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CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS: EASTERN MEDITATIVE AND WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC APPROACHES Elbert W

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CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS: EASTERN MEDITATIVE AND WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC APPROACHES Elbert W. Russell Miami, Florida In 1952, a decade before Eastern psychological ideas began to enter the mainstream of Western psychology, a visiting professor from India, P. T. Raju, offered a series of courses at the University of Illinois, on Hindu philosophical systems. For some years I had been a "convert" to Hindu concepts, 80 I seized the opportunity to learn more about these ideas in a systematic manner. Since at that time I was the only student in the entire University that had any extensive interest in Eastern thought, I became friends with this professor. During one of our conversations he expressed an interest in Freud's ideas. With some condescension toward Western psychology, I said, "Oh, but the Hindus know all about the ideas that Freud discovered." His reply was, "The Hindus do not know anything about Freud." This statement so startled me that I did not adequately follow up our discussion. It was inconceivable to me that a people, a substantial portion of whom had spent thousands of years involved with the inner world, could not have discovered centuries ago what Freud and other psychoanalytic theorists had only discovered during this last century. knowledge of Freud's ideas in India at mid"century Still haunted by my professor's comment, I continued to read extensively in the growing literature of Eastern thought and practice. I also meditated to some extent. Eventually, I took my degree in psychology and became a professional trained in Western psychological ideas. As my familiarity with both Eastern and Western ideas grew, I came to feel there might be Copyright e 1986Transpersonal Institute The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18. No.1 51 ways in which both Eastern and Western concepts and methods could complement each other, and that each could make equally important contributions to human knowledge and to methods of helping people find a happier and fuller life. This concept of equal contribution runs counter to the views of some who are familiar with both Eastern and Western thought. Rama (Rama, Ballentine & Ajayas, 1976),a yoga master from India, states, ". . . psychology has made its appearance on the stage of Western science only in the last century" (p. xix), while ", . . The systematized discipline of yoga has apparently been practiced ... over some thousands of years ... " during which". . . an unbroken chain of highly trained teachers and students have devoted themselves intensively to the rigorous practice of self-observation" (p, xxi). Again, Mircea Eliade says, "Long before psychoanalysis, yoga showed the importance of the role played by the unconscious" (1969, p. 45). Finally, Jacob Needleman, referring to several Eastern systems, states, "A large and growing number of psychotherapists are now convinced that Eastern religions offer an understanding of the mind far more complete than anything yet envisaged by Western science" (1979, p, 209). a detailed assessment of several key concepts in Eastern and Western psychologies With such contemporary observers of Eastern systems implying that those systems might offer a fuller knowledge of the mind, I became interested in a more detailed assessment of several key concepts in Eastern and Western psychologies. Thus, the present paper is offered as an attempt to consider several Eastern and Western approaches to understanding the mind, including some major Eastern meditative systems and Western psychotherapy. I will also examine some current "maps" or topologies of consciousness that incorporate these various approaches. Finally, I will propose a topology that accommodates some significant characteristics of both Eastern and Western approaches to the conscious and unconscious aspects of mind. This discussion is based on English language sources, primarily those in the psychological literature. I also include, however, English translations of some Asian traditional texts and teachings, as well as English language works by Asian-trained traditional teachers. KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS The Western concept of the "unconscious" ishighly articulated in an extensive literature. As a notion central to much Western therapeutic thought and practice, it is useful to consider how 52 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18. No.1 Eastern psychological systems treat the idea of the unconscious. In this paper, Western psychodynamic concepts will be used as criteria for determining what understanding of the unconscious is found in the literature of Eastern psychological systems. The first and most important of these concepts is that of the existence of the unconscious. Is there a recognition that there is an area of the mind not ordinarily available to conscious awareness that contains emotions, images. memories, and thoughts? Secondly. is there reference to concepts equivalent to the elements of psychodynamic theory such as internal emotional conflicts, the existence of defense or protective mechanisms. and the operating of emotions such as anxiety, anger and guilt outside of awareness? The third criteria is an awareness of the effect of childhood trauma and parental treatment ofthe adult personality. Finally, the fourth criteria is whether the systems have an explanation for phenomena related to the unconscious. such as conversion reactions. fugue states. multiple personalities and other neurotic or psychotic states. Such concepts are found in Western psychodynamic theory and increasingly in recent psychological writings (Hilgard, 1977). a psychodynamic approach to selection of criteria for the assessment The search for these elements of psychodynamics should begin with the major writings of the Hindus and Buddhists. However. the original sources such as the Upanishads. the Bhagavad« Gita. the Aphorisms of Patanjali; Dhammapada, Abhidhamma, Prajna-paramita-hrdaya sutra, Diamond Sutra, the Tao Te Ching and many others are so vast that it would be nearly impossible to examine them all for negative evidence. I am only able to say that in reading them (reading that is far from complete) I have not found passages that meet the criteria given above. with the exception of some vague references to the unconscious. A few concepts were encountered such as the three gunas (Zimmer 1974,pp. 398~402). the six realms of being (Trungpa, 1973,pp. 131-33)or the types of temperament given in the Visuddhimagga (Goleman, 1977, p. 9). These concepts are quite limited compared to Western personality descriptions -they have no reference to unconscious dynamics, and they generally related to how a person should meditate. This review next turned to writings of the major commentators-those who know the Eastern literature intimately and are also aware of Western personality dynamics. Generally the more traditional commentators on Eastern writings, such as Hiriyana (1949). Radhakrishnan and Moore (1957), Suzuki (1956). Kapleau (1965) and Zimmer (1974) do not even mention such words as unconscious or subconscious. Radha- Consciousnessand the Unconscious 53 krishnan and Moore (1957), in their selection of Indian writings, list "super-consciousness" but not "subconsciousness" or "unconsciousnesa"in the index. D. T. Suzuki (1956), one of the first Japanese scholars to introduce Zen concepts to the West and whose books are still a primary authority on Zen, uses the term "unconscious" (pp. 188-225),but in a manner entirely different from the Western term (Hisamatsu, 1968).He uses it to mean "no mind" which is a state of consciousness. Other than this, one does not findany of the criteria of awareness of unconscious processes in his description of mental states. In regard to the traditional commentators, one will look in vain for references to unconscious processes; they do not appear to be mentioned. Buddhist writers on the concept of the unconscious An excellent example of the lack of awareness of the concept of the unconscious in Buddhist literature is The Mind in Buddhist Psychology which is the translation by Guenther and Kawamura (1975) of the Tibetan Buddhist text "The Necklace of Clear Understanding: An Elucidation of the Working Mind and Mental Events." In it the operation of the mind along with its elements and emotions is described in great detail. Nevertheless, there is almost no reference to what could be called the unconscious. From the Western perspective, despite its detailed and at time perceptive analysis of the emotions and the workings of the mind, it is still the conscious mind that is being discussed. When we turn to recent commentators who have been more influenced by Western thought-and especially those who are attempting to unite Eastern and Western ideas-one begins to see the appearance of references to the unconscious. Eliade (1969)in discussing yoga from a Western perspective findsthat the yoga masters did know about the unconscious. However, his comments (pp. 41-46)demonstrate some limitations in that understanding. He thought that the yoga term "vasana" referred to the subconscious (p. 42). This subconscious material formed an "immense obstacle" (p. 42) to meditation and must be "burned" for meditation to be successful. The vasanahas its origin in memory and determines the lives ofthe majority of people. Beyond this there is no broader understanding of the unconscious expressed, nor are any of the other criteria met. Rama, with his Western associates, in the book Yoga and Psychotherapy (Rama, Ballentine & Ajaya, 1976),purport to unite Yoga and Western psychotherapy ideas. But the attitude of the authors is generally that Western psychology is just beginning to discover what the Yogins have known for 54 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. 1986. Vol. 18, No.1 thousands of years. The book is an exposition on yoga thought and practice, with a few references to those Western ideas which appear similar to yoga concepts. Unlike nearly every other book on Eastern thought, an entire chapter is devoted to the unconscious. As a critique of Western psychologies, especially that of Jung, it is fairly incisive, yet most of the chapter is devoted to describing Western ideas rather than concepts derived from Eastern sources. In agreement with Eliade, the authors show that the yogins did know of the unconscious, but saw it as an obstacle. They relate it to memory, and held that it affects dreams (p. 135). Otherwise, none of the other criteria of an understanding of unconscious dynamics are presented. In fact, it is stated that Patanjali, the founder of the yoga system, presents a "less intricate" analysis of the personal unconscious than psychoanalysis (p, 137). My own reading of Patanjali's aphorisms, in translation (Patanjali, 1957),found not a lessintricate analysis, but almost no analysis. a yogic underst anding of the unconscious In addition, a lack of understanding of the unconscious can be observed in the statement that, "In yoga psychology. . . although the unconsciousness may be relatively cleared, it can quickly accumulate a new load of conflictual material . . . " (p. 137).This indicates a misunderstanding of the way in which the unconscious operates, at least as Western psychodynamic theory describes it. Further, considering yoga as a concentrative method, other psychologists such as Goleman (1977,p. 32) and Alpert (1982) suggest that such "clearing" is in fact suppression by concentrative methods, and that, rather than reaccumulating, the repressed material simply reappears when the concentration state is over. The Theravadan Buddhists, as indicated by Goleman's (1977) excellent study of the Visuddhimagga (part of the Abhidhamma), were almost equally as unaware of unconscious dynamics despite the effectiveness of their "mindfulness" technique. Again Goleman indicates they knew the unconscious existed primarily as an obstacle to meditation, but none of the other criteria items were discussed in Goleman's description of the system. At the other end of the spectrum of Buddhist schools, the Vajrayana Tibetan systems, as described by both Trungpa (1969, 1973, 1976)and Tarthang Tulku (1977a, 1977b)do not demonstrate a substantial knowledge of unconscious dynamics. Trungpa uses a few Western terms such as "neurosis" or "materialism" in his otherwise thoroughly Tibetan system. Again, however, the Western concept of the unconscious is Consciousness and the Unconscious 55 recognized but not explored, and none of the other criteria are met. Neither in describing the foundation of the ego (Trungpa, 1973, pp. 121-37; 1976, pp. 19-23)or in describing the obstacles to meditation (Trungpa, 1973, pp, 77-89; 1976, pp. 63-68) does Trungpa deal with the unconscious. The obstacles which the yoga systems associate with the emergence of unconscious material are merely termed "emotions," Trungpa appears to acknowledge the Western concept of childhood effects (Trungpa, 1973, pp, 88-89) but dismisses it as irrelevant. Subconscious thoughts (Trungpa, 1973, p. 233) are seen as obstacles to meditation. Nowhere does he indicate that the traditional Vajrayana systems had any specific awareness of unconscious dynamics. Pain and pleasure are said to "just happen" (Trungpa 1978, p. 21). Tibetan references to unconscious dynamics Tulku (1977a, 1977b) presents traditional Tibetan Buddhist ideas from the perspective of a different lineage, and without Western terms. He discusses thought and emotions that come into the mind during meditation without reference to unconsciousness. These thoughts and emotions are distractions to be allowed to pass and not to be explored (Tulku, 1977a, pp. 9899). He feels that people play "games" (I977a, pp. 18-24), but does not connect these games to unconscious dynamics. He does state that a personality has "layers" (Tulku, 1977b, pp. 265-68) and energies, but neither explores them, nor describes the deeper layers in any detail. Here, as in Trungpa, we find a highly developed and elaborate analysis of conscious experience and states, but almost no regard for unconscious material or dynamics. It is also interesting to note that, according to an interview (Komito, 1984) focusing on Tibetan Buddhist and Western approaches to psychotherapy, the Dalai' Lama had little awareness of psychodynamic concepts and considered the emergence of unconscious emotions only as defilement of the mind. Zen Buddhism, as exemplified by the American Phillip Kapleau (1965), demonstrates a similar pattern. The material that arises out ofthe unconscious is called "makyo"(pp. 38-41). Only the supreme Buddhas are said to have no makyo. The types of makyo are described and classified (p, 39), but "from the Zen point of view all are morbid states devoid of true religious significance and hence only makyo" (p. 40). Again unconscious material is seen as only an obstacle to meditation and it is not further explored. In the fairly extensive literature on Zen I have not yet found anything more instructive than S6 The Journal of Trans personal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 Kapleau's limited discussion concerning the nature of the unconscious. Rajneesh (1973), despite his long contact with the West presented only a superficial idea of the unconscious. In one book (1973)he first says the unconscious is the same as the yoga etheric body (p, 60), then a few lines later (in relation to dreams and suppression) that it is not the etheric body but the physical body (p, 60), and finally he denies its existence (pp, 61-62). In any case, his book presents no understanding of dream dynamics or any other evidence of awareness of unconscious processes. In spite of their long discussion of Western and Eastern concepts of consciousness, Pelletier and Garfield (1976) do not show that the Eastern psychologies had a concept of unconsciousness dynamics. When they discuss such dynamics, it is always in reference to Western psychological theory. Recently, among some Western writers who have had direct contact with Eastern systems; statements are beginning to emerge to the effect that the concepts related to psychopathology and unconscious dynamics are absent in Eastern systems. In Engler's (1984) excellent discussion of concepts related to ego functioning in Buddhist and Western psychological theories, he states that the Buddhist psychology •• . . . does not contain much about psychopathology and poor ego functioning" (p, 39), and has no concepts of developmental psychology (p. 39, 52). This lack of psychodynamic concepts in Buddhism isalso noted by K.omito(1984). Western writers' comments on Eastern conceptions of unconscious dynamics Thus the examination of concepts from a number of major writers on Eastern psychology has led to a surprisingly consistent conclusion. None of the available literature of the Eastern psychologies, as considered here, recognizes in any significant manner unconscious dynamics as understood in the West. These Eastern systems do show an awareness of the intrusion of unconscious material during meditation, but treat it only as an obstacle to meditation. The content of such unconscious material was not explored, however. From this examination of recent literature it appears safe to conclude that the Eastern psychologies have yielded very little in the way of an understanding of the unconscious or its dynamics. DIFFERENCES IN TWO EASTERN AND WESTERN METHODS This findingraises a number of questions, among them whether differences in the methods of Eastern and Western exploration Consciousness and the Unconscious 57 of the mind could account for such strong differences in the amount of attention given to unconscious processes. To answer this question, I now turn to some fundamental differences between Eastern meditation and Western psychotherapy. These differences include 1) the aims; 2) experiential areas; 3) methods and techniques of these two approaches. Aims of Meditation and Psychotherapy There is now a growing body of information indicating that meditation is not a psychotherapy in the Western sense of a method to alleviate psychopathology. This can be illustrated in the case of Buddhist practice. The basic doctrine of Buddhism is expressed in the Four Noble Truths which are that suffering exists in all aspects of life; that the cause of suffering is attachment or craving; that there is a cure through ending attachment; and that the method of cure is the Eightfold Path. This four-part formula follows the ancient Hindu medical formula for an illness. The four parts of the formula were the nature of the disease; the cause of the disease; the possibility of a cure; and the treatment (Zimmer, 1956, pp. 467-69). Thus Buddhism grew out of a culture with a therapeutic approach to suffering. the idea of meditation as a psychotherapy In our era, the expectation of some Western writers was that meditation might be a new, more effective method of psychotherapy (Boss, 1979,p. 187;Eliade, 1969,p, 43; Goleman, 1971, pp. 6-7; Pelletier & Garfield, 1976, p, 245; Ram Dass, 1973,p. 195;Rama, etal.1976; Walsh, 1977.p. 166;Washburn, 1978,p. 50; Welwood, 1984,pp, 63-64).Nevertheless, Sutich had raised the question of the effectiveness of meditation as a psychotherapy as early as 1973. In recent years the expectation that meditation would be an effective psychotherapy has largely been reversed (Aitken, 1982; Alpert, 1982, p. 173; Brown & Engler, 1980,p, 183; Burns & Ohayv, 1980;Jamnien & Ohayv, 1980; Trungpa, 1979, p, 192; Weide, 1973; Welwood, (984). Ram Dass has eloquently expressed this change. In 1973he felt that with further and deeper meditation his personal problems would "fall away" (p, 195). By 1982, ten years of meditation older and considerably wiser, he says, "My theory (in the 1970's)was that ifl did my sadhanahard enough, ifl meditated deeply enough, if I opened my heart in devotional practices wide enough, all that unacknowledged stuff would go away. But it didn't . . ." (p. 173). My own observation of several people I have known who have gone deeply into meditation was that it helped them reach 58 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 higher states of consciousness, but that it did not resolve any major emotional problems (Chow, unpublished). Goleman (l972b) says that the Buddhist Visuddhimagga states that in the final stages of meditation the Arahant ". . . is absolutely free from suffering ... " (p. 26). However, the Arahant status is extremely difficult to attain (Goleman, 1977). This suggests that for the ordinary person meditation may promise Httlehelp for solving emotional problems. There are indications that a person must generally be fairly well integrated psychologically to meditate effectively. This has been stated by teachers and students in various Eastern systems. These include Tibetan Buddhism (Casper, 1979, p, 203), Zen Buddhism (Aitken, 1982, p. 163; Owens, 1975, p, 192), Theravada Buddhism (Jamnien & Ohayv, 1980; Burns & Ohayv, 1980), and Hindu systems (Boss, 1979). Some Westerners are also aware of this (Boss, 1979; Welwood, 1984, p. 65). In fact, meditation can even exaggerate some mental pathology (Engler, 1984; Epstein & Lieff, 1981). If personal problems are defined in terms of the goals of meditation systems, such as eliminating the ego or self (Aitken, 1982; Welwood, 1980), then meditation may be effective (Pelletier & Garfield, 1976, p, 245; Wilber, 1979a). However, for ordinary emotional conflicts it does notappearto be a cure, and in fact meditation may require a fairly emotionally stable person to be effective for its non-therapeutic aims. What then is the aim of meditation? In the sense of alleviation of personal suffering, it is somewhat the same as Western psychotherapy, but in a more specific sense it is quite different from the Western aim of the manipulation and exploration of the unconscious. Rather its aim is the attainment of "higher" states of consciousness (Sutioh, 1973) which in their most developed form are considered to be universal or trans personal states. One of the best descriptions of this search still to be found is in Aldous Huxley's book, The Perennial Philosophy (1945). This highest state is called the Brahman by the Hindu religious schools (Zimmer, 1974, pp, 74-83; Hiriyanna, 1949), Purusha by the yoga schools (Rama et al., 1976, pp. 206-13), Nirvana by the Theravada Buddhists (Goleman, 1977, pp. 3139), Sunyata or Void by the Mahayana Buddhists (Zimmer, 1974, pp. 521-526), and pure or universal consciousness by the Zen Buddhists (Owens, 1975). However, as Huxley (1945) and many others since (Goleman, 1977) have pointed out, the descriptions of this state are remarkably similar when religious and metaphysical concepts are removed. For all schools it contains the ultimate meaning of life. For those who have attained or are near this state, the alleviation of personal the aim of meditation as attainment of higher consciousness Consciousness and the Unconscious 59 suffering has become incidental. The differencein aims between psychotherapy and meditation is expressed by Welwood (1980, p, 140) in his statement that the aim of psychotherapy is selfintegration, while the aim of Eastern meditation is selftranscendence. Experiential Differences The differing aims of these two psychological approaches to the inner world lead to a second difference between psychotherapy and meditation, which is their experiential difference. There is much agreement in recent years that psychotherapy and meditation are concerned with different aspects of consciousness. Frequently, three aspects of consciousness are indicated -normal waking consciousness, the unconscious, and higher states of consciousness (Chaudhuri, 1975;Owens, 1975;Rama et al., 1976, pp. 66-138; Washburn, 1978; Welwood, 1977; Wilber, 1979b). a threeway division of consciousness For purposes of this discussion, this three-way division requires some elaboration. First, the unconscious is technically not a state of consciousness. Here the distinction between consciousness and content of consciousness become important (Needleman. 1979,p. 210). Content is comprised of memories, images, feelings and emotions that are "in" consciousness. We are aware of them. The unconscious is the content that is not only not presently in consciousness; it is also unavailable to consciousness. Material, or content, that is available but not currently in consciousness, constitutes the pre-conscious. When, through psychotherapy, unconscious material is made available to consciousness, it becomes part of the preconscious. While this is an elementary topology in psychoanalysis (Fenichel, 1945, p. 15), writers with different theoretical orientations may make the unconscious into a second form of consciousness. Even when the unconscious is active with its own dynamics, it is outside of consciousness until it is brought into consciousness as new content. Secondly, consciousness consists of many levels or states of altered and higher consciousness, only one of which is the ordinary waking state (Tart, 1975, pp. 13-16;Ornstein, 1977, pp. 40-73). These are not different conscicusnesses but alterations of the consciousness of one individual. There is considerable disagreement as to what constitutes the different states and levels-a disagreement which need not be examined in this paper-but there is somewhat more agreement that the states are organized into a hierarchy in which the highest, or the most inclusive, is a state of pure consciousness (Rama et at, 60 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 1976, pp. 64-99, Wilber, 1980).This highest state is described as an "integral undivided consciousness" in the Hindu Vedanta system (Radhakrishnan & Moore, 1957, p. 617), "pure consciousness" in the Yoga (Rama et al., 1976, p. 99; Chaudhuri, 1975, p. 245) and Zen systems (Owens, 1975, p. 169), "pure undifferentiated consciousness" for Tibetan Buddhism (Tulku, 1977a, p. 96), and "pure consciousness" by Ram Dass (197], p. 214). Consequently, there is considerable agreement that this state is one of pure consciousness without content. Although there may even be levels within the pure consciousness (Goleman, 1977; Rama et al., 1976, pp. 91-99), none of them contain content. As outlined here, the Eastern meditation systems focus on higher states of consciousness, while the Western psychotherapies generally deal with the unconscious. With the exception of those therapies which deny the unconscious, or when "covering" techniques are being used, the Western psychotherapy schools attempt to bring unconscious material into consciousness where it is explored, analyzed, interpreted or expressed. When such methods are successful, that content becomes part of the preconscious. a focus on higher states, or on the unconscious Differences in Method and Technique In order to attain their differing aims and deal with different aspects of the inner world, the techniques of the meditation and psychotherapy systems could also be expected to differ. For purposes of the present discussion, the major criterion is whether the techniques are designed to bring material out of the unconscious. At this point a distinction that is used in Western psychotherapy will be helpful, the distinction between covering and uncovering methods of psychotherapy (Blanck & Blanck, 1974). This distinction has been used recently by Engler (1984). In the covering psychotherapy methods, unconscious material that is producing problems by threatening to emerge is suppressed. These methods are often useful in dealing with crises, short-term therapy, and patients who are incapable of handling their unconscious emotions. By contrast, uncovering techniques are designed to actively bring unconscious material into awareness where it can be explored, analyzed and expressed. The expression of unconscious emotions as well as examination of defense mechanisms (in Gestalt psychology, a person examines how he "interrupts himself" [Perls, 1973, pp. 63-64]), allow or even "pull" more and more unconscious material into awareness. As such, this unconscious material is actively engaged through free associa- Consciousnessand the Unconscious 61 don, interpretation, analysis of transference, or the many "New Therapy" methods such as focusing (Gendlin, 1978), role playing, and other Gestalt therapy methods of facilitating the person's attempt to finish "unfinished psychological business" (Perls, 1973,p. 102).It should be noted that these techniques do not simply allow unconscious material to arise; the methods actively draw that unconscious material out and then hold on to it while it is explored and/or expressed. concentration meditation and "sila" as covering methods By contrast, none of the Eastern meditation systems described here appear to actively pursue unconscious material. They consider the emergence of this material to be an obstacle to meditation, and either shift the meditator's attention away from the material or allow it to stay, on the assumption that it may dissipate. Goleman (1972a, 1972b, 1977) has well described the two different major approaches to meditation used by the Eastern systems. He calls them the concentration and mindfulness methods. All meditation systems appear to usc one or the other, or a combination of these methods. He also describes some of the secondary methods that are often less emphasized in the West, under the heading of "sild' ("moral purity"). These involve prescribed behavior and concentration types of meditation directed toward particular themes. These methods are designed to reduce the emotions or desires that interfere with meditation of either the concentration (Goleman, 1977, pp. 2-1) or the mindfulness type. While this is described as part ofTheravada Buddhism, other systems utilize it. In Hindu systems it is called "sadhana"(Alpert, 1971,pp. 9698). Of the paths in the Buddhist Eightfold Path only two are meditation methods (Zimmer, 1974, p. 469), while the rest should probably be considered aspects of sila. To cite an example, a lustful person could meditate on corpses or other loathesome aspects ofthe body (Goleman, 1977,p. 4; Jamnien & Ohayv, 1980; Komito, 1984). Such sila methods are covering methods, and they may be used with mindfulness techniques or concentration techniques (Goleman, 1977, pp. 2-7). Not only stia,butto some extent, all the Eastern meditation techniques discussed here appear to be covering techniques. This would be consistent with the aim of eliminating obstacles to the attainment of higher states of consciousness and viewing the emergence of unconscious material ("makyo") into awareness as one of the greatest 0 bstaeles to attaining deeper states of meditation. That concentration meditation is a covering method has already been pointed out by some observers (Engler, 1984, p. 27; Goleman, 1971, p. 10). In concentration meditation the attempt is to center the attention on one subject, image or 62 The Journal of TranspersonalPsychology, 1986. Vol. 18. No.1 thought, while shutting out all distractions (Chaudhuri, 1975; Goleman, 1977,p. 10;Kapleau, 1965,pp. 9-13).This is done by not paying attention to the emerging distractions. When they arise and involve the meditator's attention, the meditator, as soon as he is aware of the distraction, simply returns his attention to the object of concentration. This is, of course, selective inattention-a basis for suppression or even repression. That meditation is a covering technique is less clear for the mindfulness methods. In fact, Engler recently (1984, p. 39) described it as an uncovering method. To a certain extent this would follow, in that using mindfulness one observes whatever comes into awareness without attempting to eliminate it or-it should be noted-hold on to it. The result is that unconscious material does arise (Aitken, 1982; Brown & Engler, 1980; Engler, 1984; Shapiro, 1983; Walsh, 1977, 1978, pp. 1-5; Welwood, 1979, p. 162). It should also be noted that to some degree it arises in concentration methods also (Eliade, 1969; Rama et al., 1976, pp. 129-30). mindfulness meditation as a covering and uncovering method There is, however, a great difference in how this material is dealt with by the mindfulness method and psychotherapy. In psychotherapy, as indicated previously, the essence of the method is to actively pull out and then explore and express this material, but in meditation, including mindfulness, the arising unconscious material is a distraction, a defilement (Goleman, 1977, p. 13; Komito, 1984), "makyo, morbid states devoid of significance" (Kapleau, 1965, p. 40). Because of this, the emerging unconscious material is allowed to dissipate and it is not analyzed. In mindfulness, the meditator simply observes the emerging material, emotion or images without becoming caught up in it, and eventually it passes away (Goleman, 1977,p, 22)."Feelings and emotions which arise during meditation practice are not viewed as having any special importance, as they are in psychotherapy" (Welwood, 1919, p. 151). This lack of specificattention appears to allow some release of strong unconscious material, but it may fail to bring out other material. Even the material that does arise can dissipate without being examined. Evidently, by not "giving this emerging material energy" the defensive mechanisms remain intact and the material is suppressed or even re-repressed in some cases. Some problems do emerge in meditation (Brown & Engler, 1980, Walsh, 1977, 1978), and meditation may help resolve some of them, but there is a question about the effectiveness of this process as a therapy. Of course, paying Consciousness and the Unconscious 63 attention to this emerging material may act as a detriment to progress in meditation (Engler, 1984;Brown & Engler, 1980). Thus even mindfulness methods of meditation appear to have some effects similar to those of the covering methods. differences between Eastern and Western psychologies in their approach to higher consciousness and the unconscious The foregoing discussion strongly suggests that major Eastern meditation systems do not pay much attention to unconscious psychodynamics because their meditation techniques tend to have a covering effect, and the attitude accompanying these symptoms is that emerging unconscious material is a defilement that is only an obstacle to progress in meditation. These Eastern systems neither studied unconscious content per se, nor used techniques that would enable them to study it. This kind of selective attention, when focused on the unconscious in a kind of reverse over-emphasis, creates another kind of limitation, that which prevented the Western psychologies from learning much about altered or higher states of consciousness-until recently. Now, perhaps with more accurate understanding of their various strengths and limitations, Eastern and Western psychologies, and their methods, can be combined to study the inner world-s-the unconscious and the higher states, as well as ordinary everyday consciousness. TOPOLOGIES In light of these similarities and differences in Eastern meditation and Western psychotherapy, I would like to consider how some "maps" or topologies of mind have incorporated meditation and psychotherapy experiences. Proceeding out of this, I will propose a revised topology, which accommodates the general features and some specific characteristics of Eastern meditation and Western psychotherapy, and relates these two processes to a contemporary understanding of human consciousness and the unconscious. Attempts to combine meditative and psychotherapeutic experience has led to the development of various "maps" or topologies of the mind. Most of these place the various meditation and psychotherapy experiences into some sort of order. Almost all such topologies so far have been linear in form, in that mental states are ordered on a single continuum, either ascending or descending from an origin to the most extreme state. A number of Eastern linear maps, both Hindu and Buddhist, have been proposed in various writings, Most of these topologies are traditional and have been restated by recent writers. In general, the Eastern topologies order states of 64 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 consciousness from ordinary waking consciousness through higher states until a form of pure consciousness isattained. The meditator in these systems must pass through the lower states before the higher ones are reached. It should be noted that the unconscious is not included in these topologies, though several modern Eastern writers have attempted to identify some nonordinary states with the unconscious. As an example, a Hindu system that is particularly yogic but similar to other Hindu topologies is presented by Rama et aI. (1976, pp. 64-99). In it the person is considered to be encased in a series of levels called "bodies or sheaths" beginning with the physical plane or body. The higher bodies are mental. Through meditation and other forms of training the person moves from one sheath to a higher one on his spiritual or psychological journey. The levels are 1) physical, 2) energy, 3) mental, 4) intuitive (Buddhi), 5) blissful, and finally 6) the pure self or purusha, Buddhism has at least two topologies that are related to the concentration and mindfulness methods respectively (Goleman, 1977). The path of concentration (pp. 10·20) leads through seven levels ofjhanas to the eighth which is beyond all mental states. The path of mindfulness leads through a series of insights until nirvana is reached (Goleman, pp, 20-39). Even within nirvana there are several levels. When all of these levels are passed, the person becomes an "arahant" or saint. In this state all suffering and attachment have ceased and one is governed by pure love. Hindu, yogic, Buddhist meditative, and Western psychotherapeutic and psychedelic experiencebased topologies The Western topologies have been largely derived from psychotherapy and psychedelic experiences. The Western psychotherapy topologies are primarily developmental. These include Freud's states of psychosexual development (Fenichel, t 945, pp. 33-113)and E. Erickson's stages of life (1950). Many psychotherapy systems, while recognizing that developmental stages do exist, do not place much emphasis on them. For instance, although Gestalt therapy deals with "unfinished psychological business" which may originate at any time in the person's development, PerLs(1973) does not deal with stages in his theory. In Western psychodynamic psychotherapy the patient does not pass through stages, but rather attempts to reconstruct emotional experiences related to earlier conflicts which may recur at different stages of development. In a child's development, after a problem or trauma at a particular state, the child continues to progress to later stages, but with problems related to the stage in which the trauma occurred (Fenichel, 1945).This Consciousness and the Unconscious 65 is quite different from the Eastern topologies in which one must pass through the lower stages before passing on to the higher ones. In the West, experience with psychedelics has also led to a topology of mind. While these have been described by several writers (Masters & Houston, 1967;Pahnke & Richards, 1966), perhaps the best known map was proposed by Stanislav Grof (1973). Here a series of psychedelic experiences in a psychotherapy setting leads through experiences of increasing depth. These lead both back toward birth experiences and forward toward a mystical state that Grof identifies with the highest Eastern meditation experience. However, in Grof's system the highest state described usually has content of a mythical or religious nature, while the Eastern experience is one of a pure consciousness without any content-sunyata, the void. Wilber's linear cyclical topology The most thoroughly developed topology in the West is evidently that proposed by Ken Wilber (1979a, 1979b, 1980, 1984).This is a linear model, though in a recent version (1980) the ends of the linear topology come together at death, forming a cycle from birth to death. However, for an individual during one life, it is still linear. In his topology Western unconscious levels are added to the Eastern levels of consciousness to form one continuous linear"system. Wilber's system is extremely complex, in that it attempts to integrate a large proportion of psychological phenomena from both the Eastern and Western world into one system. The essence of his system is given in a few articles (1977a, 1984). Basically, Wilber has placed the Western developmental stages before the Eastern stages of consciousness to form a single continuum from the physical level to the highest state of consciousness. In this system the states descend into deeper levels. For each person there is an "evolution" or development of consciousness such that one "... moves from subconsciousness ... to self-consciousness . . . to superconsciousness" (1980, p, 3). This is a linear relationship of stages such that one "passes through" (1984, p. 76) the earlier before entering the later "superccnscious" states. ". . . Psychological development proceeds stratum by stratum level by level, stage by stage, with each successive level superimposed upon its predecessor in such a way that it includes but transcends it . . ." (1979a. p, 2). There are a number of difficulties with such sequential, linear topologies. These include providing evidence that problems at lower levels actually disappear at higher levels, the effect of different cultural practices, and the tendency to bypass lower levels in order to reach higher levels. 66 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 In regard to this discussion, the concept of a linear topology, in which one must pass through unconscious levels to reach the higher states of consciousness, contradicts the evidence presented here. This evidence suggests a rudimentary topology, though not a linear one and, to some extent, indicates an opposition between meditative states and the emergence of unconscious material. This would be consistent with the teachings of Eastern meditative systems that regard unconscious material as an 0 bstacle to the attainment of higher states. This was shown in one of the more elaborate research studies on meditation (Brown & Engler, 1980) which found that the meditators who became involved in emerging personal material appeared to make slower progress. Yet contrary to the concept of a direct opposition is the situation in which unconscious material does emerge into consciousness during deep meditation. Meditation itself (especially mindfulness) does not necessarily block unconscious material. Also, meditation does require some minimal level of emotional integration to be effective (Aitken, 1982; Casper, 1979; Owens. 1975; Welwood, 1984). Thus there does not appear to be a complete opposition between meditation and psychotherapy; rather, they appear to be dealing with two separate and distinct-but related-aspects of the human two separate and distinct but related aspects psyche, In view of the above considerations, a form of topology other than a linear one appears to be a better fit to the information now available. Such a "map" should show that the higher states are related to the unconscious, but neither by opposition nor as stages in a continuum. A topology meeting these requirements is proposed below, and represented in Figure I. FIGURE I PROPOSBD TOPOLOGY OF THB RELATIONSHIP OF CONSCIOUS STATES TO UNCONSCIOUS CONTBNT AS RELATED TO PSYCHOLOGICAL GROWTH. ORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS ras DEVELOPEDCONSCIOUSNBSS Higher States not available ...- --1'...:"_::. States of Consciousness _ Time Preconscious Content Unconscious Content Increased Preconscious Content Consciousnessand the Unconscious 67 In this diagram, the central unbroken horizontal line represents ordinary waking consciousness. The vertical dimension represents the range of consciousness and the content of consciousness. The horizontal dimension represents development of the individual over time. Development is conceived in an ordinal scale which indicates progress or change in a direction but without specifying intervals. The line above the central line represents the limits of ordinary consciousness. Above that are the higher states of consciousness which are unavailable to the individual without intensive meditation. Below the central line is the preconscious. The line below the central line marks the beginning of the unconscious. It represents content that is unavailable to the person. the dynamics of movement in the proposed topology When individual spiritual and/or psychological development occurs, the person's development moves to the right but not necessarily upward. The movement to the right represents enlarging the area of consciousness, which may be done in either of two ways. Either the size of the preconscious becomes enlarged as unconscious material comes into consciousness, and then the preconscious, or the higher states of consciousness, increase as the person becomes able to enter these states. In the first situation, the unconscious shrinks as the preconscious grows. Diagrammatically, this is represented by the preconscious boundary moving downward as one develops and moves to the right. The development due to meditation produces a gradual widening of the consciousness available to the person. More and more the person is able to enter the higher states of consciousness. This is represented in the diagram by the gradual rising of the higher consciousness line, which indicates the increasing availability of the higher states to the person. In this topology, it is conceived that personal development may occur either through bringing more unconscious material into consciousness to reside in the preconscious or in experiencing increasingly higher states of consciousness. The diagram indicates that these do not need to be done simultaneously. Rather, the person may develop through increased availability of unconscious material without any increase of states of consciousness. This would be represented on the diagram by a lowering of the preconscious line, but no rising of the higher consciousness line. The opposite could also happen, in which case the higher consciousness line would move upward and the preconscious line would remain at the same level. It is also possible for the person to increase both the preconscious material and the higher states available. In that case both limiting lines would diverge from the center line. This diagram 68 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No. I is meant to represent the possibilities for growth and not the stages of growth that must be taken. The relationship between the higher states and the unconscious content are thus conceived to be largely unrelated-not opposite or linear. There is, of course, some relationship. Unconscious material may be brought into consciousness by meditation, and in fact deep meditation appears to increase the openness that one has to the emergence of such material. If nothing else, meditation may sensitize the person to his or her inner world. Also there does appear to be some opposition between the requirements for effectivemeditation and opening oneself to the unconscious material-at least in the short run. Perhaps, however, in the long run it will be possible for both approaches to development to occur in the same personperhaps even synergistically. That is, it may be that the person who has solved more of his personal problems (has more awareness of his unconscious content) will be able to meditate more effectivelyand more deeply in the long run. Meditation may also help increase the person's sensitivity to deep unconscious material. Thus, while meditation and psychotherapy as described here are apparently not related in a linear sense, it may be possible that they can act synergistically to increase human growth. the possibility for a synergistic development REFERENCES AITKIlN,R. (1982).Zen practice and psychotherapy. J. 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TRUNGPA, C. (1973). Cutting through spiritual materialism. Berkeley, CA: Shambhala, TRUNGPA, C. (1976). The myth offreedom and the way ofmediuuion. Berkeley,CA: Shambhala. TaUNGPA,C. (1978). Glimpses of Abhidharma. BOUlder,CO: Prajna Press. TRUNGPA,C. (1979). A dialogue witb psychotherapists. In J. Welwood (Ed.], The meeting of the ways: Explorations in East/ West psychology (pp. 192~96). New York: Schocken, TULXU.T. (1977a). Gesture of balance. Emeryville, CA: Dharma Publishing. TULKU,T. (l977b). Time, space and knowledge. Emeryville, CA: Dharma Publishing. Consciousness and the Unconscious 71 WALSH, R. (1977). Initial meditative experiences: Part r. J. Transpersonal Psychology, 9. 2, 151-92. WALSH,R. (1978). Initial meditativeexperiences:Part II. J. Transpersonal Psychology, 10, I, 1-28. WASHBURN, M. C. (1978).Observationsrelevantto a unifiedtheoryof meditation. J. TranspersonaiPsychology, 10, I, 45-65. WEIDE.T. M. {I 973). Varieties of transpersonal therapy. J. 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Wheaton, IL: Quest. WILBER,K. (1984). The developmental spectrum and psychopathology: Part I: Stages and types of pathology. J. Transpersonal Psychology, 16, I, 75·118. WORLDHEALTHORGANIZATION (1915). Schizophrenia: A multinational study. Paper No. 63. ZIMMIlR, H. (1974). Philosophies of India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress. Requests for reprints to Elbert W. Russell. Staff Psychologist, V.A.M.e., 1201 Northwest 16th Street, Miami, Florida33125. 72 The Journal of Transpersonat Psychology, 1986, Vol. 18, No.1 Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Integrating the Shadow At the beginning of his career a s a "nerve doctor," Sigmund Freud traveled to Nancy in eastern France in order to witness the celebrated works of the hypnotist Dr. Bernheim. What Freud saw there was eventually to mold the main currents of all Western psychotherapy, from Alder to Jung to Gestalt to Maslow. In a typical experiment performed by Bernheim, the patient was placed in a deep hypnotic trance and then told that, upon a certain signal, he will pick up an umbrella from beside the door, open it, and place it over his head. When the signal was given, the patient did indeed pick up and open the umbrella. When the doctor asked him why he opened the umbrella indoors, the patient would reply with a good reason, such as, "I wanted to see to whom it belonged," or "I just wanted to make sure it was working correctly," or "I was interested in the brand name" or some such. Now these were all good reasons, but they obviously weren't the correct reason. The patient was performing an act, but he had absolutely no idea why he was really doing it! In other words, the patient most definitely had a reason for opening the umbrella but he was unaware of it-his real reason was unconscious, and he was being moved by forces which apparently were not in his conscious mind. Freud built his entire psychoanalytic system around this basic insight, the insight that man has needs or motivations of which he is unconscious. Now because these needs or instincts are unconscious, the person is not fully aware of them, and thus he can never act upon them to gain satisfaction. In short, man doesn't know what he wants; his real desires are unconscious and therefore never adequately satisfied. Neuroses and "mental illness" result, just as if you were completely unconscious ofyour desire to eat, you would never know you were hungry, and consequently you would never eat, which would indeed make you quite ill. Now this is a superlative idea, the essence of which has been confirmed again and again in clinical observations. The problem, however, is that although everybody agrees that man has unconscious needs, nobody agrees as to what these needs are. The confusion began with Freud himself, who three times changed his mind a s to the nature of man's desires or instincts. Initially he felt they were sex and survival; then he thought they were love and aggression; finally, he stated they were Life and Death. Ever since, psychotherapists have been trying to figure out what man's "real" needs are. Whether they call them needs, in- 185 Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS stincts, wishes, drives, motivations, desires or whatever, the story is the same. Thus Rank felt it is the need for a strong and constructive will; Adler, the search for power; Ferenczi, the need for love and acceptance; Horney, the need for security; H. S. Sullivan, biological satisfactions and security; Fromm, the need for meaning; Perls, the need to grow and mature; Rogers, self-preservation and enhancement; Glasser, the need for love and self-worth; and so ad infinitum. We have no intention of adding to this confusion by describing what we feel are man's "real needs," for although the different schools of psychiatry and psychotherapy postulate essentially different human needs, they all subscribe to the same basic premise, namely, that man is unaware of, or alienated from, or unconscious of, or tangling communication with some aspects of his "self." These alienated aspects of man's self we have called the Shadow, and we propose here to explore some of the more viable methods whereby man can re-contact and eventually re-own his alienated Shadow. This involves, in other words, an attempt to re-unite the persona, or inaccurate self-image, with the shadow, or alienated facets of self, so as to evolve an accurate and acceptable self-image, the Ego. We will not, however, stop with these Ego Level therapies, for there exists today a veritable zoo of psychotherapeutic techniques, systems, methods, schools, and disciplines, which in itself is not necessarily a regretable state of affairs, for, as will soon become obvious, there is good reason for the existence of so many different schools. But the problem-and it is a pressing one, for professional and layman alike-is to discern a semblanceof order and a synthesizing structure for this vast complexity of different and frequently contradictory psychological systems. Now we believe that, using the spectrum of consciousnessas a model, this hidden semblance of order can in fact be demonstrated. One of our major contentions is that consciousness, the non-dual universe, can appear to function in several different but continuous modalities, states, or levels. Using this model, we maintain that it becomes possible to integrate, in a fairly complete and comprehensive fashion, not only most of the major schools of Western psychology-therapy, but also what are generally called "Eastern" and "Western" approaches to consciousness. For, if there be any truth at all to the Spectrum of Consciousnessand to the great metaphysical traditions that unanimously subscribe to its basic theme, then it immediately becomes obvious that each ofthe major but differing schools of r)sychotherapy" is simply addressing a different level of the Spectrum. Thus, a primary reason 30 many different, and yet seemingly Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Integrating the Shadow 187 valid, schools of psychology exist is not, as is generally assumed, that they are all viewing the same level of consciousness and arriving at contradictory conclusions, but that they are each approaching a different level of consciousness and thus arriving a t complementary conclusions. We thus start to discern some method in this madness of innumerable and apparently contradictory psychological systems. For ifwe agree with the great metaphysical traditions that consciousnessis pluri-dimensional (i.e., apparently composed of numerous levels), and if we then add the insight that pathology can and does occur on any of these levels (except, of course, the Level of Mind), we will thereupon discover that the various schools ofpsychotherapy, East and West,fall naturally into an order that spans the entire Spectrum of Consciousness. Thus we are provided with a truly encompassing and integrative guide to the vast number of psychotherapies available today. Now to help us implement this guide, we will, over the next several chapters be devoting ourselves to a study of the pathologies, or more correctly, the dys-eases, that commonly occur on the major levels of consciousness,as well as the therapies that have evolved to deal with these dys-eases. This study is not meant to be either exhaustive nor finally authoritative, for new psychological insights into the various levels are turning up daily. Rather, this study offers only a basic skeleton, an invariant pattern, upon which we may add new flesh as our knowledge grows. Recall that each level of the spectrum of consciousness is generated by a particular dualism-repression-projection, which results (among other things) in a progressive narrowing of identity from the universe (Mind) to the organism (Existential) to the psyche (Ego) to parts of the psyche (Persona). Thus each level of the spectrum is potentially productive of a certain class of dys-eases, for each level represents a particular type of alienation of the universe from itself. Speaking very generally, the nature of these dys-easesgets progressively "worse" as one ascends the spectrum, because with each new level there appears more aspects of the universe with which the individual no longer identifies and which therefore seem alien and potentially threatening to him. For example, at the Existential Level, man imagines himself separated from and therefore potentially threatened by his own environment. At the Ego Level, man fancies that he is also alienated from his own body, and thus the environment as well as his own body seem possible threats to his existence. At the Shadow Level, man even appears divorced from parts of his own psyche-thus his environment, his body, and even his own mind can appear foreign and threatening. Each of these alienations, created by a particular dualism-repression-projection, is thus pot6ntially productive of a Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. 188 SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS specific class of dys-eases. Or, if you prefer, a specific class of repressions, or projections, or unconscious processes, or dualisms, or fragmentations-from the point of view of the spectrum of consciousness, these terms all refer to the same basic process of creating-two-worlds-from-one which repeats itself, with a new twist, on each and every level of the spectrum. Thus, to say that each level is created by a particular dualismrepression-projection, or to say that each level is marked by a narrowing of identity, or to say that each level has particular unconscious processes, is only to say that each level has a characteristic set of potential dys-eases. Our task, as was just noted, will be to point out these major sets of dys-eases peculiar to each level, as well as the therapies that have adapted themselves to that level. In so doing, we will also have occasion to comment on the various "needs" and "drives" of each level, on the potential for growth on each level, on the "positive virtues" of each level, on the unconscious processes of each level, and so on. As for the therapies themselves, we will discover in the end that since each level of the spectrum is generated by a particular dualism-repression-projection, the therapies of each and every level share the common goal of healing and whole-ing that level's major dualism. We will return to this a t the appropriate place. One last point. We will start with the Shadow Level and conclude with the Level of Mind, following precisely the reverse order in which the levels evolved. As we will eventually discover, there is good reason for this procedure. Right now, we need only recognize that we are beginning the psychological path of involution, of return to the source, of remembrance of Mind: the descent, of the Spectrum of Consciousness. Thus we will start with the therapies aimed a t moving from the Shadow to the Ego Level, then descend the spectrum to examine those therapies concerned with the Biosocial Band, then move to those working on the Existential Level, ther. descend once more to those aimed a t the Transpersonal Bands, and conclude with those working a t the Level of Mind. One may therefore descend the spectrum as little or as much a s one wishes. To make full use of the methods for integrating the Shadow Level, it would be best to recall how it is generated. With the quaternary dualism-repression-projection, the Ego is severed, its unity repressed, and the shadow-which originally was an integral facet of the Ego-is now projected as foreign, alien, disowned. Generally, we can think of the Shadow as all of our ego-potentials with which we have lost contact, that we have forgotten, that we have disowned. Thus the Shadow can contain not only our "bad," aggressive, perverse, wicked, "evil," and demonic aspects that we Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. 189 have tried to disown, but also some "good," energetic, god-like, angelic, and noble aspects that we have forgotten belong to us. Although we attempt to disown and alienate these aspects, they nevertheless remain our own, and the gesture is ultimately as futile as trying to deny our elbows. Andjust because these facets do remain our own, they continue to operate, and we therefore continue to perceive them, but since we believe that they are not ours, we see them as belonging to other people. We have therefore read our own qualities into other people to such an extent that we have lost track of them in ourselves. On the Ego Level, this alienating of certain aspects of our self has two basic consequences. One, we no longer feel these aspects are ours, and so we can never use them, act upon them, satisfy them: our base of action is thus drastically narrowed, reduced, and f r u ~ t r a t e d .Two, these facets now appear to exist in the environmentwe have given our energy to others, and so that energy now seems to turn on us, to boomerang. We loose it in ourselves and "see it" in the environment where it threatens our being. In the words of psychiatrist G. A. Young, "In this process the individual will make himself less than he is and the environment more than it is."l We end up clobbering ourselves with our own energy. As Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy, puts it, "Once a projection has occurred, or once we have projected some potential, then this potential turns against us."2 How our projected energy or potential turns against us can be easily seen-suppose, for example, that an impulse or push-toaction arises within the self, such as the impulse to work, eat, study, play. Now what would this impulse or drive-to-action feel like if, due to the quaternary dualism, we projected this push or drive? The drive would still arise, but we would no longer feel that it belonged to us-the drive would now appear to arise externally to us, in the environment, and we would therefore no longer feel a drive towards the environment but the environment driving us! Instead of pushing to action we would feel pushed into action; instead of having drive we would feel driven; instead of interest, we would experience pressure; in place of desire, obligation. Our energy remains ours, but because of the quaternary dualism, its source appears external to us, and so instead of possessing this energy we feel hammered by it, buffeted and slammed around by what now appears to be "external" forces, so that we are driven mercilessly like a helpless puppet, with the environmentapparently pulling the strings. Moreover, we can project not only our positive emotions of interest, drive, and desire, but also our negative feelings of anger, resentment, hatred, rejection, etc. The same thing results, how- Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Integrating the Shadow Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS ever instead of being angry at someone, we will feel the world is angry at us; instead of temporarily hating a person, we will sense that the person hates us; instead of rejecting a situation, we will feel rejected. Becoming unaware of our little bit of negative tendencies, we project them onto the environment and thus populate our world with imaginary but quite frightening boogey men, devils, ghosts: we are frightened by our own shadows. Now besides projecting positive and negative emotions, we can also project positive and negative ideas or qualities or traits. When a person projects his positive qualities of value and self-worth onto another person, he has surrendered some of his own "goodies" and sees them residing in the other individual. This person therefore feels that he is worthless compared to this other individual, who now appears as a superman, possessing not only his own goodies but also those projected onto him. This projection of positive tendencies and ideas happens frequently in romatic love--be it heterosexual or homosexual-so that the person in love gives all his potentials to his beloved and then is overwhelmed by the supposed goodness, wisdom, beauty, etc. of the beloved. Nevertheless, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and the person who is romantically in love is really in love with the projected aspects of his own self, and he believes that the only way he can re-own these projected goodies is to own and possess his beloved. The same mechanism is operating in cases of wild admiration and envy, for again we have given our potentials away, consequently feeling that we ourselves lack them, and seeing them instead as belonging to others. We become "worthless," and the world appears to be populated with people who are capable, important, awesome in our eyes. Similarly, we can project negative qualities ,consequently feel ourselves to lack them, and instead see them as belonging to others. This is a most common occurrence, because our natural tendency when faced with an undesirable aspect of ourselves is simply to deny it and push it out of consciousness. This, of course, is a futile gesture, for these negative ideas nevertheless remain our own, and we can only pretend to get rid of them by seeing them in other people. The witch-hunt is on. Communists under every bed; the Devil waiting a t every corner; Us, the Good Guys, versus Them, the Bad Guys. Our impassioned fight with the devils of this world is nothing but elaborate shadow-boxing. To those unfamiliar with projection on the Ego Level, this mechanism initially seems most perplexing and occasionally ridiculous, for it implies that those things which most disturb us in other people are really unrecognized aspects of ourselves. This idea is usually met with resentful, bitter opposition. Yet, as Freud Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Integrating the Shadow 191 pointed out, violent denial is the very mark of projection; that is, if we didn't deny it, we wouldn't be projecting! The fact remains, however, that "it takes one to know one," and our carping criticisms of other people are really nothing but unrecognized bits of autobiography. If you want to know what a person is really like, listen to what he says about other people. All of this really stems from Freud's original insight that all emotions are intra-psychic and intra-personal, not inter-psychic and inter-personal-that is to say, emotions are experienced (on the Ego Level at least) not between me and thee but between me and me. The so-called neuroses thus result with the arising of the quaternary dualism, where the integrity of the Ego Level is severed, its unity repressed, and then certain facets projected onto the environment. With this quaternary projection, we disown and alienate some of our own tendencies-we forget them, and then forget that we have forgotten them. Therapy on the Ego Level therefore entails a re-membering and re-owning of our forgotten tendencies, a re-identifying with our projected facets, a re-uniting with our shadows. In the words of Dr. Perls: Much material that is our own, that is part of ourselves, has been dissociated, alienated, disowned, thrown out. The rest of potential is not available to us. But I believe most of it is available, but as projections. I suggest we start with the impossible assumption that whatever we believe we see in another person or in the world is nothing but aprojection. . . .We can reassimilate, we can take back our projections, by projecting ourselves completely into that other thing or person. . . . We have to do the opposite of alienationidentification.3 Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Let us give several examplesto fully clarify these points. We will present the examples in four groups, representing the four major classes of projection: positive emotions, negative emotions, positive qualities, and negative qualities. We will deal with them in that order. (1)Projection of positive emotions such as interest, desire, drive, motivation, eagerness, excitement, etc. John has a date with Mary. He is terribly excited about it, and eagerly looks forward to picking her up at her house. As he rings the doorbell he is trembling slightly with excitement, but when her father opens the door, John gets panicky and very "nervous." He forgets his original excitement about meeting with Mary, and consequently instead of being interested in the environment, he feels that the environmentespecially Mary's father-is inter- Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS ested in him. Instead oflooking he feels looked at, and it seems that the situation is very much zeroed in on him. John is clobbering himself with his own enerffy(although he will probably blame it on the environment, in this case, the "evil eye" stare of Mary's father. Nevertheless, there is nothing in the situationper se that "causes nervousness," for many men positively love meeting parents and trying to get to know them-the tangle lies not in this situation but in John himself). Besides clobbering himself with his own energy, John will end up in a vicious circle, for, as in all projections on the Ego Level, the more he projects, the more he will tend to project: the more he forgets his excitement, the more he projects it, and thus the more the environment seems zeroed in on him. This increases his excitement, which he again projects, making the environment seem even more zeroed in on him, causing him yet more excitement. . . . The only way out of this uncomfortable situation is for John to regain his interest, to re-identify with his excitement and thus act upon it instead of being acted upon by it. Usually this will occur as soon as Mary walks into the room-John instantly regains his interest and acts upon it by rushing over to greet her, thereby integrating his alienated interest, for he is now looking a t the environment instead of being looked at by it. The moment John began to feel panic and anxiety, he was losing touch with his basic biological excitement (not sexual excitement, but simply excitement in generalbhe blocked it, disowned it, projected it. Under these conditions, excitement is experienced as anxiety, and conversely, whenever we feel anxiety we are simply refusing to let ourselves be excited, vibrant, alive. The only way out of this type of situation is to get back in touch with our interest and excitementto let our body get excited, to breathe and even gasp deeply, instead of tightening our chest and restricting our breathing; to shake and vibrate with energy, instead of "playing cool" and trying to hold back our excitement by stiffening and becoming "uptight;" to let our Energy mobilize and flow instead of damning it up. Whenever we feel anxiety, we need only ask ourselves "What am I excited about?" or "How am I preventing myself from being naturally excited?" A child simply feels joyously excited, but an adult feels uncomfortably anxious, only because as the Energy wells up, adults shut it off and project it, while children let it flow. "Energy is eternal delight," and children are eternally delightful, a t least until they are taught the quaternary dualism, after which children as well as adults alienate their natural excitement. Energy continues to mobilize and well up, b u t thanks to the quaternary dualism-it appears to ariseaternally to us, where it takes on a threatening nature. Anxiety, then, is Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Integrating the Shadow 193 nothing but blocked and projected excitement and interest. This can most easily be experimented with when one is alone, for one can "let go" without fear of condescending comments from stuffy onlookers. If a feeling of anxiety is present, don't try to get rid of it (i.e., alienate it even more), but instead get into it fullyshake, tremble, gasp for air, follow your bodily action. Get in touch with this anxiety by letting it explode into excitement. Find that Energy that wants to be born, and feel it out completely, for anxiety is birth denied to excitement. Give that Energy birth, re-own it, let it flow, and anxiety will yield to vibrant excitement, to energy freely mobilizing and directed outward. instead of blocked and projected, boomeranging back on us as anxiety. Another example of the consequences of projecting a positive emotion, let us take the alienation of desire. Jack wants very much to clean out the garage-it's a mess and he has been thinking about cleaning it for quite some time. Finally he decides he'll do it this coming Sunday. At this point Jack is very much in touch with his desire, he wants to get the job done; but when Sunday arrives, Jack starts to have second thoughts about the matter. He putters around for several hours, day dreams, fidgets a b o u t h e is starting to lose touch with his desire. Now that desire is still present, because if it weren't, Jack would simply leave the job and do something else. He still wants to do it, but he is beginning to alienate and project that desire, and all he needs to really finish the projection is any available person onto which he can "hang" the projected desire. So when his wife pokes her head in and casually asks how the job is going, Jack snaps back that she should "get off his back!" He now feels that not he, but his wife who wants him to clean the garage! The projection is completed. Jack starts to feel that she is pressuring him, but what he is actually experiencing is his own projected desire, for all "pressure" is nothing but displaced eagerness. At this point, most of us object that we are in situations that really do impose a tremendous pressure upon us, that pressure is due not to our projecting desire but to the very nature of the situation itself (such as an office job, the "obligations" of a family, etc.), and consequently we find little desire for our work. But that is precisely the point-the very fact that we are unaware of our desire leads to our feelings of pressure! We usually reply to this that we would certainly like to find ourselves really desiring to work, cook, do laundry, or whatever, but that the desire is just not present. The fact of the matter, however, is that desire is present, but we are feeling it as external desire orpressure. That pressure is our own disguised desire, and if we didn't have that desire, we simply wouldn't feel pressured. If desire weren't present, we would Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. 194 SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS feel bored, lackadaisical, or perhaps apathetic, but never pressured. Similarly, in our previous example, if John really had no interest in dating Mary, then when he picked her up he would never feel anxiety-he just wouldn't care, he would feel neutral or maybe slightly annoyed, but never anxious. John's anxiety was possible only because he really was interested in Mary but projected that interest, and likewise pressure is experienced only where there is a projected desire. Hence Jack will continue to feel pressured and nagged by his wife until it dawns on him that the only person who is pressuring him to clean the garage is Jack himself, that the battle is between Jack and Jack and not between Jack and his wife. If he realizes this, he will act on his desire instead of fighting it, and end up cleaning the garage-which is what he wanted in the first place. The Putneys admirably summarize it thus: The autonomous alternative is to move beyond pressure by recognizing that any sense of insistent pressure is one's own projected drive. The man who recognizes that what he feels is his own drive will neither resent nor resist the pressure; he will acL4 Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Thus, if we are feeling pressured, we needn't try to invent or create desire so as to escape pressure-we are already experiencing the needed desire, only we have mis-labeled it "pressure." (2) Projection of negative emotionssuch as aggression, anger, hatred, rejection, resentment, etc. The projection of negative emotions is an unbelievably common occurrence, especiallyin the West, where the prevailing moral atmosphere of popular Christianity demands that we try to fight all "evil" and negative tendencies in ourselves and others; and even though Christ counseled us to "resist not evil," to love it and befriend it, since "I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things;" nevertheless, very few of us love our "evil" tendencies. On the contrary, we despise and loathe them, they shame and embarass us, and we consequently seek not to integrate them but to alienate them. With the arising of the quaternary dualism, this alienation becomes possible; rather, it seems to become possible, for although we deny these tendencies consciousness, they remain ours nevertheless. We push them from consciousness so that they appear in the environmentit then seems that we lack them but the environment is swarming with them. Actually, when we survey other people and are horrified by all the Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Integrating the Shadow 195 evils we "see" in them, we are but gazing unerringly into the mirror of our own souls. Egoic "health and sanity" thus demands that we re-own and re-integrate these "evil" and negative tendencies. Once we have done so, a most startling thing happens: we discover that these negative tendencies we were so loathe to admit in ourselves, once they are re-integrated become harmoniously balanced with our positive tendencies and therefore loose their supposed evil coloring. In fact, these negative tendencies of hatred and aggression assume a really violent and evil nature only when we alienate them, only when we separate them from their counterbalancing positive tendencies of love and acceptance and then fling them into the environment where, isolated from their balancing context, they can indeed appear most vicious and destructive. When we irrcorredly imagine these demonic aspects to actually exist in the environmentinstead of realizing that they exist in us as the necessary counter-balance of our constructive positive tendencies-when we do imagine they exist in the environment, then we react most violently and viciously to this illusory threat, then we are driven into frenzies of frequently brutal crusading, then do we kill "witches" for their own good, start- wars to "maintain peace," establish inquisitions to "save souls." In short, an alienated and projected negative tendency, because it is severed from its balancing context and given a life of its own, can take on a very demonic nature and result in truly destructive actions, while that same tendency, reintegrated in us and placed along side its balancing positive tendency, takes on a mellow and cooperative nature. In this sense, it is a moral imperative that to be Christ-like one must befriend the Devil. Further, we rarely realize that not only do good and evil tendencies balance one another when they are integrated, but also thatlike all opposites-they are necessary for one another, that not only does evil harmonize with good but that evil itself is necessary for the very existence of thegood. As Rilke put it, "If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well." Says Lao Tzu: Is there a difference between yes and no? Is there a difference between good and evil? Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense! Having and not having arise together Difficult and easy complement each other Long and short contrast each other High and low rest upon each other Front and back follow one a n ~ t h e r . ~ Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS And Chung-tzu draws the conclusion: Thus, those who say that they would have right without its correlate, wrong; or good government without its correlate, misrule, do not apprehend the great principles of the universe, nor the nature of all creation. One might as well talk of the existence of Heaven without that of Earth, or of the negative principle without the positive, which is clearly impossible. Yet people keep on discussing it without stop; such people must be either fools or knaves.6 People hate the darkness of their negative tendencies just as children hate the darkness of the night, but just as if there were no dark of night we would never recognize the light of day, so also if we possessed no negative aspects we would never recognize our positive ones. Our negative and positive tendencies are thus like the valleys and the mountains of a beautiful landscape-there can be no mountains without valleys, and vice versa, so that those who would misguidedly seek to annihilate the valleys must in the same stroke level the mountains. Trying to rid ourselves of negative tendencies, trying to destroy them and eliminate them, would be a fine idea-if it were possible. The problem is, that it is not, that the negative tendencies in ourselves to which we try to shut our eyes nevertheless remain f m l y ours and return to plague us as neurotic symptoms of fear, depression, and anxiety. Cut off from consciousness, they assume menacing aspects all out of proportion to their actual nature. We can tame evil only by befriending it, and we simply inflame it by alienating it. Integrated, evil becomes mellow; projected, it becomes quite vicious, and thus those who would seek to eliminate evil have added substantially to its victory. In the words of Ronald h e r : Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. Let me ask you to remember some day that I have told you that the hatred of evil strengthens evil, and opposition reinforces what is opposed. This is a law of an exactitude equal with the laws of mathematics.' Or from theologian Nicholas Berdyaev: Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring us with diabolical feelings to himself. It is he who wins when his own methods are turned against himself. . . . A continual denunciation of evil and its agents merely encourages its growth in the world-a truth sufficiently revealed in the Gospels, but to which we remain persistently blind.8 As an example of the projection of negative emotions, let us begin with that of hatred. Martha is leaving home to attend a Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Integrating the Shadow 197 "sophisticated" girl's college in the East. While she was in high school she was very much in touch with her negative emotions of hatred, so that this hatred was not a t all of the violent or vicious type, but was rather mellow and easy-going, which we could call rascality, orneriness, whimsy, or gentle cynicism: Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. This attitude of gentle cynicism has always been characteristic of highly cultured and humane people, and in the fellowship of those who can "lettheir hair down"with each other and express the warmest friendship in such terms as, "Well, you old rascal!"The whole possibility of loving affection between human beings depends upon the recognition and acceptanceof an element of irreducible rascality in oneself and others. . . . The power of fanaticism, "effective"as it may be, is always bought at the price of unconsciousness, and whether its cause be good or evil it is invariably destructive because it works against life: it denies the ambivalence of the natural world.9 The point, again, is that when we are conscious of our little bit of hatred, it really isn't hatred as such, for it is blended and harmonized with our positive emotions of love and kindness, so that integrated hatred takes on very gentle and frequently humorous overtones. Bob Young, a psychiatrist, greets his intimate friends with "Hi, you ole bastard!" and has even formed a club named YRENRO DRATSAB, which is "ornery bastard" spelled backwards, whose sole aim is to "promote the gentle art of brotherly unlove." Now Martha was in touch with her whimsical and devilish side, her integrated hatred, and so it formed a very constructive part of her character. But as she arrives a t college, she is thrown in with an overly zealous "prim and proper" group of friends where any expressions of whimsical rascaity are looled upon with disdain. In a very short time, Martha starts to loose touch with her hatred and therefore she begins to project it. Hence, instead of whimsically and gently hating the world, she feels the world is hating her. She predictably looses her sense of humor and has disquieting feelings that absolutely nobody likes her--"I hate the world" has become "the world hates me," but where the former makes for a world of whim, the latter makes for a world of grim. Many of us go through life (or a t least high school) feeling that "nobody likes us," and we think this is terribly unfair because we, of course, dislike nobody. But these are precisely the two distinguishing marks of projection on the Ego Level: we see it in everybody else but imagine ourselves to lack it. We feel the world hates us only because we are unaware of the small part of ourselves that gently hates the world. The same general phenomenon occurs when we project such negative emotions as aggression, anger, and rejection. Instead of Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. 198 SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS gently and humorously attacking the environment, we turn these emotions back on ourselves and then feel that the environment is maliciously attacking us. Aggression, for example, is a most useful personality trait when we are fully consciousof it, for it allows us to meet the environment and grapple with it effectively. If we are not just to "swallow" everything we are told, or all experiences that come to us, we must actively attack them, tear into them, thoroughly "chew" them-not maliciously, but with drive and interest. Copyright © 2012. Theosophical Publishing House. All rights reserved. If you can realize the necessity for an aggressive,destructive, and reconstructive attitude toward any experience that you are really to make your own, you can then appreciate the need . . . to evaluate aggressions highly and not to dub them glibly "anti-social."10 As a matter of fact, violent anti-social aggressive acts are a result not of integrated aggression but of suppressed and alienated aggression, for by "holding it in" the force of aggression greatly increases, just as the tighter you clamp on the lid of a pressure cooker the greater the force of steam becomes, until it finally results in violent explosion. Again, it appears a moral imperative to integrate and make conscious our aggressive tendencies. Yet most of us do just the opposite-we seek to deny our aggressive tendencies and push them out of consciousness. It should be obvious by now, however, that these tendencies nevertheless remain our own, and nevertheless continue to operate in us, but we now experience them as if they originated outside of us in the environment, and consequently it appears that the world is attacking us. In short, we experience fear. "The projector is connected . . . with his projected aggression by fear." As projected excitement is felt as anxiety, as projected desire is felt as pressure, projected aggression is felt as fear. "Well," some of us might reply, "I certainly feel afraid at times, but my problem isjust that I'm not the aggressivetype-I often feel fear, but I just never feel aggression." Precisely! We don't feel aggression because we have projected it and are consequently feeling it as fear! The very experience of fear is nothing but our masked feeling of aggression which we have turned back on ourselves. We don't have to invent aggression--it is already there as fear, and so all we have to do is call fear by its correct name: aggression. Thus the statement, "the world is emotionally attacking me," is much more accurate if read backwards. If projected aggression is felt as fear, then projected anger is felt as depression. Angry rejection of the world-which we all experience at moments-is useful in spurring us intoconstructive action, Wilber, Ken. The Spectrum of Consciousness, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sofia/detail.action?docID=1938709. Created from sofia on 2021-04-29 11:07:53. Integrating the Shadow 199 but if it is alienated and projected, we begin to feel that the world angrily rejects us. Under these circumstances,the world looks very dark and understandably we become very depressed. Outrage becomes inrage as we turn anger back on ourselves and then suffer terribly under its lash. M-A-D has become SA-D,and we become the depressed victims of our own anger. The person who is depressed need only ask himself, "What am I so mad at?' and th...