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Esoteric Psychology II - Chapter II - The Ray of Personality - Some Problems of Psychology
The moment also that the entire mental powers of which a man is capable are employed in only one direction, such as, for instance, the achievement of business success or of financial dominance, that moment the man becomes a psychological problem. This is peculiarly one of the problems of integration, for it is due to the stimulation of the mind, as it endeavors to assume control of the personality. A sense of power supervenes. Success feeds the stimulation even if it is only the doubtful success of attracting the attention of some teacher who is idealized or adored, or the pursuit of some transaction in the money market which is successfully carried through. The time is coming when the whole problem of personality will be much better understood and, when this happens, any undue emphasis upon profession, calling, ideology or thought will be regarded as an undesirable symptom, and an effort will then be made to produce two things: a rounded out unfoldment and a conscious fusion with the soul and with the group. I have no intention of dealing with problems of insanity. These exist and are of constant occurrence, and we esoterically divide them into three divisions: 1. Those which are due entirely to Disease of the brain matter. The deterioration of the brain cells. [458] Abnormal condition within the brain area, such as tumors, abscesses or growths. Structural defects in the head. 2. Those which are due to the fact that the ego or soul is not present. In these cases, there is to be found a situation wherein: The true owner of the body is absent. In this case the life thread will be anchored in the heart but the consciousness thread will not be anchored in the head. It will be withdrawn, and, therefore, the soul remains unaware of the form. In these cases you have idiocy, or simply a very low-grade human animal. Certain cases of possession or obsession will be found, wherein the life thread is attached to the original owner of the body but the consciousness thread is that of another person, or identity - discarnate and most anxious for physical plane expression. In the average case, where the true owner of the body is not present, the situation is of no real moment, and sometimes serves a useful purpose, for it enables the obsessing entity to continue in possession. I refer to those cases wherein there is a true withdrawal of the incarnating ego and, therefore, a perfectly empty house. These are the rare cases, and present an unresented occupancy, whereas in the average case of possession or obsession there is a dual personality problem and even of several personalities. Conflict then ensues and many distressing conditions result - distressing from the point of view of the true owner of the body. The cases to which I am here referring permit of no cure as there is no ego to call into [459] activity by strengthening the will or the physical condition of the human being when ejecting intruders. In many cases of possession cure is possible but in those to which I here refer, cure is not possible. 3. Those cases which are due to the fact that the astral body is of such a nature that it is uncontrollable and the man is the defeated victim of his own rampant desire of some kind or another and yet is such an intellectual potency that he can create a dominating thought form, embodying that desire. These "astral maniacs" are the most difficult and quite the saddest types to handle because mentally there is little that is wrong with them. The mind, however, cannot control and is definitely relegated to the background; it remains useless and inert whilst the man expresses (with violence or subtlety as the case may be) some basic desire. It may be the desire to kill, or desire to have abnormal sexual experience, or even the desire to be ever on the move and thus constantly active. These sound fairly simple and usual types but I am not here considering their normal expression but something which cannot be controlled and for which there is no remedy but the protection of the man from himself and his own actions. These three forms of insanity, being incurable, will not-permit of psychological help. All that can be done is the amelioration of the condition, the providing of adequate care of the patient and the protection of society until death shall bring to an end this interlude in the life of the soul. It is interesting to remember that these conditions are related far more to the karma of the parents or of those who have charge of the case than to the patient himself. In many of these cases, there is [460] no person present within the form at all, but only an animated living body, informed by the animal soul but not by a human soul. We are primarily engaged with those problems which arise in the mental nature of man and from his power to create in mental substance. There is one aspect of this difficulty to which I have not yet referred, and that is the potency of thought of such a case, and the dynamic stimulation of the mind which we are considering, to evoke response from the desire body and thus swing the entire lower nature into unison with the recognized mental urge and the dominant mental demand. This, when strong enough, may work out on the physical plane as powerful action and even violent action, and may lead a man into much trouble, into conflict with organized society, thus making him anti-social and at variance with the forces of law and order.
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