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ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

V. George Mathew, Ph.D.

 

Abstract.

Environmental Psychology deals with behavior in relation to the environment. Concepts regarding the environment and aesthetic preferences are studied and represented in behavioral maps. Environment influences behavior at different levels. Immediate behavior is a function of the setting in which it occurs. The personality make-up of people of a country is shaped by the nature and type of environment in which they live. In unnatural or caged conditions animals show `behavior starvation' and their behavior breaks down. Population stress and the artificial character of urban conditions are supposed to be the reasons for the increased rates of crime and incidence of mental disorders of people living in urban areas. Applied Environmental Psychology attempts to provide norms for better management of the environment for better life and personality development. It studies effective ways of promoting conservation of the natural environment and better ways of designing buildings, towns and cities, taking into consideration the behavioral needs and responses of people.

1. Introduction

Environmental Psychology deals with behavior in relation to the physical environment. The physical environment includes material objects, plants, animals and human beings. Environmental Psychology does not emphasize the interactional processes among people, which form the subject matter of other branches of Psychology. Environmental Psychology follows the systems approach which has become the modern approach in several branches of science. It is holistic and naturalistic and studies the adaptation of organisms to their settings. Organisms are studied as part of the ecosystem, stressing the balance and interdependence of organisms and the `environment. This field of science took shape during the 1960s and `Environmental Psychology and Population' has been included as a division of the American Psychological Association.

The importance of the field has increased in recent years owing to the increased concern with the environment resulting from the pollution problems, problems posed by population explosion, depletion of natural resources and the felt need to conserve wilderness.

2. Concepts of Environmental Psychology

Behavioral Geography studies the cognitive maps of the individual regarding his environment. It traces environmental values, meanings and preferences. Behavioral maps are prepared relating activities to surroundings. Lines to represent direction of movement, colors to represent time spent and so on are techniques used in the preparation of such maps. Behavior maps can be prepared for exploratory behavior, neighborhood feelings, etc. Environmental aesthetics studies preferences in terms of aesthetic judgements. Recently attempts have been made to relate environmental preferences to personality characteristics, race and national character (Hall 1976; Berry 1976).

3. Influence of Environment on Behavior

It has been hypothesized that environment influences behavior at several levels. Immediate behavior is a function of the settings in which it occurs. For example, the arrangement of furniture in a room influences the way in which people in the room interact. The characteristic personality make-up of persons in a country is shaped by the nature and type of environment to which they are subjected for long periods of time. Racial differences in personality can to a large extent be traced to the influence of different environments to which people of different races have been subjected for generations (Moos 1976).

For example, it is supposed that climate influences temperament. The cold climate presumably makes people `Rajasik'. The possibility of freezing induces insecurity and in a cold place one has to keep working to warm up the body. People in a cold region have to plan ahead. hoard food and firewood and make warm clothes and footwear for winter. The hostile and scarce environment makes people aggressive and aggressiveness necessitates artificial moral control. People in such environments develop linear intelligence and they become practical, their approach to the environment being characterized by one of aggression, competition, exploitation and manipulation. It is said that science and technology are the result of this kind of approach to the environment.

In contrast, people in a very warm climate are likely to be `Thamasik'. This kind of temperament is characterized by laziness and inertia. In a very hot place, it is unpleasant to keep working, because of perspiration and fatigue. In the tropics, the seasons do not change much and resource extraction is easy throughout the year. This kind of climate makes for an attitude of surrender and the approach to the environment is marked by fear and superstition.

The moderate climate is most conducive for the `Sathwik' temperament. This is characterized by an awareness of oneself and the relationship of the environment to one's adjustment. Consequently the Sathwik approach involves living in harmony with the environment. The insight into the role of the environment in our well being leads to a felt need to conserve the natural environment. The Sathwik temperament is holistic, intuitive and well balanced.

Every animal is at home in its natural environment and in unnatural settings, its behavior becomes deranged. It has been shown that animals have behavior needs related to their natural habitats. For example, a polar bear which catches fish has the need to perform the movements involved in catching fish. In captivity, if the bear is deprived of the opportunity to satisfy this need, it will exhibit symptoms of behavior starvation, even though it is given enough food. Many caged animals show symptoms of abnormal behavior like compulsions. Increase in population density beyond the optimum point is also part of alteration of the environment and this leads to population stress causing aggression and breakdown of behavior.

Many studies demonstrate the deleterious influence of urbanization on human behavior (Baum et al. 1978). Instinctual behavior patterns of human beings also seem to break down under artificial and overpopulated urban conditions. It has been shown that the incidence of mental illness increases with urbanization. The highest incidence of schizophrenia is at the center of cities. Only about one fifth of the population of big cities seems to be relatively free from debilitating symptoms of pathology. Crime rates in big cities are increasing at an alarmingly high rate and many of the major cities of the world have come to be known as crime cities. The increasing violence of mothers towards children reflected in high rates of baby battering and the rising rates of divorce and illegitimacy point to the breakdown of instinctive behavior patterns in human beings.

Environmental Psychologists also study effects of different types of neighborhood like housing scheme area, flats, red light area, slums, etc. on emerging behavior patterns. Effects of immediate social environment like size of group on immediate behavior (Ittelson et al. 1974) are also studied. Effects of various characteristics of institutions on the behavior of inmates is another topic of study. Research on the effects of monotonous environments and isolation also can be included in this section. Ergonomics, the study of aspects of the working environment like heating, lighting, etc., in relation to productivity also forms part of Environmental Psychology.

4. Applied Environmental Psychology

Applied Environmental psychology aims at better management of the environment for better life and psychological growth. It studies effective ways of conserving the natural environment, better ways of designing towns and cities and means of promoting environmental awareness among people.

Psychology has a great deal of application in town planning. Studies on how the community works, the psychological needs of the people and their likes and dislikes should be considered while planning the growth of towns. Since the environment shapes and limits behavior, proper planning to ensure maximum satisfaction, efficiency and growth is essential.

The Psychology of Architecture studies how architectural styles reflect the needs and preferences of people and how different designs mould and shape behavior. A proper investigation of cultural, social and personal needs of potential inmates is required before an acceptable design can be made. An effective design should maximize freedom of behavior, mobility and flexibility. Some of the other considerations are possible use and misuse of space, and contrasting needs of privacy and socialization. Training people for effective space utilization and follow-up studies of the effectiveness of various types of designs are necessary. Knowledge of modern points of view regarding how an office, school or hospital should function is essential while preparing a design for the purpose. A detailed knowledge of the kinds of activities and programmes and patterns of human interaction that are expected to take place in the type of building is necessary for successful architectural design.

It has been shown that closeness to elements of nature like pools, plants and trees makes people more relaxed. Hence, one of the main considerations of town planners and architects is how to incorporate elements of nature in their designs.

References

Baum A., Singer J E and Valins S (Eds) 1978 Advances in Environmental Psychology: Vol I - The Urban Environment: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.;New York

Berry J W 1976 Ecological and cultural factors in spatial perceptual development; In: Environmental psychology (Eds) Proshansky H M, Ittelson W H and Rivlin L G. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

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Last Updated: 16 August 2022

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PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

V.George Mathew

 

• INTRODUCTION
• ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
• VALIDATION OF MISTIC EXPERIENCE
• DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS
• BASES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
• METHOD OF ALTERING CONSCIOUSNESS
  • Physical Methods
  • Social Methods
  • Psychological Methods

 

INTRODUCTION

Consciousness has been defined as awareness of awareness. It has emerged as a field of psychology only in recent times though some of its concerns have their roots in religion, mysticism and occultism. The emergence of the study of consciousness in psychology reflects a change in the mentality of people. Today people are more troubled by existential problems than hysteric symptoms. People are asking questions about self-actualization and the possibility of growth instead of how to get rid of pathological symptoms. Consciousness is also becoming a new approach in psychology, a new way of looking at behavior, based on systems theory and the holistic method. The study of consciousness emphasizes certain areas like dreams, creativity and supernormal experiences. Consciousness has relevance for all science, as it is related to philosophical issues and the model of man. It is empirical, but open to descriptive, theoretical and insightful understanding. In the 21st century psychology may well be redefined as the study of consciousness and all psychology may be rewritten in that perspective. The study of consciousness may also serve to integrate many areas of psychology and other sciences.

The concept of consciousness arises out of the experience of altered states of consciousness. An alteration in consciousness involves qualitative change in perceptual, cognitive and conative aspects. It involves alteration of mediational processes between stimulus and response. Altered states of consciousness can be induced by overstimulation, sensory deprivation or by altering body chemistry.

ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

1. Waking and Sleeping

These two states which are so different are regularly experienced by everybody every day. Some people experience a pronounced hypnogogic state in between waking and sleeping and some people get vivid hallucinations during this state.

2. Dreaming

Dreaming involves a state which is physiologically and psychologically different from deep sleep. Lucid dream is a still different mode of functioning where the dreamer has the awareness that he is dreaming. This state is said to be conducive for gaining insight into and awareness of the unconscious and is a technique in mystic training.

3. Hypnosis

This state is characterized by increased suggestibility and surrender of one's will.

4. Pathological States

The hysteric trance and schizoid states have been studied as altered states of consciousness using the phenomenological approach.

5. Orgiastic Trances

This type of trance results from group singing and dancing, often associated with religious ceremonies. These may be psi conducive states.

6. Drug Induced States

The notion of altered states of consciousness evolved originally as a result of the study of subjects who were habituated to drugs like LSD. Aldous Huxley's `Doors of Perception' which he wrote on the basis of his experiences with Mescaline is one of the pioneering classics in this area. Many of the effects are due to physiological changes like hypoglycemia. Some of the positive experiences include remembering forgotten painful experiences, ego dissolution, seeing beauty and significance in trivial things, and increase in awareness

while those who do not trust get bad trips characterized by terror, panic and suicidal tendencies. Though there seem to be some similarities between drug induced states and aesthetic and mystic states, the similarities may only be superficial and the drug may be producing these effects by damaging the brain of a person who may not be ready or mature enough for a transformation of personality required for genuine mystic experiences. Therefore most authorities do not recommend the use of drugs for altering consciousness though some think that under expert supervision the drugs may play a useful role in efforts to alter states of consciousness. Drugs like ganja, traditionally used for mystic training produce memory disorders, decrement in complex psychomotor tasks, lethargy, lack of motivation and lowering of testosterone levels. Some develop psychosis.

7. Aesthetic State

Many great artists have described sudden changes in consciousness revealing great beauty which inspire them for creation of works of art. It is almost like a veil falling off from the eyes. Some people regard the aesthetic state as `extraverted' mystic experience i.e. the projection of the experience of integration within onto the external world.

8. Mystic State

This is the most important among all the altered states of consciousness. The term mystic is used in the sense of beyond description. This is supposed to be the absolute state of pure consciousness. This involves an alteration of the self-process and freedom from symbolic thinking. At the perceptual level there is unity, the experienced emotion is bliss and at the conative level there is control and self-sufficiency.

Mystics belonging to different mystic traditions have different names for this experience. Hindus call this samadhi, Buddhists nirvana, Sufis fana, Christians pneuma and the term used in Zen Buddhism is satori. Those experiencing this consider this realization of truth or self-realization, This to some extent overlaps with Maslow's transcendent self-actualization. Fragmentary mystic experiences (peak experiences) have been reported by artists, and spontaneous experiences resembling the mystic experience by people viewing landscapes and during childbirth. The highest mystic experience is supposed to be beyond time and space.

9. Other States of Consciousness

There seems to be no sharp line of demarcation between feeling states and states of consciousness. A person in a fit of rage functions differently from his normal pattern of behavior. Fainting may involve alterations in consciousness and effects of isolation may produce alterations in consciousness. Activities like sports may induce peak experience in expert players.

VALIDATION OF THE MYSTIC EXPERIENCE

Since mystic state is the basic altered state of consciousness with which all other states are compared, validation of the genuineness of this state as different from the pathological states becomes very important. Before the psychology of consciousness evolved as a discipline, many psychologists considered such experiences as close to withdrawal into intra-uterine narcism and undifferentiated infantile ego state of Freud. Jung has written that the 'samadhi' experience involves merging of the meaningful contents of the unconscious into a meaningless homogeneity, unlike the state of full integration achieved through his technique of individuation where the different contents of the unconscious are accessible to the self.

There is no logical reason to suppose that the ordinary experience of reality is the most valid one. All perception is essentially subjective and psychological research has demonstrated how perception is influenced by constancy phenomena, illusions and past experience and unconscious factors. Modern physics has given a jolt to the supposition that reality is as it is experienced by the senses. Perception of time changes with alteration of consciousness. When the psyche observes itself, space and time become relative. Just because we seem to agree upon certain aspects of our ordinary waking experience and just because it has some pragmatic value in our everyday life we cannot assert that this experience is the most valid one. The mystic says that there is an absolute state wherein the person has full insight and is able to experience reality uncolored by any subjective equation. Much of the psychology of consciousness is concerned with validating the mystic experience and studying the nature and characteristics of this experience and means for achieving this experience.

DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS

Deautomatisation is the process of changing the hierarchical ordering of perceptual and cognitive structure and function which limit, select, organize and interpret stimuli. It involves nullifying the habitual patterns of behavior. It means getting freedom from instinctual stimulus-response patterns, released by social milieu and strengthened throughout life. It amounts to becoming less of an S-R machine and becoming more of a person. It is the culmination of a process of intensification of awareness and consciousness and becoming more live. It is the end point of the development of insight and self-control. The ordinary man is the slave and victim of a set of situationally induced motives and it is not easy to get out of the socially induced matrix of loves and hates. Deautomatisation involves loosening of existential insecurity and reduction of survival anxiety and the consequent change in the perception of self-environment relationship. Solitude, renunciation of usual stimuli, blocking habitual stimuli by chants and meditation, exposure to unusual stimuli (eg. large expanse of water, scenery, view from a mountain top, etc.) and so on may help in Deautomatisation. Exposure to mightiness and immensity of the elements and forces of nature helps in losing self-centeredness and self-importance. This leads to acceptance of the triviality and insignificance of one's individual existence and ego dissolution. When an individual is not bothered about himself, his restlessness ceases, leading to increased tranquillity and peace.

The change in personality leading to mystic experience is one of increasing integration, opposite to the psychotic change, which is change towards disintegration.

BASES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The factors which influence, mould and maintain a habitual functioning level of consciousness can be grouped into three : Physical, Social and Psychological.

1. Physical bases of Consciousness

Some philosophers think that mind and body are one. It is supposed that the structure and form determine the emergent vitality. Though the systems of physiognomy and phrenology in which bodily signs are used to predict behavior traits are not accepted by many, there is some evidence showing that bodily structure and function influence behavior, in general terms. It was believed that Buddha had a perfect body. The modern psychosomatic concept also points to the same direction. Mystic consciousness is supposed to involve body transcendence. A healthy functioning of the body is essential for forgetting the body. Any disease or imperfection cause pain or lethargy and brings down the level of mental functioning.

Of the different systems of the body the endocrine system and the nervous system are perhaps most important in conditioning the mind. The pineal gland and the limbic system have been related to physical changes mediating higher levels of consciousness. It has been hypothesized that pure consciousness is experienced when the brain comes to a state of rest, permitting transcendence when the excitatory and inhibitory processed have been stilled. Recent evidence points to the conclusion that experience can to some extent modify and alter heredity. There are hormones which switch on and off the functioning of various genes. Genes change place (jumping genes)altering characteristics, mediating higher forms of consciousness. It has been found that the two hemispheres of the brain function somewhat independently. This has been called the split brain hypothesis or bimodal consciousness. For right-handed people, the left hemisphere mediates rational and analytic functions more than the right, while the right hemisphere mediates holistic, synthetic and intuitive functions. Naming, ordinary speech and reading and writing, abstraction, arithmetic processes and aggressive, manipulative problems solving, etc. are more a function of the left hemisphere, while the right shows dominance in singing words, arts and crafts, recognition, affective experiences, body images, dream, figurative modes of function and so on.

It has been found that processes like meditation lead to better integration of function of both hemispheres (as indicated by increased coherence of brain waves from the two hemispheres), which may be required for experiencing the higher states of consciousness.

2. Social Bases of Consciousness :

A. Culture & Reality

Different cultures codify reality differently. An individual, growing up in a culture imbibes the characteristic perception of reality in that culture. Modern cultures emphasize the analytical, logical mode. Language is the main mechanism for transmitting a mode of consciousness and an analysis of language can to some reveal the mentality of people who speak that language.

In modern cultures words denote specific objects while in some primitive cultures words denote emotive reactions to objects rather than observed forms. For example, in Java, the word Ave (for sibling of the opposite sex), literally means strain and propriety and Kainga (for sibling of the same sex) means easy relationship. Intensification of consciousness is associated with emphasizing the present more than the past or future. In modern cultures, as a result of concern over the future and consequent stress on causality and linear connection of events, people lose touch with the present. In some primitive cultures, the concept of causality is almost absent. In a Trobriand culture, events and objects are seen as self-contained. There seems to be no perception of change, or lineal connection. Their language has no adjectives. There are separate words for a green fruit and ripe fruit. An object ceases to be itself when it changes. There are no words for past or future.Past and future are described in the present tense. There is no notion of becoming, only pre-ordained patterns are recognized.

B. Social Relationships

Man's self-concept is related to his perception of others. Your perception of other people and how you treat others reflect your attitude to self. How a person functions is determined largely by his matrix of loves and hatreds, attachments, identifications and rivalries. Situationally induced motives and socially conditioned tension-relaxation patterns influence how a person functions. Survival depends on the pattern of co-operation and competition. This determines release of instincts and their possible sublimation and transcendence.

3. Psychological Bases of Consciousness

The elevation of consciousness is supposed to be a function of degree of Psychosynthesis achieved, the degree of integration of the conscious and unconscious elements, the degree of insight achieved. This depends on self-acceptance, awareness, detachment and instinctual transcendence. This implies freedom from pre-conceptions, entanglements, complexes, inferiorities and dissociative tendencies. Insecurity, restlessness and compensatory desires lead to self-love, self-importance and the ego. On the other hand stilling of the mind and loss of ego lead to increased unitiveness.

METHODS OF ALTERING CONSCIOUSNESS

Unlike most other fields of activity and attainment, there is no guaranteed one method that leads to higher states of consciousness. In fact the `doing-achieving' orientation itself is supposed to be a block. It is not what you do actually, but the mental state which counts.

1.Physical methods

1. Relaxation:

The physical methods suppose that the body is almost the same as the unconscious. Free body movement implies free emotional expression. Every repression is a muscular block.

Energy gets locked up in bodily tension. Conflicts are contained in and expressed through the body. People who are mentally tense have physical symptoms like clenched fist, gripping arms, blinking, mannerisms, gestures, propitiatory smiles, strained voice, shallow breath and dead hands. Presence of coldness, inability to express anger, etc. show up through the body. Increasing body awareness is one method of achieving relaxation. According to the Weber-Fechner law, there is greater sensitivity in lower muscular tension. So cultivating body awareness by concentrating on various points in the body and achieving bodily relaxation is a method of achieving mental or total relaxation. Jacobson's relaxation technique or yogic techniques of yoganidra and savasan help in relaxation.

B. Massage:

Massage is used to treat stress-related behavior disorders. It is supposed to have a bearing on consciousness. The theory supposes that personality is reflected in the physical body. structural blockage goes with emotional blocks. Attitudes influence structure of body. Emotions cause change in length and thickness of muscles, change in connective tissue and immobilization.

Massage causes reorganization of muscle function and reintegration of structure. Ida Rolf has developed techniques of massage called Rolfing and there is some evidence showing increased sensitivity and awareness and changes in perception following Rolfing. When several people jointly massage a person, he gets a feeling of belongingness also.

C. Dance:

All dance probably has a bearing on consciousness. Certain specially designed dances like the Sufi dance where the to dervishes whirl very fast and Tai Chi Ch'uan of China are supposed to help in alteration of consciousness in addition to promoting mental and physical fitness.

D: Yogic Postures:

The yogic system of exercises or asanas and kriyas are supposed to stimulate psychic centers. They produce a feeling of fitness and well being.

E. Breathing Exercises:

Breathing is supposed to be a bridge connecting the somatic and autonomic nervous systems as breathing is voluntary, though without deliberate effort it goes on. Deep breathing helps in relaxation, as there is a connection between breathing rhythm and the mind. Breathing pattern changes with the state of consciousness and controlling breath enables a person to control the mind. Pranayama or yogic breathing techniques help in achieving mind control.

F. Expressive Techniques:

Permitting a person to express his suppressed anger (anger therapy) and other emotions before others as in encounter groups, helps in tension release and physical and mental relaxation. People pound a pillow, stamp their feet, bite, shout or scream (primal scream therapy), venting their emotions and inhibitions. These have an indirect liberating effect on consciousness. Cathartic methods, however have to be used with caution. If overdone, they may reinforce the negative emotions and accompanying aggressive and other undesirable acts.

G. Kasina Exercise:

These are rhythmic activities used for fixating the impulse to action. These are similar to some people twitching their moustache, or playing with the tablecloth, rapping, smoking, arranging things, etc. to get rid of surplus energy. Many people use hobbies for such a benefit. Rituals also probably serve some such function. Kasina exercises were used by Buddhist monks.

2. Social Methods

A.Manipulation of Social Factors:

Getting to know several languages helps a person to get unstuck form one mode of perceiving reality. Religious teachings (eg. love thy neighbor, nishkama karma, etc.) help in altering the mode of social functioning with consequent changes in mental functioning. Changed social functioning as well as total withdrawal from society into solitude may help different types of persons at different levels of personality to achieve changes in mode of functioning.

B. Altering Social Relationships:

There is a potential growth situation whenever people interact. Counseling can have a deeper level effect than is ordinarily recognized by counselors. In consciousness oriented counseling the aim is long-term or deep level change rather than solving a specific problem or removal of symptoms. From this perspective, suffering or maladjustment is desirable, if that would lead to greater integration or growth or maturity in the long run. Many esoteric disciplines recognize periods of depression (when a practitioner realizes the impermanence of all things) or heightened sex drive during certain stages of practice, as normal. These schools recognize the personality of the guru or the stage of growth reached by him as the most important factor helping growth in the disciple. In sat sang persons develop through psychic interexchange or by sympathetic vibrations while interacting with highly developed persons. Social values and way of life are probably related to a person's personality structure and changes in these can help in altering consciousness.

3. Psychological Methods

Freud wrote that the unconscious is omniscient, omni-present and omnipotent. His main technique was integration through insight. Jung extended this concept to individuation process to include integration of the elements of the collective unconscious also. Roberto Assagioli developed techniques of concentration involving vivid visualization of archetypal symbols to achieve Psychosynthesis. Meditation, once a technique of various religious traditions is now being perfected as a psychological technique. Meditation is mind-fasting or the deliberate attempt to still the mind. It is an easy, effortless and restful state of alertness. It leads to both physical and mental relaxation. Though some people speak of concentrative meditation and opening-up mediation, the general policy is to regard concentration (on an object or idea) as a preliminary training and meditation proper as reduction of thoughts or thoughtlessness. Meditation culminates in super consciousness.

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Last Updated: 16 August 2022

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PARAPSYCHOLOGY

V. George Mathew

Holigrative Psychology Institute – Thiruvananthapuram – 695 583

 

Parapsychology is the branch of Psychology which studies behavior transcending known modes of sensory cognition and motor activity. Scientific study of the so called supernatural phenomena can be said to have commenced from 1882 with the founding of the society for Psychical Research in London. Similar societies now exist in many countries. The term parapsychology has been popularized by Dr.J.B.Rhine of the Duke University in U.S.A. The Parapsychology Laboratory was established at Duke University in 1934. There, psi phenomena were studied by means of laboratory experiments under controlled conditions. Many people therefore relate the term parapsychology mainly to this type of investigation.

Since the phenomena under study are rare and often contrary to common sense and the known laws of nature, most scientists remain skeptical as to the authenticity of the phenomena. Personal prejudices and beliefs of the investigator can have greater effect on the study than in other sciences. The possibility of the investigator being fooled by clever charlatans and of biased observation and reporting make people hesitate to consider evidence from studies as conclusive. All sorts of criticisms are made on the study, sometimes even going to the extent of questioning the personal integrity and honesty of the research worker.

The number of psychologists believing that the existence of genuine parapsychological phenomena has been demonstrated scientifically has increased considerably in recent times. Still, some even now try to explain away the reported occurrences in terms of known psychological concepts like suggestion, hysteria, hallucination, etc. or in terms of fraud, trickery, etc. Some accept the genuineness of psi capacities like extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK), but do not consider the evidence for survival or for life beyond death or for the existence of spirits adequate. There are scientists on the other extreme who believe that enough evidence has been gathered to prove the existence of spirits and think that it is possible to communicate with the spirits of dead individuals.

Classification of Psi Phenomena

 

 

PSI CAPACITIES

1. Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

This term refers to non-sensory cognition. ESP is of two kinds: matagnomy and precognition. Metagnomy is cognition of the present obtained through means other than sensory, while the latter relates to the future. Metagnomy itself is of two types: clairvoyance and telepathy

 

A. Clairvoyance

This is extrasensory cognition of events and things of the past or present. To study this phenomenon in the laboratory, a pack of ESP cards or Zener cards are used. A pack of cards contains 25 cards, consisting of five sets, each set having one of the five symbols; cross, circle, star, wavy lines, and square. In a simple experiment to test clairvoyance, the 25 cards are shuffled and kept face down on the table. The subject has to guess the order of cards in the pack. The probability of correct guess by chance alone is 5 out of 25 or 1/5 of the total number of trials when the experiment is repeated. If chance were the only factor accounting for the correct guess, the number of correct guesses should come closer and closer to 1/5 of the total number of trials as the number of trials increase. In actual experimentation involving large numbers of subjects and long series of trials extending over several years, deviations significantly different from chance scores have been obtained (about 7 hits per 25). Many variations of the experiment have been tried. Special care has been given to rule out the possibility of sensory cues.

Many spontaneous phenomena have been recorded relating to persons who seem to possess the faculty of clairvoyance to a remarkable degree. Cryptoscopy is the ability to see things enclosed in a box or cover. Divination or dowsing is a commonly heard of form of clairvoyance where hidden objects, underground minerals, metals, water etc. are located, often using a divining rod which is a forked twig held in the hands. Some people are reported to show transposition of the senses like being able to read with fingertips. In autoscopy, the individual claims to see the organs inside his body. Some persons when handed over an object like a watch can sometimes say details regarding the people who have used it. This is referred to as psychometric.

B. Telepathy

Telepathy is extrasensory transfer of emotions and thoughts from one individual to another. For studying telepathy in the laboratory, two persons are required - an agent or sender and a percipient or receiver. In what is called the general ESP test, the sender looks at a card and the subject guesses the symbol and writes it down. After a large number of trials, the number of correct guesses can be counted. Here it can be seen that the factor accounting for the more than chance success score can be either telepathy, or clairvoyance or both. Therefore tests of pure telepathy were devised where the agent simply thinks of one of the given symbols and the subject makes a guess. The agent writes down the symbol only after the subject has done so. Elaborate precautions are reported to have been used to prevent involuntary subliminal articulation and other means by which the subject might get cues. In long distance telepathy experiments, the agent and the receiver were seated miles apart. Consistently high scoring rates have been reported.

It is generally believed that telepathy is greater between persons having a similar mental make-up and who are in rapport with each other. The phenomenon of one individual's mental state and feelings influencing another when they have no normal means of knowing it, is known as sympathism. Many persons are supposed to have much ability in thought reading. Cumberlandism is a parlor game where a blindfolded man is told where an object is hidden by simply touching his hand. The alleged cases of mass hypnotism could be controlling the minds of others through telepathic suggestion. A Russian Parapsychologist Vasiliev has succeeded in hypnotizing his subject telepathically.

 

 

C. Precognition

This term refers to the direct cognition of the future. This does not of course include rational inference. In a commonly used version of the experiment, the subject is asked to guess the future order of a pack of ESP cards. Then the cards are mechanically shuffled and the number of hits are counted as before. Once the phenomenon of precognition was proved, it became theoretically rather impossible to conduct experiments on pure telepathy. Precognitive clairvoyance can be said to be the operating factor.

Spontaneous cases of precognition occur most frequently through dreams. Some people experience duplicative precognition. The person has a dream and later on the same events unfold just as he had seen them in the dream. Many fortune tellers use crystals, coffee grounds, candles, etc. as an aid in precognition. It is possible that precognitive ability plays a role in palmistry, astrology, etc. However, enquiries with a scientific purpose have shown that most fortune tellers are quacks who just exploit the credulous people. Modern psychology has shown that suggestion can have a strong influence on human beings. Even death can be brought about by mere suggestion. The suggestions made by fortune tellers are believed and are acted upon in such a manner as to make them come true.

A large number of spontaneous cases are reported in journals of parapsychology which seem to indicate that ESP occurs in the case of animals as well.

 

2. Psychokinesis (PK)

This is the movement or change of state caused in an object by an individual through non-physical means. In a typical experiment, the subject attempts to influence the outcome of a mechanically performed dice throw. Just like ESP, the existence of PK also has been demonstrated experimentally by testing a large number of subjects. PK scores are generally smaller than ESP Scores, but almost anybody can get moderate success. The number of dice used per throw, the size and shape of the dice etc. have no effect on the scoring rate.

Many of the legendary feats reported by observers seem possible if we accept PK as a fact. There is experimental evidence that some people can influence plant growth and healing of wounds in mice through PK. Many people seem to have witnessed levitation which is lifting objects without contact. In psychogalvanometry, an individual sends an electric current through a galvanometer by holding the electrodes in his hands. Apport is bringing objects through the wall into a closed room. In psychography, changes are brought about on a photographic plate. Some people regard faith-healing of diseases as a form of psychokinesis. The ability to prevent vegetable mater from putrefying has been reported. According to popular conception, poltergeist, in which disturbances occur in a house in the form of objects moving about, stones falling, objects catching fire, etc. are due to the presence of a mischievous ghost. Some Parapsychologists hold the view that the disturbances are caused unconsciously through PK by an adolescent who is more or less ignorant of the fact that he or she is responsible for the occurrence. In the production of organic stigmata (wounds in the form of cross etc. produced on the skin), some process akin to PK might be operating. Hyloclasty involves microscopic effects on matter. Objects are broken into pieces by touching, perfume is extracted from flowers, etc.

Some such process is probably involved in the invulnerability to fire found in fire-walking ceremonies and the ability to withstand extreme cold. The ability to arrest vital physiological functions without damage has also been reported by investigators.

 

NATURE OF PSI CAPACITIES

Though experimentally, telepathy, clairvoyance, pre-cognition and psychokinesis are often treated as different, the available evidence indicates that there is just an overall psi capacity. Persons getting high scores in one type get high scores in the other types and when an individual's score falls in one, it falls in the others also. Psi phenomena are the product of the overall psychic field, which is a joint product of the personality and beliefs of all those who are involved: the experimenter, subjects and even those who are around as helpers or even mere observers, and the psychic nature of the place. Some places and certain periods of time may facilitate the operation of psi.

 

The `Experimenter effect' which has been demonstrated in many experiments, indicates that experimenters psychically (through ESP or PK) influence the outcome of the experiment and tend to get results in line with their attitudes and expectations. This would mean that there is no `objective truth' independent of the observer, which can be discovered through experiment (similar to the concepts of operationism, uncertainty principle, etc. in modern physics).

Motivational factors have been found closely related to ESP and PK. Boredom and distraction decrease the scoring rate. There is a general decline from run to run as the experiment proceeds as well as a decline within each run. There is an end spurt as the experiment is drawing to a close. Novelty increases the scoring rates. Children showed best results under competition. Immediate checking of results on each trial has a facilitating effect on performance. Subjects perform better on their own preferred method. Though use of hypnosis has given contrary findings in different studies, there is some indication that hypnotic training may help to develop psi ability, perhaps by increasing motivation and removing inhibitions.

Higher scoring rates are obtained when the experimenters and subjects had mutually positive attitudes. It was found that when packs prepared by the experimenter were mixed with packs prepared by another person, subjects were found to respond differentially by getting higher scores on those prepared by the experimenter. Better scores were obtained when the agent is a person liked by the subject and also belonging to the opposite sex. Familiarity with the experimental situation, relaxation and informality of the situation promote psi. Persons who believed in ESP and those having religious values got higher scores. Experimenters believing in ESP also produced higher scores. Many high scoring subjects were artists. High scorers are generally sociable and extraverted, which perhaps enable them to feel at ease in the experimental situation.

Caffeine helps and sodium amytal hinders psi. In PK, a lag effect has been observed when the target number is changed. In some experiments on precognition a displacement effect has been noted. Some subjects were found to respond consistently to the second target ahead, instead of the first, indicating precognitive telepathy.

Some people have been found consistently to get below chance level scores, indicating that psi is operating in the opposite direction. Negative attitudes of the subjects or experimenter, introverted personality of the subjects and frustration resulting from procedural complications or delaying checking of performance are some of the factors found associated with psi missing. The preferential effect results when the subject is presented with two contrasting conditions simultaneously and he responds differentially by psi-hitting on one and psi missing on the other. For instance, sometimes positive scores are obtained on high-value faces of dice and negative deviations are obtained on low faces in PK experiments. Often in differential response situations, the hit distribution curve of one condition is of the U shape while the other gives its water reflection image.

 

Inducing And Developing Psi Capacities

Though hypnosis is associated with psi in the minds of laymen, actual studies have failed to find any significant relationships. Hypnosis is artificial semi-sleep. Those with a hysteric temperament (with lot of Inertia), being very suggestible, easily fall into this state and readily accept and obey suggestions given by another person. Those with an Activated or Stable temperament can go to the semi-sleep condition if they really want to, but they find it difficult to accept and obey suggestions. Psi continues to work in hypnosis, if the subject is already psychic in normal waking consciousness; hypnosis does not have much relevance in increasing psi operation. There are some extra-ordinary reports of psi phenomena like hypnotic regression to past lives. Attempts at replication have generally failed. Hysterics give imaginary accounts of past lives which fail to get authenticated.

Some investigators have reported that hypnosis is to a limited extent helpful in training for psi, by removing inhibitions in the case of some subjects, though for actual performance, hypnotic condition is not particularly helpful. A relaxed meditative state helps psi performance. Psi in general is a function of overall personality and holistic personal growth which increases flexibility of mind, promotes psi.

Those who have a high degree of psi do not use it because of the feeling that normal life loses all meaning once you go beyond the regularities which give it any meaning.

 

THE PROBLEM OF SURVIVAL/EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS

Apart from psi capacities, there is another field of investigation which is more controversial. This is about whether the human being has a soul which survives bodily death and if so whether the spirits can communicate with living persons.

 

Spiritualism and Mediumship

In almost all parts of the world there are persons who claim to be mediums through whom dead persons are supposed to communicate with the living. Usually the medium enters a trance-like state and the spirits talk through the medium. Sometimes the medium uses an ouija board which contains all the alphabets and a planchette (a moving handrest on wheels with a pointer or a pencil attached) using which automatic writing can be produced. Spiritualism has grown into a cult in many countries where people who believe in the existence of a non-material spiritual world try to communicate with the spirits of the dead. The seances are held usually at night in dim light. Ostensible messages are received from dead persons for relatives and friends and descriptions of conditions beyond the grave are given. Often the medium will have one or more `spirit controls' who can speak directly through the medium, make predictions and convey messages to and from the spirit world.

There are many mediums who produce what is called physical or mediumistic phenomena. These include transportation of physical objects, levitation of the medium or surrounding objects, raps and various noises, playing musical instruments, etc. The strangest occurrence is the supposed appearance of a filmy substance called ectoplasm. This is supposed to be a semi-material substance derived from the body of the medium. It is believed that the spirits are able to materialize at a seance using ectoplam coming from the medium. The materializations may take the shape of a hand, face or body or any other shape. This supposed objectivisation of forms is known as teleplasty. Many photographs are available supposed to be those of materializations.

A scientific investigation into spiritualism and mediumship has been very difficult. Mediumship is often a means to earn a livelihood for the medium. Even mediums whom many researchers have found to be genuine resort to guessing, inference and trickery. Many use elaborate mechanical devices for producing physical phenomena. There are cases where living persons mistakenly believed to be dead have communicated through mediums.

Many psychical researchers hold the view that genuine mediums have ESP and PK and that in trance, their unconscious mind, gets the desired information through ESP and gives it out in a dramatic form as though a dead man is speaking. This type of explanation has to be extended very far to account for the findings of some cross-correspondence experiments. In these, a spirit gives parts of a message through different mediums in different countries. The message makes sense only when all the parts are put together. Some investigators are more inclined to believe that the unconscious minds of the mediums are collaborating and influencing each other in producing this or that telepathy from a living person is causing this rather than to accept the existence of a spirit.

 

Apparitions

Apparitions are mainly of four types: the crisis apparitions, post-mortem apparitions, haunting apparitions and experimental apparitions.

An apparition of an individual is considered to be a crisis apparition if it appears within the 12 hour period following his death. Many cases are reported where the apparition of the dead man appears to his relatives or friends who would not have even known of the event. One obvious explanation would be telepathy. It has been suggested that telepathy operates more when an individual is in a crisis situation. He sends a telepathic message which may be received by his relative or friend only after some time when his mind is in a receptive state (deferred telepathy). The message received by the unconscious mind enters the conscious mind in the form of an apparition of the dying man. Some others present at that time might through telepathy, share the experience.

Post-mortem apparitions are apparitions appearing 12 hours after the crisis.

Haunting is an apparition seen repeatedly at the same place at certain times over a relatively long period of time. Several explanations other than that of survival have been suggested to account for the cases investigated. One explanation is based on ESP. It has been mentioned that what one clairvoyant reads in an object is likely to be seen by other clairvoyants who later on see the object, even when the reading is incorrect. It is also believed that objects differ in the evocatory power or the power to stimulate clairvoyance. Some researchers speak of psychic impregnation of space by the dying man. The places which become haunted might be places which stimulate clairvoyance in the sensitives. Such persons might easily see, through clairvoyance, the image of an individual who had lived in that place or see an interesting event which had taken place there. Other clairvoyants coming to the location might have the same vision again and the place is supposed to the haunted. It is also possible that belief in the existence of a ghost inhabiting a place in the minds of many people living in the locality might create a telepathic image in the minds of people who come to that place. The other explanation is that of teleplasty. A dying man creates a teleplastic phantom as a medium produces a materialization in trance. The teleplastic phantom becomes independent, shows automatic behavior and is seen as a ghost.

The non-physical nature of apparitions is clear from the studies on apparitions. They do not normally cause any change in the environment, though it is reported that sometimes the sensation of coldness is felt at that time.

In Experimental apparition, one person deliberately produces by volition an apparition of himself or of another man doing a particular act before a subject who is seated elsewhere. This process takes place through telepathic suggestion.

L.E. Rhine, on the basis of her studies of spontaneous cases, comes to the conclusion that there are several cases where it appears that the deceased personality had induced the experience and a few cases where the initiative of the deceased person is the only possible explanation.

 

Reincarnation

Many cases are on record where an individual, usually a child, claims to remember his past birth and successfully identifies relatives and articles belonging to the deceased personality. Another explanation for such cases is that as a result of similarity of mental make-up, the individual is able to know the experiences of another individual who lived in the past, through ESP. This is parallel to the sympathism that occurs between two living individuals. Psychometric ESP, mediated by some object can also account for such cases. However, cases collected by Ian Stevenson, where persons have talked languages or performed skills not learned before and where birth marks have been related to injuries in the previous life (PK through sympathism?) are suggestive of actual reincarnation.

Possession

Most of the reported cases of possession are clearly a manifestation of hysterical dissociation of personality. The possession is an unconscious device to dominate over others, to do something which is normally objectionable or to vent out repressed emotions. Rarely, schizophrenic disintegration of personality may also lead to split or multiple personality which can be mistaken for possession by a discarnate spirit.

 

Other Phenomena Related to Survival

Some psychics claim that the human being has an astral body which by practice can be projected out of the physical body. Spontaneous astral projection is supposed to take place during dreams, acute ill-health, drug experiences, etc. This is often called OBE (Out of the Body Experience).

In bilocation, where a person is seen at two places at the time, one could be an apparition. There are mystics who claim that they can leave their physical body and move about in their astral body.

In many primitive cultures, there are people who claim that they have brought spirits under their control through sorcery or black magic and that with their help they can work wonders. It is possible that PK is the real operating factor, if any.

The similarity in descriptions of death-bed experiences (NDE or near death experience) of those who died on the hospital table and were brought back to life also lend support to the survival hypothesis. According to spiritists, the experience of passing through a dark tunnel with light at the other end is passing of the astral body through the pineal gland in the brain, while to the skeptics it is the experience of the process of brain gradually stopping to function. The other experiences of dead relatives appearing and seeing gods are explained as hallucinations produced by intense expectation.

 

The evidence for ESP and PK is considered compelling by most psychologists, but the law of parsimony of science demands that until more conclusive evidence is obtained, it is safer to consider survival only as a hypothesis in view of the a priori objections and complexities involved in effecting a compromise with the known laws of science.

 

Miscellaneous Psi Phenomena

Para Psychology studies report of extra ordinary and unusual psychological experiences like Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO). Kirlian photography is photographs taken of objects(of the portion of the object touching the photographic plate) in a high energy electro-magnetic filed in a dark room. Some people relate the ‘aura’ seen around the object touching the photographic plate as related to astral phenomena.

 

PSI AND THE NATURE OF MAN

Attempts to understand psi in purely physical terms have become less popular in recent years. For instance, the theory that telepathy involves transmission of some kind of electro-magnetic waves has been discredited in experiments in which the agent and the subject were seated in metal cabins.

All the available evidence seems to point to the fact that psi operates through the unconscious. Spontaneous ESP comes as intuitive hunches, strong emotions, hallucinations, automatic writing or dreams. In a telepathy experiment, where shocks given to the agent were the stimuli, even when the subject did not consciously succeed in responding correctly, his physiological measures like brain-wave pattern and electrical conductivity of the skin indicated that he was responding unconsciously to the shocks received by the agent. The importance of good interpersonal relations in effecting psi has led to the concept of a subliminal or transcendental self or collective unconscious which does not exist in space or time and which is neither one nor many. Some people speak of a paranormal reality consisting of the past, present and future which is a substratum and background for the world of the senses.

In many countries, methods like yoga are supposed to help an individual in developing psi capacities and in inducing ecstatic states of consciousness about which little is known. Certain drugs are believed to help temporarily. Practices associated with witchcraft also may have such an effect.

Some people think that psi capacities are developing in man in evolution. Some postulate `collective psychism' and `ideo-plasty' in evolution. A spider learns to make his web from the collective spider mind through telepathy. New organs develop in animals during the course of evolution through ideoplasty.

Our conscious self is perhaps an adaptation of the total personality for biological survival. There appears to be a mechanism repressing psi capacities. Perhaps the sense organs are mechanisms of limitation which limit our perceptions to the immediate environment. Our motor control similarly limits our control to the physical body. The evidence for precognition gives support to the theory of determinism or fate. Perhaps, the past, present, and future exist simultaneously and we are simply passing through it. We may be able to get glimpses of the future under certain conditions. At the same time, the phenomenon of PK indicates that our potentiality to act upon the physical world is not limited to our motor capabilities. Probably our will and actions are also part of the predetermined course of events.

Psi capacities are supposed to be a function of overall integration of personality. Methods like yoga are supposed to develop psi capacities. Forcing psi capacities without overall development of personality is supposed to produce imbalance in the person.

PSYCHIC FIELD THEORY

The psychic field existing at any time and place is a function of the evocatory power depending on the psychic history of the place, the psychic nature of people present there at that time, etc. In the case of rigid people, psi operates negatively by suppression of the paranormal. In the case of people with a high level of Stability, psi operates positively, if they desire so. Any psychic event takes place as a function of the psychic field.

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Last Updated: 16 August 2022

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HOLIGRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY

(Abstract)

V. George Mathew

Holigrative Psychology Institute, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 583

Copyright reserved 2004

 

["Attention Please. Most of the text in the previous abstract is retained in this revision. There have been no deletions in this revision but some additions only. I have put the new text in BLUE color so that old readers can identify what has been added." -- Webmaster]

Psychology is the study of consciousness, mind and behavior. Holigrative Psychology (Mathew, 1997) is a Humanistically oriented system of Psychology which combines modern Psychology with Parapsychology and Psychology of Consciousness as well as ancient Oriental Psychology. Holigrative Psychology represents a naturalistic, humanistic and holistic approach to Psychology.

Acceptance of the holistic approach de-emphasizes specific diagnosis of a condition or specific treatment for a specific symptom or group of symptoms. In a truly holistic psychology, the emphasis is on overall life-style correction for positive overall personal growth

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The Psychologist should be primarily a person with a high degree of personal integration; knowledge and skills being of secondary importance. Admission to courses of Psychology should be based primarily on degree of Stability (personal integration) of candidates. Training in Psychology should emphasize personal growth of students more than information and skills. Evaluation of courses also should be mainly in terms of degree of integration achieved.

Methods of Holigrative Psychology

Holigrative Psychology uses the hypothetico-deductive method. It considers blind inductive empiricism often involving dubiously defined variables or testing the obvious, wasteful and unproductive. The following steps are recommended:

1. Development of a comprehensive intuitive, insightful and interconnected theory capable of understanding and explaining all empirical observations and findings. Meaningful hypotheses and variables can be derived only from a meaningful theory.
2. Heuristic study of all available related literature (academic as well as popular) from all disciplines for revising and elaborating the theory.
3. Effective, descriptive and insightful communication (writing) so that the reader gets experiential conviction of the validity of the theory.
4. Discussion of theory and hypotheses by Psychologists for elaborating the theory, formulation of hypotheses and deducing theorems.
5. Empirical testing of only crucial theorems.
6. Revising the hypotheses and theory when necessitated by empirical findings. It is important to clearly differentiate those parts of a theory which have received empirical confirmation and other parts which continue to be speculative.

Primacy of Consciousness and Mind

Western perspective starts from the external material reality while the Oriental approach regards consciousness as the base and material reality as an experience in consciousness.

Reality Is a Continuum Extending From the Absolute

Reality is a continuum extending from the absolute pure consciousness (beyond time and space) to the gross physical plane. This distance can be divided into several planes, like physical, astral, causal, etc. Ordinarily a man is fully aware only of his gross physical body, but his personality extends to all planes. The notion of mind derives from our subtle awareness of those aspects of personality which are in the subtler planes. Here the term awareness is used in a relative sense as awareness of something; consciousness is awareness of awareness or pure awareness.

Mind can be conceived as a band of vibrations (in consciousness). Ordinarily, this has a main (average) vibration and a number of smaller constituent vibrations. This can be understood in analogy with the speaking voice of a person which has an average frequency band with a number of sub-frequencies giving it a uniqueness.

The Principle Of Sympathetic Vibrations

It is a well-known fact that when two strings are tuned alike, when one is sounded, the other also vibrates and produces a sound. Similarly the mind is able to access information which goes with, is contained by or is associated with a similar vibration.

BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES

SENSATION

It was the philosopher Henri Bergson who proposed the theory that sense organs perform a limiting function. Theoretically, the mind can access any information directly (by intuitive, extrasensory means) from the Universe regardless of space and time by altering its own frequency and tuning in, without the intermediacy of the senses. This is what has been called direct knowledge (Aparoksha Jnana) in the Vedas. This is possible because all, including the mind, are aspects of the same reality which is consciousness. Therefore knowing anything external is also a kind of self-knowledge. Sensing through the sense organs is indirect knowledge (Paroksha Jnana). However, when we see a cat, we are not seeing nervous changes in the Occipital area of the brain, but we are seeing a cat which is a reality in the mental plane of consciousness. Therefore, even in sensory inform, the essential content of sensation is extra-sensory. Sense organs and the nervous system including the brain screen out all other sensations and permit only those sensations corresponding to the stimuli presented to the sense organs to enter the mind. In order to deal with the immediate physical environment and protect the body, the sense organs and the nervous system have evolved to select and limit our sensations to those corresponding to the incoming nervous stimulation. As an individual’s identification and level of functioning shifts from the gross to the subtle, he can have more direct contact with mental reality and experience extra-sensory paranormal perceptions.

 

PERCEPTION AND MEMORY

Perception results from organizing, interpreting and adding meaning to the raw sensations. This is done on the basis of the relevant "apperceptive mass" from memory. In other words, perception involves comparison and contrast with similar sensations in memory.

The idea that memory is in the non-physical, mental Plane and that brain is only a receiving station is very old. Theosophists have popularized the concept of Akashik records which is the storehouse of all memory. McDougall proposed the notion of "group mind" which is shared by members of a group. Jung proposed a theory of collective unconscious. Parapsychologists have theories about "collective psychism" which hypothesize memory shared by members of a species. For example, the spider learns to weave a web by accessing the necessary information from the collective spider mind. Individual minds have been compared to waves in the ocean of consciousness. Recently, Rupert Sheldrake (1988), a biologist, has proposed a theory of formative causation according to which animals having a similar bodily form access information from collective memory by morphic resonance. Memory in not in the brain, it is evoked through resonance from the mental plane, again, the brain being only an instrument for the purpose.

There is certainly a correspondence between the mind and the body, particularly at birth, generally. But there are exceptional situations where the mind can function independent of the body and though every change in the mind has an effect on the body, the correspondence is not one to one. Also mind has a primacy over the body, as mind is more close to consciousness than body. Mind can change rapidly while the body presumably takes time to change.

Therefore the position taken here is that similarity of mind and state of mind is more directly involved in resonance than similarity of bodily form. Extending this theory to perception, we arrive at the notion that we perceive things in relation to the collective memories our mind accesses when we experience a sensation. Our minds are presumably similar to the minds of our ancestors in terms of similarity in vibration. Therefore we perceive an object in terms of the experiences of our ancestors with that object or more precisely, the perception of similar objects evoked in our ancestors.

For example, when we see red color, we sense danger. This is presumably because of the association of this color with blood, accident and danger in our ancestral experience. Similarly green color gives us a feeling of security and pleasantness because green color is associated with trees and plants which again are connected with food, water and the like essential for survival. Ancestral experiences are most important when we see an object for the first time. When we see an object for a second time, we access our own previous experiences with that object and see it in the light of our previous experience. In other words, we perceive any stimulus through our own previous experience as well as through the collective experience of our ancestors.

An ordinary human being cannot perceive anything raw, or as it really is. If that object is very new and was never seen by any human subject, still he will see it in terms of objects similar in human experience. If no similar objects came in human experience, he will see it in terms of his near animal ancestors closest to him in evolutionary history, nearest to his mental vibrations, who experienced a very similar object or situation. Paths of vibration similarity go down along familial, communal, racial and evolutionary lines. At any point of time, the diverse memories and action tendencies accessed by the person are integrated and the person functions in a unified manner. As an individual’s mind changes, the kind of memories or experiences it accesses or emphasizes also undergoes corresponding changes.

A newborn calf is not surprised at being born. It is almost like some in-built familiar expectancy fulfilled. It is happy to be born. It readily senses and perceives stimuli, makes appropriate responses, gets up, walks, runs and seeks its mother, and drinks milk. Instinctual mechanisms are not in the brain; they are accessed through the principle of sympathetic vibration from a storehouse of similar vibrations. A human child, within a couple of years of life, masters the complex task of language acquisition only because of the accumulated experience of ancestors. If all human beings at all times spoke the same language, a baby might have spontaneously spoken that language, as most birds spontaneously produce their typical bird call. But since human beings spoke different languages at different times and even now speak different languages, what the baby accesses is readiness to learn any language which it hears. Presumably the baby will find it easier to learn a language spoken by people having a mental vibration similar to his own either in the present or in the past. An animal at any new situation is likely to behave like its ancestors have effectively behaved in the past. At each age level now known as critical or sensitivity periods, depending on ancestral experiences, the animal shows expectancies (search images) and readiness to acquire certain connections called imprinting. According to this theory if the species typical experience changes over several generations, the critical periods also will change. For example, now human beings reach puberty around the age of 12; but if the age at marriage is made twenty for several generations, onset of puberty may slowly get shifted to 20.

Chromosomes and genes are structures in the body corresponding to similar structures at the subtler levels mediating transmission of access to ancestral experiences. The 46 chromosomes in the human cell correspond to a certain "band width" of the human mind. The fact that 23 chromosomes come from the father and other 23 from the mother probably means that we do not have equal access to all our ancestral experiences. Our mental vibration is determined by a 50% selection of vibrations from each parent. Chromosomal abnormalities do influence behavior as they form part of the physical level counterpart of the total accessing mechanism which we call the mind.

Inheritance is both a general predisposition as well as specific responses to specific overall situations or fields of experience. From the holistic point of view, any experience or response made by an individual influences his personality as a whole and this in turn influences his offsprings. For example, if a man commits a murder at a particular age, this changes his whole personality and this change in some way influences the personality of a son born to him. If his son’s personality does not change much from the personality of his father, when he reaches the particular age when his father committed the murder, and he faces a very similar situation he may also feel forced to commit the murder.

 

FORMATION AND CHANGE OF PERSONALITY

Personality is the relatively enduring pattern of behavior. Responses are either inhibitory (I), excitatory (A) or free from both these limitations (S). By generalization, the responses of an individual tend to be mostly of one of these three types, or a systematic mixture of these three. Thus, the personality of an individual can be broadly described in terms of the three components.

Right from birth our mental vibrations change as a result of experience. This in turn is transmitted on to our children also. Transmission of acquired characteristics has been a bone of contention among biologists. Before Darwin proposed evolution by natural selection, the Lamarckian theory of transmission of acquired characteristics was widely accepted. A substantial amount of experimental evidence is available in support. McDougall, at the beginning of the twentieth century, demonstrated that successive generations of houseflies could be taught the same task with progressive ease. Similar well-controlled experiments conducted later on have verified the same hypothesis across several species. According to this view, heredity is experience cumulated over several generations. Heredity and environment are thus continuous.

There is also some evidence showing that at the physical level itself structures change as a result of experience. For example, the observation of "jumping genes" is a verification that genes change position altering the expression of characteristics. However, many biologists are reluctant to accept the idea that experience causes genetic change because there is no known mechanism by which experience can alter germ cells. However, this is no issue at all for Parapsychologists; there is sufficient experimental evidence for psychokinesis - the mind on matter effect. Just as changes at the physical level change the mind, mental changes make for alterations in the physique at micro as well as macro levels.

Experiences are held together in memory in terms of their similarity of vibration, or the common vibration in which they occur. There is considerable experimental evidence showing that people tend to remember things more in the same situation or circumstance in which they had the original learning or experience. For example, if you memorize something at a particular place, drinking coffee, you are likely to recall more of what you learned at the same place (recreated as much as possible as before), again drinking coffee. If you undergo intense experiences changing your vibrational structure, you may experience considerable amnesia for earlier events. There is what is known as state specific learning.

Cases are on record where a person has two personalities each surfacing alternately. In one case, each of the two personalities had a characteristic heart rate, allergy, visual acuity and brain-wave pattern and a dog could sense which personality was operating and react accordingly. Acquired characteristics (both adaptive and maladaptive) and mentality are passed on to offsprings. The child may show some effect of it in terms of mentality from birth onwards but may access it in a more characteristic expressed form at an age where the parents acquired it. It is common observation that often a morbidity generated by the parent and transferred on to a child may produce more distress in the child than in the parent because the child is influenced by it from an early age. For example, alcoholism. If the grand parents and parents were alcoholics, the child may show characteristic mental deviations (lack of self-control, feeling of worthlessness) right from childhood and unless special attention is given to the personal growth of the child involving compensatory good behavior, leading to change in the vibrational level, he is likely to start drinking at the age at which his predecessors started drinking, as a squirrel goes up a tree, when it is old enough to do so. Even a simple act, if repeated by descendants at a certain definite age in every generation, makes for a cumulative change in temperament across generations and that act itself tends to get a compulsive power at that age in descendants. The effect, however, can be completely nullified by changing the vibrational quality of the descendant of the last generation by exposing him to a different set of experiences right from infancy.

Every action has a reaction. Everything we do makes for an alteration of our mind. Yoga is an attempt to degrossify, and purify the vibrations. Karma yoga is based on the principle that selfish actions increase our insecurity and increase identification with the gross level while non-selfish and detached actions make for subtle vibrations. Devotion purifies emotions and removes fear which ties one to the gross and replaces it by love thereby releasing the bondage to the limited self. Mind control and meditation also still the mind thereby taking one gradually to pure consciousness. Jnana Yoga is cultivation of awareness through insight, which makes for self-transformation of mental vibration. One who has reached subtler levels of consciousness can at will tune his own mind and access any information or make any alteration at the physical level.

At any point of time, an individual accesses ancestral experiences in line with his mental quality or vibrations. As his mentality changes, the kind of ancestral experience he accesses also changes. The more a person’s mind carries high frequency vibrations, the more he is a victim of instincts. If his mind becomes relatively pure, then he ceases to be a victim of ancestral experiences or he becomes free from instinctual pressures.

QUALITIES OF MIND

Ancient Indian thought, particularly Sankhya Yoga, speaks of three qualities (gunas) in all nature: Inertia (Thamas), Activation (Rajas) and Stability (Sathwa). An individual’s mind also can be described and differentiated from minds of other people in terms of the extent to which it has these three components.

No doubt, there are contrasted brain processes going parallel with the contrasted behavioral inhibition (resulting from fear) in Inertia and behavioral excitation (resulting from compensatory aggressiveness) in Activation. Stability (freedom from both fear as well as need for compensatory aggression) possibly involves brain transcendence through quiescence. Fear is responsible for dissociation, rigidity, defensive ego and compensatory desires. Freedom from fear leads to flexibility, spontaneity and unitiveness which is the same as self-control or will. In terms of the analogy of vibrations, ‘I’ may be regarded as a band of consciousness constituted by a few independent weak vibrations of high frequency, ‘A’ one strong predominant medium frequency vibration and ‘S’ several well integrated weak low frequency vibrations. S involves greater sensitivity (similar to Weber-Fechner law which postulates greater differential sensitivity at lower levels of sensation), awareness, flexibility and control). Inertia is compulsive Thamas, Activation is compulsive Rajas and S is relative absence of I as well as A. Pure S or SS (Gunatheetha state) is the absence of any particular vibration at all. An SS individual, can at will create any vibration in his mind and usually, when he functions in the relative plane, creates a network of low frequency vibrations.

‘S’ generally involves maximum capacity with minimum of desire, dependence or involvement (in the matter of sex or any other activity or work). I involves minimum capacity with wishful thinking. ‘A’ is medium capacity with maximum desire, egoistic effort or indulgence. According to the Sankhya concept, the sum of the three qualities is always a constant; differences are in terms of the relative strengths of the three components. The IAS Rating Scale (Mathew, 1995) measures the relative predominance of these three characteristics in an individual.

1. I: Inertia

Root fear (death or survival anxiety, existential insecurity) at this level or type of personality is accompanied by defensive non-awareness or inhibition. Inertia is introverted instability or proneness to develop introverted type of maladjustment under stress.

This is characterized by lethargy, laziness, fear, inhibition, anxiety, shallowness of emotions, low initiative, low self-confidence, low self-respect, etc. People having a large degree of I lack energy; they are slow, late, not venturing, shy, withdrawn, weak-willed, suggestible, submissive, masochistic, intropunitive, and so on. They are unable to refuse, assert or argue individually; but are collectivistic and show hysteric collective aggression. They show blind conformity and inability to mix with strangers. They do not have strong emotional ties. The strong emotion they show is fear. They believe in fate and luck (external locus of control) and are superstitious. They have least awareness and show poor moral control and they have simple sensuous values only. Mentality characterized by high I is most susceptible to dissociation, as the vibrations are not well integrated by the unitive overall awareness process. Ordinarily, each constituent vibration is modified by the general vibrational quality of the mind and each new experience modifies the total vibrational quality a little bit. The person with high I has a loosely structured mind and it may have more than one relatively independent component. He has least control of his own mind and therefore may function like different persons (multiple personality) in different situations with different patterns of memory and action tendencies. He is also capable of having circumscribed amnesia for events.

1. A: Activation

This is characterized by restless overactivity, uncontrolled energy, high drive, and inability to remain alone or silent. Activation is extraverted instability or proneness to develop extraverted types of maladjustment under stress. Persons having high A are compulsive mixers, impatient, hasty, risk taking, rash, adventurous, analytical, efficient in planning practical things for the future, competitive, go-getting, assertive, aggressive, maniacal, proud, egoistic, rebellious, dominant, individualistic, greedy, possessive, dogmatic, etc. They show considerable sportsman spirit. They recognize, admire and encourage excellence in others, and allow others to keep the benefits and earnings of rightful effort. Their predominant emotions are anger and passionate, possessive love. They often show intense ambivalence. They have a high degree of practical intelligence and mechanical ability. They show organizational abilities and strong group identifications. They show inability to be restful. They value power, are autocratic, need rigid external moral control, have moral conflicts, and so on. They are ready to die to defend their honor or the group. They believe in self-effort and freedom of the will (internal locus of control). They are usually struggling all the time and have mental conflicts. They are sadistic or extra-punitive; they have good anticipation and awareness of material things. The two sub-types of ‘A’ are the physically aggressive type (manifested often as interest in sports or war) and the hyperintellectual type (showing interest in science and technology).

The ‘A’ type person has more awareness (of physical, practical things) than the pure ‘I’ type person but less than that of pure ‘S’ type. His mind has more integration than the ‘I’ type. However, he also experiences some dissociative tendencies like often losing temper or getting into mood swings altering the mode of functioning; but he will have at least some awareness or memory of his experiences when he changes the mode of functioning.

1. S: Stability

Stability is characterized by high self-awareness, sensitivity, freedom, flexibility and control. Stability is stress tolerance and freedom from fear and maladjustment tendencies.

People having a high degree of ‘S’ are present-centered, egoless and non-conventional. S is action with Sakshibhava (witness mode as against Karthrubhava or egoistic doership mode) and deterministic acceptance of events.

Persons having a high degree of S can be fast or slow, can work or rest as they choose or as the situation demands. They can be very sociable or be alone with equal ease. They can assert if they want to. They show meta-motivation and are capable of detached action. They are wise, mature and intuitive. They are creative, self-actualizing, holistic, balanced, even-tempered and dispassionate. They are capable of the deepest (at the same time detached) emotion and their predominant emotion is altruistic love or compassion. They are relaxed, peaceful, self-sufficient, democratic, fair, unselfish, tolerant, altruistic, transcending, and broad-minded. They have a natural moral sense based on mature love. Their autonomy operates within their awareness of inherent morality. They believe in the value of self-effort, which results from will, which in turn is regarded as part of the pre-determined chain of events in nature. They are impunitive. The two sub-types are artistic and philosophical.

The pure S type person has a very well integrated personality. He may be able to function differently in different situations, but with full control, awareness and memory. From the holistic point of view, cognitive (intellectual), affective (emotional) and volitional (will) capacities are mutually dependent and a Stable person has all these potentialities though the actual skills (ex. mechanical ability or musical talent) he has depend on specific ancestral experiences as well as practical training. Usually high S persons find more satisfaction in actualizing their artistic or philosophical potentialities than in exercising practical skills in dealing with material things.

Stability is Sakshibhava (witness-mode with deterministic and mature acceptance of event sequences), as different from egoistic action with Karthrubhava. Both Inertia and Activation involve Karthrubhava, Inertia characterized by diffidence and Activation by compensatory explosive aggressiveness and impulsivity.

Meaningfulness of IAS Trait Concepts

The concept of introversion-extraversion in modern Psychology as well as the Thriguna theory of Sankhya does not take into consideration the internal motive for external behavior. Thamas is inactivity and introversion is withdrawal and inactivity. Rajas is activity and extraversion is externally observed activity as well as mixing. Some psychologists consider extraversion and introversion as mere preferences for activity or inactivity.

A psychologically and mathematically meaningful concept does not mix unrelated things. Inertia is non-activity because of inability to mix. A person who can easily mix if he wants to, but does not mix because of mere preference is considered Stable. Similarly only a person who mixes or is active out of dependence on the group or a compulsive need for activity is considered Activated, a person who can mix or not mix, act or not act with equal ease is considered Stable.

FORMATION AND DISSOLUTION OF MIND

The mind is formed as result of the formation of the three qualities I,A and S. Gradual dissolution of the three qualities through personality change results in pure consciousness.

The Poorna Chakra (Fig.1) gives a model of the formation and dissolution of mind including both the materialization phase and the spiritualisation phase.

Fig. 1. POORNA CHAKRA

Pure consciousness or the pure field (Picture 0) is the absolute state and it forms the basis of all relative experience. Therefore it is given at the centre also. The pure field is also the field of all possibilities. Accessing the pure field makes paranormal intervention possible. Individual consciousness (ego) or experience of the separate limited self (P. 1) is a superimposition on the pure field. The first quality to be formed is Inertia (I) (P. 2). The second quality to be formed is Activation (A) (P. 3). The position of a person on each of these two the can be marked on two axes. Stability (S) is the central point and this can be obtained by subtraction of the other two from a constant. Experiencing a set of characteristics of personality and identification with it, attachment to it and involvement with it produce feelings of limitation which induce fear of death as well as compensatory desire for unlimitedness (P. 4). Desire leads to dynamic effort and action (P. 5). Material aggrandisements only increase the desire and consequent struggle, making the person all the more restless and confused (P. 6). Finally the person reaches the point of rebirth or conversion from materialism to spiritualism (P. 7). The Materialism - Spiritualism Scale (Mathew, 1980) can be used to measure a person’s materialistic Vs. spiritualistic orientation.

The momentum of materialistic desire and action cannot be nullified all on a sudden, but its direction gets reversed, the person directing his activation into spiritual quest (P. 8). Spiritual pursuits gradually reduce the confusion and the person gets some insight into his personality and condition (P. 9). Further personal growth leads to cessation of compulsive spiritual activities, but spiritual desires remain (P. 10). With further evolution, even spiritual desires disappear and the person becomes aware of his root personality (P. 11). Then he gradually loses A or the aggressive component of his personality (P. 12). This is frequently referred to as the aesthetic state. At last, with more spiritual awareness, he loses the I component also, but retaining the feeling of a separate limited self (P. 13). Further purification of awareness leads him back to the pure field (P. 0).

The aesthetic state of consciousness is associated with nullification of Activation (aggressiveness, masculinity). This is the reason why the aesthetic disposition is often accompanied by femininity, sex-role interchangeability, androgyny, unisex temperament, and the like. This may also, under some situations create sex-role confusion or lead to maladjustment or homosexuality. Absence of rigidity or dogmatism and the experiential orientation also make people with a moderate degree of S vulnerable to addictions (like alcoholism) which suppress the brain and deautomatise providing temporary release from instinctuality. These drugs in the long run damage the system. People with a very high degree of S do not need these drugs for achieving transcendence. Beauty is close to truth because the aesthetic state comes close to pure consciousness, the absolute basis for all relative experience. Art also becomes a channel for the release of surplus energies resulting from unfinished sequences in a person who has partially transcended instincts and instinctual sequences. The aesthetic experience is also associated with the experience of increase of integration resulting from ego dissolution. Perceptions which reduce fear and increase security (now or in ancestral experience) and therefore make for real or symbolic integration or change towards purity of consciousness produce aesthetic feelings.

THE EGO

Identification with the limited self activates the self-processes of self-importance, self-value and self-centeredness. All mental processes (like sensation, perception and memory) operate through this exaggerated picture of self (often called the ego). The ego identifies with the body at the conscious level; but the identification extends to all the subtle levels. All notion of external value derives from the basic self-value. Reality is experienced only when this personal equation is nullified through the dissolution of the ego. The Figure 2 illustrates the different planes.

Fig. 2. SELF-PROCESSES ACROSS DIFFERENT PLANES

S is basically harmony across the different planes. I & A represent two types of disharmony. An individual is an apparent continuous projection across all the planes. Any disharmony increases rigidification. S increases flexibility of the point of operation across the planes. When a person is fully harmonized he can consciously and voluntarily shift the point operation to any desired plane. Separate individuality increases as we proceed from pure consciousness towards the physical plane. Re-harmonization involves getting harmonized with the group mind, species consciousness, etc., step by step.

HOLISTIC NATURE OF PERSONALITY

Though from the point of view of measurement, we speak of cognition, emotion and motivation as separate processes and intelligence, emotional stability and self-control as independent qualities, from the holistic point of view, all good qualities go together. Empirical studies also generally report a positive association among positive qualities. Intelligence is the way an emotionally stable person solves problems. Self-control is the way an emotionally stable person deals with himself. Many people do not like this stand because then they have to face the easily detectable unpleasant truth that they are less than perfect. On the other hand, acceptance of the specificity theory takes away the responsibility for self-improvement and an overall assessment of self.

Western personality theorists accept generality to varying degrees. Behaviorists accept habit level and a few of them accept the primary trait level also. British Psychologists go up one more step and speak of the dimensional level or type level.

Most psychologists in the West speak of four independent dimensions: intelligence, extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. However, there is considerable evidence linking emotional factors like freedom from inhibitions with efficiency of intellectual functioning. Even physical factors like general health, sensory acuities, and reaction speed have been found significantly related to intelligence. There is a tendency for all positive qualities to be positively correlated. Extraversion emerges as a separate factor in Western studies only because extraversion is measured by questionnaires in which questions measure what is externally observed instead of the reason for such external behavior. In other words these questionnaires do not differentiate between a person who mixes with others or is active because of free choice and a person who does the same thing compulsively because of inability to rest or be alone. When properly measured in terms of the initiating root personality, extraversion ceases to be an independent dimension. Therefore we are justified in speaking of a holistic level single factor of personality namely Stability. At the dimensional level there are two factors I and A (here named in terms of the negative pole).

An overall general factor of personality in terms of Instability-Stability does not preclude the possibility of more detailed measurement at lower levels. For example, at the second level, Instability can be measured in terms of I and A. Again according to the hierarchical model, we can go further down and measure the detailed differences across several lower level constructs in the hierarchical organization or structure of personality. The lower we go in the hierarchy, greater will be the number of constructs and greater will be their intercorrelations, provided the variables are pure and not a mixture of unrelated things. Differences in specific experiences make for differences in positions on different traits of personality, while generalizations make for integration. Differences on positions on traits down the hierarchy are likely to be largest in the case of I type persons and least in the case of people with a high degree of S. In other words, the degree of scatter itself can be considered a measure of instability.

 

THE HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF PERSONALITY ORGANISATION

Fig.3 Hierarchical model of Personality organization

The hierarchical model of personality organization has been there for long time in Western Psychology, but they do not conceive a single holistic level factor at the top. In Holigrative Psychology, there is a single holistic level factor which includes all desirable characteristics. All desirable characteristics go together and show a positive correlation. This factor represents Integration and is termed Stability. At the next lower level (type level) there are two factors: Inertia and Activation. These two factors have been named using the negative poles; Stability is the absence of Inertia and Activation. The factors at the still lower levels have not been named.

The different levels of the hierarchy probably can be described using cognitive level, affective or conative level concepts. The cognitive level components for example can be, starting with the holistic level: Jnana, Wisdom, Knowledge, Information and Observation.

 

MOTIVATION AND EMOTION

Identification with, attachment to and ego-involvement with the limited self produces fear of death. At the I level, the main emotion is this fear, which is largely inhibited through non-awareness. The I person has low self-confidence and his wishes are not very intense and he is not willing take risks for the sake of actualizing

his wishes. His wishes very often remain at the immature daydream level. He is totally dependent on his immediate group. His ingroup and outgroup perceptions are rigid. His sexual responses are occasional and situationally induced. High I people lack the sportsman spirit; they collectively pull down anybody who does not conform, tries to get ahead or excel.

At the A level, a part of the root fear gets transformed into aggressiveness, manifesting as the emotion of anger, intense possessiveness, etc. The A person has a high degree of linear intelligence, determination and physical courage to work towards attainment of his practical goals. He is individualistic and competitive but at the same time has a need for differential identification; but his ingroups and outgroups are multiple (caste, religion, locality, nation) and to some extent flexible. The main source of motivation for the high A person is insecurity and need for compensatory self-aggrandisement. He is generally in a state of high drive. Sex is part aggression. At the physiological level, centres for sex and aggression are close together; stimulation of one leads to stimulation of the other. Fear and compensatory aggression increase sexual drive. Need for reproduction is intensely felt when there is a threat to one's own existence (ex. rape during wartime). Sex is a catastrophic reaction. Many plants flower when there is a sudden threat to survival conditions. Also, at the social level, across several species, there is a tendency for animals brought up together to avoid copulation with each other. In human societies also, marriage is between two persons belonging to mid-way groups; not the same extreme ingroup or extreme outgroups. The territorial phase of the reproductive sequence involves competition. Therefore sexual drive is highest for A people. They are highly protective of women belonging to their own family (or ingroup), but they cannot have sex with them (because sex is part aggression). There seems to be an inverse relationship between drive level and performance. Therefore the sexual performance of A people need not be the best (like alcohol increasing drive and reducing performance) because fear also inhibits performance. High A people have the quality of sportsmanship. They generally play fair and respect the opponent and respect property rights of others.

The high S person has to some extent got over his root identification with the limited self (intuitively) and therefore has no great fear. His main emotion is selfless love. He identifies more with "all" (all human beings, animals, etc.) than with specific groups. His motivation stems largely from compassion and the joy of doing something rather than reduction of fear. He is self-sufficient and shows meta-motivation. His sexual capacity may be high, but he is also capable of transcending the instinct to the extent to which he has overcome root fear and compensatory aggressiveness. He is sensitive to subtle influences and experiences a variety of subtle but deep emotions including the aesthetic.

LEARNING

Any information (fact, connection, association or observed relationship) is of possible survival value. Therefore any act of learning whether conscious or subliminal, involves reduction of fear and therefore is drive reducing. The main type of learning in the case of people with a high degree of I is contiguity learning. This type of learning is found in A people also because they still have the root fear though a portion of it has been transformed into aggression. This continues in the case of high S people also, because they too have a minimum of the basic fear so long as they continue to exist in the body.

Learning essentially is emphasizing a connection (between stimuli and responses) in mind. What one perceives as important is emphasized and therefore learned. Heredity is learning accumulated across generations.

Instrumental type learning, or learning by positive reinforcement is mainly applicable in the case of high A people who have strong aggressive drives.

High S people have the highest degree of awareness and control and the p (postponement) factor of intelligence associated with vicarious trial and error. They are most capable of cognitive learning single trial learning, or learning by insight. They resort to previous mechanisms of learning only when situational factors do not allow cognitive processing. They learn by increase of positive affect rather than reduction of negative drives.

INTELLIGENCE

High I people have least intelligence and creativity. Their behavior is in line with inherited instinctual mechanisms. They are least capable of abstraction or metaphysical speculations.

People with a high degree of A have very good practical intelligence. They are efficient in quickly solving practical physical and social problems. They are creative in problem solving in material things and organizational matters. They are good at science and technology. High S people have high flexibility and are intuitive. They have artistic and philosophical creativity. They can, if they want to, use their intelligence in solving practical problems also.

There is an inverted U relationship between global capacity on the one hand and desire or competitiveness on the other hand. At the lowest level of capacity, desire/competitiveness is also low. This is the I position. At moderate levels of capacity there is highest desire/competition. The moderate level of capacity makes the person have enough confidence to compete. This is the A level. The highest level of capacity (S) makes the person aware of the wastefulness of desire/competition, and the person shows self-sufficiency.

VALUES & CONCEPT OF NORMALITY

The main I value is conformity to group norms and sensuous pleasures. Power and money are valued in A societies. Personal qualities like courage, sacrifice for the group, etc. are also valued. S societies value qualities of mind like artistic ability, philosophical wisdom and spiritual qualities. Conformity is considered normal in I societies, competitiveness is normal in A societies and selfless creativity is normal in S societies.

MORALITY, RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

Morality is the result of intuitive awareness of natural instinctive sequences of behavior, modified by current social norms.

As the “I” type of person has least awareness, his morality consists largely of conformity to group norms and standards. The main motivating factor is punishment and ostracism. The “A” type of person is torn between the need of selfish individualistic gain, pressure for conforming to the group and inherent species moral code (of which he has some awareness). The “S” type of person has a clear notion of inherent species code in form of a conscience which is his main guiding principle, though he may make a compromise with immediate group norm and his own individual needs. To a high ”S” person whatever increases attachment to the gross level and gross body and the limited separate self is unethical and whatever loosens up this tie-up, opening oneself to the other extreme of unitive pure consciousness is moral.

In “I” type collectivistic societies, God is a master who should be propitiated through sensuous things like food, offerings and sacrifices so that he is pleased and gives boons. In “I” societies religious rituals are noisy and involve violent orgiastic behavior. In societies where people have too much of “A”, God is an ego projection. God is pleased by flattery. " A " type people also project their groupism and need for differential competitive identification in religion. You have to pay allegiance to `your' god pledging loyalty to him, denying other gods or religions. For “A” persons religion is largely a perpetual conflict between egoism & surrender, guilt & pride and competition & love.   Religion may be ritualized or intellectualized in “A” societies.   Religion may become an obsessive concern and religious identification plays a role in intergroup conflicts in “A” societies..

In Stable groups, God is seen as elevation of mind, unity, consciousness, transcendence or love, encompassing all.   In high “S” cultures, there is little ceremonicity or occultism.  People live in harmony with themselves and all nature.  They may be very active and productive in the world and worldly things, at the same time detached.   The main characteristic of high “S” is ease of cutting oneself from the relative plane and easy transcendence.   High “S” cultures tend to be spiritual and not religious.

SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Social Interaction

The social behavior of I groups is governed by tradition and there is no great deal of initiative involved. High A people on the other hand are aggressive mixers. They are adventurous and risk taking and good at organizing groups. Therefore they take initiative and interact with all kinds of persons for a variety of purposes. High S people, on the other hand have awareness of the effect of interactions with different persons in different situations on themselves and therefore are selective and inclined to limit their acquaintances to a few close friends.

Social Control

Social Control and Politics

In ‘I’ groups social control is effected by tradition and current group norms. As people lack awareness and lack innate moral sense, external control through fear induced by superstitious beliefs is required. However, as people in general blindly conform, there is no need of effort in enforcing rules. The situation is largely one of laissez-faire. Every high ‘I’ group has its own method of social control involving ostracising offenders or a system of minor punishments. Group norms may deviate from the species code in different ways depending on local peculiarities and history, but in general, they tend to conform to species experience. High I individuals are highly dependent on the group. They crave attention and approval by others. They lack inner control and therefore when the external control system which controls their behavior through fear is absent, their behavior tends to break down.   Leaders of high ‘I’ societies are generally selfish and pleasure oriented and try to exploit the group for their own personal benefit.

Highly Activated societies, on the other hand, require strong authoritarian rule and strict enforcement of rules with a system involving harsh punishments and rewards, for the maintenance of law and order, because people are individualistic. These groups are also subject to rapid social change resulting from innovations as people are enterprising and open to experimentation.  High ‘A’ leaders increase intra-group cohesion by competition with rival groups.  Ideologies also may play a role in increasing group cohesion.  Highly competitive elections and the multi-party system have evolved in ‘A’ societies.

‘S’ societies tend to be democratic as people are stable and cooperative and behave naturally in accordance with the species norm of which they are intuitively aware and there is no great need of external social control. ‘S’ societies evolve through the development of culture in terms of art and philosophy.   ‘S’ leaders do not care for personal aggrandisement and they do not exploit the group for their own pomp.  Usually the most enlightened person is elected or nominated unanimously as the leader, administrator or king.

Cultural Interaction

When different societies interact, by sympathetic vibration and conscious imitation, personality of individuals change. When I and A groups interact, people of the I group generally lose their social control because people discard the belief system instrumental in maintaining law and order and the administration is not sufficiently strong enough to deal with the newly acquired individuality of persons. I groups usually get enslaved by the A groups. I groups also start blindly imitating the A groups. When A and S groups interact, S groups lose at first, because they are not aggressive enough to fight and they are not prepared. But in the long run, S groups come back to power, directly or indirectly, usually using their intellectual capacities to control the high A groups.

Social Change

I societies tend to be static while A societies develop materialistically. S societies evolve mainly in terms of increased harmony and development of mental and spiritual qualities.

People should be made aware of their personality and the factors shaping their personality so that they will gradually feel motivated to improve their behavior.

FACTORS AFFECTING PERSONALITY

Individuals are born with a certain personality pattern (IAS) as starting point, which gradually undergoes change as a result of interaction with the environment. Environmental factors or influences can be broadly divided into physical, social and psychological.

1. PHYSICAL FACTORS
2. The Physical Setting

Instinctual responses are associated with a natural environment in which these responses were reinforced across countless generations and therefore are properly elicited only in these natural settings. Man's natural environment involves nearness to the forest and natural water resources like rivers and ponds. Ethologists have brought in the concepts of behavior needs which are related to a type of environment and behavior starvation. For example, an animal has not only need for one type of food, but also a need to use certain behavior acts to procure that food. A polar bear in the wild catches fish from the sea. In captivity, the bear will eat fish served in a plate. Its need for food is satisfied, but it is deprived of the behavioral need to catch fish and so it will start showing compulsive movements associated with catching fish from water. Many human hallucinations and dream symbols are search images associated with unachieved instinctual targets and many compulsions and ceremonies are expressions of frustrated behavioral needs. In artificial urban settings instinctual expression breaks down or become perverted. In extremely artificial settings, man's behavior becomes like that of fish out of water.

1. Climate

Each type of deviation from the ideal often produces different types of departures from the ideal mentality. In too hot a climate, it is unpleasant to do hard work because of perspiration and overheating of the body. Therefore in the tropics people tend to develop I and become lethargic. They also tend to have thin bodies because fatness also produces overheating.

In places which are too cold, people develop the habit of hard work to generate body heat. Idling makes one freeze. Also in the cold regions of the earth people have to think ahead and prepare warm clothes and store firewood and food for winter, have to organize themselves for hunting when food is scarce and have to compete individually for survival. Therefore people there develop Activation. In places with a moderate climate, people tend to develop a Stable temperament.

1. Food

Foodstuffs have been classified as producing one of the three qualities. Here it is suggested that eating too much of cooked food, particularly cereals, produces Inertia, and eating non- vegetarian and highly spicy food produces Activation while the best food for Stability is a vegetarian diet having a large proportion of raw food including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and sprouted seeds taken in moderate quantity. Meat eating produces aggressiveness perhaps because our ancestors had to aggressively act to kill animals for food, and therefore non-vegetarian food accesses aggressiveness.

1. Exercise

Those who live in the right natural environment automatically get the required exercise because they have to use their body in cultivating the land, cutting firewood, fetching water, collecting produce and so on. Too little exercise produces Inertia, and too much exertion leads to Activation while moderate exercise is required for Stability. Many psychological problems in modern times result from too little exercise, overexertion or frequent oscillation between too little and too much exertion.

2. SOCIAL FACTORS
3. Population density

Each animal has its own pattern of social behavior. Animals of colonial species maintain an optimum colony size. When the colony size increases beyond the tolerable limits, the colony divides into two and if this does not happen, there is population stress, violence and behavioral dysfunction. Suicidal tendencies are noted under overpopulated conditions even when there is no food scarcity. This may be the result of experience of the need to bring down colony size to the optimum during species evolution. Crime and suicide rates have been found to increase with urbanization even in the case of human beings. It is hypothesized that too small a population density tends to induce Inertia, overcrowding produces Activation and an optimum size promotes Stability. The optimum size for human beings seems to be a village type situation where everybody knows everybody else by name.

1. Economic System

Poverty certainly induces Inertia, and affluence induces Activation, while the middle class is associated with Stability. Economic factor is also related to the issue of need satisfaction, that is, the extent to which diverse needs (like for example the need for privacy and need for socialization) are adequately met. Totalitarian Socialistic patterns of society have been observed to create Inertia, capitalism to induce Activation and a market economy type situation where those who make profit use the money for altruistic purposes seems to be most conducive for Stability.

1. Socio-Political Factors

There is a close similarity in personality types created by different methods of child-rearing in home situation and personality types fostered under different types of political systems.

The laissez-faire type of situation, characteristic of I groups, may lead to hysteric collective outbursts or lawless, disorderly violence (mobocracy) which is different from the organized violence in people of A type. People who get misguided to flout laws or disrespect authority and override rights of individuals through collective violence lose self-respect and tend to develop I. Autocrats are Activated type of people under whose regime also people may develop Inertia. Public sector culture characterized by bureaucratic domination also induces I. However, oppressive kinds of totalitarian rule is characteristic of A societies where people successfully organize themselves and overthrow the system through organized revolution. Competitive societies where people are encouraged to compete with each other induce A. True democracy where people are free and at the same time laws are properly enforced and authorities are respected, induces feelings of self-respect, responsibility and commitment in people and they tend to relate to each other through cooperation and develop disciplined Stability.

Women kept under severe oppression by males often show hysteric type personality characterized by high I.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
4. Personality of Associates

Mental qualities are contagious. By the principle of sympathetic vibration and by imitation, our mind absorbs the qualities of those with whom we associate. People are influenced by the company they keep. People are advised to mix with others with a great deal of Stability (Satsang). The personality of children get moulded in line with the personality of parents. The psychic field which develops when people interact is determined largely by the personality of the people involved and only to a lesser extent by the quality of their interaction. The position taken here is that personality of people and the genuineness and authentic quality of their relationships are more important in creating desirable personality changes in members than specific methods of interaction (eg. counseling techniques) that they may artificially adopt.

1. Quality of Interactions

Parents who reject children or follow the laissez-faire method of child rearing and parents who are oppressive induce Inertia in children. Parents who are punitive and encourage competition promote Activation. Parents who use the method of democratic acceptance induce self-respect and Stability in children.

Sensuous selfishness is characteristic of Inertia. Competition and power struggle are characteristic of Activation. Activation also involves passionate and possessive relationships. Detached, mature and unselfish love based on equality and friendliness is characteristic of Stability. A person's personality gets shaped according to the nature of interrelations with other people at home and outside. The nature and quality of group support the person gets from his friends plays a crucial role in determining the adjustment and personality of the person.

1. The Moral Environment

Morality refers to the code of conduct of the species evolved through the entire span of species history. One feels guilty about uttering a lie, stealing something or acting in an unfair or unjust manner because of punishments received by ancestors for similar acts.

Acting in line with current group norm, contrary to basic species code (or absolute morality) or being forced to act against one's conscience increases I, as I is defensive non-awareness. Breaking moral codes for selfish gain or for the sake of one's immediate group increases A, often associated with guilt feelings and conflicts. Acting in line with moral principles, with detachment, for the sake of `all', in an altruistic fashion, strengthens S.

Instinctual behavior often follows a sequence of behavioral acts. For example, reproductive behavior under natural settings starts with the first stage of territoriality which involves competition, test of strength, proving one's worth, getting a job, earning money and so on. Second is pairing or mate selection followed by marriage. These two stages are public. The third is courtship during which there may not be any sex act. The fourth is mating. The fifth is child-rearing. One reproductive cycle continues till the child grows up and is able to take care of itself. In human beings, life-long pairing has evolved because of the long period of growing up of children and the fact that the developmental periods of the later-borns overlap with those of the earlier ones. Conflicts occur because of several reasons. Among many mammals, for example wolves,

there is the pattern of the victor who becomes a leader, mating with all females and the others not mating at all. Such tendencies in evolutionary history may produce a tendency in people who are highly successful and come to positions of power and leadership to seek more than one mate, contrary to the more common human social practice of pairing. Sometimes the chain of behavioral acts in a sequence may get interrupted for no fault of the person himself also. For example the wife may leave the husband because she falls in love with another man, for no fault of the husband and the husband experiences interruption of the reproductive sequence.

When a person experiences an interrupted sequence or intense behavior starvation, not because of his own fault, or witnesses something shocking to his own conscience or moral sense, and he is totally unable to do anything about it, he has a traumatic experience. This produces Inertia. On the other hand, if a man does something contrary to the ethical code because of his own greed or temptations, he tends to get Activated. Acting in line with moral code increases awareness and moral sense and Stabilizes personality.

The mother-child bond is formed soon after birth. If the mother abandons the baby with somebody else everyday and goes for work, this is likely to create guilt (A) in her and distrust and feelings of worthlessness (I) in the child. There is some evidence that such children when they grow up fail to form long-standing pair relationships in or outside marriage.

MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY

The IAS Rating Scale (Mathew, 1995) has 35 sub-scales. This can be used for self-rating of personality or for "other rating" (rating the personality of another person). Rating ability is higher for people with high Stability. Therefore, the best method of measurement is "other rating" made by high S people who have sufficient acquaintance with the ratees. Self-ratings are more useful in giving people an awareness of their own personality and IAS concepts in Awareness programs for personal growth.

A short form of the IAS Rating Scale is available for use in interview situations.

Selection And Training Of Raters:-

First level selection: Using "other rating", people with high S are selected.

Training: Training consists of observing ratees for some time in real life or raters together interviewing ratees using items in the IAS rating scale (Short Form) and then making ratings.

Second level selection: Raters whose ratings show relatively high agreement with the average ratings of each ratee by all raters are finally selected.

It is recommended that average of ratings made by a minimum of five raters after direct observation or interview or both is best. If the raters do not have sufficient acquaintance with the ratees, they can be requested to observe the subjects for some time before making the ratings. If this is difficult, the raters can together interview the ratees using the items in the IAS rating scale (short form) and then make ratings.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Instincts are interactive sequences of experiences and responses (action-reaction chains) expected on the basis of ancestral experience. The main instinct is that of self-preservation and reproduction is its part. In a general sense, the whole of life can be viewed as sequences within a broad sequence based on evolutionary processes involving recapitulation of ancestral experiences. Stress is the result of arrested or interrupted sequences. Malimprinting is a special cause for suspension of sequences. Stress involves threat to life, frustration, arrest of personal growth, etc. Any change in behavioral sequences which causes suspension of sequence creates stress and tension build-up. For example the purpose of sex is maintenance of family and reproduction. The normal sequence involves two persons of opposite sexes meeting, marrying, living together and sharing reproductive behavior with social approval. Separating in between is disruption. Interruption of the sequence releases surplus energies which find an outlet in the form of abnormal behavior. Sex outside marriage, sexual perversions, masturbation, etc. start the reproductive chain without consummation and therefore are maladaptive. Change in sex roles and alterations in sex typical behavior (in dress, temperament, etc.) over time in society causes misfit between search images based on ancestral experience and actual perceptions. This increases the incidence of malimprinting like homosexuality and other sex perversions. Normal sequence of the reproductive chain requires continued pairing, child rearing, etc. without which there is interruption of sequence and release of surplus energies which seek outlet in the form of abnormal behavior.

Maladaptive forms of behavior, if repeated across generations, strengthen it. Pathological symptoms are usually expressions of a problem or channels for exhausting surplus energy. Usually a person with a maladjustment will have many symptoms which are interchangeable (symptom substitution, displacement).

The best solution to correction of malimprinting or interrupted sequences is to access more basic and more stable mental vibrations. This can be done by changing as many different aspects of behavior as possible in such a way as to increase overall Stability. Specific direct procedures, to alter a specific maladjustment, if necessary at all, should be undertaken in the context of overall personality change.

PERSONALITY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

An individual facing immediate stress which he cannot handle through normal means, tends to break down into a defense in line with his root personality (IAS pattern). Surplus energies of unfinished or interrupted sequences and cumulative tension resulting from immediate pressures seek outlets in line with the personality pattern of the person. Imbalances and incongruities in development or growth (for example, some aspects promoting S while others promoting I or A) also create distress. These also can be regarded as arrest of the general sequence of personal growth.

An extreme mental process (accompanied by the corresponding brain process) when prolonged, requires the opposite for balancing out or release, similar to the mechanism of afterimages in perception. For example, a prolonged manic state automatically leads to a depressive phase. Similarly, Catatonic withdrawal needs release through Catatonic excitement. Extreme inhibition requires some form of hysteric excitement for release.

The mind-body system, at any point of time seeks out the defence or outlet of least cost. People with a high degree of I have recourse to hysterical mechanisms. They can easily forget unpleasant incidents, and act like different persons in different situations to escape feeling guilty. These types of defenses are not available to people with A and certainly not for high S people as they have more awareness and integration.

Manic type defenses are characteristic of A type persons while such defenses are not available to people with high S as they have more moral sense and self-awareness. S type of persons often convert stressful situations into growth-promoting experiences because of their stress tolerance and capacities for adjustment.

Schizophrenia is total break down of personality. Therefore, people with any personality may ultimately break down into schizophrenia, if the simpler and earlier defenses do not succeed in handling that degree of stress.

Pure S people have a high degree of stress tolerance and so they do not easily break down, as a result of physical. Because of their sensitivity, they are aware of the effects different actions and interactions have on themselves and so avoid situations which lead to a deleterious effect. However, sometimes they may not be able to escape stress-inducing situations. A child with a high degree of S may not be able to escape a subtle stress-inducing situation because matters are not in his control. Continued stress resulting from awareness of and sensitivity to subtle pressures like moral conflicts resulting from being forced to act against his conscience or being exposed to contrasting vibrational fields or vibrational fields not suited to him, sets in him some degree of I or A. With high S and a certain degree of I, the schizoid process starts. A pure S person would get normalized as soon as the distressing psychological situation is rectified. If he has some degree of I also, in addition to high S, he may break down into schizophrenia. This can be compared to people with a high degree of general health not being susceptible to small ailments like common cold or headaches, but still vulnerable to accidents or serious strong infections. The fact that high S people have schizophrenia as the primary defense does not mean that schizophrenics as a group will have more S than other pathological groups or that S groups will show a greater incidence of schizophrenia. On the contrary, the actual incidence of any pathology including schizophrenia will ordinarily be very small in S groups, because of their high stress tolerance and integration. Even in a pure I group there can be a very high incidence of schizophrenia, if the stress to which the people are subjected is too high to be handled by simple hysteric devices. Perhaps the root personality type which is found most frequently among schizophrenics in modern cultures is the I + S combination. The primary defense of the I + S combination also happens to be schizophrenia.

Piecemeal procedures are likely to show more effect in the form of removal of a symptom in persons with a great deal of I in their root personality, as they function in a less integrated manner. But the side effect of such procedures is that they strengthen the dissociation. Holistic methods are most effective in case of people with high S, because they function as a whole.

Removal of the immediate stress or stresses would tend to normalize the person in the sense of symptomatic relief, but often this would be difficult. Forcing the symptom to disappear by direct

piecemeal methods like deconditioning would not be very helpful because this would only result in symptom substitution or worse defenses. Therefore the only feasible alternative is to alter root personality(IAS Pattern).

 

 

PERSONALITY AND MALADJUSTMENT

The hypothetical positions of the different psychiatric syndromes as primary defense on the IAS triangle are given in Fig.4.

The figure represents the primary types of defensive maladjustment in each position. The position of schizophrenia in the figure can be particularly misleading. It should be borne in mind that even people with other root personality combinations may develop schizophrenia, if their more characteristic primary defenses fail.

 

Fig. 4. PSYCHIATRIC SYNDROMES AS PRIMARY DEFENCE

H - Hysteria Ps - Psychopathy Pa – Paranoia D-Depression M - Mania

Sc - Schizophrenia An - Anxiety MD - Manic-Depressive PS - Psychosomatic

O – Obsessive-compulsive

Suicide: High I people do not have the courage for suicide. Typical escapist type of suicide cases have the I+A combination (psychopathy). Aggressive self-sacrifice for the sake of group or for an ideal is characteristic of high A people. High S people may end their lives through non-violent means (indefinite fasting) without any aggression directed outwards or inwards.

 

GROUP DIFFERNCES

Since the I,A and S factors are influenced by a number of factors, and are always changing, individual differences are large in any group. Nevertheless, since people belonging to a given social group share somewhat similar ancestral as well as present influences, systematic group differences are seen.

Women have more I and men more A (particularly physical aggressiveness), though this difference is becoming smaller as a result of social change. This no doubt is creating problems of homosexuality and weakening of family ties as the connection between search images and observed characteristics of the opposite sex shows divergence. The solution seems to be strengthening S in both sexes.

Older people, if they live in accordance with moral laws and under ordinary normal conditions, generally show increased S.

People belonging to the white races show predominance of A (intellectual and organizational component), and moderate S (philosophical component). Mongolians show high A (physical component) and moderate S (aesthetic component). Black races have low A (particularly the intellectual component) and moderate S (the aesthetic component).

In India, there is a tendency for all groups to show at least moderate I. Brahmins show a combination of moderate or high S, moderate I and moderate or high A (intellectual component). Kshatriyas show maximum physical A and the business communities show high overall A, compared to other communities.

Aspects of modernization, particularly modern education strengthens A (particularly the intellectual aspect) and to a lesser extent S. Primitive societies particularly in the Orient and women in general have changed from I towards A and S. What is required is a change towards S in line with principles of Personal Growth.

PERSONAL GROWTH

Personal growth is the holistic and humanistic approach to personality development. Personal growth implies change from I or A to S. Contrary to some popular suppositions, the position taken here is that S is not the mid-point between I and A; it is transcendence of both. Also it is not necessary to go from I to A to go to S; it is possible to move from I to S directly. Many popular personality development programs like assertive training have exercises which seem to see A as the ideal position. Here I and A are seen as two deviations from the ideal state of S.

Contrary to popular supposition, I is not inferior to A. High I people have simple minds and they do not have as much egoistic rigidity as the high A people (especially of the hyper intellectual type of A). The dissociability of high I people itself is a kind of flexibility. I people often have more artistic talents (particularly capacity to imitate) than A people, though the artistic nature of I people is very plain and not as spiritual as

those of high S people. High I people are generally happy and contented so long as they do not have any immediate threat as their fears are kept in check by superstitious beliefs and ceremonies, unlike high A people who are generally discontented and restless. The main block for I people (to go to S) is lack of motivation and absence of the concept. The main block of A people is wrong concept of S as an egoistic achievement, over motivation and inability to let go. I is low integration because of dissociability and A is low

integration because of conflicts.

 

Fig. 5. MODEL OF PERSONAL GROWTH

A diagrammatic representation of personal growth involving change from I or A to S is given in Fig.4. S involves high sensitivity and therefore some vulnerability to develop I or A. Pure S (relative absence of I and A) denoted by SS is Super Stability (the Gunatheetha State) which is the same as pure consciousness. SS may be regarded as absolute sensitivity at the same time with absolute integration, stress tolerance, invulnerability and transcendence. The zero point on S indicates maximum instability which has to express

itself as deviations in the direction of either I or A. SS is the end-point of personal growth.

People with different initial personalities should emphasize different practices to change their personality. For example, a person with predominance of I, should take the required physical exercise, need to develop autonomy by learning to function independently of the group by moving away from the group periodically, learn new languages to come out of cultural conditioning and practice passive morality (honesty, dependability, etc.) to develop S. He may also need externalized ceremonial forms of religion for control. A person with high A should practice active morality (channellise his energies through social service activities) and gradually replace religious practices like ordinary prayer which partly reinforce insecurity, by the practice of mindfulness. Counseling and psychotherapy have become very popular in competitive A societies because of the need for social interaction to convert competitiveness to cooperation through personal interaction for growth. Meditation (direct increase of pure awareness) is the most important practice for an S person to increase S. Progress from high S to SS very often is by insight and not the result of any intentional, linear or effortful process. Existential questions arise naturally in the mind of a high S person leading to either gradual or sudden disappearance of self-processes. A high S person, as a result of the high degree of self-sufficiency, also reaches the "break off" point where he transcends the dependence on most of the conditions for the maintenance and development of personality. For example, he may be able to break off totally from society and live in a cave, without losing any S.

Absence of motivation for growth and inability for sustained effort is the block for people with high I, while too much of motivation and too hard struggle are blocks commonly found in the case of people with high A. Moderate motivation and effort are necessary in the case of all people with relatively low S for progress. Any kind of preconception, desire or effort becomes a block for further progress in the case of a person with relatively high S.

Personal growth essentially involves improving and purifying the vibrational quality of mind. Deliberately digging up the past (eg. reliving traumatic experiences) is not only unnecessary, but can even be harmful also. However, often there may be spontaneous revival of forgotten incidents when one gains stability and has the capacity to review them straight. Repression and dramatic revival of forgotten memories, however, occurs only for people with too much I in their root personality. Similarly deliberate cathartic exercises also can be harmful as they may strengthen the wrong kind of emotions. Spontaneous catharsis may occur when personality changes as result of more acceptable naturalistic practices like cultivation of awareness.

Holigrative Psychology sees interrupted sequences of instinctive behavior as the cause of behavioral problems and the primary solution for this lies in personal growth.

IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL GROWTH

The importance of the holistic approach is being recognized even in the case of physical health. The body to a some extent functions like an assemblage of machines, but the mind is more unitary and represents the unifying function of the system. Therefore, in the case of psychological well-being and psychological growth, the holistic approach is all the more important because mental problems are not only the result of holistic dysfunction but often the problems themselves serve as `defenses' which hold the precarious balance of personality and mere removal of a part `symptom' may worsen the condition of the person as a whole. It is true that sometimes specific maladaptive habits may develop by specific faulty learning, in which case they disappear automatically in the absence of reinforcement; they continue only if they serve a functional purpose. It is an unwarranted generalization that since behavior which resembles dysfunctions like a phobia can be induced experimentally, therefore every dysfunction is learned. In fact, it is not even possible to explain in detail how most dysfunctions are acquired by the conditioning hypothesis. Most dysfunctions appear spontaneously as an expression of a defensive need, through the mechanisms of channellisation, displacement, symptom substitution, etc.

Any specific behavioral event is the result of a number of factors including root (basic) personality, life-style, specific habits and the immediate situational stimuli. Any behavior dysfunction or problem also in most instances has a multi-factor etiology. There would be only very few instances where removal of a single problem or symptom (which is often difficult, even if possible) would result in complete normalization, except in the case of high S persons. Malimprinting and interrupted sequences are difficult to rectify directly. On the other hand, improvement of basic personality (in terms of increased awareness and stress tolerance) would automatically lead to the solution of a number of problems as well as increased capacity to deal with specific problems. Also, improvement in personality leads to greater awareness and self-control making it easier for the person to identify and correct specific habits or behaviors causing difficulty. Better adjustment and better interrelationships are made by better people. For example, good marriages are made by good people. Poor interpersonal communication results when people have "unlikable" personalities. Mere training in interpersonal communication without personality change and forcing people to have more interpersonal communication may only worsen the situation. A child may find it difficult to tolerate interaction with his parent who is a habitual criminal. Any kind of attention, including the best "technique" of child rearing may be experienced as distressing or causing dissonance by the child. The position taken here is that changing root personality is more important than changing more specific aspects of behavior, in the case of behavior of individuals as well as interpersonal interaction.

Another reason for emphasizing holistic integration of personality (as different from symptomatic relief) is the fact that symptoms of distress are in most instances a homeostatic mechanism of conserving the level of personality integration. For example, an individual suffering from a bereavement reaction can be made to come out of the depression by antidepressant drugs, laughter therapy, a comic show or tickling. If the person himself uses these, he can come out of the depression also, but the cost will be personality regression. Suffering, like enduring the depression caused by bereavement may be preferable to coming out of the depression by tickling cures. Distressing symptoms (like guilt) often serve a purpose like fever in an infective illness. A newly married woman who discovers that her husband and the husband's people are not suited to her (in terms of her vibrational level) may develop a headache or show frigidity. These symptoms result from the tension of her resisting a fall in her vibrational level. If by symptomatic treatment she is "cured" of the headache or frigidity, she may experience a disintegration of personality. What is required in such situations is to improve her personality so that she will develop sufficient stress tolerance to handle the situation without the headache instead of removing the headache and make her regress in personality. Improving the personality of husband might be necessary for her to perceive him as a "victor" and accept him as a suitable husband. Similarly, a mother who has given birth to a defective child should be encouraged to "enjoy the suffering" of having a defective child for the sake of personal growth rather than solve the problem easily by strangling the child. Exciting, sensationalising procedures of behavior change usually do not stabilize personality; on the other hand if they have any lasting effect that is likely to destabilize personality. Sudden removal of a distressing symptom which serves a defensive function

in some instances can even wreck the already tenuous balance of personality.

Disadaptive symptoms continue to trouble a person because of a causal function, though the cause may not always be of the readily identifiable type. The homeostatic mechanism of the system generally will not permit a totally non-functional dysadaptive act of behavior to continue.

HOLISTIC VS. ANALYTIC PROCEDURES

Any procedure which attempts to change the personality as a whole would be considered holistic. Similarly, a procedure which involves cognition where the subject understands the situation as a whole leading to a change in overt behavior (like insight learning) would be considered more holistic than a situation involving conditioning of an overt response without the subject having any awareness of what is happening.

Artificial manipulative methods of piecemeal behavior modification (often with gadgets like the biofeedback or the shock imparting conditioning apparatus) may be useful to create a specific behavior change. But again the cost of subjecting the person to a manipulative dehumanising mechanical handling of behavior may involve deterioration of the whole personality, particularly when such methods are used indiscriminately for a long time. Imagine a child being brought up in big Skinner box (real or symbolic) and the parents and teachers imparting reinforcements with cold mechanical precision. Such procedures decrease awareness.

According to the theory of vibrational planes, we are functioning in the astral body when we dream and in the causal plane during deep sleep. Ordinarily we are able to experience these states only through the dissociative mechanism of sleep, because of certain vibrations in our mind which stand as a block to our unitively shifting awareness to the subtle levels. We have to gradually process and weaken all those tendencies which tie us to the gross level and the gross body if we are to achieve unitive shift in planes. If our system is not ready and we use artificial methods to force ourselves into conscious shifting of planes, the result may be extreme insecurity or anxiety leading to mental derangement or confusion of various sorts.

Those who attain personal growth through comprehensive holistic procedures like yoga are able to achieve and sustain psi capacities (including inner physiological control) without any undesirable side effects. Ordinarily we are not able to have awareness of our inner physiology or control the same and we do not have psi capacities because our whole system is not ready for such things and therefore those capacities are blocked. Those who use piecemeal artificial methods like the use of psychedelic drugs open themselves to experiences for which the system as a whole is not ready, and may experience a "bad trip", damage their brain or suffer behavior disorganization. Similarly, those who learn to control one isolated physiological response through biofeedback soon lose the control or develop some kind of imbalance as the system as a whole cannot tolerate it.

Similarly behavioral changes involving hypnosis may succeed in temporarily altering a symptom, particularly in the case of people with more I, but such procedures may increase I in the person. On the other hand, behavior change brought about by a conscious decision following a discussion and change in convictions is more holistic and therefore likely to be more permanent. Efficient learning and change of behavior or growth results from maximum utilization of holistic higher cognitive mediations.

The position taken here is that holistic and naturalistic approaches are to be preferred and that symptomatic treatment procedures (like the use of psychiatric drugs) be used only when holistic naturalistic methods fail and even then within the larger context of holistic procedures. Even animals learn by insight when given the option or when experimental make that possible. Even in situations like in the case of demented people, the general approach should be that of using specific (conditioning) methods within the more general holistic (cognitive) procedures.

Root disease of the whole person (and healing) and self-actualization (through personal growth) from the holistic point of view may be regarded as two ends of the same continuum. Many theorists have time and again spoken of emphasizing the positive end instead of the negative. The anti-psychiatric movement opposes the medical view of mental illness. Diagnostic labeling is supposed to be harmful from the point of view of growth. Freud went to the extent of saying that medical training is a handicap in the practice of psychoanalysis. The concepts of mental disease, treatment and cure came into psychology by the accidental coincidence of the early theorists like Freud, Jung and Adler happened to be medical people. Psychologists giving consultation are better termed facilitators than therapists or counselors to maximize making people feel responsible for improving their own functioning.

 

People living close to nature naturally tend to use naturalistic methods to solve psychological problems. When there is bereavement, friends visit the person and give him support of a naturalistic social environment. After heavy work or after a tough experience people go to a scenic spot or the beach to relax. Use of artificial methods itself implies a loss of touch with one's real nature and tends to increase dissonance.

A whole lot of manipulative and effortful procedures involving egoistic desire, intentionality, purpose, activation, deliberateness, attachment, and goal-orientation, attempting to alter specific behavioral aspects have been found to be relative ineffective or having undesirable side-effects, sometimes after a short period of apparent initial improvement which is the result of suggestion, novelty and expectation. Blind unidirectional, purposive effort to alter one's own behavior is often wasteful. For example, willful effort to increase concentration, tires the person and he becomes less able to concentrate. Suggestions and autosuggestions (with or without hypnosis) were once very popular, but were abandoned because it (eg., I am beautiful) reminds the person that he is really the opposite (I am ugly, that is why I am repeating to myself that I am beautiful) and therefore produces the opposite effect of reinforcing the original thought (I am ugly). People who try to make themselves happy (eg. by effortfully trying to laugh) after some time discover that they soon become more unhappy. Those who run around with the urgent need of getting peace of mind become all the more disturbed. Relaxation is pleasure and body centered and involves directionality.

The concept of relaxation training appeals only to a superficial pleasure-centered society. Those who try to force relaxation by muscular relaxation procedures find that the other systems in the body tense up or that they develop other dysfunctions like compulsions (symptom substitution). If they use biofeedback to relax

all physiological systems and mental procedures to relax the mind, they find that the improvement does not sustain or that there are cellular level changes (psychosomatic) or they develop other pathological or morbid symptoms. For example, a visualization may produce initially an apparent relaxation, but as the person uses it again and again in an effortful manner, it tends to lose its relaxing potential, as people develop tolerance to drugs and after some more time, it may even produce the opposite effect. Any direct, effortful, linear intention, set of "doing something", or action orientation (including the one to become happy, peaceful or relaxed) increases the already existing unhappiness or tension by one more degree. Very often such attempts are self-defeating and lead to obsessive behavior or a vicious circle of desire, effort, expectancy, evaluation, frustration and further intensification of effort. Termination of the practice in most instances leads to rebound effects or relapse. A strong determination to "do" something, act or control oneself itself increases Activation and tension.

In many situations, trying to solve a behavior problem of an individual in isolation, without considering the persons with whom he interacts itself would be an incomplete, piecemeal, analytic approach. The holistic approach would require altering the personality of all the relevant persons. For example, improving parents would be highly helpful in attempting to solve the problems of children. Considering husband-wife as a unit is necessary in the solution of family problems. Participation of all people who live, work or interact together in a personal growth program would be a very efficient approach to improve the functioning of each person. Quiescence and transcendence of instincts (Stability) can be achieved only through compliance and moderation. Total denial or acting contrary to instincts induces tension and dissonance leading to arrest of growth or regression.

IMPORTANCE OF BALANCED GROWTH

People who have been traditionally exposed to different types of influences on personality for a long time get used to this and they show a characteristic IAS personality pattern. But when the factors change either by volition or by accident, some strengthening I or A while some others tending to strengthen S, there is imbalance which itself can lead to stress.

We have conflicting motives because we have in us widely different and often conflicting tendencies in our

ancestral experience which we access when we have different states of mind. Exposing ourselves to contrasting environments and stimuli in rapid succession induces different tendencies. People who live in places where the night temperature is very low and day temperature is very high, have a short temper and cyclothymic temperament. Those who frequently shift to and fro between an air-conditioned building and high outside temperature also are likely to develop instability. The territorial instinct makes us come together in cities and compete and hoard while at other times we want to seek privacy and solitude. Rapid shift of environment or mixing opposites itself can create problems. For example, rapid shuttling between the city and village, eating meat along with fruit, being very selfish and acting like altruistic at the same time, trying to force relaxation in a person who continues to resort to unfair and anti-social practices in his business. An unethical act may produce little stress in a high I person; but the same act can induce lot of tension in a person with high A and the same act can lead to a very serious crisis in a high S person, in spite of his high tolerance for more direct physical or social kinds of stress because such an act is in contradiction to his

nature. People who frequently get exposed to situations producing very different vibrations develop what is generally called neurosis.

Since the way a person experiences or handles the different physical, social or psychological factors or conditions influence his personality, and personality in turn determines his mode of handling them, changing one isolated aspect without changing the others would be difficult. Such efforts are likely to cause imbalances and if pressed can even wreck the equilibrium. In yoga, a person who loses equilibrium because of such imbalances in development is called a `yogabrashta'. Therefore, the best method to change personality is holistic, simultaneously becoming aware of all the factors related to personality, leading to automatic change of behavior in all the aspects.

PRINCIPLE OF SIMPLE DETACHED AWARENESS

The principle of detached awareness as a technique for naturalistic, holistic and Holigrative personal growth is part of most Oriental traditions, particularly Taoism and Buddhism. Increase in awareness increases self-awareness and thus directly increases Stability of personality. Aggressive approaches are characteristic of Psychology in a A society, the characteristic S approach to improving behavior is detached awareness.

Awareness is passive. It is simply directing attention to something. It does not force effortful change. It does not evaluate or condemn. It increases harmony. It is synthetic. It does not induce the rigid all or none approach. But gradual beneficial changes follow or set in as a natural consequence of increasing awareness of what is good for oneself in the long run. For example, when you become aware of tension, it disappears automatically, if it is non-functional and a mere residual habit. On the other hand, if it is functional, or defensive, practice of awareness leads to awareness of the causes and awareness of the causes automatically leads to corrective behavior (for example avoiding stress inducing situations, or a change in values or life-style).

If non-awareness itself is defensive, becoming aware would tend to make the person realize the reason for the use of non- awareness as defense, again leading to improvements in behavior. Awareness automatically makes for the Buddhist principle of moderation or adopting the middle path. This makes a person follow the mini-max principle (easy minimum of the bad habit and maximum of the good habit) which is the opposite of the all or none approach. The sequence is awareness, acceptance and transcendence. Awareness becomes a habit and induces a series of sequential changes gradually leading to awareness of one's personality, factors affecting personality, needed change and actual behavioral change in several different aspects.

Awareness is holistic in the sense that awareness of the particular strengthens the general habit of awareness and this gradually leads to increased overall awareness and finally this leads to pure awareness which is the end-point of personal growth.

Awareness is also Holigrative in the sense that awareness increases transcendence and Stability. Increased Stability gives the person strength to face everything and stress tolerance so that the person automatically has to correct his behavior so that he can face himself with the awareness.

Some amount of desire and intentionality concerning personal growth automatically develops in people at lower levels of S following awareness of the possibility of growth. High A people cannot do anything without egoistic effort and so at the initial stage they may approach personal growth with a great deal of linear manipulativeness. Higher levels of integration and stability involve the nullification of the self-processes making for identification, attachment and ego involvement by detached awareness.

AN AWARENESS WORKSHOP FOR PERSONAL GROWTH

This is an attempt to increase detached awareness of various factors influencing personal growth by theoretical presentations as well as practical demonstrations. When people are exposed to the congenial naturalistic environments (Physical, Social and Psychological) they sense their own responses and become aware of the effect such naturalization has on their behavior, which will make them alter situations and habits needed for behavioral improvement. In other words, through lectures and demonstrations people are sensitized to the value of naturalization for normalization and personal growth which will encourage them to put into practice as much as possible of what they become aware of during the participation. This is a program of experiential re-education, making people aware of the value of correcting their life-styles.

People very often expect piecemeal solutions to isolated specific problems. They have to be told that piecemeal solutions hardly ever work. They are on the other hand made to realize the importance of generalized awareness for overall personal growth.

They are taught self-reliance for applying the general principles of awareness for a variety of specific problems like short temper, impatience, disorderliness, lack of self-confidence, poor concentration, sexual problems, problems associated with human relationships, etc.

Usual `treatment' procedures may involve putting a person through one act in some sequence (of instinctual behavior) which he has missed or is missing, causing disturbance. The awareness program is not `treatment', but making the person aware of all interrupted sequences so that he can in real life make all the corrections required for holistic development of personality.

The holistic nature of personality also makes simultaneous handling of different factors more efficient and easy. Removal of blocks in one area would automatically pave the way to improvement in other areas.

Cumulative Nature Of Cause Of Psychological Problems

Stress in different areas of adjustment often adds up to produce psychological dysfunction as a single manifest problem. Increasing harmony in different areas at the same time, similarly, has a cumulative effect in increasing Stability as a whole and quickly producing overall improvement.

Value Of Group Procedures

Social Interaction Theory (Mathew, 1997) states that the purest relationship among individuals is friendship (detached love) among peers or equals. Any other relationship can be seen as a certain amount of this pure factor plus some other component. Also from the age of about four, human beings increasingly need peer group support and are influenced by peer groups. Very often problems result because of the absence of the right kind of peer group support. Peer relationships tend to be democratic and therefore most conducive for personal growth through the development of Stability. Therefore the Awareness Program is best conducted for about 16 persons who are homogeneous with respect to the objective (general personal growth or any specific problem) as well as age, sex, socio-economic status and so on so far as possible. Around 16 is an optimum number of participants for small group procedures.

Physical Setting

Since the whole procedure involves naturalization, the ideal physical setting is one involving closeness to the elements of nature, away from big cities, overcrowding, noise and pollution.

Duration

Usually duration ranges from one whole day (or a total of 5 hours on different days) to ten days depending on the objectives. For solution of small problems or for supportive procedures a shorter duration would suffice. For example patients about to undergo surgery or women about face labor may be available only for a short duration. Even though the group has a specific objective (say deaddiction), still the emphasis is on general personal growth, in accordance with the holistic approach; we start with the whole person and gradually proceed to the specific issues.

Naturalization is not a very simple matter. For example several of your immediate ancestors might have been meat eaters and therefore sudden giving up of meat may itself cause problems. However, a smooth transition, if achieved would give the person a feeling of homecoming and serve to improve mental characteristics and access purer vibrations.

COMPONENTS OF THE AWARENESS WORKSHOP

There are six main components. These may be used singly or in combination depending on the objective as well as availability of time.

1. Testing

The Self-Awareness Questionnaire (Mathew, 1997) enables a person to look at his own behavior and select an objective for the program. The Facilitativeness Rating Scale (Mathew, 1997) assesses the quality of an individual's interpersonal interaction. The IAS Rating Scale, Materialism - Spiritualism Scale and several other tests can be used depending on the objectives of each program.

2. Diet

Participants are given training in preparing a vegetarian diet with a high proportion of raw food. They are also made aware of the method of achieving a smooth transition in food habits, how to avoid a change-over crisis and use of the mini-max principle in overcoming addictions and correcting habits in a smooth manner in the context of a holistic improvement of efficiency and goodness of daily routine.

3. Exercise

This involves teaching a few yogic postures and a set of aerobic exercises to tune up the system. The total exercise program requires only about 20 minutes. The need to develop exercise tolerance gradually, to take moderate exercise regularly and to avoid extremes is stressed.

4. Holistic Integration Technique(Mathew, 1997)

This is a specially designed technique of meditation. Meditation is spontaneous total quiescence resulting from direct increase of neutral awareness.

The usual meditation techniques can be successfully practiced only by a person with some degree of initial Stability. HIT is a specially designed highly flexible six-step technique which is useful to people at all levels. The maximum time limit is 15 minutes. In the Awareness Program, in the morning there is group practice of HIT, and in the evening, individuals are advised to practice alone. The method involves directing awareness in six directions starting from external environment to pure consciousness. The practice of awareness for 15 minutes once or twice a day gradually makes the person more mindful throughout the day, altering his personality to the final point where after months or years of practice the formal practice itself becomes unnecessary.

 

5. Multiple Group Interaction Technique(Mathew, 1997)

This procedure promotes awareness of group interaction. It sensitizes the participants to the value of a natural peer group social environment and the need to cultivate authentic relationships and to develop facilitativeness in interaction. The procedure for each day starts with a lecture by the Organizer on a selected topic relevant to the objective of the program and then the participants discuss how what has been said applies in the case of each individual. In the first session the group discusses as a whole, followed by division into successive subgoups, finally ending in pairs, all by self-selection. There is a final plenary session of all participants each day for sharing insights and final comments by the organizer.

6. Fine Arts and Philosophical Discussions

When the program is residential, the participants are encouraged to participate in sessions of fine arts like music, drawing and painting, dance, drama (involving themes of personal growth relevant to the objectives of the program), etc. and philosophical discussions, of their choice, in the evenings. Again the mini-max principle is employed to determine the optimum degree and level of participation of each person depending on his tolerance level based on personality. The levels are being passive spectator, learning to perform, active performance participation, teacher level and the level of creation.

Every program has an initial pre-program assessment and a final assessment and evaluation at the close.

The Holigrative Community Centre

The Holigrative Community Centre attends to the personal growth/mental health needs of the community.   The professional plays the role of an Organizer and catalyst.   Clients are helped through group programs in group settings.  Volunteers with maximum S (Stability) in the community form the important resource persons.  Meetings or sessions involve  MGIT using multiple “therapist”  as well as  multiple clients.  The group sessions generate strong motivation and force for effective change.    Different types of multiple groups are formed using peers having a similar problem and family groups as well, in addition to groups involving high S persons.  The Holigrative community Centre attempts to promote holigration in the community.  It supposes that members of the community influence each other and the most effective way to correct or improve  individuals is through the community itself.  Peer groups and friendship relations are maximally emphasized.

 

 

REFERENCES

Mathew, V. George (1980). "Materialism - Spiritualism Scale." Department of Psychology, University of Kerala.

Mathew, V. George (1995). "IAS Rating Scale." Department of Psychology, University of Kerala.

Mathew, V. George (1997). "Holigrative Psychology." Department of Psychology, University of Kerala.

Sheldrake, Rupert (1988). "The Presence of the Past." Harper Collins.