is God’s word manifested in such a way that the human mind can comprehend, this is the closest thing that we have to God’s speech in which we are able to comprehend on our level of awareness.

If I were to explain this to my friends who aren’t religious the same thing would take place however it would appear differently. If God were to show himself to my friends who do not believe in him or do not follow a particular religion, his divine speech would still filter down from the celestial and spiritual mind down to their natural mind. Instead of sacred scripture being hear over and over again, the non believer would here something to the effect of what they already believe to be true. The reason for this is that it has to happen in a way that the receiver could understand. If they believe a certain way one would be hard pressed to get them to believe differently.

5.7.
(a) Explain why this is a perfect world despite the appearances of imperfection. Define what is perfection in the created world. Include the idea that the world was created for human beings to help them evolve to their eternal heavens.
(b)  How do you answer some of the arguments people make when they insist that this is far from being a perfect world today. How do you counter their facts?

A perfect world in the literal sense would be one that consist only good and no evil. When most people think of what a perfect world this is the first thing they usually envision. This thought that the world is not perfect is false based on the readings for this week. The reason for this is that although the world appears to be imperfect in nature with all the crime, deception, corruption, as well as all of the minor imperfections, everything happens for a reason. In addition to this, all of the things that we perceive as imperfections of the world are actually a component of what makes this world perfect. Lets examine this notion in closer proximity. Since God is omniscient, he must already know what is going to happen to us before it actually happens. Since God is Omnipotent, we know that he has direct control over the things that happen to us. And, since he is omnipresent, we know that he is everywhere around us. All of this is said to demonstrate the level of control that God has over us. Although we know that God has complete control over us, the following question is often raised. Why does he let people do evil persist in the behaviors of the individuals who reside in the world. The best answer I can give to this question comes in two parts. First, God gives us free will to choose to do the things we do. By this, we are able to demonstrate are love for him and our neighbor or lack there of. The second part comes in to play in that God somewhat scaffolds are every actions. He shows us the path of good and truth as well as the path that is saturated with hellish traits. It then seems that the human race consist of a collection of babies. Each individual is tethered to God in some shape form or fashion (even the ones who have strayed farthest from God’s path has a connection). All of this has significance to the perfection of the world. The reason is that the way we live our lives on earth determines how our eternity will map out. In other words, there is a higher purpose to God’s plan than life on earth. This makes sense in that eternity is a lot longer than any individual’s life on earth. Consider this phrase that stems from Gestalt psychology. “The whole differs from the sum of parts.” In this case, the whole represents the greater plan that God has for our eternal lives and the sum of parts represents each individual’s life on earth. If you add up the sum of parts you get a simple community of people who reside in the natural world. If you consider the whole, you have something that is more powerful than a collection of individuals. This power extends far beyond the constraints of the natural world.

When people raise the argument that this is far from a perfect world, my counter argument would be simply to explain the higher purpose for our lives. I can predict that the reason why people think that this is not a perfect world is that there is a wealth of perceived imperfections in the natural world. It is not their fault though because most people have been educated in the negative bias. Even those who are religious and have some level of faith in God believe that this isn’t a perfect world because they are so caught up in what is going on now. By people being preoccupied with what’s going on now, their ability to see what is ahead of them is compromised.

If I were to make an attempt to explain why this is a perfect world I would first explain that they need to have an objective mindset and accept the possibility the things I am about to tell them can be true. I would then explain to them that all the evils in the world that would be attributed to imperfection is actually part of the perfection that God has created. Since God speaks nothing but divine good and truth, and since he has created everything in the world, it is then impossible for this world to be imperfect for God is perfection. It can also be said that the perceived evils of the world are building blocks of God’s plan. This plan is something that most members of the spiritual race can not understand because of the influence that the negative bias has on them. This idea that both heaven and hellish traits are contributors to this being a perfect world is rational in that it sets up the foundation for learning more about the higher purpose that God has for our eternal lives.

The key thing to remember is that eternal life is inevitable. God has a main goal in mind for everyone. Each individual in the natural world has equal opportunity to adopt heavenly or hellish traits. Regardless of all the hellish traits that we adopt, the plan remains unaltered because God won’t allow it to happen.

6.1.
(a) Explain the Swedenborg reports in relation to the positive bias in science.
(b) Describe what happened to him? What did he discover?
(c) Describe how you manage to take on the positive bias regarding the Swedenborg reports. Are you succeeding? What conflicts are you having to contend with in your mind?
(d) Compare your adaptation efforts at the positive bias with those of your friends with whom you discussed it so far.

Swedenborg was a well established person who, at the age 57, attained the ability to become conscious in the physical world as well as the mental world of all humanity. While experiencing encounters with the mental world, he recorded all of his findings. He also conducted scientific experiments to prove all of his findings. He was able to measure the resuscitation of individuals after they die and transcend into the mental world. He was also able to converse with all of the inhabitants of the mental world.

If we examine Swedenborg’s work in an objective fashion, we can see that everything he did was logical and rational. Swedenoborg was a trained scientist who utilized the rigorous, universal methodology that all scientists have to use in order for their work to be valid. The only difference between Swedenborg and other scientists was that Swedenborg used his expertise to study something that the realm of science frowned upon. This something was the existence of God. The interesting thing is that despite all the empirical findings that Swedenborg came up with, his work is still not taken in to account as scientific because it deals with something that is beyond the physical world.

When all of this started happening to Swedenoborg, his alleged peculiar behaviors were easily attributed to neuroticism. The reason for this is that the behavior could not be viewed objectively by people who based their opinions on laws that are governed by the negative bias. At the time that Swedenborg became conscious in the mental world he held a range had a lot of activities on his plate. He held down a very demanding job and participated in a range of social activities. With this being said, how could he fair so well while doing all of these things and be considered neurotic? The answer to this question is that he was not neurotic. He was perfectly sane at the time he became conscious in the mental world.

The positive bias is the adoption of education that includes the possibility of God within it. This is what Swedenborg illustrated through his work. We can adopt all of the laws that traditional science has to offer and include God in it. It seems that the human race has become narrow-minded in a since that we are always looking for ways to exclude and simplify things. The problem here is that this is not always the best way to go about things because sometimes we exclude things that have great value (like the existence of God), and we lose out on vital information that is essential to us.

The positive bias is easy for me to take on in that the existence of God is not something that I have ever doubted. The only thing different is that I have never seen the subject of God presented in a scientific fashion. Actually its kind of interesting and it somewhat strengthens my faith. The one difficulty I have had in receiving this knowledge is the idea that Swedenborg could be present in 2 different worlds simultaneously. Its hard for me to not attribute his claims to schizophrenia. The reason for that is that I have been educated so much in the negative bias that it is hard for me to change my views on a whim. It would be different if Swedenborg and his claims were familiar to me. I would also be able to be more objective if his work had been introduced to some facet of my life, more specifically, religion. I think that since the existence of God is something that has its biggest roots in religion, it would have made a lot of since to have his work used in such a fashion that it would strengthen religious doctrine.

My adaptive efforts toward the positive differs from my friends in the degree to which I’m learning about theistic psychology in comparison to what they are learning. I have the benefit of learning these facts in collegiate. I also have a professor whom I can ask questions. My friends only have my interpretation of what I am learning. The discrepancy here is that my knowledge is compared to that of a novice. This means that they have no body of expertise as a source. They are also not obligated to do their research. I, on the other hand am looking to extend my knowledge, become more objective, and get a good grade in this class.

6.8.
(a) List some objections you or your friends can come up with against the Swedenborg reports
(b) against the positive bias in science
(c) against the inclusion of God in science, and
(d) against one other issue of your choice.

One of the objections that my friends have toward the Swedenborg reports is whether or not he was really able to travel to the mental world while he was still alive. A lot of my friends believe that there is an afterlife. These friends also believe that there are certain criteria that one must live their life by before they enter their desired state of the afterlife. Their problem with accepting the Swedenborg reports was that he claims to have visited the mental world at the age of 57. When most people envision the afterlife, they usually attribute death as the passage to get there. The realm of religion does offer a few exceptions to the rule through divine beings. Most of the divine beings that they knew about were present far back in history. Also, most of the divine beings were mentioned in the bible or other forms of sacred scripture. Since Swedenborg came after these publications, sacred scripture has not been revised in order to include him as one of the great prophets. It is then difficult for them to accept him as an important figure.

My friends also state that Swedenborg only has himself to site as a source. Part of the rigorous methodology that science uses requires that experiments are repeatable. Also, multiple observers need to be able to reach the same conclusion time after time. Since Swedenborg is the only one that claims to have been conscious in the mental world while still alive, my friends aren’t as quick to accept his findings because they have nothing to compare them to.

Out of all of my friends, the majority of them are very objective. The ones that I’ve talked to about this topic were able to accept the view of the positive bias in that there is a possibility that God can coexist with science in a rational fashion. Their reason for accepting the positive bias is very much like my own. Since they already have a religious background, they already accept God as an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being. The one friend I have who happens to be atheist was the most resistant to accepting the positive bias. Actually, she didn’t accept it at all. The reason why is consistent with the negative bias. She said that since she can’t see God in a physical form or experience him through any other of her senses, then she can’t believe in him. I actually had to cut the conversation short as we began to butt heads.

When I began to talk to my friends about the inclusion of God in science the feelings about the subject were very much like the previous reactions. My Christian friends were interested in the ideas and wanted to know more about how this could happen. My friend who doesn’t believe didn’t see any use to it although I explained the things I’ve been learning in this course. With this being said, it seems that people are governed by their past experience so much that effects not only the way they live their present lives but the future as well.

After numerous attempts to get my non believing friend to thing more objectively, I mad one last attempt. I tried to explain the biology of the mind in all of its essence starting from the natural mind. I started with the natural mind because I new it was a concept in which she couldn’t deny since the natural mind exist in the natural world. I then tried to relate the biology of the natural mind to the biology of the spiritual mind. I attempted to show my friend the relationship between the two and how they worked in the same fashion. I also took the idea of conscience as an illustration of how the mind works. Of course, once again, she had a rebuttal. My attempts had failed.

6.7.
(a) What is the most exciting piece of news or fact you have heard so far in theistic psychology?
(b) Share this exciting fact with your friends and family. What do you conclude form their reaction?

The most exciting piece of news I’ve heard regarding theistic psychology was the overall idea that God can exist within a scientific framework. So many times through out my academic career, there has been a separation between God and science. I think this separation came into play when people started attributing the knowledge that they have obtained as something that has derived from within them and not something that was made possible by God. This idea is blasphemous because it goes against God. After a while, the power of science grew. It seems that people are intimidated at the possibility of not having ownership of their lives. People like to know that they have control over their lives. If they don’t they feel powerless. After time passed, the effect of science snowballed and became a great opposition to the existence of God.

Through Swedenborgs writings we are now able to see a rational link between science and God. Adopting the positive bias will help us see the rational link without automatically discounting it as merely another attempt to prove God’s existence.

One other fact that I find interesting is how the spiritual mind alarms the natural mind of things that are wrong and hellish through our conscience. This portion of theistic psychology makes the most sense to me.

When I shared this news with my girlfriend, she thought that the first part was a bit redundant because I’ve been talking to her about this topic since the beginning of the semester. When I told her about the conscience being one of the degrees of conjunction with God, she was just as interested in the idea as I was. I then went on to explain sacred scripture as the other degree of conjunction with God.

6.9.
(a) Make up a dialogue between you and a hypothetical friend in a situation where you are telling your friend about this course. No length is specified. It depends on how you write the dialog. You can add lines of explanations, like a stage play, if you want.
(b) Show the dialog to a couple of people. Describe their reaction and your discussion.

Dumariae: Hey what’s up Nadine can I talk to you about something that was presented to me in school today

Nadine: Sure, why not

Dumariae: Well, have you heard about Theistic Psychology, and the writings of Swedenborg

Nadine: No, I can’t say that I have

Dumariae: Well, Swedenborg was a guy who held an ordinary life up to the age of 57 when his life took a drastic turn.

Nadine: Drastic turn?

Dumariae: Yes, apparently, one day he became conscious in what he now termed the “mental world”

Nadine: “what is the mental world?”

Dumariae: “well, the mental world is where we reside after our attachment to our natural body is severed”

Nadine: “what do you mean by being severed from our natural body?”

Dumariae: “when our natural body dies, the attachment between the mind and the flesh is severed. We then awaken in the mental world approximately 35 hours after death.”

Nadine: “and how do you know this?”

Dumariae: “through the writings of Swedenborg. At the age of 57 he became conscious in the mental world and was able to view the awakening.”

Nadine: “how do you know that he wasn’t crazy, you know that being delusional is part of the criteria for schizophrenia.”

Dumariae: “this is true, however, people with schizophrenia can function adequately within society. Swedenborg on the other hand was able to hold down a steady job and maintain a very active social role within his community. His credibility was very good in that he was a well respected scientist.

Nadine: “that’s interesting, so how does one bridge the gap between science and God?”

Dumariae: “through the positive bias. This is the idea that science and God can exist together in a ration fashion. Swedenborg conducted experiments while in the mental world in order to prove this.”

I showed this dialogue to my girlfriend (ironically her name is Nadine), and she said her alleged responses to what I was saying was very similar to the way she would have responded. (my conjugial partner perhaps….)