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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage,alt.abuse.transcendence,alt.religion.shamanism From: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (mordred) Subject: 20th Century Rites, Maslow's Works (Was Re: Writing rituals for ...) Date: 6 Feb 1995 12:38:11 -0800 Kali Yuga 49950206 wednsday@tezcat.com (Wednesday) and I write: |>|>| How do you tell a psychiatric illness from a spiritual crises? |>See Maslow and the differentiation made in the Transcendental Psychology |>community regarding the differences between therapy and mental illness |>and spiritual crises or mystical emergence. There are signs, though I |>have forgotten them at this point. |Do you have a piece on this available to you? I'd like to see it... |on alt.abuse.transcendence too, actually... The books I have of Maslow's are somewhat dense but excellent. It was not easy to find exact quotes quickly regarding the specific subject about which you are asking, plus I've not looked at this subject in a few years. All this stated, I'll elaborate and provide what I found. From a brief refresh, I would like to clarify the above by saying that at once Maslow and his like (Rogers, etc.) were attempting to both synthesize what they called 'spirituality' and 'psychotherapy' (through redefining each within a continuum) and describe the underlying problems associated with the whole. At least in Maslow's case he went as far as creating an relatively new language with which he sought to reframe the notions of psychological maladies, providing not only a foundation consistent with sociological and religious models, but also a goal-state, a 'healthy-archetype' which amounted to more than 're-adjusted to society'. For this reason it appears that at times he makes use of the terms 'neuroses' and 'self-actualization' to differentiate severe personal dysfunction from movement toward the transcendence of personal issues. We might say that the comparison here is one of placement upon a range of tranformative experiences, rather than that the essential nature of neuroses and existential angst are in some way fundamentally different. In fact, it can be said that the Transcendental Psychologists are attempting to combat this divisive language which appears to stem from outmoded ideas about how therapy ought treat psychological difficulties. The traditional approach is to attempt a subtle molding of the individual to suit her circumstances; in effect an encouragement to regress to conformity to the societal norm. Whereas as I understand it, the revised assessment includes not only salvation from severe psychological distress (e.g. reconnection to exterior stimuli and phenomena, orientation in the physical world, some stability in personality and emotions, etc.), but also the recognition that existential angst is a real process of individuation and human maturity, and that not only is assistance in enduring it the place of the psychotherapist (Maslow uses various terms for these 'counselors'), but encouraging and inspiring movement within it is also appropriate. In effect, Maslow and company are recreating the role of the shaman in modern society. Here's what I found: "Self-actualization [Maslow's goal-state, the top of his 'hierarchy of needs'] does not mean a transcendence of all human problems. Conflict, anxiety, frustration, sadness, hurt, and guilt can all be found in healthy human beings. In general, the movement, with increasing maturity, is from neurotic pseudo-problems to the real, unavoidable, existential problems, inherent in the nature of man (even at his best) living in a particular kind of world. Even though he is not neurotic he may be troubled by real, desirable and necessary guilt rather than neurotic guilt (which isn't desirable or necessary), by an intrinsic conscience (rather than the Freudian superego). Even though he has transcended the problems of Becoming, there remain the problems of Being. To be untroubled when one *should* be troubled can be a sign of sickness. Sometimes, smug people have to be scared '*into* their wits.'" [1:p210] Here we see the sharp division between 'neurosis' and 'angst', which I characterized above as the comparison between 'spiritual emergence' and 'psychological dysfunction'. Below is a bit more on the angst, so as to illustrate from where alot of it arises: "...we have the peculiar situation in which many intellectuals today find themselves skeptical in every sense, but fully aware of the yearning for a faith or a belief of some kind and aware also of the terrible spiritual (and political) consequences when this yearning has no satisfaction. "And so we have a new language to describe the situation, words like anomie, anhedonia, rootlessness, value pathology, meaninglessness, existential boredom, spiritual starvation, other-directedness, the neuroses of success, etc.... "Most psychotherapists would agree that a large proportion of the population of all affluent nations -- not only America -- are now caught in this situation of valuelessness, although most of these therapists are still speaking superficially and symptomatically of character neuroses, immaturity, juvenile delinquency, over- indulgence, etc. "A new approach to psychotherapy, existential therapy, is evolving to meet this situation. But on the whole, since therapy is impracticable for mass purposes, most people simply stay caught in the situation and lead privately and publicly miserable lives. A small proportion 'returns to traditional religion,' although observers agree that this return is not apt to be deeply rooted." [2:pp38-9] Just to throw some curves, I note that Maslow appears to be inconsistent in his usage of terminology, wishing to move from the previously accepted techniks to a more expansive and less deprecatory language to describe what he is seeing. Some of his text indicates exactly what he is doing: "This is a radical move away from the medical model, a move which is long overdue. Strictly speaking, neurosis means an illness of the nerves, a relic we can very well do without today. In addition, using the label 'psychological illness' puts neurosis into the same universe of discourse as ulcers, lesions, bacterial invasions, broken bones, or tumors. But by now, we have learned very well that it is better to consider neurosis as rather related to spiritual disorders, to loss of meaning, to doubts about the goals of life, to grief and anger over a lost love, to seeing life in a different way, to loss of courage or of hope, to despair over the future, to dislike for oneself, to recognition that one's life is being wasted, or that there is no possibility of love, etc. "These are all fallings away from full humanness, from the full blooming of human nature. They are losses of human possibility, of what might have been and could yet be perhaps. Physical and chemical hygiene and prophylaxes certainly have some little place in this realm of psychopathogenesis, but are as nothing in comparison with the far more powerful role of social, economic, political, religious, educational, philosophical, axiological, and familial determinants." [3:30] My impression is that what Transcendental Psychologists would characterize as 'psychological difficulties' would include the existential angst of modern valuelessness, but they would also admit that there appears to be a minimum requirement regarding functionality and perception which must occur before this angst may be dealt with in any real fashion. What most people today categorize as 'psychological problems' are of the former type -- angst-repercussions and difficulties of those caught up in the complexities of modern 'civilized' living. Those who have such severe problems that they cannot begin to function (e.g. psychotics, paranoid schizophrenics, etc. -- I'm using these terms in their clinical, not popular, senses) are simply not capable of really encountering the world and their place in it, let alone facing the pressures and problems to be found there. As regards what those who are 'emerging' may find on the 'other side' of their angst, Maslow speaks in plenty. In fact, I find that he is much more interested in promoting the vision of what we may expect out of enduring and moving into our existential trial than he is in categorizing its elements (perhaps this is a skewing due to my own library-contents, or it may be that he needed to focus there so as to gain credibility amongst those who saw all struggle as futile). He has this to say about self-actualizating, for example: "Self-actualizing people are, without one single exception, involved in a cause outside of their own skin, in something outside of themselves. They are devoted, working at something, something which is very precious to them -- some calling or vocation in the old sense, the priestly sense. They are working at something which fate has called them to somehow and which they work at and which they love, so that the work-joy dichotomy in them disappears. One devotes his life to the law, another to justice, another to beauty or truth. All, in one way or another, devote their lives to the search for what I have called ... the 'being' values ('B' for short), the ultimate values which are intrinsic, which cannot be reduced to anything more ultimate." [3:42] Maslow goes into some depth to describe what these values are, how they manifest in actualized experience, etc., etc. He is a very clear and inspiring writer, as much a crafter of words and an artist as he is a reflector of his experience and one who wishes to push forward a new vision of his science and its possibilities. All in all I tend to think of the distinction being made here in an analogy to a dancer with 200-lb weights attached to her limbs. These weights are the obstacles to the dance. Without removing them then no exploration of movement is possible. The weights themselves are the severe neuroses which may plague human beings, preventing them from movement through spiritual transformation and growth. ------------------------- Sources: 1 _Toward a Psychology of Being_, Maslow, Litton Educational Publishing 2 _Religions, Values and Peak-experiences_, Maslow, Penguin Books 3 _The Farther Reaches of Human Nature_, Maslow, Penguin tyagi nagasiva nagasiva@luckymojo.com
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