Report
2:
My Incomplete Understanding of Theistic Psychology
By
Ami Lyons
Instructions
for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/459-g21-report2.htm
Question 2-
What are the consequences for society of "materialism" which excludes God from science? What are "scientific revelations" and what motivates scientists to exclude them? Discuss whether this motivation is justified and how theistic psychology proposes to overcome this objection.
What are scientific revelations?
“Scientific revelations are Divine truths contained in Divine Speech. When we understand scientific revelations found in Sacred Scripture we are receiving revelation from perceiving the scientific sense of a word or phrase in Sacred Scripture.” Section 4.1
To have a discussion on scientific revelation I find it pertinent to describe what exactly a revelation is. A revelation is something that is discovered or exposed (generally that of dramatic disclosure) concerning something not previously known or realized. In Theology (The study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions[1]) revelation is meant to denote a truth previously unrealized by a person or people that relates to an aspect of God’s Word and in essence, his Truth. These truths are found when we study God’s Word in combination with Swedenborg’s code-breaking tool of correspondences. God’s Word consists of three essential writings: the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Using Swedenborg’s key of correspondences we are able to take a scientific meaning out of the literal context of which they are recorded in the Old and the New Testaments. We do this in order to get the true rational meaning of what God has laid out for human kind as a tool for attaining an everlasting heavenly existence. The literal story contained in the Old and New Testaments are actual historically sound events that indeed did occur. In Theistic Psychology we see beyond the literal translation of the texts to a higher level of understanding meant for all of humanity at all times and in all places.
An example of the timelessness and pervasiveness of revelations can be seen in the teachings of Ten Commandments.
“[In other words], the Ten Commandments are given to all humankind as a life strategy for personality development. God says that if we want to develop to our full human potential we must modify our behavior to fit the Divine Commandments. Clearly, Divine Commandments in general are psychological self-modification techniques for creating a heavenly character within our mind. All Divine Commandments must therefore be considered as a scientific revelation since they tell us about real facts regarding psychology and human behavior.” Section 2.9
Why does science seem to exclude scientific revelations?
“Materialistic science assumes that all phenomena are to be discovered or identified by physical measurements, or abstractions based on physical measurements. It rejects the use of God as an explanatory concept in science because such a concept is not physical and cannot be measured or abstracted from other concepts that are based on physical measurements.” Section 1.1.1
The above quote explains that
through out our recent history the encompassing idea in science has been that
we learn what is ‘true’ about this world through our senses. This is called
empiricism. First proposed in the 18th century by British philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley,
empiricism gained steam as a movement and eventually surpassed in practice the
school of thought that opposed it, called rationalism. Rationalism upholds the
notion that the mind may be able to apprehend truths directly, with no aid from
the senses. Rationalism allows the idea of God and the sciences to work
together where as empiricism historically has not.
There has been a conscious effort to keep God out of
science, schools and the mainstream media.
“To reject this offhand (dualism, Swedenborg’s writings) without examining it, is a negative bias that is transmitted by atheistic science taught in schools and normalized in a secular press.” Section 2.13
The question then becomes why; why has our society chosen to separate church and state? Why does using God as an explanatory factor for our lives at a scientific level scare the power structure and threaten those in charge? Why does uniting under one God create fear in the hearts of our current spiritual leaders?
I believe that the base of their fears is due to the following premise, which is at the core of Theistic Psychology:
“Theistic psychology is science--universal, empirical, rational, objective, applied. Religion and Church on the other hand, are historical-cultural-institutional entities, and therefore political. But theistic psychology is not political but rational and panhuman. By rational definition there can be only one God, since God is infinite, and to talk of two infinites is illogical. Hence there can be only one infinite God.” Section 2.13
In reality God loves everyone equally. Our race is that of the Fallen age. Before us beings roamed the earth with a single brain that reflected their ability to be in contact with God in the spiritual world as well as maintaining consciousness in the natural world. They were called celestial beings. Since they were in direct connection with God, there was no need for them to experience him on a rational level because they were able to experience him on a sensuous level (rational vs. sensuous consciousness will be discussed in the next question). The celestial beings received no influx from hell. On the other hand we now are a race of split-brained humans. This reflects the duality that is now present with God. We can no longer experience Him on a rational level. Therefore we must get training of our rational mind in order to understand Him, and what it takes to live in commune with Him. We are born with an inherent connection to the hells of our minds so that we may understand the contrast between what is false or not heavenly with what is good and what is true. We must learn to renounce the fallacies of our lives and choose to live by the voice of our conscience, living out God’s heavenly will unto eternity.
“There are various religions and they not only contradict each other but sometimes want to annihilate each other. Even when they are peaceful to one another, some of them still believe that all others are false and lead their believers to eternal unhappiness in the afterlife.” Section 1.4
It is a characteristic of our Fall that we want to dominate over others. From the earliest recorded days one group or another has wanted to claim God as their own, calling themselves the ‘chosen people’ or proclaiming their religion as ‘the way’. Hence, politics interjected itself into religion and the study of God. This new ‘worship’ of God may correspond to the love of an ultimate form of domination over other human beings. Secular priests have shown up in the after life looking like monsters, where their true desire to control the lives of other people is manifested on the outside of their spiritual bodies. In the afterlife there is no way to hide your true intensions. There is an air of animosity between secular religions. One religious leader claims to be right, deeming the others wrong. Psychology (Theistic or other) has diagnosed a condition illustrating how a practitioner of absolutist religious beliefs may not a spiritually inclined person at all; rather he merely wants to feel for himself that he is above others in thought or piousness. So it seems that the way we have set up our society is in accord with hellish loves. We are influenced by our socialization processes to buy into these messages, and if we do not, many times we are ostracized, criticized or ignored.
Are scientists correct in their assumption of materialism, monism?
It seems to me that the answer is no. Our thinking has become so one sided that we have become unable to accept even the possibility that our preconceived notions are wrong. We as a race are reluctant to question tradition and there are checks and balances in place to impede any progress that ‘radical scientists’ begin to make. The impression is that God is a mystical idea and should be kept away from our own ideas of power and knowledge. We want to think that we can explain everything about this world by our own cognition.
“But this surface impression is only because psychology (and science[2]) has become thoroughly atheistic and materialistic. There is no proof for atheism, or for materialism, hence this dedication to atheism and monism is a traditional prejudice that resists the future growth of psychology into the highly beneficial knowledge of regeneration and rational spirituality.” Section 2.13
What are the consequences of a society based on ‘materialism’?
The answer to this question is revealed in the current state of affairs of the world. A Foremost illustration of what a society based on materialism has provided in current times can be seen in the devastations caused by the war in Iraq. Already over 1200 US soldiers have lost their lives, but that number is dwarfed in comparison to the Iraqi insurgents that are dieing to defend their country. And over what? Some say that it is a war over the control of oil. Others call it a philosophical war protecting democracy. Whatever the reason the fact remains that it is war supporting the killing of people by people. A society based on rationalism surely could not justify maiming each other.
There is an adage that has existed way before the first person held a dollar in his hand. That is, “Wealth (money) cannot produce happiness.” I’m not sure that capitalist America would buy such a statement. There is a feverish pursuit of attainment of money in our culture that has turned us upside down. We have lost sight of what is important to us spiritually and have attempted to satiate that need by filling our corporeal plates. We are destroying our natural resources, we are fighting amongst one another, and we are living for the promise of a bigger and better tomorrow while today passes us by. Missing out on life, what really matters to us in a deeper context is the consequence of basing our existence on materialism.
i. The above stated questions are important because they deal with the concept of scientific revelations. They are the means by which we create or elevate our rational minds and advance in spiritual matters. In theory, living in accord with Sacred Scripture and thus having scientific revelations can pull us out of the misery of living as a slave to material culture.
ii. Researching the above questions has given me a new outlook on both the New and Old Testament. I have historically shrugged off the responsibility of reading the two texts because I felt them to be dry, containing mainly egocentric thoughts that the Jews and Christians had about themselves. Now it seems as though there is a more fair and universally encompassing way to interpret these revered pieces of history.
iii. For now I must disagree with Swedenborg’s translation of the Old and New Testament. In order to accept his translation as well as his idea of scientific revelation I need to read the texts using his correspondences key. The only rational way that I can accept his statements is to make the realizations that he has indicated by my own power of understanding.
Question 3-
How does theistic psychology view "mystical spirituality"? Why is it called "mystical"? Include a discussion on "sensuous vs. rational consciousness" of God. What evolutionary significance does this difference imply? How do readers of Swedenborg interpret his Writings?
How does theistic psychology view ‘mystical spirituality’ and why is it called ‘mystical’?
“Those who reject the objectivity of rational spirituality have evolved a subjective mystical spirituality of God that depends on the idea of a "non-duality" between God and human beings.” Section 1.1.1
Mystical spirituality relies on the premise that dwelling within each of us is God. Mystics rely on the faith that their interpretation of ancient texts and stories passed down through oral tradition are correct in their assumptions, the above premise being the most important of them. They also rely on the idea of a sensuous communication, or a direct connection with God either while in their earthly bodies or in subsequent lives, prescribing to the notion of reincarnation and a potentially eternal earthly life. They believe that through rigorous spiritual purification, be it yoga, prayer, devotion, etc. they will eventually attain the highest form of evolution, which is merging into the energy of God and in essence returning to Him.
Some use the term ‘mystical’ to describe their spirituality because they believe God to be something of an enigma, something mysterious than cannot be explained. They stress the importance of the pursuit to uncover this mystery, using the ‘journey’ as a tool to help them move closer to God. The journey consists of prayer, study, and conscious awareness in everyday life that ultimately leads up to God-realization. Many refer to this journey as being the most important aspect of a spiritual life, not in actually achieving the destination. I found in the notes where another student expressed a similar concern.
“A common idea is voiced here, namely that since God is infinite, and He is incomprehensible. Therefore God and mystery are inseparable.” Section 1.1.2
A tradition of mystical spirituality that I have spent some time learning about and participating in is a particular sect of Hindu Yoga called the Bhakti Yogis. Bhakti means devotion and in their spiritual practice the Bhakti Yogis attempt to cultivate complete and utter devotion to Krishna who is their lord. I find their theology both inspiringly resonant and equally beautiful. With the help of a Krishna devotee that I am close with I will try and explain the Krishna Consciousness idea of our Fall as humans. In it I will also describe how this particular mystical tradition views their spiritual path, including a description of their eventual return. Parama Karuna aided me in writing the following piece. He supplied much of the Theological framework, as it is understood by the Hare Krishna sect. I changed some of the writing a little so that those with no Yoga background whatsoever could readily understand it. He is a dedicated devotee of the Hare Krishna movement and a close spiritual companion of mine.
‘We are all originally spiritual
beings-- eternal, fully cognizant, full of bliss- called in Sanskrit, sat chit
ananda vigraha, parts and parcels of the Supreme Spirit-- Krishna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. We are one with Him in quality, the same spiritual
substance, but are far different in quantity (just a small part to His infinite
whole). The dharma or role of the part is to serve the whole as the hand serves
the stomach, and in so doing all is peaceful and content.
Because we have independence (although it is minute), hence
free will, we always have the option to serve the Whole, or not. Therefore,
some of us (maybe a little foolish) decide or imagine what it would be
like if we were not the servants, but the masters, the center, the one in
the middle receiving all of the attention and worship. "What would it be
like to be God?" we ask to ourselves. And because there is no possibility
of any thoughts of that sort, or room for envy in that world, we are given a
chance to experience a virtual world where we can pretend we are God.
Hence, we fall down. Not too far at first. We become
Lord Brahma, the first created being within each material world, who is given
the task of engineering all of the planets and life forms in that particular
sphere. This is a great task in which we have power and devoted followers
and great enjoyment (although within a subtle and refined framework). Yet,
still we know there is someone higher. We have an intimate relationship with
Him, although many below us do not know. In other words they think we are all
in all.
So after
this experience of playing this role, we hopefully get any material desires out
of our system and go back to Krishna. But not all of us. Some are not satisfied
and look down to the enjoyment of Indra, king of the heavenly realm, and see
his more gross enjoyment with apsaras (heavenly maidens) and gandharvas
(heavenly singers) and soma (heavenly wine) and think that it would be a nice
thing if we could experience that. Thus we fall down to Indra's platform.
And the cycle continues down further and further to human
bodies and then animals, insects, plants etc., more and more covered over from
our actual existence, consumed by desire after desire which burn like fire and
are never satiated. The Gunas, or material modes of nature are in control now,
and we helplessly are tossed in the ocean of material existence, all but lost.
Then eventually we work our way back to the human form
of life, where our consciousness has the opportunity to become a bit clearer
and start asking some questions-- like who am I? and what am I doing here?
where do I come from? where am I going? what is God? and why do I have to
suffer, even though I do not want to? Unfortunately most do not ask these
questions and waste their lives in animal concerns of eating, sleeping, mating
and defending. These human animals thus spend their years in ignorance and
then take on the animal body, to go through the cycle all over again.
But when one does take a step back, and has that great epiphany and asks those questions, then God from within, who travels as our eternal guide, reciprocates with ones desire. Finally the soul gets the spark of awakening and we are sent into contact with the pure devotee of the Lord, the enlightened ones, liberated within bodies. Through service and inquiry and their causeless mercy, the coverings and conditionings are cleansed away and the soul remembers his lost relationship with the Supreme. The process may take some lifetimes but whatever progress made can never be lost, and finally after all lessons are learned, all contamination is dissolved, we return to our original home, with Krishna in the spiritual world, and look back at those billions of lifetimes as one long bad dream, never to make that same mistake again. Of course, in eternity, billions of lifetimes is simply a moment so we go back to playing with Krishna as if we had never left.’
A discussion on Sensuous vs. Rational consciousness, and what evolutionary significance these two forms of consciousness imply.
“Feeling something we call "oneness with God" is an effort to connect with God through sensuous consciousness.” Section 4.1
Sensuous consciousness is currently impossible due to the Fall of the beings of this planet. This was not always the case, so it may be in our genetic memory to try and achieve such impossible feats. Striving to become sensuously conscious of God gives rise to mysticism and slows the development of our rational minds. The old race had a different genetic make-up then what we have now. Their spiritual bodies were modified in such a way that enabled them to live simultaneously in the natural and spiritual world. The same is true for being of other planets that have not succumbed to hellish influx.
“The spirits not of this earth have not
experienced a Fall such as the human race on this earth. They are still a
one-minded race like the Most Ancient Church on this earth. Their will and
understanding are united, and therefore they are a celestial mind that is in
direct sensuous communication with the spiritual world. They never experienced
the darkness or extinction of the ability to see and hear the things in the
spiritual world. Therefore they are regenerated by a written Word but directly,
by sensuous consciousness of spiritual things. ” From The Perizonius Thesis[3]
“But the race on this earth that was like
that, ceased with the most Ancient Church, and was replaced by the current
spiritual mind that is a split-mind as reflected by a split-brain. The will and
the understanding of this new split-brain race have been separated for the sake
of our regeneration. Henceforth the human race on this earth had to be
regenerated by rational consciousness of the spiritual world and of
spiritual things. This was a totally new human race.” From The Perizonius
Thesis[4]
It seems as though God, if such an entity really does exist, should just
reveal himself to us so that there is no more confusion and we can all get to
the task at hand which would be to prepare for eternal happiness. But since the
Fall of the ancient race we have no ability to understand an event where God
made Himself visible to us in the flesh, and explained to us that he was our
supreme controller. This is due to the as-of self phenomenon.
As-of self means that God, without whom no life could exist on earth,
has his hand in all that we do or think. We do not and cannot know this. If we
were to know this, it would defeat his purpose of creating humans on earth in
the first place. So he maintains the as-of self principal in humans that makes
it seem as if we are in complete control of our thoughts and actions, when in
actuality, nothing could be farther from the truth, So if God were to perform
such a feat as speaking to us directly (and he could) then he would destroy the
only pathway with which humans could actually come to know Him and understand
His ways. The owned personal conception of our lives and loves would be drawn
out of us. We would lose all motivation to act since we would realize that it
was not us that was actually doing the acting.
It is a curious relationship between free will and enacting God’s will.
The more that we are able to listen to our conscience, the more we align our
actions with the spiritual influx of God, and the less ‘free will’ we are
exercising. It sounds horrible to lose our ability to choose. Actually we are
still choosing something. We are choosing to act out God’s divine love, but
since he maintains the as-of self phenomena through out our lives; we can never
know it while here on earth.
“If God were to talk to us in our mind
directly, we would no longer be able to maintain the as-of self appearance and
we would lose all spiritual freedom, hence all salvation and all heaven.
Instead, the only road upward to our heaven is a rational consciousness because
heaven is a rational destination or state of mind.” Section 6.0.5.1
How do Swedenborg’s
readers interpret his writings?
Until the creation of Theistic
psychology most if not all of Swedneborg’s writings have been interpreted in a
non-scientific way, leaning towards the idealism of a mystic rather than that
of a rational empiricist. Some of his readers tended to be taken by his
‘imagination,’ quoting him as a ‘thoughtful soul’ but not taking the literal
meaning of his theories very far. Others saw him as a seer, or a prophet of
peace. They got this idea from his talks about divine love and his acceptance
of Jesus as the Divine Human incarnate. The books that we are reading in class
are of no exception. One book is comprised of essays that take some of
Swedenborg’s ideas so far out of context, that I was not even able to recognize
them as Swedenborgian ideas. They seemed to be the ideas of the essayist
transposed onto the work of Emmanuel Swedenborg. The following are some quotes
that illustrate my point:
"I admire Swedenborg as a great scientist and a great mystic at the same time. His life and work have always been of great interest to me." -Carl Jung, Psychologist
Here Carl Jung
makes reference to Swedenborg as both a mystic and as a scientist, but if the
positive bias is true there is no way that he can be both. I believe that Jung
uses the term mystic because it fits into his paradigm of a mystical god.
"The correlations between what Swedenborg writes of some of his spiritual experiences and what those who have come back from close calls with death report is amazing." -Raymond Moody, author of Life After Life
Again the author of
this quote is missing a vital point. He is incorrect in his stated assumptions.
Theistic Psychology tells us that it is impossible to have any real experience
with our spiritual bodies even in near death experiences until we have
completely shed the use of our natural bodies. So Mr. Moody is imposing his own
mystical approach to spirituality onto the writings of Swedenborg.
"I have come back to Swedenborg after vast studies of all religions... Swedenborg undoubtedly epitomizes all the religions - or rather the one religion - of humanity." Honore de Balzac
The above quote
holds a lot more integrity in the field of Theistic Psychology. By way of uniting
the entire human race under a common scientific God, Swedenborg has given us a
rational reason to let go of all of the religious and racial strife that has
been plaguing man kind for thousands of years.
i.
The concept of
rational consciousness gives us the freedom to stop relying on faith as a means
of explaining God. If we adopt the positive bias we are able to come from a
perspective that is more digestible scientifically and therefore more readily
understandable to our rational-natural mind.
ii.
Living outside
the context of materialism is a source of inspiration. It is reassuring to know
that all we need to live a life cultivating health and happiness is to study,
to love and learn to completely dedicate our will. Since no one can buy their
way into Gods good grace theistic psychology provides motivation for us to
refocus our priorities from the material world and shift our energies to
concentrate on spiritual growth.
iii.
I am
whole-heartedly against creating an existence for myself that relies on its
joys being derived from material substances. In that way I agree completely
with theistic psychology. A mystical approach to understanding God is all that
I have ever known before this class. I have accepted the positive bias so
rationally I want to believe that God is not mystical but scientific and
rational. In my affective consciousness however I have not yet been able to
make that jump. I am still unread on the sacred scripture that theistic
psychology relies on. Until I have these truths revealed to me I am just a
student of this new paradigm, willing but unlearned.
Question 5-
Why is the topic of "regeneration" so basic in theistic
psychology? What are the "character reformation" steps of building a
"new will"? What is the difference between the "old will"
and the new will? What are "heavenly" vs. "hellish" traits?
How does this relate to personality theory in psychology as you know it?
Why is the topic of
‘Regeneration’ so basic in Theistic Psychology?
“Regeneration is an orderly process of the growth of the human mind. Every descending step in the conscious mind is matched by an ascending step in the unconscious mind until the entire mind is regenerated and made heavenly through influx. The entire process is managed by God and requires the conscious voluntary cooperation of the individual. This cooperation requires two steps: (a) acquiring the truth of doctrine from Sacred Scripture; and (b) applying it to our thinking and willing in daily activities.” Section 5.1.1.11
Regeneration is the way by which we reach our eternal heaven. Unfortunately heaven does not come naturally to us. We must not only gain an understanding of what heaven is but we must change our outward behavior in order to align ourselves with heavenly motives. If we are unable to achieve such a transformation within the framework of our earthly lives, we are condemned to a life living out hellish loves to eternity.
The above
quote talks about an inverse relationship between steps in consciousness and
unconsciousness. As we dive deep down into our waking life, affecting
things that are tangible, we move up into the heavenly realms of our
spiritual mind, which is by nature unconscious. The realms of our mind are
discrete. The events within the natural and spiritual mind correspond exactly
with each other but never overlap. Think of the movement of the successful
regeneration process as inward and upward. If we can teach ourselves through
thought and action to dwell in the heavenly places of our mind then at the time
of death and the impending resuscitation (rebirthing process in the after-life)
we will automatically choose to continue living in the heavenly places that we
have grown accustomed to. The reverse concerning hellish thoughts/habits is
true as well.
It appears that this idea of regeneration is black and white. Either you have created a mind fit for heaven (be it the first, second or third heaven) or you have not. There is no going back once you have shed your material casing. Although there are successive gradations of heaven and hell the general idea is that when we cross over into the other world we tote along nothing from the natural world except our memories. Now that seems like a heavy load, and it is except we can no longer use our memories to create good habits in our spiritual minds. The resuscitation process consists of numerous challenges and temptations. The memories that come with us into the spiritual world dictate the actions that we will take when posed with the difficult but telling process of facing our greatest evil temptations. This process is preformed by the Divine Psychologist (God) in order to see where our loves truly lie.
“For a person has with him in the next life his whole natural memory, that is, the memory belonging to his external man, though he is not allowed to use it in that life, 2469-2494. In the next life therefore that memory serves as the groundwork on which interior truths and goods rest; but if that groundwork is not able to support the goods and truths which flow into it from within, interior goods and truths are either annihilated, or perverted, or cast aside. (AC 4588)” Section 5.1.1.11
“Three expressions are used in theistic psychology that are equivalent in meaning: regeneration, character reformation, and spiritual development. The word "regeneration" is associated with religion and is used in the literal language of Sacred Scripture. "Character reformation" is used in a moral instruction context. "Spiritual development" is used in philosophy and literature. All three terms are used in an equivalent sense in theistic psychology. Their meaning in theistic psychology is defined by the theory and method.” Section 13.6
The method that we are interested in is Character reformation where by a slow series of shifts in an individuals’ consciousness, and by his willingness to allow these changes to manifest in his daily life, a person may become ‘regenerated’ or freed from the connection to hellish loves.
What are the character reformation steps of building a new will?
“The "will" refers to the operation of the affective organ. These operations vary by categories which we are all familiar with--intentions, motivations, goals, purposes, impulses, propensities, inborn preferences, enjoyments, satisfactions, affections, loves.” Section 6.0.5
The will or the affective organ is the tool we use to make things happen in our lives. It is the basis by which we are judged because it is the actualizing of thoughts and emotions into tangible characterization. It shows concretely where our loves reside.
The cognitive organ on the other had is our understanding. It receives influx from the spiritual sun and attempts to make sense of the ‘spiritual light’ as best it can. It does not act in the natural world but is the basis upon which we create our actions.
“The will is the actual human being, while the personality, knowledge, and memory is outside the actual human being, something that our will loves to keep around for enjoyment and can change at will! The will, dominant love, or character is therefore our proprium, our self, our very own--what we are in reality rather than appearance.” Section 6.0.5
The above paragraph is basically stating that we are what we love. In that way, we create our own persona in life, and create our own destiny for the afterlife. It is in our will that determines the two. So we have the choice, we have the freedom.
I spoke earlier about the resuscitation process where we will be faced with temptations that test out our loves. If we develop something that theistic psychology calls ‘new will’ we will be glad to give up our old loves that are inherently connected to hell and immerse ourselves in the new heavenly loves. If we have not created new will and are stuck with what theistic psychology calls ‘old will.’ Then we have no choice but to react in selfishness or the love of the self. This type of old will cannot exist in heaven and once we choose it, heaven becomes out of our grasp.
“Our race has split-brain--right and left. This physical structure reflects the new split in function between the affective and cognitive organs of the mind. People born with the old inherited racial are now required to undergo a process called "regeneration." Through this process God slowly and progressively builds a "new will" by means of temptations in which we battle against old loves by using the weapons of the understanding. God gives us a conscience, which is an inner voice in our consciousness that flows in from Divine Speech.” Section 6.0.5.1
This sounds a lot like the process of resuscitation that we have been talking about except for one important factor, we are still on this earth and we have the ability to choose heaven. The ability to choose is acted out by the will but is dictated from the conscience. Simply put our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong, that is which loves are heavenly and which are hellish. At first we may not have a very strong conscience. It may be easily confused from the inner talk run by selfish desires. Or it may be that we have a hard time hearing what our conscience is trying to tell us because we are not used to listening to it so that the voice appears very soft. The messages sound confusing. Many times the conscience asks us to give up what we inherently love.
An example might be that it seems right to look after our own needs, even at the cost of others. We may think that our mind is telling us that if we do not look after ourselves, no one would look after us. And so we disregard others needs in order to satisfy our own. This still may sound true to some people. However Swedenborg would argue that if one reads the sacred scripture and learns to understand it on a scientific-rational platform we would see that it is God’s word that tells us of how the angels in the highest heaven actually get more joy and satisfaction out of doing for others than doing for themselves. Since God would never contradict himself, and since he delivers direct influx into our cognitive organ and our conscience, then we should know that it would be impossible that our conscience is really telling us to have a me-first attitude.
What exactly is ‘old will’?
“The spiritual race is born in a disorderly state that is opposed to the order of God and rationality. The will we are born has built in hereditary ties to the hells, not the heavens. We grow up to be disorderly adults leading a life of conflict and irrationality, full of personality traits that are selfish and obsessive. Hence it becomes necessary for every individual to be "reborn" and "regenerated." Section 6.0.5.2
This idea seems unfair but it is our reality. Why should we be connected naturally with ties from hell? In essence this characteristic of human existence since the Fall of the Celestial race may correspond to what Christian religion terms ‘The Original Sin.’ Towards the end of the race of the Celestial, beings began to misuse the power that God had bestowed upon them. They began to mistreat each other and attempt to dominate and control other spirits. Eventually a new crop of humans evolved, split-brained, and fundamentally different. Their inherent connections came from hell. That is why it is so natural to love oneself. Not that self-love is completely bad. Self-love becomes hellish when it takes the precedence over other loves and other people. That is also why we have such a resistance to accepting heaven. In a weird way, when we choose to live in accord with God we slowly limit our own “freedom” because we cease to choose to indulge in our hellish loves, which are all our own. Instead we opt for loves that are eternal and heavenly, but directly from God.
It is hard for anyone to feel as though they are not in control. Furthermore our society is set up in a way that it places such a high value on personal freedom to choose what we want. “America, Land of the Free.” The thought of becoming less free is not something that we as Americans have been socialized to accept. So even within our institutional religions devotion to God is a difficult concept for many in this country to accept. It has become commonplace for a child to go through a severely rebellious period. Rebellion is now an accepted part of our growth paradigm as we move through adolescence and into young adulthood.
“Changing our character from hellish to heavenly involves compelling ourselves to act against our freedom, because we are in our infernal loves from heredity, and so we don't want to stop enjoying hellish things and start enjoying heavenly things. Regeneration is a painful process because it requires that we act against what we love when we love evil. We resist exchanging our evil enjoyments for heavenly ones because we feel that we are giving up our freedom to choose what we love.” Section 12.6.1
Heavenly Vs. Hellish Traits:
“The "influx" of higher order feelings and concepts is received by the corresponding layers of the unconscious mind called the internal spiritual mind. This forms the unconscious content of the spiritual mind called "remains" and consists of spiritual feelings and thoughts that live in heaven. The chief love in the unconscious mind is the ruling love with which angels inflow--altruism or the love of being useful to others, coupled with the desire of avoiding doing anything that might hurt or inconvenience others.” Section 5.1.1.11
As stated earlier the love of altruism is one of the highest loves and most heavenly traits. A heavenly trait is something that we as humans love and routinely enact in our daily lives and is a result of the influx from the spiritual sun. The progression of correspondences goes as follows: spiritual light and heat reign down on us in the spiritual world into the internal spiritual mind and subsequently creates a feeling. At the same time but in a discrete degree, we have a thought that corresponds to the feeling that the influx created. Simultaneously we react in the natural world with actions that again correspond with the thought.
We also receive influx from the hells of the spiritual world. These come in the form of tainted energy from the spiritual sun. This distorted energy is transmitted by the devils and daemons that roam the hells of the world. They love and in fact are kept alive by this perversion of the spiritual love that shines on them. Communities of these evil spirits also have an effect on what enters our thoughts by transmitting hellish influx into the natural portions of our mind.
“Since we are born with a corrupted natural mind connected to the hells, our feelings and thoughts react in opposition and resistance to the heavenly content of the spiritual mind.” Section 5.1.1.11
Many of us are still in the dark about all that is spiritual. It is not all that common that we as individuals stop and take stock of what each of our thoughts are and how our actions are affecting others. Many people do not take time to contemplate internal events so that even if someone were to explain all that is spiritual to them in perfectly rational, easy to understand terms, they still would not get it. We must first turn our eyes and our hearts inward if we are to even begin to learn about divine presence. An important line I found in the readings illustrates this point. The quote talks of heavenly joy, but the concept can be taken to mean any aspect spiritual.
“Hardly any one at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy is… even if they had been told by those who are in spiritual or inward delight what heavenly joy is, would have had no comprehension of it, for it could have fallen only into an idea not yet recognized, thus into no perception.” Section 12.1
“From this it is now evident what freedom is - namely thinking and willing from one's affection - and that the specific nature of one's freedom is the same as that of one's affection; also that the one kind of freedom is hellish, and the other heavenly; and that the former comes from hell, but the latter from the Lord.” Section 12.6.1
My Commentary
i. It is important to understand that the ‘will’ is actually a portrayal of who we are and it can be changed both positively and negatively. This gives us the power to, at any stage of our development, begin again anew with a focus on the spiritual life. Knowing that there is indeed a very real heaven and hell should be a motivational force helping us to monitor our inner and outer lives, influencing the choices we make on a day-to-day basis.
ii. Our inherent connection to hell explains why the world is in such a state of disarray. Those who insist that the world is naturally a good place I pose the question: “Why, on a natural plane is there such discord between people and in people’s relationship with nature.” The answer may lie in our refusal to make the hard choice of refining our will.
iii. I have chosen to agree with theistic psychology on this topic. As an experiment I have kept a journal where I jot down five major choices each day and decide whether they came from heavenly or hellish loves. I find that just putting consciousness into the process has strengthened my conscience and my ability to respect its intelligence.
Question 7-
Describe the perspective that theistic psychology provides on the marriage relationship. How does it describe the relationship between husband and wife? What are some of its methods, models, and findings? Contrast this approach with what you know of this topic in psychology.
What is the perspective that theistic psychology provides on the marriage relationship?
Marriage is a synergy of the husband and wife operating together through their differentiated structures, to create a unity of minds that allows the two independent people to form a conjugial couple, conjoined internally to eternity and developing together their progressive perfection.” Section 11.0
Theistic psychology sees marriage as an invaluable part of the regeneration process. It is stated in the writings that in heaven the most basic component is the couple. Here on earth we are practicing to become operative as a couple in the heavens of our minds. The marriage relationship is one of complementarities and equality. Women and men are biologically and spiritually created as opposites, so that the perfect process resulting in unity may occur. If the two species were created alike they would not ‘fit’ into one another, both literally and metaphorically.
We call a water molecule polar because one side has a positive charge while the other side is negatively charged. This structure allows water to bind with other important molecules in order to create some of the most fundamental functions in life, such as transferring vital nutrients around our bodies. In this same way, the structure and function of our spiritual organ is enhanced as we grow together with a member of the opposite gender, filling each other’s voids when necessary, thus creating a complete spiritual entity.
“The power and perfection of marriage is achieved only when the spiritual marriage is also operative within the minds of the husband and wife.” Section 11.0
“The total differentiation between man and woman is a representative correspondence of the total differentiation between love and truth in God.” Section 11.0
Again if we look at the example of polarities we can see that God operates in this way. He emanates love into our affective organ and truth into our cognitive organ. Men and women differ in their innate ability to receive and use such influx. The actual amount of influx is equal but our genetic predisposition that comes from gender either inhibits or enhances an individual’s ability to affectively use and understand influx. The man tends to be inwardly good and excel in external truth. This manifests itself in intelligence coming from the affective organ. The woman tends to be inwardly filled with truth and manifests itself as wisdom, especially in emotional-spiritual qualities. Outwardly she is ‘good’, choosing the actions in a more kind and gentle way than that of a man.
“According to the "unity" model of marriage, the perfection of unity in a marriage increases through differentiation and reciprocity of behavior in the threefold self of the two partners, and is a spiritual union that lasts to eternity. In a unity marriage, the husband and wife develop a conjoint self, while their former individual self recedes into the background and no longer operates.” Section 11.3.1
The goal of marriage is to refine the spiritual self with living help from the ‘pieces’ that we lack. The nature of reciprocity is the mutual and cooperative exchange of love, refining the traits that are spiritually corrupt and gaining traits that we are devoid of. The result of a successful process would be that two individuals merge their spiritual understanding and will as one, and the ego self that once drove almost all actions in both the man and the woman ceases to be so active.
How does theistic psychology describe the relationship between husband and wife?
“The "model" in marriage refers to the philosophical belief system of each partners… With few exceptions, every marriage starts with the male dominance model which both partners come with based on their cultural background and upbringing.” Section 11.0
The male dominance model is primarily an external model of the marriage relationship and generally lacks the inner or spiritual connection needed to regenerate a person fully. Most of us have grown up in a society that is patriarchal where, outwardly at least, the man is in charge of the household both in a physical context and in a position of authority or the decision-making context.
“Research and personal observation confirm that most couples report experiencing oppositional or negative feelings, and at times acting upon them by exploiting, abusing, or injuring their partner. When couples have a disagreement or fight, physical and mental abuse is practiced by men more than by women in the majority of societies and cultures.” Section 11.3.1
The male dominance model is oppressive to women in many ways. One of the most overt ways is that of abuse both physically and mentally towards the woman. For centuries it was publicly accepted that women were inferior to men. They were routinely beaten for their mistakes, yet a man would be subject to punishment by law if he were to strike another man in a similar fashion to the way he abused his wife. Men, on an external-natural level, are obsessed with retaining their independence. They are intoxicated by their own thinking, seeing it strictly as their own, not to be shared or affected by outside sources. Women on the other hand are naturally prone to the desire of conjoining as a unit with a man. In that way women have an easier time than men with the marriage unity. Their natural tendency is to want to merge whereas a man’s natural tendency is to want to separate. This is where most of the problems in relationships occur. The idea is illustrated in the text by showing the difference between men and women in extra-material relationships with same sex acquaintances.
“Women have loyalties and friendships with each other for different goals and feelings than men have with each other. The affections and involvements that married women have with other women are for supporting the marriage, not resisting it. Men have an inborn resistance to marital unity, which they have to fight against most of their life. Their male friendships that exclude the wife respond to their desire to escape total unity with their wife.” Section 11.3.1
Women will get together and spill their emotions out for one another to see and feel. Sharing in a group her personal problems pertaining to her marriage relationship the woman is attempting to work through difficult emotions with the aid of those near to her. She may try and solve a particular problem or she may just vent her anger so as not to bring it home and ‘ruffle her man’s feathers.’
The typical man may crack open a few beers with his buddies and rant and rave about his inept wife. There is little or no attempt to solve an actual problem. The goal of such a session is to bond with the other men by relating to each other’s similar struggles, or simply to cathart and forget the troubles of home. There is also an element of secret keeping from the wife that goes on during such fraternizing. This is where the man can unleash his clandestine fantasies about being sexually involved with other women.
Explain some of the methods theistic psychology uses to create conjugial love.
“There is a first level of the conjoint self, and this is external, involving sensorimotor reciprocity and joint achievement, without necessarily there being an interior agreement and respect for the partner.” Section 11.3.1
Sensorimotor reciprocity is basically the couple doing outward, physical things together in harmony and equality. An example of this might be going out to dinner, engaging in a nice conversation or taking a walk together. Sensorimotor reciprocity is the starting point for building a conjugial relationship and is often where many relationship cease to increase in depth. If you notice, any of the above activities can be achieved without there being any underlying commitment to one another. This form of reciprocity is where any relationship would begin and is a good indicator to both parties whether or not there is any hope of attempting to build a deeper foundation of love.
“The second level of unity is deeper in that it involves the cognitive self of the two partners. This includes how they think, how they reason, how they justify things, what they consider acceptable or unacceptable, what information or knowledge they have, what philosophy of life and religion… Achieving cognitive reciprocity is often easier for women because they are mentally oriented towards conjunction. They desire to become a conjoint self more than they desire to retain their own ideas and philosophy. But men generally are in love with their own thinking and ideas and resist change for the sake of the conjoint self. Men see the conjoint self as giving up selfhood while women see it as gaining togetherness.” Section 11.3.1
This second level is where many relationships falter. As stated above, the man has a hard time with adjusting his beliefs to assimilate in a more harmonious way the ideals of the woman. When a wife perceives that her husband is engaging in incorrect thinking she attempts to change or at least modify his thinking as opposed to adopting it herself. This is the phenomenon that men call nagging. Nagging becomes a source of animosity in a relationship and as the relationship grows in time, the symptom of nagging becomes less and less tolerable for the stubborn man. However, it is true that a women is filled with inner wisdom and can see corrupted thinking far clearer than a man, who’s strongest perception lies in outward intelligence. Outward intelligence is affected by natural causes whereas inner wisdom is affected by inner-spiritual goals. Because of this, the woman is often times able to see the shortcomings of a man’s thoughts. If the man is able to accept his wife’s wisdom and use it to enhance his outward intelligence he becomes far more eminent in his thinking. When such a compromise is made hindsight usually reveals to the man that his old thinking was indeed corrupt. Hopefully he is able to resist making similar mistakes in the future with his new gained knowledge.
“The inmost level of unity involves the partners' affective self -- their feelings, motivations, loves, ultimate goals of happiness and togetherness. Affective reciprocity is the basis of an eternal unity between husband and wife.” Section 11.3.1
The eventual goal is to be united not only in thought but also in action. This level is reached only after considerable work in the previous two stages. Affective reciprocity puts into the natural (correspondentially the spiritual as well) world the love and wisdom that has been cultivated in the relationship. No longer does the man or woman act from a place in their mind that excludes the other partner. Theoretically, such a part does not exist anymore. Women generally are more aware of their feelings and motivations because they exert the effort to figure them out. And as the man releases parts of his being that he no longer sees fit for his spiritual development, he replaces them with newer and better qualities. The affective operations then guide the cognitive self in an ascent towards heaven, together in unity, man and wife.
Contrast the conjugial love approach with what you know of this topic is psychology.
The approach to the marriage relationship in Theistic psychology has its roots in spiritual reformation. Some may call it spiritual healing. It focuses on the individual owning his or her responsibility in the process of regeneration, and then affectively pursuing positive results. Although it begins with an individual’s choice, it is ultimately a group decision. The relationship cannot progress very far without total and complete cooperation from both parties.
Couples therapy or Marriage counseling goes along similar lines. However, much more importance or focus is put on the active relationship of the couple rather than the healing of one side or the other. In this way a couple could go through ‘couples therapy’ and still adhere to the male dominance model described by theistic psychology.
In regards to the model of the regeneration of a person, we must first accept the fact that we have ‘fallen from grace’ out of the possibility for direct sensuous connection with God. Then we must own the responsibility of gaining rational truth and love in order to realize God in a rational manner. In the marriage relationship the man must first accept the fact that he has been genetically predisposed to trying to dominate over his spouse. If this realization is not made the Theistic psychology model for conjugial love will not work. Couples therapy does not force a man to make such a realization, which is the first major difference between the two therapies.
The second major difference is more general. It is seen in the difference of approach to the actual healing of a problem. Theistic psychology prescribes delving into the spiritual source of the problem, targeting namely the spiritual mind. Theistic psychology attempts to build the marriage relationship on a foundation that is fundamentally spiritual. The goal of the marriage relationship is to enhance each other’s ability to rationally love and rationally accrue wisdom in order to spend eternity in conjugial love in the spiritual abode of heaven. Other marriage psychology does not take such a lofty approach. Compared to Theistic psychology it is only a skin-deep method of healing. Think of the contrast of approach in terms of a medical ailment. Theistic psychology attempts to find a tumor at it’s source, pull it out, and radiate the infected area so as to permanently fix the disease and create harmony within; whereas general psychology’s approach is to locate the strange bump under the skin, name it something special, and give tools with which to manage it as best you can hoping that it will heal with the passage of time.
You’ll notice that I said that general psychology will ‘name the problem something special.’ By that I mean depending on which professional you go to, the root of your problem will most likely pertain to whatever their specialty happens to be. They will give you tools to manage it from whatever perspective they have been trained. Theistic psychology has only one paradigm to work with. Of course each case is unique and poses its own individual problems, but the levels that a couple must progress through are identical for everyone.
i. This perspective of theistic psychology is important in that it challenges the accepted state of our society’s belief about the marriage unit. It provides those of us who are in the role of power a wake up call, showing us that our seemingly privileged position is not enhancing our spiritual development.
ii. In researching this topic I was forced to recall my past relationships and see if this paradigm actually held true. It certainly had its moments. I found that it really is an unconscious norm that we prescribe to by making the man the head of the relationship. It is not a position of responsibility that we deserve nor should we be expected to constantly endure.
iii. I do agree with the principle of the male dominance model. I also see the potential benefit in finding a mate that is willing to grow with me. The relationship is 50-50 and must be worked at with equal vigor and patience by both persons involved. Finding a spiritual mate is one of the most important things a person can do, however I believe that I must know myself very well (perhaps better than I do now) in order to make a wise choice on which that person is.
Question 4-
In what ways is theistic psychology like the psychology you’ve known prior to this course? What are overlapping topics and methodologies? Give at least two topics or methods that overlap and show how theistic psychology provides different explanations for them.
My home school (I am an exchange student) is tucked away just south of the redwoods of California in the smack dab middle of wine country. The relaxed atmosphere no doubt has rubbed off on the scholars who make their home amongst the vines. There was a movement that was created there in the 60’s called Transpersonal psychology, at my school Sonoma State University. In Transpersonal psych practitioners tend to take an alternative approach to understand the human psyche. Among the great influences that helped to create the movement were the likes of westerners Carl Jung and William James and eastern influential teachers like Gandhi and Suzuki Roshi (Buddhism). There is an emphasis on exploring different methods of healing. The one that I spent a few semesters studying was the implication of dreams and the messages they send.
It was a message driven into our heads by Jeremy Taylor, author of the book Dream Work, and possibly became the central theme to this area of study. Dreams come to the dreamer in the service of health and wholeness. No dream is insignificant, and no dream is meaningless. Taylor said, “Every dream has multiple meanings and multiple levels of meaning woven into a single metaphor of personal experience.”[5]
This idea helped me bring awareness to my personal tendency of polarized thinking about aspects in my waking life, which is reflected in my dream life. When monitoring my own self-talk, I have noticed that I tend to come to conclusions that are complete and definitive. They are generally polarized in nature because of this feeling that seems to come involuntarily of absolute rightness or absolute wrongness. Swedenborg, who noted that men tend to love their own thinking, would support this notion of polarized thinking. We assume that we know whether we are right or wrong when actually there is room for modification. After looking at my dream life under this new lens that included leeway for more then one answer, I came to see that plugging in different solutions for different possible meanings of dreams was not only a more accurate way to understand myself, but it was more gentle process and felt much better.
Every dream comes in the service of wholeness and the effort to harmonize the interior and exterior life. We have no choice but to play the game of life. The only choice available to us is the degree of conscious self-awareness with which we play it. Dreams have become a tool that can link the interior life that is generally unconscious during the day with the natural affective organ. By this I mean that we can begin to use the insights that we gain from dreams and apply it to an understanding of where we are amongst the vertical community, i.e. what spirits were are currently associating with and why.
“When we dream about walking on a beach and holding hands with our loved one, what is the beach made of? There is no actual physical space involved, nor actual physical touch of the hands, yet we experience the event as real, and even more realistically and powerfully than real. Swedenborg was able to go to sleep when he seemed to himself "traveling” in the spiritual world. When he awoke from dreaming he saw other people ("spirits") around him and by having an exchange with them he discovered that it was they who created the dream for him by using his memories and producing visual and sensory appearances that felt entirely real. If a spiritual video camera had been present, or when other spirits were present and watching, the dream was clearly visible to all, proving that dreams are real scenes produced in the spiritual world. Therefore when we dream we are observing scenes in the spiritual world, scenes that are produced by others who are in indirect communication with the sleeping person.” Section 2.10
A difference in the psychology of dreams that I learned
previously with something I believe that Swedenborg would say is that dreams
are of a mystical nature, in that they can never be scientifically explained.
One important concept that I learned in a class titled Myth, Dream and Symbol
would go against the scientific nature of Swedenborg’s empirical study while he
was a dual citizen in both the spiritual and natural world. A first concept he
would probably not refute: 1. The dream
is a source for creative ideas. Dreams communicate to us through symbolism.
Both new thoughts as well as old ones can emerge from the unconscious but
everything new is a recombination of things that already exist. 2. The notion
of sign vs. symbol. Signs are denotative and have only one meaning. They
are less than the concepts they represent. Symbols are natural and spontaneous.
They are connotative and can never be fully explained because they have so many
possibilities and meanings. Symbols are much more vague and are often unknown
or hidden from us, yet they are the substance of dreams with which we are most
concerned. Symbols can be equated with archetypal figures or situations that
are part of the collective unconscious (Jungian idea) meaning that they have a
shared interpretation (depending on context) with all of humanity.
Swedenborg saw dreams
as much more concrete. He noted them as having a specific cause which produces
a specific effect. The mystical nature of dreams and the dominion of the
collective unconscious are therefore disproven by Swedenborg:
Further, Swedenborg observed that spirits (what we are called
when we awaken in the spiritual world) could produce visions or dreams by means
of knowledge of correspondences. In the spiritual world we have the
ability to produce dreams and visions around us by what we think. For instance
if you put yourself in a bad mood the environment reflects this by getting
darker and wild and dangerous animals make their appearances. When we believe
something rational and true, the environment around us becomes a garden with
good smelling flowers and luscious fruits (that can be eaten, by the way). When
we think of attacking someone we hate, the environment around us turns into
stormy weather and caverns filled with snakes, scorpions, and foul smelling
marshes. In other words dreams, thoughts, imaginative visions, etc., are
real appearances produced in the spiritual world while we have those thoughts.
Our thoughts can be seen by others in the spiritual world since thoughts are
real visible phenomena.
A psychology topic that I find fascinating deals with the body-mind question and attempts to describe if and how these two essential entities are related. Being someone who has dedicated a large portion of my life pursuing physical endeavors I have noticed that there are causal relationships between the mind and the body that work in both directions, that is either one can produce an affect in the other.
For example, our natural bodies are a plethora of chemicals, molecular compounds and nerve synapse firings. One well-studied effect of using the body in an aerobic way is that the body enhances the production of hormones that suppress free radicals and increase Serotonin production (our pleasure center synapse). After the exercise is complete the effect of the increased ‘good’ hormone production creates a sense of relaxation in the physical body. This relaxation or cessation of tension in the physical body equips the mind with increased tools to help it relax as well. So using the physical apparatus directly affects the mental apparatus. (Note that we have gotten away from strictly Swedenborgian ideas.) Similarly, analyzing one’s physical posture can shed some light on the mental state of that person.
In my own study at Sonoma State University, I observed subjects at random who attended the college. I noted their postural stances, their propensity for eye contact and other traits that we describe as ‘the way people carry themselves.’ I later interviewed the subjects that were willing, posing to them a series of questions that outwardly seemed gentle enough, but were my own devised technique to try and diagnose the person’s inner tendencies such as depression, self-consciousness or positive traits like self-efficacy and physical prowess. With my close friends I knew that the answers to my in-depth questions would be sincere so after judging their posture I asked them very pointed questions about their internal lives that they were aware of.
The results of my study showed a correlation between posture and the way the particular persons thought of themselves. An example of some of the conclusions that I drew are as follows: Persons with spines rounded forward, that is shoulders slumped tended to be introverts and also tended to have doubtful feelings about their ability in one respect or another. The doubts varied from feelings of attractiveness and of achievement among many others. I understand that this experiment is far from conclusive and scientifically had many flaws. But the findings of the experiment confirmed my original hypothesis that we carry in our physical bodies the way we habitually feel and think in our mental lives.
Wilhelm Reich shared this same sort of idea. He was a bit more extreme in his thinking and I have chosen not to fully accept his theories, but the new roads that he begun to pave 70 years ago I believe were right on. “The body’s outward appearance is an accurate reflection of what is going on inside, said Reich. There is a basic mistake in idea, ‘I think… I am.’ You can't change your thoughts at a basic level without change in your body, in what you do.”[6]
Central to Reich’s idea was that of body or character armor. The words body and character can be used interchangeably. The function of body armor is essentially the idea that we unconsciously try and protect ourselves from the pain of not being able to express our true emotions. Body armor takes its physical form in the contraction of the muscles in areas of the body that are associated with affected emotional centers of the brain. This inhibitory (inhibits sensations, blood flow to the body thus keeping it out of the conscious mind) response is occasioned because of societal pressure and fears of seeing our personal flaws. Reich states, “Armoring is the sum total of the muscular attitudes which a person develops as a defense against the breakthrough of emotions, especially anxiety, rage, sexual excitation. Character armor is the sum total of all the years of the muscular attitude that have also been incorporated in the person's character.”[7]
Reich geared his therapy around working to dissolve the tension built up in seven distinct regions of the body. His theory was as we shed the muscular armor inhibiting a certain region, the mental affliction that went along with it also releases. There is resistance on behalf of the patient because most of us have spent our entire lives building up ‘armor’ to resist confronting our emotions. In the early 1920’s when Reich was practicing psychology it was a common practice to swaddle the newborn infant immediately after birth, bundling him up very tightly to restrict movement. Reich takes each developmental stage all the way from birth and shows how ‘society forbids certain kinds of expression of energy.’ An example that our teacher used to give was in early toilet training where people are taught to tighten up and restrict. We now call this type of person anal retentive, lacking the ability to relax and let go.
The pelvic region is linked to sexual energy. In our developmental years leading up to young adulthood the topic of masturbation becomes a war zone of emotions. All along, parental (and religious) teaching is stopping the natural flow of energy. Inside excitement is building up like a pressure cooker. I'm angry but not allowed to be angry. (I) Can’t express things that I like or want. I’m mad as hell. We develop armoring to stop this flow of energy.”[8] This brief (Reich had many wonderful things to say) look at Reich leads us to question how Theistic psychology views bodily correspondences.
I searched the web in attempts to find another source other than Leon James as an expert on theistic psychology. There is only one that I found that is endorsed by Dr. James, Theistic psychology’s founder. It is the site of Ian Thomson at www.theisticscience.org. He has some very insightful things to say on the topic including a comprehensive section titled The General Human Form (the particular article is actually written by Bruce Jarvis). In it all of the physical correspondences are examined and explained. The following is taken from the aforementioned web site.
“I want to stress two important ideas before going any further. Firstly, we've got to get away from the idea of `shape'. The human `functional form' is what we're talking about here, not `shape'. We need to free our minds from the limitations of `time' and `space' when we talk about the Divine and about the spiritual kingdom. It is not easy, but we must try. The functions and the uses of the body are that which is vital, and these have to do with `form', not `shape'. `Form' is all to do with how the different parts function together and inter-relate in such a way that there is an essential wholeness or oneness.”[9]
The first thing that Thompson wants to get across is that ‘form’ is more important than shape. Form is more like an affect; it describes the function or organs and structures through out the body. Shape is our projection of form that is based on our perception of things in the natural world.
“The other important point is to do with how much that happens to us goes beyond our consciousness. The vast majority of our bodily processes happen to us involuntarily; they just go on without our interference. Of course, if we are to be healthy, the parts we play voluntarily are absolutely critical. I want to stress that precisely the same is happening to us so far as the health of our spirit is concerned. Our own contribution to its health is critical, but then so much else goes on beyond our awareness.”[10]
Here he is talking about God’s divine love and will that we all are able to live without concentrating on internal processes all of the time. So much is happening internally that if we were expected to play a conscious role in everything that was going on at we would not survive even a few seconds. So much goes on beyond our consciousness that the spiritual communities in the spiritual world have a direct correspondence to. We are in constant contact with angels and devils because it is they who create the cause in the spiritual world, which creates the affect that we see in the natural world. Already there is a fundamental difference from the theories of Reich. According to theistic psychology everything has it’s origin from a spiritual function in the spiritual world.
Since I used an example of Reich’s work concerning the pelvic (abdominal) region for sake of comparison I will discuss examples of correspondences pertaining to the stomach.
“The world of spirits is like a forum or place of resort, where all are at first assembled, and is as a stomach in which the food is at first collected; the stomach, moreover, corresponds to that world,” (AR 791)[11]
Here it is shown that the physical stomach corresponds to the world of spirits, where we go just after we lose our earthly life, but before we have chosen heaven or hell as our eternal resting place. As you can see we have been swallowed but not yet digested and absorbed, correspondent to functions of our natural stomachs.
“The food thus massed together is like societies of spirits in similar states; the fluids are instruction concerning good and evil, concerning things that have life and those that are dead and useless, which is to good spirits the means of increased and more joyous activity, and to the evil the means of self-condemnation and rejection.”[12]
Thomson is expressing here how the correspondence of the spiritual world to the natural is the cause of physical events. There are hellish spirits that love being around things that are undigested. Their communities dwell in the stomach of the spiritual world attracting all that is indigestible. There are also heavenly spirits that take food that is properly digested and assimilate it in the spiritual world and in essence our natural body. This is how muscle is produced or how nutrients from food go to feed the bones and the organs.
“After we have once received and accepted a knowledge of what is good and true, which is food for the mind, we may meditate further upon it or we may simply take it home with the determination to live it. The desire to live it, and to incorporate it in our life, will separate the essential goodness from the special forms in which it comes to us and do the work of assimilation as silently as the solvents of the stomach do their work; and we may know nothing of the process but only feel that we are encouraged and strengthened for our duties.
There is a likeness of indigestion when we cram knowledge or terms which we do not understand, and which we long revolve in the memory, vainly trying to get some good out of it. We become weary and disgusted with it and, for a time, with all knowledge.
There was also a likeness of indigestion in the heavens when there long remained and accumulated in the world of spirits those who were good externally and evil internally, and whose internals could not be opened until the time of the Judgment. Then by the solvents of the new truth taught, the externals were broken through, the good internals were gathered into heaven, and the evil were cast down.”[13]
There is no reason why I decided to inject this quote into this report other than I think it is fabulous. Theistic psychology has a way of explaining everything in very rational terms. Thomson (through Swedenborg’s writings) uses the correspondence of the digestion process to uncover the truth behind the outwardly good and inwardly evil person. Such a person is truly indigestible in life like a fiber posing as a carbohydrate. At the onset of swallowing such a person he seems like a nourishing soul, but once he (it) is in our digestive system we find that we are unable to use him as a source of energy. Eventually he is expelled out the other end, practically unchanged, carrying with him other indigestible matter that our system rejects.
My Commentary
i. I found this question valuable because I forced me to think about the way Theistic psychology relates to other methods of psychology. Sometimes when we devote a lot of our energies to one specific aspect we may lose sight of our other training and become immersed in a one-sided way of thinking. By juxtaposing Theistic psychology with the other forms of psychology that I have been privy to, I am reminded that there are many different explanations for one subject, and each have their place in our learning and growing.
ii. Looking up bodily correspondences on the web has got me to thinking about the spiritual communities that are the cause of the natural effects that take place here on earth. I have found myself trying to explain bodily symptoms that I am having by figuring out what sorts of spiritual communities my spiritual mind is in contact with. I still haven’t figured out how to manipulate their influx.
Prior Generations-
The Cognitive Organization of Rational Spirituality by Leticia Valle
Report found at http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/valle/report2.htm
i. “I myself have felt so much better after learning about substantive dualism. Before taking this course I believe I was a mystical thinker who was afraid of being immortal and being punished by God, it was a feeling of being lost because I was never sure that I was being taught the right ways of life according to my Catholic community. I love the idea that rationality is used understanding God because belief simply didn’t fulfill my faith in God.”
Leticia seemed to be spiritually touched by her initial exposure to Theistic psychology. I think that she may have been at odds with her childhood religion (as many of us are) because of its conflicting messages and, as she calls it, a reliance on ‘blind faith.’ The rational component to theistic psychology made her belief in God much more understandable. Theistic psychology does have an authoritative way of explaining almost any psychological phenomenon. The comprehensiveness of its explanations makes it awe striking and believable.
ii. “It is extremely interesting for me to see that people’s actions are directly reflected on their level of rational spirituality. I predict that phase two will be the most popular way of thinking followed by phase one and the least common would be that of rational faith, phase three.”
Leticia thought that most people in her community prescribed to the notion that God does indeed exist, but she felt that if she were to pose the question ‘why do you think that?’ most would be dumbfounded to answer. She calls this type of faith Mystic Spirituality. She says that out of three possible levels of rational spiritual thought, this outlook is the middle level.
iii. “In conclusion I can say that I feel confident in analyzing spiritual concepts as scientific and that I do feel that my purpose on life has finally become clear now that I understand how the spiritual world functions and influences my emotions.”
It seems that Leticia had adopted the framework of theistic psychology as her new spiritual guide. She mentions a few times in her paper that spiritual topics are more ‘clear’ to her now. The scientific nature of theistic psychology provided for her an understandable base with which to push off into the world of spirits.
iv.
I chose Leticia’s report to comment on because I met her in another one of my classes and she seemed to have a good understanding of Swedenborg as well as a zest for talking about him. I noticed a lightness in her eyes whenever we spoke about the 459 class. I appreciate her enthusiasm. I have found myself quite inspired by Leon James’ interpretation of Swedenborg’s writings and his creation of theistic psychology. Leticia and myself are at a malleable time in our lives, where powerful ideas find a place in our lives and have the potential to catalyze some real positive growth.
Swedenborg: To Believe or Not to
Believe This report contained no first name, nor did the homepage. The last name
is Baracao.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/updates/baracao/paper11.htm
i. I chose to use this report because it was written over ten years ago in 1993 and I was interested in what a student would think of Swedenborg before Dr. James complied his volumes upon volumes of explanatory commentary. Mr. Baracao called himself one who is “greatly interested in spiritual existences.” The report’s aim is to call into question whether or not the Writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg should be included as part of the history of psychology. Traditionally Sigmund Freud is credited with being the ‘father’ of psychology however he came much later than Swedenborg, who wrote extensively on the subject.
ii. Mr. Baracao stated a number of times through out his essay that Swedenborg has proven to have been right about certain scientific theories that he formulated far before they were traditionally ‘proven.’ Noting this face Mr. Baracao makes the deduction that we should accept his ideas on theology as well because after all, he was right about other things. This blind acceptance I view as being on the same level as mysticism. Had Mr. Baracao been exposed to even just a few central themes of Swedenborg’s theology he would understand that he must understand the ideas rationally before he accepts them or his acceptance is worth very little.
“Overall, by doing this research to answer the question if Swedenborg should be included in the history of psychology, the more I believe that he definitely should be. He was proven to be correct on almost all of his scientific discoveries, so I feel that he just might be correct in his ideas of the existence of the spiritual world. Swedenborg’s knowledge of things is known to be far beyond his time, so maybe in the future this statement will be proven undeniably true beyond doubt.”
iii. “What people must realize today is to keep the mind’s cup always half full to leave room for new information to pour in. If one keeps one’s mind full, close mindedness results with no new learning of information. Even if not ready or willing to completely accept Swedenborg’s idea of the spiritual world and how it governs us, people should accept it as another possible theory of why we act, think, and feel the way we do.”
The overall message of his paper is summed up in the previous quote. He believed in the importance of keeping an open mind. His analogy of ‘keeping one’s cup half full’ resonates within me. If someone keeps their cup totally full (thinks that they’ve got this life all figured out) when someone comes along to pour new knowledge into us, we find that our cup runneth over, but not in the good way that the bible talks about. There is no room for change. The message is that there are many wonderful minds that we can learn a lot from. Be not only open to hear them, but fill yourself with them and never stagnate.
iv. It was interesting to see how this student related to the works of Swedenborg. There was no access to the material that my generation has been fortunate enough to receive. His insights were nice to hear. It struck me as hopeful that other students have their eyes shifted up (if even slightly) towards God.
Current Generation-
Maria Cabbat’s third oral presentation on The
Mental World in a Social Environment
Sections 5.4.1.1- 5.4.1.3 Oct. 28
1. Horizontal and Vertical Community (Dualism)
-Maria talked about how the vertical community included the spiritual and internal realms, including heaven, hell, angels and devils. The horizontal community is here on earth. It is external. The two communities give us a better understanding of the nature of our existence as being both earthly and spiritual.
2. Self-Witnessing
-She explained about a mode of self-analysis where a person’s internal voice groups external thoughts and choices. It is a technique of self-objectivity used to promote the process of regeneration. She used the example of waiting in line at a grocery store. We must watch ourselves because we have the choice to be pissed off and impatient or calm and understanding.
3. We are never alone in our minds
-Our minds dwell in two distinct spiritual communities, heaven and hell. We must understand this concept if we want to modify our behavior. The quality of our thoughts determines which type of community we are allowing nearer to our spiritual bodies.
Christine Ka’ai’ai’s second oral presentation on Revelation
From the book ‘A Thoughtful Soul’ by George Dole Nov. 4
1. Christine described revelation in Swedenborgian terms as a way that the Lord communicates with human beings through sacred scripture and divine speech. The three concepts of revelation are perceptiveness, epochal revelation and inner meaning.
2. Perceptiveness is one’s insight into the spiritual world handed down by God. Another way of describing perceptiveness is the use of one’s conscience. Her example was that if we find a wallet with money in it what would we tend to do. Would there be a voice in our heads telling us to look up the person and give the wallet back? If so, a person has a strong conscience and therefore an elevated level of perception.
3. Evolution of the world. Over time people moved away from heaven and down to earth. This is what I refer to in my paper as the Fall. Every culture and religion has a history of events that shows their evolution over time. Sacred Scripture, when looked at from a scientific perspective, is panhuman meaning that it is equally true for any human regardless of time, race or religion.
Masashi Shimonao’s third oral presentation on The Science of Immortality
Section 7.4-7.8 Nov. 4
1. There is a correspondence between the digestive organ and the sensorimotor mind. We feel stomach pain when we suffer from anxiety. This is because our conscience is fighting for our spirit even as we are acting against its guidance. Freud said that if we feel anxiety we should weaken our conscience because it is stressing us out. Theistic psychology takes the opposite stance because it believes that the conscience is a key to regeneration and ultimately heaven.
2. There are two spirits from heaven and two spirits from hell with us at all times. When the two angels approach us, the two devils back off slightly. When the devils approach the angels back off. Anxiety is a sign that we are probably acting against our conscience but the upside is that we are still receiving influx from heaven. If we cease to have that heavenly connection we would feel no anxiety.
3. There is a spiritual war raging inside of us moment to moment. The role of our split brain is to teach us rational principles in order to choose the right side to fight for. The 12 step program is so effective because it uses God or a higher power to fight the spiritual battle against addiction
Advice to Future Students-
Run! Run while you still can! This stuff will grow on you and eat you alive like a fungus. God it’s great (no pun on God intended). At some point in researching the lecture notes I completely stopped caring about doing this report for a grade and began to view it as having ‘larger than just school’ implications on my life. It is truly powerful stuff. But it messes with you mind. It causes you to call into question all that you thought you knew; really shaking things up. If you don’t mind being a little shaken then good, it’s for you. If you like to cling to the preconceived notions that you have gathered before entering this metaphysical stomping ground, see ya. You probably wont accept the positive bias and all of Swedenborg’s writings will seem like scientific jargon filled with rhetorical metaphors and haphazard musings on the nature of God. So be it. Your mind will not and cannot elevate until you call into question what is good and true.
It’s hard to explain yourself though. The speed with which we are inundated with mind shattering information is astounding. I hate the fact that I still cannot articulate most of how I feel about theistic psychology. I just go off the phone with one of my best friends in the world. He knows me quite well and can extrapolate meaning from my mumblings on most occasions. But tonight I simply could not adequately express Swedenborg of the topics of this report. I kept fumbling over my words, time and time again asking him to hold on so that I could get some quote that would better explain my thoughts. He was completely lost. He told me that he wasn’t but remember, I know him pretty well too. It wasn’t his fault. Swedenborg talks about the mind being elevated by God with sincere study and understanding of his writings. I guess I’m just not there yet. But I will be and so can you. The answers may or may not lie in Swedenborg but if you are a searcher, this stuff can and will open new doors for you in your quest.
The way to search the lecture notes is to go to the table of contents and click on the ‘edit’ menu. You will find that the last option on the menu says ‘find on this page.’ Click on that icon and you will be able to search for key words and phrases in the sub-sections of the notes. This is a good starting point from where to begin.
Also use search engines like google.com or yahoo.com and look up Theistic psychology. There are a few other web sites (one of them I have documented in this report) that provide a different view of Swedenborg’s writings that can be beneficial as supplementary material to the lecture notes.
My advice in writing the report is simple. Start early. I did not start early enough and found myself (though happily) sitting at my computer for far more hours in a day than I would ever wish on anyone. Granted that’s only about 2 or 3 but hey, who wants to sit and start at a screen when you could be outside in Hawaii? So get on it early, the reading especially. You may even grow to like it. Try to get around the big words and strange, uniquely Leon jargon. The reading becomes easier and easier the more you do it. Also the notes are set up in a way that constantly rehashes important points that you must know even if the sections are spread out five volumes apart. And enjoy. It is a surprisingly short and fast run at such lofty topics. Find the joy in self-study. Find joy in the self.
Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/classhome-g21.htm
My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/459f2004/lyons/459-g21-report2.htm
[1] Taken from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=theology
[2] Italics are my inclusion
[5] Taylor, Jeremy Dream Work Paulist Press New York 1983 P.35
[6] Quote taken from http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/reichlecture.html
[7] Quote taken from http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/reichlecture.html
[8] Quote taken from http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/reichlecture.html
[9] http://www.theisticscience.org/humanform.html
[10] http://www.theisticscience.org/humanform.html
[11] http://www.theisticscience.org/books/worcester/stomach.html#STOMACH
[12] http://www.theisticscience.org/books/worcester/stomach.html#STOMACH
[13] http://www.theisticscience.org/books/worcester/stomach.html#STOMACH