Psychologists explore different spheres of human activities – from obvious human behavior to hidden emotions, and cognition. The word Psychology originates from the Greek “Psyche” – meaning mind, soul, spirit, breath, and “Logos”- meaning study, research. “Study of the soul, spirit”. It is safe to say that psych
ology is concerned with the human being and everything that comes with it. Spirituality is much broader than the concept of religion, which is focused on prescribed beliefs and rituals. Spirituality is our need to search for significance and connection with others and the transcendent force of the Universe. Many are helped to discover their spirituality through the guidance of religion, but many others have allowed unpleasant experiences with religion to cause them to neglect their spiritual development. This development emphasizes humanistic ideas on qualities such as love, compassion, tolerance, patience, forgiveness, responsibility, harmony, contentment and concern for others. These spiritual values or psychological needs are as important as the satisfaction of our thirst, hunger, and sexual yearnings. I believe we are all born spiritual psychologists in our minds and hearts. Without exception, we all want to understand our own life, the everyday issues of love, loneliness, suffering and death. We strive for harmony and meaning. We recognize that the human species is just one of more than a million species in the world. Our time on Earth is limited as with other living creatures. Life is a voyage to Death, no matter what one’s race, religion or social standing. We all are heading toward the same inevitable place. Each of us is confronted with social environment that leaves us frustrated and plagued by unjust laws and social barriers. Psychology helps us to focus on forces inside us that we can become aware of and control eventually. Let us remind ourselves that not everything in Life is controllable and not all of Life’s questions are answerable. Uncertainty, mystery, and suffering are our eternal companions. The Miracle of self-reflection, the realization of Life’s totality, not merely one’s patterns of unconscious conflicts, or thoughts and feelings, happens when we open up and share, equally amerced in the search for answers. Equally vulnerable. “All is flux, nothing remains the same, nothing endures but change.” So wrote the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Openness to change is essential for our wellbeing. Nature’s gift is our ability to be flexible, to change gracefully, to modify habitual behaviors and to grow. Every character is capable of intellectual, emotional or spiritual evolution. One encouraging truth about the turbulent times in which we live is that – Nobody knows what to do next. This makes us more equal than we have ever been before. Curiously enough, the beauty is that you never know from what direction the answers will come, so pay kind attention to everyone you meet along the way.
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Psychology or Spirituality?
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FEAR – OR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE?
It seems, as fear is a lifelong presence in each of us. We get rid of some of our apprehensions, but then the one that are left, suddenly become more vivid and painful. Why?The fear itself has been around for eons. It is present even in the simplest one-celled organisms – Amebas. When the Amoeba feels endangered, the Ameba squeezes out the cytoplasm, shrinks, like in attempt to disappear. The lizard looses its tail; the ostrich hides its head.
Nature’s function to protect and preserve is great. Our nature as Homo sapiens cannot be changed under the technological development; we are still the same inside, as we were million years ago. Even though now the risk of being physically eaten is less, undoubtedly today we have increasing variety list of different dangers. (Including the threat of being scared to death – possibly from all the TV med commercials.)
Animals also experience the symptoms we all are well familiar with: anxiety, panic, fright it is a multilevel spasm. Everything contracts – muscles, vessels, bronchi, diaphragm, stomach, intestines, heart…Sometimes the reaction can be the opposite – involuntary relaxation, paralysis….
The fear is like a virus, parasite that lives with us but is not who we are. Often in western psychology, we get the idea that it is we who are damaged at the core. This can not be farther from the truth. We, human beings, are not and have never been damaged goods. We are fascinating beautiful beings when we know who we are.
So who are we and what is the nature of our relationship with fear?
Fear is a tree with many branches. There are various attempts made to classify and clarify this phenomenon. The trunk of this ancient tree is fear of Death from one side, and fear of Life from the other. The fear of Death is actually a fear of the pure unknown, “nothingness”. It is impossible to imagine your own Nonbeing. This fear is stronger that the dreads of suffering, which can be understood, endured and overcome, but the uncertainty – what do you do with it? The fear of Life is the second wing of the same bird. The fear of Death is a concept that belongs to our consciousness. Nevertheless, our deep unconscious levels, where all our terrors reside, do not have this concept. It is just “before the tension takes form – mass”.
It is not rare for human beings to have one “general” irrespective trepidation, but usually it “specializes” in concrete areas:
– Mystical and psychic- all religious punishments, fear of God, Devil, superstition, magic…. FEAR OF YOUR OWN THOUGHTS
– Social-evaluative – exam anxiety, fear of communication, public speaking, the opposite sex, shame, guilt, to be bad, ugly, not smart enough, fear of responsibility/failure, to be seen as weak… NOT GOOD ENOUGH
– Common fears or phobias- fear of the dark, loneliness, getting old, fear for the life of your loved ones, war, natural disasters…FEAR OF NOT BEING IN CONTROL
– Panic attacks- objectless sense of apprehension, fear of everything = fear of nothing… I AM HELPLESS
– Decision making phobias – fear to make a choice of spouse, job, profession….I AM NOT COMPETENT
– Fear of space – agoraphobia- fear of wide-open spaces, claustrophobia- confined space, astrophobia …. WHERE IS MY PERSONAL SPACE
– Fear of authority and aggression- physical insult, psychological, from your boss….I AM A VICTIM
– Dependence fear – soteriophobia, fear of deprivation of different agents – drugs, tobacco, alcohol, people, food, money….I AM ALONE
– Physical fears- fear of pain, dentist, blood, diseases, health, germs….I AM IN DANGER
Between all this concrete object fears and the “general” primary fear, we can insert the so-called transition fear – “floating” fear, looking to attach to something. (Similar to the Anger, looking for excuse to explode.) The powerful hovering mass of unattached fear is rooted deep in our unconscious being. The absence of desire to know and study yourself and not understanding the root of the feelings and emotions we all go trough can cause much dysfunction and confusion in our lives.
It is logical than to conclude that Fear is nothing more but absence of consciousness, focused, directed willingness to explore our minds, investigate our soul and discover our limitless potential.
No one is to blame for any dysfunction. Our parents, siblings, guardians, friends, enemies or you – are our hidden teachers that challenge us and make life interesting. In one respect, all this people who caused us problems and pain, are victims of a heritage dysfunction themselves, that goes back to the distant past.
Human experience and folklore tell us that each one of us is responsible for making changes and enlightening ourselves. We can turn our own fears into our strengths. We can support the other person’s efforts at becoming free. In order to be successful we must draw a clear distinction between our dysfunctions/fears and ourselves.
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THE ROAD TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION
If you look in the dictionary you will find that to self –actualize yourself means to realize fully your potential, but what does one’s potential mean? How do you know, how far can your potential stretch, and what form should it take? Do we all realize ourselves fully and if not, what stops us? Why is this so important for us as a human species?We are all well familiar with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid. His “A Theory of Human Motivation” describes the stages of human development and growth. “What a man can be, he must be.” – But first man must not only achieve the previous needs- physiological, safety, love, esteem, but to master them. So what went wrong?
Why aren’t we all at the top of the pyramid – enjoying our creativity, spontaneity, and lack of prejudice? Where do the aggression and self-destructiveness come from?
All around the world there is a legend about a strong hero with super powers, which always defeat the beast. The ancient Greeks have Heracles, Jewish people have Samson, the Ancient Sumeria has Gilgamesh, and the Slavic people have Saint George, defeating the dragon.
All of them are symbols of how people conquer their Fear.
Antaeus, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, had invincible strength. That is until he met Hercules. Hercules realized that Gaia, Antaeus’s mother, was the source of his power. He killed Antaeus by separating him from his mother Earth, holding him aloft until all his vigor had drained away.
Very symbolic, isn’t it?
Humankind is going through a massive planetary change. Life on Earth is transforming into a global community with cooperation among all people. Government, science, business interest does not make this choice of positive change; the choice is made by individual human beings engaged in personal transformation/self-actualization. These self-actualizing individuals will than influence governments, business and science in ways that are contributing to a greater happiness and wellbeing on planet Earth.
You as an individual cannot self-actualize yourself unless you personally face your own fears. In order to overcome your fears, you should rip off the root from the ground- this is the fear of death.
The fear of death looses its power when the Unity of Life is realized.
Виолета Ушева 