Psychology 101:
There is the legend of the Multi-Headed Beast. These heads may tend not to speak with each other. (To hell with the seven numeration with that myth-metaphor — that is of a special matter.)
So, given the circumstance, you respond “I am a carpenter”, or “I am an electrician”, or “I am a car mechanic”; or, “I am not happy”, or, “I am an asshole”‘, or, “I love you”; — or even more fundamental — “I am sleepy”, or, “I am happy”, …or, “I am sad”, or, “I am mad”; — and then even more fundamental — “I am walking”, and/or, “I am talking”, and/or, “I am feeling (something)”.
The Many Faces of “The Beast”. Another wizard used another metaphor — The Machine. ‘IT’ Thinks, ‘IT’ Feels, ‘IT’ Moves, etc. etc.
And ‘pity’ the past humans. There was always this desperate search for some “hidden divine pilot” buried deep within that machine of Many Personas. “There must be some ‘singularity’ reconciling the ‘multiplicity’ ?! So-called ‘psychology’ is a continued addiction to that myth-metaphor. The stumblers-in-the-dark tried to resurrect certain ancient practices. But they ignored certain records.
At the time of the Buddha Advent, there was the desperate search for “The Atman” (the inner pilot). The Buddha (some three thousand years ago) came to his fellow seeking brethren and broke the awful news: “There ain’t no such thing! Give it up!” His main message was “An-Atman” (without Atman). He then proceeded to teach his fellow seeker-brothers the techniques to discover how to verify the absence of that myth, as he himself had found. He faced an entrenched cultural indoctrination that “there must be an Atman”.
Jump forward some two-three thousand years. Physicists were thoroughly convinced that “there must be an ether which conducts light”. It was a ‘cultural’ given. There was an experiment in the late 1800’s to verify the existence of that ether. The experiments failed to verify such ether existence. Then some young ‘upstart’ dared to challenge the established assumption. His name was Einstein. He dared to tell the establishment: “The experiment does prove something — that there is no ether necessary to conduct light.” He then proceeded to demonstrate such. However, the ramifications of his demonstration also proceeded to destroy many other assumptions of classic physics.
The Buddha destroyed many presuppositions about ‘classic’ suppositions of Human Behavior. So too Lao Tzu in his realm; so too The Nazarene in his realm. So too the so-called ‘grandfather’ of Modern Psychology, Freud. And then look at what his direct protegé, Jung, attempted! And then the inheritors of those techniques thereafter?
But as with many awesome attempts, there is the initial propulsion — and then there is a fade into “the given”. Will humans never learn? — maybe not!”
But back to the original proposition: the Many Heads of the Beast-Machine, and the desperate search for the so-called “inner pilot”. The many heads biting each other, surrounding the mythic central ‘inner pilot’. This is rather the most terrible revelation-to-self for those addicted to the delusion of ‘a continuous self’. Yes, the physical form changes during the growth process, yet there is a perceived ‘continuity’ of ‘sameness’. That must translate into the ‘psychological’ arena, eh?
I still hear many humans who stumble with some metaphor of ‘a contract’ made by the ‘individual’ with “the universe” (or with “God” or with their otherwise transpersonal deification). Then they go on to imagine that the ‘contract’ involves all the various encounters of interpersonal dynamics somehow defining some ‘meaning’ to the alterations of personal behavior thereby resultant. It must be part of the ‘contract’ that we ‘learn lessons’, eh?
During a recent discussion, it was asked whether that “learn lessons” method was part of the ‘contract’. I stumbled with that idea, and attempted to describe that if you want to subscribe to the ‘contract’ metaphor, then keep it within the so-called ‘biologic contract’. There are certain properties of one’s biologic construct which can ‘remain consistent’, and then will lend to the delusion of some consistency. As to the Behavioral Properties: those involve perpetual ‘re-wording’ of the ‘contract’. The youngling proclaims “I will be a fireman” or “I will be a policeman”. The elderling then proclaims “I am an accountant” or “I am a disaster relief specialist”. The youngling struggles with the multi-headed beast-machine with the “I will be…” metaphor. The elderling struggles no less, but the metaphor is transformed into the “I am…”.
The nature of the Beast-Machine, with its many heads, is directly associated with the Behavioral Properties. The bio-machine may have some ‘contractual’ consistency. But each step we take in the concourse of the multiverse changes the Behavioral Properties, which were never grafted ‘permanent’ into some ‘contract’.
O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published Oct. 31, 2010
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