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Mind energetics: Evolution and arrival
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Seminars in Integrative Medicine, Vol 2, No 1 (March), 2004: pp 36-47
MIND ENERGETICS: EVOLUTION AND ARRIVAL MAURIE D. PRESSMAN
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ind energetics describes the flow of energies of mind in the course of human transactions, with emphasis on the empathic relationships and verbal psychotherapies. In the words of Sri Aurobindo, we seek through mind to enter the universe of subtle phenomena and to lessen the divide that separates the smaller self from the Supreme Self. To quote Aurobindo: “As it proceeds in the work of discovering and perfecting methods of knowledge, the individual self finds an entry into the universe of subtle phenomena. Here the difference that divides it from the Supreme Self is less acute; for the bonds of matter are lightened and the great agents of division and disparity, Time and Space, diminish in the insistency of their pressure.”1
FREUD’S GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUBTLE ENERGIES OF THE MIND From the Department of Psychiatry, Temple University Health Sciences Center; and Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Maurie D. Pressman, MD: Emeritus Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University Health Sciences Center; Emeritus Chairman of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; and President, International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM). Address reprint requests to Maurie D. Pressman, MD, 200 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19106. Phone: 215-922-0204; E-mail: [email protected]
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1543-1150/04/0201-0005$30.00/0 10.1016/j.sigm.2004.05.003
reud2 was the first to open the Western mind to the wider and deeper dimensions of the mind. Until then, “mind” was considered to be only that which was available on the surface. But Freud’s astute observations led him to discover the greatness of the Unconscious mind. More than that, he learned about and described the dynamics of the mind, including those dynamic mechanisms we employ to keep ourselves unaware. These were tremendous discoveries, but, sad to say, they are neglected in many of our current psychotherapies. Amongst the mind energetic dynamics are the “defenses;” they hold the key to understanding ourselves in a deeper and more intimate way. Freud emphasized the importance of “transference.” Transference is the active shift of images and energetic power from significant figures in our developmental period to people who are current in our lives. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon but sadly again, much neglected in modern therapies and detrimental to freeing the personality. The transference is powerful indeed, and an
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important instrument in psychotherapy. It is (in a generalized sense) ubiquitous in human relationships. What is the energy behind this transfer of power from the past to the present? Freud and Mind Energetics It is widely acknowledge that Freud has contributed mightily to the understanding of the mind. While many have disparaged the specialty of psychoanalysis, it is time to pay tribute, to review, and to build upon the Freudian psychoanalytic base, and to expand it with our new knowledge of the subtle energies of mind. Freudian psychology distinguishes the Conscious (mind) from the Unconscious with a barrier in between—the barrier being the defenses. Defenses are maintained by assigning them energy. In everyday terms, that means maintaining and nourishing those character attitudes that lead to and maintain: repression, projection, denial, intellectualization and distraction, amongst others. In the course of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy, we attempt to undermine defenses by exposing them, and appealing to the patient to relinquish them, while tolerating the anxiety that gave birth to them. This frees energy. It builds strength and lets the personality rise to a higher level, now closer to the spiritual. Freud believed that the best we could achieve in personal development was to love (another person) and to work effectively. Elizabeth KublerRoss, Jung, and more recently many others, moved beyond that view when they realized that the progress of mind could proceed even beyond death. As Kubler-Ross declared, death is the final stage of growth. This means that there are expanded planes of mind about which Freud knew nothing. In fact Freud eschewed such ideas, for he thought that explorations of that kind would endanger the newly born, infant, science of psychoanalysis. Knowing we have powers of mind beyond the physical, we can appreciate the out-of-body experiences that Robert Munroe discovered. We can know that reincarnation and past life experiences are a part of our journey. They point to extended powers and energies of the mind, and their existence influences our daily life. Freud’s important discovery that early experiences shape the foundations of personality—and live on to affect present life— can now to be enlarged to include
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the consciousness at birth, as well as that of past lives. We have begun with Freud, but the recent importation of knowledge from the East has broadened our view, and we see more of the energies of mind that shape us. In turn, recognizing these energies and higher levels of mind and person, we see that we shape (and are shaped by) our environment, our friends and our community. Recognizing these influences, we also recognize a responsibility to each other. We look to a future in which we advance our evolution and to a time when we become spiritually mature—moving toward a supersociety.
THE EVOLUTION AND ARRIVAL SPIRITUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY
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Freud and the Evolution Beyond Freud In 1895 in “Studies on Hysteria,” Freud revealed that the conscious mind was not the entire mind. Freud paid a dear price for his discovery. He was virtually excluded from the medical society. He was a devoted family man, but now had to scratch for a living. Yet, he persisted in his research, and prevailed. Eventually, a group of enthusiastic supporters gathered around: Ferenczi,3 Jung,4 Reich,5 Rank6 and Karl Abraham,7 eagerly searching their way into the new science of psychoanalysis. After World War II, psychoanalysis became exceedingly popular in the United States. It was, at the time, the only meaningful psychotherapy— the “only show in town.” For the first time, psychology took a deeper (and more humane) look at the patient, seeking the depths of mind. There is a truism: “the deeper we go the higher we go.” When we travel to the inner, peaceful center we enter a higher mind that envelops us. We come in contact with a suprior intelligence, a higher consciousness, a High Spirit with which we can communicate Carl Jung4 followed Freud as a disciple. He was originally Freud’s heir apparent, but later fell from favor–for Freud found him to be too “religious.” Yet it was that religiosity that led Jung into an open-minded, intense exploration of other areas. Jung ventured into Eastern studies and evolved a new psychology, which spoke of the common mind, the collective unconscious, a shared intelligence. We now know that this Common Mind is
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the source of ESP, intuitive reception and remarkable feats of mindfulness. Others followed. One was Wilhelm Reich. Reich was originally considered a young master in psychoanalytic circles. But his unquenchable curiosity made him leave the “center,” to study the human being in new ways. While examining the body, Reich saw the interplay between physiology and psychology. Boundless curiosity made him place electrodes on various parts of the body (including the genitals) in order to discover the flow of the life force. Never satisfied, he thought he could learn more if he studied that life force in a simple living organism, such as the amoeba. While studying that flow, he witnessed the life– death spiral itself, the very basis for life, death and rebirth! This is told in a wonderful story. Living in Maine, he wondered where he could obtain some amoebae. He asked a farmer where he could purchase some. The farmer howled with laughter, and said, “You don’t have to buy any, all you have to do is to get some hay and let it rot.” And that he did. But Reich was Reich, and instead of just waiting, observed the rotting hay under the microscope, day after day after day. He witnessed little blisters forming around the decaying stem. They glowed as vesicles (he would later call them “bions”). He continued to watch, as he did so, he saw the blisters cluster. He watched further. They formed a skin around themselves, and then swam away as amoebae! And thus he saw and described the cycle from death to birth to death and to birth again. Subsequently, he found that bions exist in the atmosphere as well. They can be seen by anyone at any time, as darting blue dots in the sky. Reich considered them to be units of life energy. Thus he had discovered the great energy that is described in Eastern and Egyptian cultures as “Chi”, “Ka”, “Prana.” Elizabeth Ku¨ bler-Ross8 is a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst who courageously moved the medical profession to empathize with and understand the dying patient. This new body of knowledge she brought forth placed a necessary burden of guilt on our medical colleagues, who, until then, had avoided the dying patient, giving in to their (our) own fear of confronting death. For the patient, this made dying a lonely experience, indeed. Ku¨ bler-Ross studied children dying of malignancies. She found that they seemed to know, innately, that there was a stage beyond life. It was a
world beyond this world, into which they would travel after death. As a result, she described death as the final stage of growth— growth into another realm, a higher realm. Coordination with Eastern Psychology All of this is correspondent with Eastern psychology. For example, Hindu philosophy holds a high respect for intuitive knowledge. Their Ancient scriptures (the Vedas9 and Upanishads10) revealed great knowledge of the higher realms of mind, knowledge gained through millennia of research through meditation and introspection. They understood that the mind flows into a Cosmic Intelligence and receives from It as well. This allows us to understand that a higher mind surrounds us, a mind that is part of a cosmic intelligence. It is one that can be contacted at any time through meditation, introspection and fearless inner study. Humanistic Psychology Abraham Maslow11 brought us into a new Humanistic Psychology. Maslow departed from studying what was wrong with the personality, sought to find what was right with it. He investigated peak moments of experience that often led to greatness. He discovered a vast reservoir of spiritual and inspirational potential that lives in all of us—spiritual peaks revealed in pinnacle moments of love, a love that spreads to all of humankind. This discovery led to an understanding and an acknowledgment of the Spirit within. It provided an entry point for understanding the high mind energies that are engaged in spiritual psychotherapy. Grof and Verney Stanislav Grof,12 a Czech psychoanalyst, along with Thomas Verney (who wrote “The Secret Life of the Unborn Child”) brought us face to face with consciousness in utero and consciousness at birth. The data, which Grof put forth to substantiate consciousness in the perinatal period, were just as solid as those that Freud had given when he discovered that early life experiences live on to direct our actions, feelings and major decisions in life. Raymond Moody and Life after Life Psychiatrist Raymond Moody13 wrote “Life After Life,” detailing many near death experiences.
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Those who survived described the common (and now fairly well known) experience of traveling through a tunnel toward the light, experiencing the light in a beatific way and meeting the dear departed. They (the departed) appeared happy and in their prime. Most often, the near-deathers wanted to remain, but were sent back in order to carry on a further mission on earth. All of this, is an evolution from what was once thought to be only conscious mind, to an everexpanding inner mind. Now we know that the mind goes far beyond the body, reaching outward to join with the Common Mind, the High Mind that lives both within us and around us at the same time. And from all of this come discoveries yet ongoing.
MIND ENERGETICS DIFFERS ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY
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FROM
ind energetics is distinguished from “Energy Psychology;”14 for we view Energy Psychology as a form of therapy that applies its activity to the physical body. In contrast, Mind energetics deals with the flow of energy that occurs in the course of those transactions that are primarily mind-to-mind, with special emphasis on the verbal and empathic communications. It takes a special interest in dreams and their meaning and in the manner in which these dream energies are active in life. The therapeutic approaches of Energy Psychology involve the balancing of body energies. Tiller15 has described a continuum of energies running along an electromagnetic spectrum; the fulcrum of which is the speed of light. Everything slower than light speed is electrical or material, everything faster comprises the subtle energies. These subtle energies constitute the thought energies and are the reversed counterpart of the energy of the material world. We believe that the thought energies are of a higher (more evolved) order than those that emanate from the body and are closer to spiritual levels. They are experienced, amongst other things, as empathy, ESP and other psi experiences. Western psychology as well as Western Science has had little or nothing to say about the subtle energies of the mind. There is a growing literature in Energy Medicine, and Wendy Hurwitz16 has written an excellent and comprehensive review of it. However, even her review does not deal with
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the verbal transactions, or what I would call the higher energy/spiritual transactions.
PEAK PERFORMANCE IN ATHLETES AND PATIENT/THERAPIST RELATIONSHIP
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THE
have worked with Olympic athletes since 1972 and have pioneered in the use of hypnosis and visualization to create a more nearly perfect performance.17 During this time it became evident that thought energies are extremely important. All of my psychotherapeutic work is directed toward releasing the potential within the human being, to overcoming the resistances of the human being to self-inspection and therefore to harmonious flow from within and becoming resonant with the external environment. This is accomplished by thought energy, mind-energy, the energy of the word. As examples, peak performance in athletes (or any of us) occurs when there is harmonious communication between the performing self and the higher self. My best therapeutic experiences come to pass at those times when there is soul-to-soul communication between therapist and patient. An envelope surrounds and there is transmission through an environment of peace. Intuitive connections become very strong. I am sure about the therapeutic connections through soul and spirit as well, for there is an ambience of healing-peace. It goes further than this. Self-empowerment is the highest aim for working with the patient, athlete or any human being. This happens by virtue of finding and helping the client to find and release the inner guru, the intuitive self. This occurs through self-inspection, and self-inspection and self-empowerment are through the mind energies. Surely we can turn our research interest in subtle energies to what is happening during those moments of peak experience that Maslow discovered. It presents an opportunity for great knowledge. We are at a time when we can inscribe the magnetic signatures of chemical agents onto audiotape. When these vibrations are broadcast, they create the same effect as the pharmaceutical agent itself. Thus magnetically inscribed energy substitutes for a pharmacologic agent. What a boon it would be to capture the mind energies of peak experience, of love and empathy, and to be able to broadcast them. Or, with the patient’s assent, to find and dissolve the energies of defense that keep him/her unaware. Doug Matzke18 has
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pointed to a “master” who is able to mobilize his “chi” energy, to have it recorded on magnetic tape, and then broadcast. So the idea may not be that far from realization. But to combine the wonderful discoveries of Freud concerning the importance of the (still neglected areas) of “defense” and transference, with our growing knowledge of subtle energies, would be truly wonderful. In fact, it might hasten our society toward a more humane state of the collective mind.
FROM ALL OF THIS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ARISE
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t goes without saying that the mind and body are one. But to deal with matters, we parse mind from body, in order to discuss, study and ultimately explain their individual—and then collective—aspects. With that in mind . . . We have made great advances measuring the subtle energies emanating from the body, received by the body and transmitted through the body as information, impulse, will and desire. But the ultimate in energy psychology is the study of Consciousness. However we describe or conceptualize Consciousness, it is involved with the essential “I,” the inner being. I believe that the essential “I” is the great creativity within us. It is the Creator both within, and beyond. But, again—what is it to measure love, to understand love, to see it in terms of its origin, its transmission, its effects, its communion, its wonder. What about sadism, evil, anger? From what do they derive? What is the source of their energy? How is it transmitted? What is this marvelous thing called “intuition,” which is perception beyond thought? Most certainly all of these are a part of a mind beyond mind, a knowledge-power beyond knowledge, a knowing beyond knowing. Most certainly it is a special kind of communication between communicator and communicatee—a back and forth. Where does it begin? Where is it felt? There is a locus of signal within the body. It is idiosyncratic to each of us, but to become familiar with that place, that sensation (sometimes called the “intuitive thrill”) provides a gateway, an opening to greater knowledge. When I hear a new idea, gain new knowledge, see some research that tells me the way the world works, I feel that thrill in the center of my chest. When I get a new idea, or an insight into a patient, I obey that intuitive thrill not with slavishness, but with
enough recognition to hold it, to wait for it to be validated, rounded out or negated. I offer it to the patient, and the patient may accept it, or not accept it– or mold it to his/her own understanding. When it is returned to me in this modified form of a greater truth of understanding, then my “aha,” my feeling of satisfaction, my relief in the chest is all the more pleasurable— greater. So, all of this is energy psychology in a new sense, a domain for provocative questions, an area for further research. Its rewards will be greater (I predict) than any that have been bestowed so far. Others have pursued the energies of the acupuncture meridia, the healing energies of the Reiki hands, the synchronous electroencephalograms or electromagnetograms of the pair of healer– healee as they are in mutual transmission–reception. But all of these will be looked upon as enfolded in a higher discovery when we know more about the healing energies of love, of empathy, of caring intention. This is our message and our mission: to make people increasingly aware of the psychology of human transactions. And this starts with an understanding of the self. This starts with an honoring of the witness within. It requires courageous self-thinking and a willingness to stand apart and to know the ways in which we keep ourselves blind to ourselves. We must maintain a persistent awareness the inner self, even though we may confront unpleasant realizations and things that need to be repaired. But such awareness will lead to the spiritual contact that comes accompanied by the lordly energies of caring.
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF MIND ENERGETICS Mind Energetics and Defenses One of Freud’s great contributions was his discovery of the defensive maneuvers we use to maintain the barrier between the conscious and unconscious mind. Unfortunately, this important dynamic is overlooked in many of the modern psychotherapies. Even though explosive abreactions are relieving and even life-changing in some instances, for the most part old habits are hard to change. Therefore, unless the defenses are discovered, dealt with and put aside in order to handle the underlying anxiety in a better way, the changes in character will not be lasting. That is one of the real differences between mind energet-
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ics and the therapeutic approaches that are described as “Energy psychology.” The release of underlying traumata through body manipulation and the application of body energies from the therapist are not the same as gifting the patient with the power of self-inspection and self-actualization. The difference is defined as self-empowerment versus reliance on power coming from outside.
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MENTAL DEFENSES
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Since losing my fear of the “countertransference,” and learning respect for the patient’s signals intuitively received, I became a progressively better therapist. But this has been the result of a strong and continuous struggle: to remain aware of my own feelings of misplaced anger, jealousy, ambition and to separate them from the situation at hand. Understanding the patient comes as a reward for having engaged in that struggle, with a continued willingness to stay aware of one’s inner life. This is life on the subtle planes, engaging the same state of mind that accompanies the inner quiet and surrendered assurance that develops with practiced meditation and experiences in quietude and self-inspection.
have a patient, well known for his work in the field of psychology. We have a very close relationship. In the course of our meeting, one day, I noticed his flat voice and flat affect. I know enough about his history to know that these characteristics are well earned. In an attempt to help, I gave him an assignment to express his love to a very close friend, in a very open way. When he returned, I learned that he tried, but was able to eke out only a little expression. I knew inwardly what a struggle he was in. I knew that focusing on his intellect is an escape from too much expression. It is his typical defense. He is brilliant beyond measure, and shifts his attention and investment of energy to the intellectual, in order to escape his true feeling, or more especially, to escape the feeling of shame, that makes him feel wrong about being expressive.
hat is the Witness? The Witness is the inner observer, the self-observing self, hovering over the scene to survey the inner life. The Witness is a mighty ally, a strength to be developed and honored. Putting the Witness in charge implies that we not only observe but restrain and control until the time is best for release into action or emotion. With such development there is a growth of psychological muscle, of the personality, and entry into life in the upper, aesthetic realms of mind.
RESPECTING THE WITNESS (THE OBSERVER) WITHIN
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MIND ENERGETICS
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was trained as a psychoanalyst and child analyst. This was in the day when the analyst was instructed to be “silent,” a “blank screen.” Since I was a restless person, this was pure torture. I handled it by letting myself go into a half-sleep, a hypnogoguic state. Not only did this provide relief, but I found that I was much more aware of my inner reactions as I listened to the patient. We were taught to “beware of countertransference.” But I learned that we could use the so-called countertransference as a signal to what was going on within the patient, once I knew my inner person well enough. That turned into a very valuable tool, and it most certainly still is, for we are all receptive to one another. If we tune into our intuitive apparatus to receive and respect such signals, we will become significantly aware. On the other hand, we have been well indoctrinated to disparage such things and to honor skepticism and doubt.
THE WITNESS
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MESSAGE
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he beginnings of mind evolution are in the distant past, millennia ago. In India, the Rishis, who gave us the spiritual writing of the Vedas and Upanishads, were highly introspective and studied the mind in meditation, receiving high knowledge through meditation. The same is true of rabbis, prophets, high priests amongst the Hebrews and Christians and the Mullahs of Islam, who received inspired messages through prayer. In the West introspective psychology was given a significant promotion by Freud. In the mid1960s, a hugely expanded interest in matters of the mind occurred as many teachers arrived from the Asian countries, giving us the benefit of Eastern introspective wisdom. This was enthusiastically taken up by early leaders, such as Alan Watts19 and Stan Grof (who became the disciple of Muktananda). Many followed: Yogananda,20 Krishnamurti,21 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and under
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their auspices new interests and insights arose. The material world and its sciences were challenged. Raymond Moody13 discovered “Life after Life” as did Elizabeth Ku¨ bler-Ross8 and Kenneth Ring.22 Biofeedback, the study of and feedback to the patient of biological signals allowed a further study of the mind, giving us greater control of the body, but giving entry also to Theta states, which in turn put us in touch with higher realms of mind. Actually the electroencephalogram (which had been discovered in 1929) came into clinical usage somewhere around the 1940s. Its crude instrumentation did not lead very far until it was coupled with the studies in biofeedback and the scientists who gathered around. Biofeedback was named (by Elmer Green,23 one of the fathers of biofeedback) the Yoga of the West. All of this introspective information was brought to the fore with great excitement and great reward, but there was still the matter of understanding the energies transmitted in our human relationships–and most especially in the verbal psychotherapies.
BILL TILLER’S SIGNIFICANT EXPERIMENT
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iller showed, in “Conscious Acts of Creation,” that the mind could actually influence and modify and record the environment.24 His signal experiment was one in which he asked meditators to change the pH of water. They did so significantly. And then (serendipitously as he described it) he happened to bring in another vial of water after the meditators had left, and tested it. Behold! The same change in pH occurred. In fact, the effect lasted a full three months. What is the implication? The implication is that we do, with our intention and mental power, employ waves of energy that emanate from us, actually modify the environment, and most certainly this includes the people-environment. Thus the well-intentioned, empathic therapist is far more successful in helping the patient that the one who is cold, too academic or too pressured.
JAMES OSCHMAN: MEASURING ENERGIES FROM THE HANDS OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS ames Oschman25,26 has shown that it is now possible to measure magnetic energies in and emanating from the body. This has enlarged our knowledge of how energetic transmissions occur
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and how they transmit through the healing hands of the Reiki practitioner. The promise is that we are on the edge of measuring yet higher energies. I raised the question of measuring these energies with Oschman. The following reflects our exchange: Speaking of the healing effect of Reiki, Oschman described a sweeping series of vibratory frequencies that coordinate specifically with those of the various organs of the body. This knowledge lets us know that Reiki supplies the particular vibratory energy that would be healing to the specific organ, according to its unique vibration signature. I told him of my interest in Mind Energetics and the psychotherapeutic transactions that occur during verbal psychotherapy; I wished that there could be a similar study of thought energies, love (caring) energies, good-intention energies, spiritual energies as they relate to therapeutic relationships. Reminding him that Bill Tiller had pointed us to the continuum of energies that exist along the electromagnetic spectrum and the ascendancy of those vibrations from emotion to mind to spirit. Accordingly, thought energies and good-intention energies and love energies might be of a higher order, comprising a higher spectrum of vibrations than those of the magnetic range projected from the healing hand. In truth though, I wondered: “Can word energies, loveenergies, patient–therapist coherence be studied? Can these things be measured? This area seems to be neglected in our “subtle energy” investigations. What is the evidence that these energies might be of a higher order? If they are. What is their nature? How can we study them? Oschman replied: “As you can imagine, I have been giving thought to these questions. I now make a distinction between two kinds of healing. Some therapies focus on one of them, other therapies focus on the other, and some involve both. One kind of healing involves low frequencies, in the ELF range. These are frequencies that are emitted from the hands of the healer who is connected to the earth’s rhythms (Schulman resonance), which is constantly changing, sweeping up and down through the biological range, stimulating the activities of various cells (such as skin, capillary, nerve, ligament, bone, etc). By stimulating these cells to be active, the tissue healing process is “jump started.” In essence, the body’s ordinary tissue repair processes are activated. It takes time for the healing to take place, as cells must migrate to the
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place that has been injured and they have to do some work of clearing out debris and building new structures. Once begun, the repair process can take days or weeks to be completed, depending on the extent of the tissue damage. As always, intention is a part of the healing process, and the therapist who has a clear image of what is happening can greatly facilitate the process. There are good ways of studying this energy transfer, by showing the coherence between two people’s heart and brain rhythms. Heart rate variability is a valuable measure for this kind of study. There are also heart tuners that enable two people to maximize their heart-to-heart coherence. There is another kind of healing that relies on much higher frequencies and is much faster. This kind of healing involves connecting with the formative process, the process by which the body is created again and again, possibly thousands or millions of times each second. In this kind of healing, living structure is actually replaced in an instant. It is replacement, not repair. The most dramatic evidence that this can happen comes from study of multiple personality disorders in which the organism shifts virtually instantaneously from one form to another. An individual can have several or even many different personalities with different characteristics. These high frequencies are difficult to study, but it is not impossible. They are the so-called spiritual frequencies; they are well described in the Buddhist literature, for example. This is the real source of our energy, our power, our ability to create the world around us, including other people who populate that world. You said, “An envelope surrounds us and there is transmission through an environment of peace.” This is a good description of a special state that occurs from time to time in a variety of therapies, a state in which anything can happen. I am very interested in exploring this state and the process that can lead to it. It is a key teaching in the Dzong-Chen tradition, for example. Remember Ouspensky: Man can do nothing. Man thinks of doing something and it happens. He has the illusion that he did it. In all of this, I believe, there is only the thought. The “doing” is all an illusion.” Science grows from the cumulative observations, which then grow to become a hypothesis; after the hypothesis is tested, shaped and further validated, it becomes a theory and then a law. We are in the process of gathering information clini-
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cally about the territories in which the higher vibrations, the so-called spiritual or high-mind vibrations, are active.
A MODEL FOR THE DESCENT AND EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS27
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have borrowed this model from the Eastern literature as exposited in Theosophy28 and by Alice Bailey,29 as well as from the mathematician– philosopher, Arthur Young.30 In the beginning is the All (God, the Almighty, the Void). When creation stirred, duality appeared, and vibrations descended in decreasing power and frequency—the initial vibrations being too strong to bear. They traveled downward through seven levels, the fourth level being called “Buddhi” (Intuition) in Sanskrit. I call it the “Soul,” the messenger and the delegate of the high spirit, which lives as the Creator around us as well as the Creator deep within us. The soul is the carrier of consciousness from one lifetime to another. In the course of its task, it elaborates from itself, energy bodies, the highest of which is the mental body (the thought body), the next of which is the emotional (the astral), and lastly the physical body surrounded by a life-giving energy called the etheric net. Following this there is a bounce back upward, from lower to higher, traversing the mineral, the plant and the animal kingdoms, all the way up to the human. And through the human to the high human and on up to even higher entities, for we are in the process of evolving into a higher evolutionary race of men and women and on up, I believe, to the angels. This great Almightiness is what we call Consciousness, for consciousness (as does the Almighty) inhabits everything. I believe that in the course of our reaching higher in evolving the personality (thus receiving and emanating higher energies, closer to the spiritual energies) we strive for coherence. Coherence is denoted by peace, by balance, by a kind of nicely disciplined detachment in which we can have our full feelings of emotion, most certainly love, and yet watching it from above without being carried away by more primitive waves of energy. When we go into meditation, or allow ourselves to become peaceful, we grow ever more coherent. Certainly, biophysics indicates that the greater the coherence, the greater the power. I believe that coherence is denoted in our human adven-
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ture by a free-flow of energy, by peacefulness, by serenity, by an all-pervading love reaching its height in cosmic consciousness. When we go into meditation, we descend inwardly. In the process we remove attention (the vivifying force) from the various vibrational bodies. Insofar as we remove attention from them, they do not exist for us. Therefore, going into deep meditation, the body disappears, the emotions calm down and then depart. Having quieted intrusive thoughts, what remains is an all-pervasive calm, the empty mind– but the witness remains. When we are coherent and in the bliss-peace mind, we inhabit the soul, the delegate of the spirit. We inhabit the fourth plane of the descent of consciousness, called “Buddhi” or Intuition. When two people are deeply in love, or in deep communication, they are coherent. It is then that inspired knowledge comes in from above or inspired communication, in which minds are resonant and hear each other without the use of words.
SOME QUESTIONS
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hat are the mental forces in mind energetics? What do they have to do, with consciousness? What is consciousness? Will we ever be able to pin it down? Understand it? Know it? I believe the answer is “No,” for Consciousness is the ultimate and far beyond our ability to know. But we can move closer and closer to this mysterious state of mind and consciousness. We can discover more and more about it. We can raise our understanding, progressing toward a higher level of understanding. Consciousness is Creation. Consciousness is the Creator—the Almighty, the One Who gives birth to, and exists within everything, even the atom. Does not the atom demonstrate a level of intelligence, insofar as it is organized and knows how to join with other atoms to form the appropriate molecule? (see Alice Bailey). The mental forces of mind energetics are of a special quality. They reach higher and higher and higher in the course of self-reflection. They travel above the level of self-reflection, peering into ever more elevated realms—sometimes places beyond thought, domains of the “empty mind,” which at the same time becomes a “receptacle-mind” for exalted inspiration.
THE ASSOCIATED QUALITIES OF MIND ENERGETIC FORCES? Attention These phenomena are alive with attention. Attention is the quality that vivifies. It gives life to what it embraces. Attention is directed by another force—Will, Intention. When consciousness engages in self-reflection, in knowing the self, it is viewing at the behest of the Witness. The Witness is the self-observing self, hovering over the scene. It has a potentially endless path for observation. There is not only the witness, but also the metawitness, which observes the process of witnessing. And above that a meta-meta-witness observing the process of the process of witnessing. And so on up on Jabob’s ladder to the highest levels of Mind. Coherence Coherence is a faculty of the mind and body. Oschman has made much of it as he has described the communication system inherent in the connective tissue. He has shown that, in the parallel arrangement of molecules, coherence arises. With coherence comes speed, flow, harmony and efficiency in bodily communication. The same is true in mental processes. The more we become coherent, the more we are in a relaxed flow, the smoother the mental processes, the more apt, the more broad, the more inspired. There is the coherence between humans. It is seen as “love,” “harmony,” “exalted union.” From this coherence comes empathy, healing and extrasensory perception. Creativity: Consciousness Creates Hal Puthoff31 has demonstrated that there is a Zero Point Field, a “soup” of endless potential energy, lying beneath and around all of creation; it is potential creation. When disturbed it gives rise to electromagnetic fields; when these fields collide, manifestation appears. Werner Heisenberg32 discovered and described the “Observer effect,” which led us to understand that observing anything brings about a fundamental change in the thing observed. In other words, the application of consciousness to something generates manifestation. This is certainly true of attention, for it vivifies while it brings something to the field of observation.
MIND ENERGETICS
Quoting from “The Field” (p. 121): “Both the unconscious mind a world before thought and conscious intention and the unconscious of matter the Zero Point Field exist in a probabilistic state of all possibility. The subconscious mind is pre-conceptual substrate from which concepts emerge, and the Zero Point Field is a probabilistic substrate of the physical world.”31 (I would add, that not only does manifestation emerge, but that attention-consciousness, seeks and touches the field of potential energy, and then manifestation appears. It is a “waterspout dynamic” wherein above and below generate forces that meet in the middle). It is a dynamic in which the energy of the field is met by the energy of consciousness; manifestation appears. As long ago as 1915, Freud wrote in his article, “The Unconscious,” that applying a word to something brings it out of the chaos of the Unconscious mind. This, too, is a matter of bringing something into manifestation, appearance. Those few who know the laws of Nature, beyond our common knowledge, can produce materials out of a seeming “nothingness.” Sai Baba in India is one. He can manifest “vibhuti” (dust) from thin air. Madame Blavatsky the Theosophist was another. She was trained by Tibetan Masters and was able to perform comparable miracles. And so this expanded type of consciousness, an expanded type of mind energetic, able to reach beyond the known parameters of Western scientific knowledge. Much work is being done in the field of energy medicine and biophysics. This information is beautifully described by Lynne McTaggart. Amongst others, she writes about Robert Jahn, emeritus Dean of Engineering at Princeton, and Brenda Dunne. In “Margins of Reality” Jahn and Dunne33 have contributed mightily through rock solid scientific validation of psychokinesis. Dean Radin34 has written beautifully about it in “The Conscious Universe,” who along with Roger Nelson35 (using the Random Event Generator) have shown that moments of concentrated attention, such as in the minutes awaiting the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial, greatly influence the local field. This parallels what Professor William Tiller (already quoted in “Conscious Acts of Creation”) had shown, wherein meditation changed the pH of water, but it changed the environment as well, which continued to hold the energy.
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HOW DO WE STUDY THE MENTAL FORCES INVOLVED?
U
ndoubtedly it is possible to study the mental forces during meditation, where it is found that the cerebral hemispheres become synchronous. This is a balanced coherence. We can study the coherence between human beings when a healer projects healing energy. This was shown long ago when Elmer Green studied the renowned healer, Olga Worrell, and then Jack Schwartz with an ability to stop blood flow after a self-inflicted wound, and Swami Rama who was able to (nearly) bring his heart to a standstill with mental concentration. We can study acts of seeming magic as those created by Sai Baba in manifesting vibhuti. All of these evidence the expanded mind embracing mental forces that are part of mind energetics. These are energies of a high order, and higher than those that have been studied under the standard of “Energy Psychology.” As part of our understanding of involution from the Highest Force to physical manifestation, and the ascent to higher and higher states of consciousness, we can anticipate that the vibratory frequency and vibratory force of mind energetics will be higher and more powerful than those that deal with the body alone.
A CLINICAL EXAMPLE The Empathic Connection I have a 35-year-old patient who suffered a severe injury at work. This ripped him away from his usual occupation, in which he had taken great pride. He became depressed, looking gloomily at his future. In the background: he had a mother who, although present, abandoned him while she was having flings with her lovers. His father was hard working, a good provider, but constantly critical of him. This left him with a hole in his confidence, and a feeling of, “What’s the matter with me that they can’t love me. I must be awful that I can’t be loved?” As he reviewed his pessimism (at my request) I could feel, and I could see a picture of him as a little boy—all alone, longing for his mother, wanting her, finding that he couldn’t have her, and feeling that he must be made of junk. In seeing this I felt sad; I felt that I was him, the little boy. At the same time I remained the therapist– observer. Insofar as I became him, identified with
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him, our energy bodies (our astral bodies) fused and we became one. I was then able to experience his experience in empathy. To further illustrate: He feels safe with his wife, who indeed is very loving and devoted to him. As he spoke of her, I could vision the little boy nuzzling close to his (wife) mother, the mother who had re-formed, the mother who he had found in his wife. Here again, I was identified with him; I had become him, In identification, I had regressed as he had; I too became the little boy and I could understand him better.
WHAT
IS THE
MESSAGE
IN
THIS?
FINAL WORD
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nd so these are the mind energetics, which are really quite fluid at the same time that they are more largely encompassing. Truly, they will be furthered by uniting them with research in biophysics, such as Oschman has delineated in his work. The phenomena of empathy, defense, harmony between partners will be all the more clearly defined, and better understood, in terms of mind energetics. These are included in what Freud would call the Unconscious mind, but I would now look upon as a more advanced mind.
I
t is that the Witness is a mighty ally, a strength to be developed and honored. With such development there is a growth of the personality, and a life in the upper, more aesthetic realms of mind.
REFERENCES 1. Aruobino S: Upanishads (Deluxe Edition). Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Reduced Facsimile, 1985, p 12 2. Freud S: The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Translated from the German under the general editorship of James Strachey, in collaboration with Anna Freud, assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 19531974 3. Ferenczi S: First Contributions to Psycho-analysis. Authorised translation by Ernest Jones. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 1952 4. Jung CG: Collected Works, Bollingen Series XX (ed 3). Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1976 5. Sharaf M: Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich (ed 1). New York, NY, Da Capo Press, 1994 6. Rank O: In Quest of the Hero. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1990 7. Abraham K: Clinical Papers and Essays on Psycho-analysis. Abraham HC, (ed), translated by Abraham HC et al. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 1955 8. Ku¨ bler-Ross E: Death: The Final Stage of Growth. New York, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1986 9. The Vedas are the most fundamental and sacred wriings of the Andient Hindus. They were transmitted, through meditation, to the “Anceitns”, the “Rishis.” See: Aurobindo S: Secret of the Veda. Twin Lakes, WI, Lotus Light Publications, 1995 10. The Upanishads are essentially commentaries evolving from the Vedas. See Ref. 1 11. Maslow AH: Motivation and Personality (ed 1). New York, NY, Harper, 1954 12. Grof S: Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research. New York, NY, Viking Press, 1975 13. Moody RA Jr: Reflections on Life after Life. Boston, MA, GK Hall, 1978
ACKNOWLEDGMENT My thanks to my colleague Celia Coates for her important suggestions regarding this article.
AND
NOTES
14. Gallo FP (ed): Energy Psychology in Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Sourcebook. New York, NY, WW Norton & Co, 2002 15. Tiller WA: Science and Human Transformation. Walnut Creek, CA, Pavior, 1997 16. Hurwitz W: Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (ed 2), Micozzi, MS (ed). New York, NY, Churchill Livingstone, 1996 17. Pressman MD: Psychological techniques for the advancement of sports potential, in Klavora P, Daniel J (eds): Coach, Athlete and the Sport Psychologist. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto, 1979 18. Matzke D: Chi Generators Exist. Presentations at ANPA24 in Cambridge, UK, August 15-20, 2002 19. Watts A: Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen. San Francisco, CA, City Lights Books, 1959 20. Yogananda: Self-Realization. Los Angeles, CA, SelfRealization Fellowship, 1971 21. Krishnamurti J: Meditations. Beckenham, UK, Krishnamurti Foundation, 1969 22. Ring K: Heading toward Omega: In Search of the Meaning of the Near-Death Experience (ed 1). New York, NY, Quill, 1985 23. Green E, Green A: Beyond Biofeedback. New York, NY, Delacorte Press, 1977 24. Tiller WA, Dibble WE Jr, Kohane MJ: Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergence of a New Physics. Walnut Creek, CA, Pavior, 2001 25. Oschman JL: Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. Edinburgh, UK, Churchill & Livingstone, 2000 26. Oschman JL: Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance. Edinburgh, UK, Butterworth Heinemann, 2003 27. Pressman, MD: Visions from the Soul: From Personality to Spirit. Scottsdale, AZ, Inkwell Productions, 2001
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28. Cranston SL: HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement. New York, NY, Putnam, 1994 29. Bailey AA: A Treatise on White Magic. New York, NY, Lucis, 1979 30. Young AM: The Reflexive Universe: Evolution of Consciousness. New York, NY, Delacorte Press, 1976 31. McTaggart L: The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe. New York, NY, HarperCollins, 2002 32. Heisenberg W: In The Uncertainty Principle and Foun-
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dations of Quantum Mechanics: A Fifty Years’ Survey, Price WC, Chissick, SS (eds). New York, NY, Wiley, 1977 33. Jahn RG, Dunne BJ: Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. San Diego, CA, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987 34. Radin DI: The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. New York, NY, HarperEdge, 1997 35. Nelson RD, Radin DI: Statistically robust anomalous effect: replication in random event generator experiments, in Henckle L, Berger RE (eds): RIP 1988. Metuchen, NJ, Scarecrow Press, 1989
Seminars in Integrative Medicine, Vol 2, No 1 (March), 2004: pp 36-47
MIND ENERGETICS: EVOLUTION AND ARRIVAL MAURIE D. PRESSMAN
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ind energetics describes the flow of energies of mind in the course of human transactions, with emphasis on the empathic relationships and verbal psychotherapies. In the words of Sri Aurobindo, we seek through mind to enter the universe of subtle phenomena and to lessen the divide that separates the smaller self from the Supreme Self. To quote Aurobindo: “As it proceeds in the work of discovering and perfecting methods of knowledge, the individual self finds an entry into the universe of subtle phenomena. Here the difference that divides it from the Supreme Self is less acute; for the bonds of matter are lightened and the great agents of division and disparity, Time and Space, diminish in the insistency of their pressure.”1
FREUD’S GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUBTLE ENERGIES OF THE MIND From the Department of Psychiatry, Temple University Health Sciences Center; and Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Maurie D. Pressman, MD: Emeritus Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University Health Sciences Center; Emeritus Chairman of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; and President, International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM). Address reprint requests to Maurie D. Pressman, MD, 200 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19106. Phone: 215-922-0204; E-mail: [email protected]
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1543-1150/04/0201-0005$30.00/0 10.1016/j.sigm.2004.05.003
reud2 was the first to open the Western mind to the wider and deeper dimensions of the mind. Until then, “mind” was considered to be only that which was available on the surface. But Freud’s astute observations led him to discover the greatness of the Unconscious mind. More than that, he learned about and described the dynamics of the mind, including those dynamic mechanisms we employ to keep ourselves unaware. These were tremendous discoveries, but, sad to say, they are neglected in many of our current psychotherapies. Amongst the mind energetic dynamics are the “defenses;” they hold the key to understanding ourselves in a deeper and more intimate way. Freud emphasized the importance of “transference.” Transference is the active shift of images and energetic power from significant figures in our developmental period to people who are current in our lives. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon but sadly again, much neglected in modern therapies and detrimental to freeing the personality. The transference is powerful indeed, and an
F
MIND ENERGETICS
important instrument in psychotherapy. It is (in a generalized sense) ubiquitous in human relationships. What is the energy behind this transfer of power from the past to the present? Freud and Mind Energetics It is widely acknowledge that Freud has contributed mightily to the understanding of the mind. While many have disparaged the specialty of psychoanalysis, it is time to pay tribute, to review, and to build upon the Freudian psychoanalytic base, and to expand it with our new knowledge of the subtle energies of mind. Freudian psychology distinguishes the Conscious (mind) from the Unconscious with a barrier in between—the barrier being the defenses. Defenses are maintained by assigning them energy. In everyday terms, that means maintaining and nourishing those character attitudes that lead to and maintain: repression, projection, denial, intellectualization and distraction, amongst others. In the course of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy, we attempt to undermine defenses by exposing them, and appealing to the patient to relinquish them, while tolerating the anxiety that gave birth to them. This frees energy. It builds strength and lets the personality rise to a higher level, now closer to the spiritual. Freud believed that the best we could achieve in personal development was to love (another person) and to work effectively. Elizabeth KublerRoss, Jung, and more recently many others, moved beyond that view when they realized that the progress of mind could proceed even beyond death. As Kubler-Ross declared, death is the final stage of growth. This means that there are expanded planes of mind about which Freud knew nothing. In fact Freud eschewed such ideas, for he thought that explorations of that kind would endanger the newly born, infant, science of psychoanalysis. Knowing we have powers of mind beyond the physical, we can appreciate the out-of-body experiences that Robert Munroe discovered. We can know that reincarnation and past life experiences are a part of our journey. They point to extended powers and energies of the mind, and their existence influences our daily life. Freud’s important discovery that early experiences shape the foundations of personality—and live on to affect present life— can now to be enlarged to include
37
the consciousness at birth, as well as that of past lives. We have begun with Freud, but the recent importation of knowledge from the East has broadened our view, and we see more of the energies of mind that shape us. In turn, recognizing these energies and higher levels of mind and person, we see that we shape (and are shaped by) our environment, our friends and our community. Recognizing these influences, we also recognize a responsibility to each other. We look to a future in which we advance our evolution and to a time when we become spiritually mature—moving toward a supersociety.
THE EVOLUTION AND ARRIVAL SPIRITUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY
OF
Freud and the Evolution Beyond Freud In 1895 in “Studies on Hysteria,” Freud revealed that the conscious mind was not the entire mind. Freud paid a dear price for his discovery. He was virtually excluded from the medical society. He was a devoted family man, but now had to scratch for a living. Yet, he persisted in his research, and prevailed. Eventually, a group of enthusiastic supporters gathered around: Ferenczi,3 Jung,4 Reich,5 Rank6 and Karl Abraham,7 eagerly searching their way into the new science of psychoanalysis. After World War II, psychoanalysis became exceedingly popular in the United States. It was, at the time, the only meaningful psychotherapy— the “only show in town.” For the first time, psychology took a deeper (and more humane) look at the patient, seeking the depths of mind. There is a truism: “the deeper we go the higher we go.” When we travel to the inner, peaceful center we enter a higher mind that envelops us. We come in contact with a suprior intelligence, a higher consciousness, a High Spirit with which we can communicate Carl Jung4 followed Freud as a disciple. He was originally Freud’s heir apparent, but later fell from favor–for Freud found him to be too “religious.” Yet it was that religiosity that led Jung into an open-minded, intense exploration of other areas. Jung ventured into Eastern studies and evolved a new psychology, which spoke of the common mind, the collective unconscious, a shared intelligence. We now know that this Common Mind is
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the source of ESP, intuitive reception and remarkable feats of mindfulness. Others followed. One was Wilhelm Reich. Reich was originally considered a young master in psychoanalytic circles. But his unquenchable curiosity made him leave the “center,” to study the human being in new ways. While examining the body, Reich saw the interplay between physiology and psychology. Boundless curiosity made him place electrodes on various parts of the body (including the genitals) in order to discover the flow of the life force. Never satisfied, he thought he could learn more if he studied that life force in a simple living organism, such as the amoeba. While studying that flow, he witnessed the life– death spiral itself, the very basis for life, death and rebirth! This is told in a wonderful story. Living in Maine, he wondered where he could obtain some amoebae. He asked a farmer where he could purchase some. The farmer howled with laughter, and said, “You don’t have to buy any, all you have to do is to get some hay and let it rot.” And that he did. But Reich was Reich, and instead of just waiting, observed the rotting hay under the microscope, day after day after day. He witnessed little blisters forming around the decaying stem. They glowed as vesicles (he would later call them “bions”). He continued to watch, as he did so, he saw the blisters cluster. He watched further. They formed a skin around themselves, and then swam away as amoebae! And thus he saw and described the cycle from death to birth to death and to birth again. Subsequently, he found that bions exist in the atmosphere as well. They can be seen by anyone at any time, as darting blue dots in the sky. Reich considered them to be units of life energy. Thus he had discovered the great energy that is described in Eastern and Egyptian cultures as “Chi”, “Ka”, “Prana.” Elizabeth Ku¨ bler-Ross8 is a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst who courageously moved the medical profession to empathize with and understand the dying patient. This new body of knowledge she brought forth placed a necessary burden of guilt on our medical colleagues, who, until then, had avoided the dying patient, giving in to their (our) own fear of confronting death. For the patient, this made dying a lonely experience, indeed. Ku¨ bler-Ross studied children dying of malignancies. She found that they seemed to know, innately, that there was a stage beyond life. It was a
world beyond this world, into which they would travel after death. As a result, she described death as the final stage of growth— growth into another realm, a higher realm. Coordination with Eastern Psychology All of this is correspondent with Eastern psychology. For example, Hindu philosophy holds a high respect for intuitive knowledge. Their Ancient scriptures (the Vedas9 and Upanishads10) revealed great knowledge of the higher realms of mind, knowledge gained through millennia of research through meditation and introspection. They understood that the mind flows into a Cosmic Intelligence and receives from It as well. This allows us to understand that a higher mind surrounds us, a mind that is part of a cosmic intelligence. It is one that can be contacted at any time through meditation, introspection and fearless inner study. Humanistic Psychology Abraham Maslow11 brought us into a new Humanistic Psychology. Maslow departed from studying what was wrong with the personality, sought to find what was right with it. He investigated peak moments of experience that often led to greatness. He discovered a vast reservoir of spiritual and inspirational potential that lives in all of us—spiritual peaks revealed in pinnacle moments of love, a love that spreads to all of humankind. This discovery led to an understanding and an acknowledgment of the Spirit within. It provided an entry point for understanding the high mind energies that are engaged in spiritual psychotherapy. Grof and Verney Stanislav Grof,12 a Czech psychoanalyst, along with Thomas Verney (who wrote “The Secret Life of the Unborn Child”) brought us face to face with consciousness in utero and consciousness at birth. The data, which Grof put forth to substantiate consciousness in the perinatal period, were just as solid as those that Freud had given when he discovered that early life experiences live on to direct our actions, feelings and major decisions in life. Raymond Moody and Life after Life Psychiatrist Raymond Moody13 wrote “Life After Life,” detailing many near death experiences.
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Those who survived described the common (and now fairly well known) experience of traveling through a tunnel toward the light, experiencing the light in a beatific way and meeting the dear departed. They (the departed) appeared happy and in their prime. Most often, the near-deathers wanted to remain, but were sent back in order to carry on a further mission on earth. All of this, is an evolution from what was once thought to be only conscious mind, to an everexpanding inner mind. Now we know that the mind goes far beyond the body, reaching outward to join with the Common Mind, the High Mind that lives both within us and around us at the same time. And from all of this come discoveries yet ongoing.
MIND ENERGETICS DIFFERS ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY
M
FROM
ind energetics is distinguished from “Energy Psychology;”14 for we view Energy Psychology as a form of therapy that applies its activity to the physical body. In contrast, Mind energetics deals with the flow of energy that occurs in the course of those transactions that are primarily mind-to-mind, with special emphasis on the verbal and empathic communications. It takes a special interest in dreams and their meaning and in the manner in which these dream energies are active in life. The therapeutic approaches of Energy Psychology involve the balancing of body energies. Tiller15 has described a continuum of energies running along an electromagnetic spectrum; the fulcrum of which is the speed of light. Everything slower than light speed is electrical or material, everything faster comprises the subtle energies. These subtle energies constitute the thought energies and are the reversed counterpart of the energy of the material world. We believe that the thought energies are of a higher (more evolved) order than those that emanate from the body and are closer to spiritual levels. They are experienced, amongst other things, as empathy, ESP and other psi experiences. Western psychology as well as Western Science has had little or nothing to say about the subtle energies of the mind. There is a growing literature in Energy Medicine, and Wendy Hurwitz16 has written an excellent and comprehensive review of it. However, even her review does not deal with
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the verbal transactions, or what I would call the higher energy/spiritual transactions.
PEAK PERFORMANCE IN ATHLETES AND PATIENT/THERAPIST RELATIONSHIP
I
THE
have worked with Olympic athletes since 1972 and have pioneered in the use of hypnosis and visualization to create a more nearly perfect performance.17 During this time it became evident that thought energies are extremely important. All of my psychotherapeutic work is directed toward releasing the potential within the human being, to overcoming the resistances of the human being to self-inspection and therefore to harmonious flow from within and becoming resonant with the external environment. This is accomplished by thought energy, mind-energy, the energy of the word. As examples, peak performance in athletes (or any of us) occurs when there is harmonious communication between the performing self and the higher self. My best therapeutic experiences come to pass at those times when there is soul-to-soul communication between therapist and patient. An envelope surrounds and there is transmission through an environment of peace. Intuitive connections become very strong. I am sure about the therapeutic connections through soul and spirit as well, for there is an ambience of healing-peace. It goes further than this. Self-empowerment is the highest aim for working with the patient, athlete or any human being. This happens by virtue of finding and helping the client to find and release the inner guru, the intuitive self. This occurs through self-inspection, and self-inspection and self-empowerment are through the mind energies. Surely we can turn our research interest in subtle energies to what is happening during those moments of peak experience that Maslow discovered. It presents an opportunity for great knowledge. We are at a time when we can inscribe the magnetic signatures of chemical agents onto audiotape. When these vibrations are broadcast, they create the same effect as the pharmaceutical agent itself. Thus magnetically inscribed energy substitutes for a pharmacologic agent. What a boon it would be to capture the mind energies of peak experience, of love and empathy, and to be able to broadcast them. Or, with the patient’s assent, to find and dissolve the energies of defense that keep him/her unaware. Doug Matzke18 has
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pointed to a “master” who is able to mobilize his “chi” energy, to have it recorded on magnetic tape, and then broadcast. So the idea may not be that far from realization. But to combine the wonderful discoveries of Freud concerning the importance of the (still neglected areas) of “defense” and transference, with our growing knowledge of subtle energies, would be truly wonderful. In fact, it might hasten our society toward a more humane state of the collective mind.
FROM ALL OF THIS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ARISE
I
t goes without saying that the mind and body are one. But to deal with matters, we parse mind from body, in order to discuss, study and ultimately explain their individual—and then collective—aspects. With that in mind . . . We have made great advances measuring the subtle energies emanating from the body, received by the body and transmitted through the body as information, impulse, will and desire. But the ultimate in energy psychology is the study of Consciousness. However we describe or conceptualize Consciousness, it is involved with the essential “I,” the inner being. I believe that the essential “I” is the great creativity within us. It is the Creator both within, and beyond. But, again—what is it to measure love, to understand love, to see it in terms of its origin, its transmission, its effects, its communion, its wonder. What about sadism, evil, anger? From what do they derive? What is the source of their energy? How is it transmitted? What is this marvelous thing called “intuition,” which is perception beyond thought? Most certainly all of these are a part of a mind beyond mind, a knowledge-power beyond knowledge, a knowing beyond knowing. Most certainly it is a special kind of communication between communicator and communicatee—a back and forth. Where does it begin? Where is it felt? There is a locus of signal within the body. It is idiosyncratic to each of us, but to become familiar with that place, that sensation (sometimes called the “intuitive thrill”) provides a gateway, an opening to greater knowledge. When I hear a new idea, gain new knowledge, see some research that tells me the way the world works, I feel that thrill in the center of my chest. When I get a new idea, or an insight into a patient, I obey that intuitive thrill not with slavishness, but with
enough recognition to hold it, to wait for it to be validated, rounded out or negated. I offer it to the patient, and the patient may accept it, or not accept it– or mold it to his/her own understanding. When it is returned to me in this modified form of a greater truth of understanding, then my “aha,” my feeling of satisfaction, my relief in the chest is all the more pleasurable— greater. So, all of this is energy psychology in a new sense, a domain for provocative questions, an area for further research. Its rewards will be greater (I predict) than any that have been bestowed so far. Others have pursued the energies of the acupuncture meridia, the healing energies of the Reiki hands, the synchronous electroencephalograms or electromagnetograms of the pair of healer– healee as they are in mutual transmission–reception. But all of these will be looked upon as enfolded in a higher discovery when we know more about the healing energies of love, of empathy, of caring intention. This is our message and our mission: to make people increasingly aware of the psychology of human transactions. And this starts with an understanding of the self. This starts with an honoring of the witness within. It requires courageous self-thinking and a willingness to stand apart and to know the ways in which we keep ourselves blind to ourselves. We must maintain a persistent awareness the inner self, even though we may confront unpleasant realizations and things that need to be repaired. But such awareness will lead to the spiritual contact that comes accompanied by the lordly energies of caring.
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF MIND ENERGETICS Mind Energetics and Defenses One of Freud’s great contributions was his discovery of the defensive maneuvers we use to maintain the barrier between the conscious and unconscious mind. Unfortunately, this important dynamic is overlooked in many of the modern psychotherapies. Even though explosive abreactions are relieving and even life-changing in some instances, for the most part old habits are hard to change. Therefore, unless the defenses are discovered, dealt with and put aside in order to handle the underlying anxiety in a better way, the changes in character will not be lasting. That is one of the real differences between mind energet-
MIND ENERGETICS
ics and the therapeutic approaches that are described as “Energy psychology.” The release of underlying traumata through body manipulation and the application of body energies from the therapist are not the same as gifting the patient with the power of self-inspection and self-actualization. The difference is defined as self-empowerment versus reliance on power coming from outside.
MIND ENERGETICS
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MENTAL DEFENSES
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Since losing my fear of the “countertransference,” and learning respect for the patient’s signals intuitively received, I became a progressively better therapist. But this has been the result of a strong and continuous struggle: to remain aware of my own feelings of misplaced anger, jealousy, ambition and to separate them from the situation at hand. Understanding the patient comes as a reward for having engaged in that struggle, with a continued willingness to stay aware of one’s inner life. This is life on the subtle planes, engaging the same state of mind that accompanies the inner quiet and surrendered assurance that develops with practiced meditation and experiences in quietude and self-inspection.
have a patient, well known for his work in the field of psychology. We have a very close relationship. In the course of our meeting, one day, I noticed his flat voice and flat affect. I know enough about his history to know that these characteristics are well earned. In an attempt to help, I gave him an assignment to express his love to a very close friend, in a very open way. When he returned, I learned that he tried, but was able to eke out only a little expression. I knew inwardly what a struggle he was in. I knew that focusing on his intellect is an escape from too much expression. It is his typical defense. He is brilliant beyond measure, and shifts his attention and investment of energy to the intellectual, in order to escape his true feeling, or more especially, to escape the feeling of shame, that makes him feel wrong about being expressive.
hat is the Witness? The Witness is the inner observer, the self-observing self, hovering over the scene to survey the inner life. The Witness is a mighty ally, a strength to be developed and honored. Putting the Witness in charge implies that we not only observe but restrain and control until the time is best for release into action or emotion. With such development there is a growth of psychological muscle, of the personality, and entry into life in the upper, aesthetic realms of mind.
RESPECTING THE WITNESS (THE OBSERVER) WITHIN
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MIND ENERGETICS
I
was trained as a psychoanalyst and child analyst. This was in the day when the analyst was instructed to be “silent,” a “blank screen.” Since I was a restless person, this was pure torture. I handled it by letting myself go into a half-sleep, a hypnogoguic state. Not only did this provide relief, but I found that I was much more aware of my inner reactions as I listened to the patient. We were taught to “beware of countertransference.” But I learned that we could use the so-called countertransference as a signal to what was going on within the patient, once I knew my inner person well enough. That turned into a very valuable tool, and it most certainly still is, for we are all receptive to one another. If we tune into our intuitive apparatus to receive and respect such signals, we will become significantly aware. On the other hand, we have been well indoctrinated to disparage such things and to honor skepticism and doubt.
THE WITNESS
IS THE
MESSAGE
W
T
he beginnings of mind evolution are in the distant past, millennia ago. In India, the Rishis, who gave us the spiritual writing of the Vedas and Upanishads, were highly introspective and studied the mind in meditation, receiving high knowledge through meditation. The same is true of rabbis, prophets, high priests amongst the Hebrews and Christians and the Mullahs of Islam, who received inspired messages through prayer. In the West introspective psychology was given a significant promotion by Freud. In the mid1960s, a hugely expanded interest in matters of the mind occurred as many teachers arrived from the Asian countries, giving us the benefit of Eastern introspective wisdom. This was enthusiastically taken up by early leaders, such as Alan Watts19 and Stan Grof (who became the disciple of Muktananda). Many followed: Yogananda,20 Krishnamurti,21 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and under
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their auspices new interests and insights arose. The material world and its sciences were challenged. Raymond Moody13 discovered “Life after Life” as did Elizabeth Ku¨ bler-Ross8 and Kenneth Ring.22 Biofeedback, the study of and feedback to the patient of biological signals allowed a further study of the mind, giving us greater control of the body, but giving entry also to Theta states, which in turn put us in touch with higher realms of mind. Actually the electroencephalogram (which had been discovered in 1929) came into clinical usage somewhere around the 1940s. Its crude instrumentation did not lead very far until it was coupled with the studies in biofeedback and the scientists who gathered around. Biofeedback was named (by Elmer Green,23 one of the fathers of biofeedback) the Yoga of the West. All of this introspective information was brought to the fore with great excitement and great reward, but there was still the matter of understanding the energies transmitted in our human relationships–and most especially in the verbal psychotherapies.
BILL TILLER’S SIGNIFICANT EXPERIMENT
T
iller showed, in “Conscious Acts of Creation,” that the mind could actually influence and modify and record the environment.24 His signal experiment was one in which he asked meditators to change the pH of water. They did so significantly. And then (serendipitously as he described it) he happened to bring in another vial of water after the meditators had left, and tested it. Behold! The same change in pH occurred. In fact, the effect lasted a full three months. What is the implication? The implication is that we do, with our intention and mental power, employ waves of energy that emanate from us, actually modify the environment, and most certainly this includes the people-environment. Thus the well-intentioned, empathic therapist is far more successful in helping the patient that the one who is cold, too academic or too pressured.
JAMES OSCHMAN: MEASURING ENERGIES FROM THE HANDS OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS ames Oschman25,26 has shown that it is now possible to measure magnetic energies in and emanating from the body. This has enlarged our knowledge of how energetic transmissions occur
J
and how they transmit through the healing hands of the Reiki practitioner. The promise is that we are on the edge of measuring yet higher energies. I raised the question of measuring these energies with Oschman. The following reflects our exchange: Speaking of the healing effect of Reiki, Oschman described a sweeping series of vibratory frequencies that coordinate specifically with those of the various organs of the body. This knowledge lets us know that Reiki supplies the particular vibratory energy that would be healing to the specific organ, according to its unique vibration signature. I told him of my interest in Mind Energetics and the psychotherapeutic transactions that occur during verbal psychotherapy; I wished that there could be a similar study of thought energies, love (caring) energies, good-intention energies, spiritual energies as they relate to therapeutic relationships. Reminding him that Bill Tiller had pointed us to the continuum of energies that exist along the electromagnetic spectrum and the ascendancy of those vibrations from emotion to mind to spirit. Accordingly, thought energies and good-intention energies and love energies might be of a higher order, comprising a higher spectrum of vibrations than those of the magnetic range projected from the healing hand. In truth though, I wondered: “Can word energies, loveenergies, patient–therapist coherence be studied? Can these things be measured? This area seems to be neglected in our “subtle energy” investigations. What is the evidence that these energies might be of a higher order? If they are. What is their nature? How can we study them? Oschman replied: “As you can imagine, I have been giving thought to these questions. I now make a distinction between two kinds of healing. Some therapies focus on one of them, other therapies focus on the other, and some involve both. One kind of healing involves low frequencies, in the ELF range. These are frequencies that are emitted from the hands of the healer who is connected to the earth’s rhythms (Schulman resonance), which is constantly changing, sweeping up and down through the biological range, stimulating the activities of various cells (such as skin, capillary, nerve, ligament, bone, etc). By stimulating these cells to be active, the tissue healing process is “jump started.” In essence, the body’s ordinary tissue repair processes are activated. It takes time for the healing to take place, as cells must migrate to the
MIND ENERGETICS
place that has been injured and they have to do some work of clearing out debris and building new structures. Once begun, the repair process can take days or weeks to be completed, depending on the extent of the tissue damage. As always, intention is a part of the healing process, and the therapist who has a clear image of what is happening can greatly facilitate the process. There are good ways of studying this energy transfer, by showing the coherence between two people’s heart and brain rhythms. Heart rate variability is a valuable measure for this kind of study. There are also heart tuners that enable two people to maximize their heart-to-heart coherence. There is another kind of healing that relies on much higher frequencies and is much faster. This kind of healing involves connecting with the formative process, the process by which the body is created again and again, possibly thousands or millions of times each second. In this kind of healing, living structure is actually replaced in an instant. It is replacement, not repair. The most dramatic evidence that this can happen comes from study of multiple personality disorders in which the organism shifts virtually instantaneously from one form to another. An individual can have several or even many different personalities with different characteristics. These high frequencies are difficult to study, but it is not impossible. They are the so-called spiritual frequencies; they are well described in the Buddhist literature, for example. This is the real source of our energy, our power, our ability to create the world around us, including other people who populate that world. You said, “An envelope surrounds us and there is transmission through an environment of peace.” This is a good description of a special state that occurs from time to time in a variety of therapies, a state in which anything can happen. I am very interested in exploring this state and the process that can lead to it. It is a key teaching in the Dzong-Chen tradition, for example. Remember Ouspensky: Man can do nothing. Man thinks of doing something and it happens. He has the illusion that he did it. In all of this, I believe, there is only the thought. The “doing” is all an illusion.” Science grows from the cumulative observations, which then grow to become a hypothesis; after the hypothesis is tested, shaped and further validated, it becomes a theory and then a law. We are in the process of gathering information clini-
43
cally about the territories in which the higher vibrations, the so-called spiritual or high-mind vibrations, are active.
A MODEL FOR THE DESCENT AND EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS27
I
have borrowed this model from the Eastern literature as exposited in Theosophy28 and by Alice Bailey,29 as well as from the mathematician– philosopher, Arthur Young.30 In the beginning is the All (God, the Almighty, the Void). When creation stirred, duality appeared, and vibrations descended in decreasing power and frequency—the initial vibrations being too strong to bear. They traveled downward through seven levels, the fourth level being called “Buddhi” (Intuition) in Sanskrit. I call it the “Soul,” the messenger and the delegate of the high spirit, which lives as the Creator around us as well as the Creator deep within us. The soul is the carrier of consciousness from one lifetime to another. In the course of its task, it elaborates from itself, energy bodies, the highest of which is the mental body (the thought body), the next of which is the emotional (the astral), and lastly the physical body surrounded by a life-giving energy called the etheric net. Following this there is a bounce back upward, from lower to higher, traversing the mineral, the plant and the animal kingdoms, all the way up to the human. And through the human to the high human and on up to even higher entities, for we are in the process of evolving into a higher evolutionary race of men and women and on up, I believe, to the angels. This great Almightiness is what we call Consciousness, for consciousness (as does the Almighty) inhabits everything. I believe that in the course of our reaching higher in evolving the personality (thus receiving and emanating higher energies, closer to the spiritual energies) we strive for coherence. Coherence is denoted by peace, by balance, by a kind of nicely disciplined detachment in which we can have our full feelings of emotion, most certainly love, and yet watching it from above without being carried away by more primitive waves of energy. When we go into meditation, or allow ourselves to become peaceful, we grow ever more coherent. Certainly, biophysics indicates that the greater the coherence, the greater the power. I believe that coherence is denoted in our human adven-
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ture by a free-flow of energy, by peacefulness, by serenity, by an all-pervading love reaching its height in cosmic consciousness. When we go into meditation, we descend inwardly. In the process we remove attention (the vivifying force) from the various vibrational bodies. Insofar as we remove attention from them, they do not exist for us. Therefore, going into deep meditation, the body disappears, the emotions calm down and then depart. Having quieted intrusive thoughts, what remains is an all-pervasive calm, the empty mind– but the witness remains. When we are coherent and in the bliss-peace mind, we inhabit the soul, the delegate of the spirit. We inhabit the fourth plane of the descent of consciousness, called “Buddhi” or Intuition. When two people are deeply in love, or in deep communication, they are coherent. It is then that inspired knowledge comes in from above or inspired communication, in which minds are resonant and hear each other without the use of words.
SOME QUESTIONS
W
hat are the mental forces in mind energetics? What do they have to do, with consciousness? What is consciousness? Will we ever be able to pin it down? Understand it? Know it? I believe the answer is “No,” for Consciousness is the ultimate and far beyond our ability to know. But we can move closer and closer to this mysterious state of mind and consciousness. We can discover more and more about it. We can raise our understanding, progressing toward a higher level of understanding. Consciousness is Creation. Consciousness is the Creator—the Almighty, the One Who gives birth to, and exists within everything, even the atom. Does not the atom demonstrate a level of intelligence, insofar as it is organized and knows how to join with other atoms to form the appropriate molecule? (see Alice Bailey). The mental forces of mind energetics are of a special quality. They reach higher and higher and higher in the course of self-reflection. They travel above the level of self-reflection, peering into ever more elevated realms—sometimes places beyond thought, domains of the “empty mind,” which at the same time becomes a “receptacle-mind” for exalted inspiration.
THE ASSOCIATED QUALITIES OF MIND ENERGETIC FORCES? Attention These phenomena are alive with attention. Attention is the quality that vivifies. It gives life to what it embraces. Attention is directed by another force—Will, Intention. When consciousness engages in self-reflection, in knowing the self, it is viewing at the behest of the Witness. The Witness is the self-observing self, hovering over the scene. It has a potentially endless path for observation. There is not only the witness, but also the metawitness, which observes the process of witnessing. And above that a meta-meta-witness observing the process of the process of witnessing. And so on up on Jabob’s ladder to the highest levels of Mind. Coherence Coherence is a faculty of the mind and body. Oschman has made much of it as he has described the communication system inherent in the connective tissue. He has shown that, in the parallel arrangement of molecules, coherence arises. With coherence comes speed, flow, harmony and efficiency in bodily communication. The same is true in mental processes. The more we become coherent, the more we are in a relaxed flow, the smoother the mental processes, the more apt, the more broad, the more inspired. There is the coherence between humans. It is seen as “love,” “harmony,” “exalted union.” From this coherence comes empathy, healing and extrasensory perception. Creativity: Consciousness Creates Hal Puthoff31 has demonstrated that there is a Zero Point Field, a “soup” of endless potential energy, lying beneath and around all of creation; it is potential creation. When disturbed it gives rise to electromagnetic fields; when these fields collide, manifestation appears. Werner Heisenberg32 discovered and described the “Observer effect,” which led us to understand that observing anything brings about a fundamental change in the thing observed. In other words, the application of consciousness to something generates manifestation. This is certainly true of attention, for it vivifies while it brings something to the field of observation.
MIND ENERGETICS
Quoting from “The Field” (p. 121): “Both the unconscious mind a world before thought and conscious intention and the unconscious of matter the Zero Point Field exist in a probabilistic state of all possibility. The subconscious mind is pre-conceptual substrate from which concepts emerge, and the Zero Point Field is a probabilistic substrate of the physical world.”31 (I would add, that not only does manifestation emerge, but that attention-consciousness, seeks and touches the field of potential energy, and then manifestation appears. It is a “waterspout dynamic” wherein above and below generate forces that meet in the middle). It is a dynamic in which the energy of the field is met by the energy of consciousness; manifestation appears. As long ago as 1915, Freud wrote in his article, “The Unconscious,” that applying a word to something brings it out of the chaos of the Unconscious mind. This, too, is a matter of bringing something into manifestation, appearance. Those few who know the laws of Nature, beyond our common knowledge, can produce materials out of a seeming “nothingness.” Sai Baba in India is one. He can manifest “vibhuti” (dust) from thin air. Madame Blavatsky the Theosophist was another. She was trained by Tibetan Masters and was able to perform comparable miracles. And so this expanded type of consciousness, an expanded type of mind energetic, able to reach beyond the known parameters of Western scientific knowledge. Much work is being done in the field of energy medicine and biophysics. This information is beautifully described by Lynne McTaggart. Amongst others, she writes about Robert Jahn, emeritus Dean of Engineering at Princeton, and Brenda Dunne. In “Margins of Reality” Jahn and Dunne33 have contributed mightily through rock solid scientific validation of psychokinesis. Dean Radin34 has written beautifully about it in “The Conscious Universe,” who along with Roger Nelson35 (using the Random Event Generator) have shown that moments of concentrated attention, such as in the minutes awaiting the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial, greatly influence the local field. This parallels what Professor William Tiller (already quoted in “Conscious Acts of Creation”) had shown, wherein meditation changed the pH of water, but it changed the environment as well, which continued to hold the energy.
45
HOW DO WE STUDY THE MENTAL FORCES INVOLVED?
U
ndoubtedly it is possible to study the mental forces during meditation, where it is found that the cerebral hemispheres become synchronous. This is a balanced coherence. We can study the coherence between human beings when a healer projects healing energy. This was shown long ago when Elmer Green studied the renowned healer, Olga Worrell, and then Jack Schwartz with an ability to stop blood flow after a self-inflicted wound, and Swami Rama who was able to (nearly) bring his heart to a standstill with mental concentration. We can study acts of seeming magic as those created by Sai Baba in manifesting vibhuti. All of these evidence the expanded mind embracing mental forces that are part of mind energetics. These are energies of a high order, and higher than those that have been studied under the standard of “Energy Psychology.” As part of our understanding of involution from the Highest Force to physical manifestation, and the ascent to higher and higher states of consciousness, we can anticipate that the vibratory frequency and vibratory force of mind energetics will be higher and more powerful than those that deal with the body alone.
A CLINICAL EXAMPLE The Empathic Connection I have a 35-year-old patient who suffered a severe injury at work. This ripped him away from his usual occupation, in which he had taken great pride. He became depressed, looking gloomily at his future. In the background: he had a mother who, although present, abandoned him while she was having flings with her lovers. His father was hard working, a good provider, but constantly critical of him. This left him with a hole in his confidence, and a feeling of, “What’s the matter with me that they can’t love me. I must be awful that I can’t be loved?” As he reviewed his pessimism (at my request) I could feel, and I could see a picture of him as a little boy—all alone, longing for his mother, wanting her, finding that he couldn’t have her, and feeling that he must be made of junk. In seeing this I felt sad; I felt that I was him, the little boy. At the same time I remained the therapist– observer. Insofar as I became him, identified with
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him, our energy bodies (our astral bodies) fused and we became one. I was then able to experience his experience in empathy. To further illustrate: He feels safe with his wife, who indeed is very loving and devoted to him. As he spoke of her, I could vision the little boy nuzzling close to his (wife) mother, the mother who had re-formed, the mother who he had found in his wife. Here again, I was identified with him; I had become him, In identification, I had regressed as he had; I too became the little boy and I could understand him better.
WHAT
IS THE
MESSAGE
IN
THIS?
FINAL WORD
A
nd so these are the mind energetics, which are really quite fluid at the same time that they are more largely encompassing. Truly, they will be furthered by uniting them with research in biophysics, such as Oschman has delineated in his work. The phenomena of empathy, defense, harmony between partners will be all the more clearly defined, and better understood, in terms of mind energetics. These are included in what Freud would call the Unconscious mind, but I would now look upon as a more advanced mind.
I
t is that the Witness is a mighty ally, a strength to be developed and honored. With such development there is a growth of the personality, and a life in the upper, more aesthetic realms of mind.
REFERENCES 1. Aruobino S: Upanishads (Deluxe Edition). Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Reduced Facsimile, 1985, p 12 2. Freud S: The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Translated from the German under the general editorship of James Strachey, in collaboration with Anna Freud, assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 19531974 3. Ferenczi S: First Contributions to Psycho-analysis. Authorised translation by Ernest Jones. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 1952 4. Jung CG: Collected Works, Bollingen Series XX (ed 3). Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1976 5. Sharaf M: Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich (ed 1). New York, NY, Da Capo Press, 1994 6. Rank O: In Quest of the Hero. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1990 7. Abraham K: Clinical Papers and Essays on Psycho-analysis. Abraham HC, (ed), translated by Abraham HC et al. London, UK, Hogarth Press, 1955 8. Ku¨ bler-Ross E: Death: The Final Stage of Growth. New York, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1986 9. The Vedas are the most fundamental and sacred wriings of the Andient Hindus. They were transmitted, through meditation, to the “Anceitns”, the “Rishis.” See: Aurobindo S: Secret of the Veda. Twin Lakes, WI, Lotus Light Publications, 1995 10. The Upanishads are essentially commentaries evolving from the Vedas. See Ref. 1 11. Maslow AH: Motivation and Personality (ed 1). New York, NY, Harper, 1954 12. Grof S: Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research. New York, NY, Viking Press, 1975 13. Moody RA Jr: Reflections on Life after Life. Boston, MA, GK Hall, 1978
ACKNOWLEDGMENT My thanks to my colleague Celia Coates for her important suggestions regarding this article.
AND
NOTES
14. Gallo FP (ed): Energy Psychology in Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Sourcebook. New York, NY, WW Norton & Co, 2002 15. Tiller WA: Science and Human Transformation. Walnut Creek, CA, Pavior, 1997 16. Hurwitz W: Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (ed 2), Micozzi, MS (ed). New York, NY, Churchill Livingstone, 1996 17. Pressman MD: Psychological techniques for the advancement of sports potential, in Klavora P, Daniel J (eds): Coach, Athlete and the Sport Psychologist. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto, 1979 18. Matzke D: Chi Generators Exist. Presentations at ANPA24 in Cambridge, UK, August 15-20, 2002 19. Watts A: Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen. San Francisco, CA, City Lights Books, 1959 20. Yogananda: Self-Realization. Los Angeles, CA, SelfRealization Fellowship, 1971 21. Krishnamurti J: Meditations. Beckenham, UK, Krishnamurti Foundation, 1969 22. Ring K: Heading toward Omega: In Search of the Meaning of the Near-Death Experience (ed 1). New York, NY, Quill, 1985 23. Green E, Green A: Beyond Biofeedback. New York, NY, Delacorte Press, 1977 24. Tiller WA, Dibble WE Jr, Kohane MJ: Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergence of a New Physics. Walnut Creek, CA, Pavior, 2001 25. Oschman JL: Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. Edinburgh, UK, Churchill & Livingstone, 2000 26. Oschman JL: Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance. Edinburgh, UK, Butterworth Heinemann, 2003 27. Pressman, MD: Visions from the Soul: From Personality to Spirit. Scottsdale, AZ, Inkwell Productions, 2001
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28. Cranston SL: HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement. New York, NY, Putnam, 1994 29. Bailey AA: A Treatise on White Magic. New York, NY, Lucis, 1979 30. Young AM: The Reflexive Universe: Evolution of Consciousness. New York, NY, Delacorte Press, 1976 31. McTaggart L: The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe. New York, NY, HarperCollins, 2002 32. Heisenberg W: In The Uncertainty Principle and Foun-
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dations of Quantum Mechanics: A Fifty Years’ Survey, Price WC, Chissick, SS (eds). New York, NY, Wiley, 1977 33. Jahn RG, Dunne BJ: Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. San Diego, CA, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987 34. Radin DI: The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. New York, NY, HarperEdge, 1997 35. Nelson RD, Radin DI: Statistically robust anomalous effect: replication in random event generator experiments, in Henckle L, Berger RE (eds): RIP 1988. Metuchen, NJ, Scarecrow Press, 1989