By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the One
- Ramana Maharshi
Psychology as it has developed in the West has focused heavily on ego development as the central criteria for mature mental health. From Freud’s early theories the idea of a rational “self” who mediates between inner drives and cultural injunctions, we have gone on to develop more sophisticated theories of object relations, self-psychology, etc. The ego, or “self,” can be seen as a combination of developmental lines: cognitive, moral, emotional, relational, aesthetic, etc. However, it is also an inner image or idea that we have of ourselves which sometimes does or does not correspond to how others see us.
Early childhood attachment has come to be seen as crucial in our development of our view of self and the world. It forms the basis on which further development succeeds or fails. As David J. Wallin writes in Attachment in Psychotherapy
, “Histories of secure, avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized attachment have been found to be associated, for better or worse, with subsequent outcomes in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.” Psychotherapy utilizes the therapeutic relationship as a means of healing or correcting attachment patterns which interfere with our ability to live healthy, happy lives. As Wallin writes, “The therapist’s role here is to help the patient both to deconstruct the attachment patterns of the past and to reconstruct new ones in the present.”As far as the structure and functioning of the brain reflects the development of personality, it has been found that secure attachment in childhood promotes healthy brain development. Daniel Siegel finds that secure attachment in infants leads to the development of neural pathways in the middle prefrontal area of the brain. This area of the brain is central in the development of psychological coherence and empathic relationships. In The Mindful Brain
he lists nine functions of the middle prefrontal area which correspond to healthy psychological functioning: bodily regulation, attuned communication, emotional balance, response flexibility, empathy, insight, fear modulation, intuition and morality. Imagine a world where the majority of us had these areas fully functioning!Interestingly enough he further finds that “mindfulness” promotes the development of this area of the brain. In writing of his interest in the use of mindfulness-based clinical interventions he states, “What struck me in learning about this area was that the outcome measures for its clinical applications appeared to overlap with the outcome measures of my own field of research in attachment: the study of the relationship between parents and children.” Mindfulness is a way of relating to oneself and one’s experience which is caring and nonjudgmental, open and impartial. In The Mindful Way through Depression
, the authors describe mindfulness as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to things as they are.” Mindfulness is generally cultivated through meditation. It is an awareness of one’s internal processes. In the Yoga tradition we refer to this as developing the capacity of the inner witness. It is the capacity to step outside of one’s thoughts and to observe them without reacting to them. As Siegel writes, “Mindful awareness . . . actually involves more than just simply being aware: It involves being aware of aspects of the mind itself.” Through mindful yoga practice we can develop an integrated awareness of body, breath, thoughts and emotions.
Although the term mindfulness is generally associated with Buddhist practice it is an aspect, actually the central aspect, of all yoga practice. When I began studying Yoga with Swami Niranjan in 1981, he introduced to the idea of being aware in all areas of life. He guided me through a series of very simple asanas known as pawanmuktasana which basically takes one through each of the joints in the body as a focus of aware movement. Next came pranayama where I learned to become more aware of breathing patterns as they are related to emotional states. He then introduced me to a variety of meditation techniques as developed by our Guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati. These can be found in Meditations from the Tantras
which provides both theoretical aspects and detailed instructions for practice. Swamiji essentially presents the same view of meditation as presented by Siegel. He writes, “When we meditate we are able to take our consciousness to different parts of our mind. Normally our consciousness is confined to surface activity in small areas of the middle or rational parts of the unconscious. We are able to move away from intellectualization during meditation.” Unfortunately it is not really possible to learn meditation simply from a book. The guidance of a qualified teacher is necessary.When we develop the capacity to witness our thoughts and to allow the mind to become quiet we begin to notice that the “ego,” the self we believe we are, is really more of a theoretical thought construct. Who we really are is a more basic awareness which witnesses or observes the ego itself. This is something which happens with practice over time. Research shows that ego-development is actually accelerated or catalyzed through meditation practice. A good review and discussion of this research can be found in Ken Wilber’s The Eye of Spirit
, in a chapter entitled “The Effects of Meditation.” Basically, as we learn to step outside or “disembed” from the unconscious thought structures that constitute a particular level of self-development we are able to move on to the next stage. “Development is a constant process of embedding and disembedding, identifying with and then transcending. And we are controlled by everything we have not transcended.” writes Wilber. In other words self-awareness or insight does lead to healthy development. It is also important to note we have start from where we are. We can’t skip over levels of development. As Wilber puts it, “Meditation, for example, can accelerate moral development (gauged by the Kohlberg test) but under no circumstances has it been shown to bypass any of those stages.” It is common for people on a “spiritual path” to attempt to skip stages of development and to imagine that they have achieved a higher state of consciousness. Psychotherapist and author, John Welwood, has coined the term “spiritual bypassing” to describe those of us who seek to use spiritual practice to avoid emotional issues. He writes, “. . . there is often a tendency to use spiritual practice to try to rise above our emotional and personal issues – all those messy, unresolved matters that weigh us down. I call this tendency to avoid or prematurely transcend basic human needs, feelings, and developmental tasks spiritual bypassing.” Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation
Again, a teacher, or a therapist, might help us to avoid getting caught in self-delusion. Practicing “yoga” without meditation, without developing mindful awareness is not really yoga. As a form of exercise the postures are still beneficial but we miss out on the potential for psychological and spiritual growth. In fact our yoga can come to serve the needs of an immature ego. On the other hand, if we can become aware of our pride, need to judge, to fit in, to feed our vanity, etc., this awareness will help us grow.
The “further reaches of human nature,” the higher developmental stages which lead to and include unity consciousness, are statistically rare achievements, often emerging late in life. Spiritual practice is a means to restart this development where it has become stuck and to accelerate the process so that we can experience the higher stages within this lifetime. There is a difference between a temporary state and a stable stage of development. A psychedelic substance or a spiritual retreat may give us glimpses of higher states but often they don’t last. The higher stages unfold successively based on our inner and outer experiences.
The inner witnessing awareness is our opportunity at any point to step outside of our self-referential system or ego. It gives us leverage for growth and change. It is an innate source of love and wisdom which we can draw upon, cultivated through yoga meditation, chanting, self-inquiry, Zazen, or any consistent contemplative practice. Eventually we move more and more into an identification with this awareness as the ego falls away. Open awareness without attachment, without any external reference point, is our true nature. At the same time the ego is just fine. We don’t have to try to kill it.
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