'Man is born free but is everywhere in chains' was an assessment of the human condition made some two hundred years ago by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was the chief protagonist of the 'back to nature' movement that had such a profound social and political effect in the late eighteenth century and which played an important part in precipitating the French Revolution. The chains that anchor the spirit of man in incarceration are, in the first analysis, external, environmental ones. Our social and educational conditioning determines in no small measure how we shall respond to life's call, whether we shall affirm our identity and move courageously into the dark future or whether we shall deny life's challenge and retire defeated before we start the race into some obscure backwater where we can hide ourselves. Here we may either live parasitically on others or else simply rail against the unfairness of our lot and vent jealous hatred on all those who seem to attain success in life.
But the root of our enslavement and imprisonment is much deeper than this. It is related to the divided consciousness that we carry along with us. We bear the seeds of failure and disappointment with us from an early age, due in good measure to the inadequate love and acknowledgment we received when we were very young. This topic we have already considered earlier in connection with the building up of a significant ego-consciousness. Many people who come for help and counsel bear the incubus of failure decisively upon their psyche; even before they make an application for some employment they know they will be rejected because the pattern of failure and rejection is part of their life history and is ingrained on them heavily and inexorably. In due course, this negative psychological approach is made manifest in emotional disturbance and bodily dysfunction. 'Where there is no vision, the people perish' (Prov. 29:18); this famous aphorism is appropriate to the individual in his response to life no less than to the group and nation. An intolerable incubus of negative feelings weighs down the psyche and prevents the leaping forward of the spirit within the soul. It is thus that the healthy human being responds to the call of the Holy Spirit and dares to obey the summons it issues to live creatively and joyously. Anyone involved in the work of counselling will come across this negative type of client with depressing frequency. In the end it is the faith of the counsellor that will ignite the damp wick of the client's lamp, so that a conflagration may eventually issue forth from his soul.
In coming to terms with negative feelings that thwart our life and place a dampening heaviness on all new associations that might otherwise open up fresh vistas of hope in the darkened mind, we have first to review our own past. The psychoanalytic process may often be of considerable value in leading all concerned to the origin of the trouble, which usually, at least in my experience, stems from some dramatic termination of a vital relationship very early in a child's life. One who acknowledged the worth and uniqueness of the small child had been taken away abruptly, and without explanation or compassion, and something of comparable strength and durability had not been substituted. The little one finds he lacks a secure base, and is therefore liable to be blown in all directions by powerful forces that play around him and over which he has no control. He does not act consecutively under the challenge of these psychic surges, but is sucked in passively, so that his freedom is brutally disregarded and destroyed, and the power of his will vitiated.
In fact, when we consider the vast indifferent forces that play around us in the brief life we spend in this world, it is remarkable that so many of us survive, let alone flourish, as indeed we do. Even in privileged Western societies the pressure against the individual actualising his own true identity, so that he may become a person in his own right, is very considerable. It has been said with cynical realism that - if one wants to prosper in this strange life one should start by choosing the right parents. This applies not only to their genetic endowment but also to the position they hold in the world and the impetus their wealth and prestige can give in launching their offspring on to a favourable start in life's race. But even this apparent truism is not entirely correct: highly successful parents can cramp the style of their offspring, making their achievements appear bare and negligible in comparison with their own. Indeed, famous men seldom have successful, fulfilled children. Not only is it hard for the candle to shine in the presence of a blazing orb, but the celebrity also tends to steal the limelight to the diminishment of those compelled to live in his proximity. The concern a more ordinary type of parent might bestow on his children is dissipated prodigally in the attention given to the admirers and sycophants that block the path of the famous one. Indeed, the person who is to make a real name for himself, a name of the measure of the One Whose name is above every name, to Whom every knee shall bow, has to establish his own identity as soon as possible and to forge a path independently of the vogues and fashions of the world around him. This is what liberation is about, the freedom of the individual to become a person.
In the process, there has to be an increasing insight into the depths of one's own previous bondage, and this, as we have already stated, requires some analytic discipline. The first analyst is the Holy Spirit, and if one is mentally and emotionally stable one can bear His insistent thrust towards the confrontation of the truth about oneself without the assistance of a human counterpart. That one's unconscious may be made fully conscious is the implicit prayer of a person passionately dedicated to the spiritual path. It is perhaps the most terrible of prayers, because what may be revealed is at times scarcely bearable; here the support of a therapist-counsellor can indeed be invaluable. But such a counsellor has to know the contours of the inner life very well if his presence is not to be an incubus rather than a support. Only one who has borne the wounds of suffering and has emerged battered but regenerated can offer much practical help to the person seeking liberation.
This liberation leads to the abandonment of old ways of thought and long-established attitudes that cripple one as one approaches a new situation even before one's steps are finally laid. This release from the bondage of the past depends on faith which is confirmed in action and fertilised with courage. One popular method of attaining, or at least attempting to attain, a reversal of past negative attitudes is the practice of positive thinking. St Paul says, 'All that is true, all that is noble, all that is just and pure, all that is lovable and gracious, whatever is excellent and admirable - fill your thoughts with those things' (Phil. 4:8). An even more basic way of reversing a tendency towards personal subversion and demoralisation is by visualising oneself in a role of success and happiness. What is placed assiduously in the imagination eventually influences the will, and finally the longed-for action may become a reality. Likewise, if one affirms a statement often enough, one comes to believe it and then to act upon it. The sinister aspect of this psychological truth is much used by propagandists of totalitarian regimes among the broad population to inculcate hatred against minority groups whom it is intended to destroy. If an untruth is circulated against a particular ethnic or social group, it will come to be believed by sheer repetition, and soon those who are the victims of hatred will be attacked and destroyed by the ignorant indoctrinated population.
In fact, however, a person with a negative view of himself of such a magnitude that he expects failure as the only certainty in his life, is unlikely to be converted to a more positive attitude towards the future by simply being told that he is really an excellent person with great potentialities. This is the rule even if the assessment is factually correct and not merely an exercise of kindly, but blurred, compassion. Self-denigration, with its terrible corollary of a wish for death and destruction is too deep-seated to be expunged merely by facile, though sincere, words. What is needed is a much deeper concern that issues forth in love. Great love alone can effect a lasting change in a person's image of himself, whereas flowery language repels by its apparent superficiality. This love cannot simply be contrived; if it were, its shallowness would soon become so apparent that the one in need would flinch from it. The love comes from God, Who changes all things and makes them new. It is thus that we enter into a fresh regard for ourselves and experience the balm of freedom.
It follows that the way of liberation from crippling fear, self-denigration and hopelessness is once again that of silent communion. It is in the stillness of self-giving that the essential psychic commitment is established between the counsellor and the client. What is achieved in this creative silence is an atmosphere of trust, so that eventually the barriers that separate the soul of the one in need may be lowered sufficiently for him to communicate effectively with the counsellor, and as time goes by with an increasing range of his fellows also. As the shuttered soul is opened to the light of God's love, so the analytic prowess of the Holy Spirit can bring the receptive, now encouraged, mind of the client into clearer perception. This renewed mind can focus on the past with less emotional pain, and begin to come to terms with itself and its unconscious elements more decisively.
What caused the self-destructive attitude to life with its attendant depression and impotence is, on the level of theory, of great interest. Some therapists blame early childhood experiences, others events that were registered by the foetus while in its mother's womb, so that the maternal disposition was relayed to the embryo even immediately after its conception, while the most extreme attribute many present problems to events that occurred in a past life. Suffice to say that, while these last two theories are of compelling interest, they as yet lack that scientific substance which alone would convince the more agnostic among us. But in the end, even if the cause of the malign attitude to life which clouds any enjoyment and darkens all pleasant anticipation with gloom and foreboding is elucidated with certainty, this understanding in itself is unlikely to effect a dramatic change in the client's attitude. The negative response to any new trail or endeavour has become so ingrained that all new ventures and opportunities will continue to be subverted by the divided mind.
One way of altering this pre-ordained negativity is the use of the power of suggestion, including the repetition of positive thoughts, as we have already noted. But until there is a radical change in the deeper, inner consciousness of the person, these thoughts will not penetrate the heart, and will continue to have a negligible effect on his life style and relationships with other people. It is the faith transmitted psychically, and later on intellectually also, that begins to change the previously immutable face of the soul. From its surface the rays that emerge from the spirit within it may shine forth and begin to integrate the entire personality around that central focus within. This is the individual spirit, which in turn is energised and directed by the Holy Spirit.
Faith is, in essence, an openness to the creative potentiality of life and does not require a detailed credal affirmation. In terms of the Christian revelation, that creative potentiality was made manifest in the Incarnation of the Word of God, Who brings healing and sanctification to all who are willing to receive Him. This He does by the power of the Creator Spirit who is eternally making all things new (Rev. 21:5). The faith that gives meaning to the endeavours, indeed the life, of the counsellor, is that there is a positive value in living, that all things have in them the capacity to bring good in the lives of those to whom they show themselves, even if their first appearance is forbidding, unpleasant and even disastrous. The statement of hope in Romans 8:18, that the sufferings we now endure bear no comparison with the splendour, as yet unrevealed, which is in store for us, is the watchword of the faith of all spiritual counselling. It is based neither on scriptural fundamentalism nor on wishful thinking that subtly evades the dark, menacing issues of life. It is related to the sense of quickening in the soul that responds in eager expectation to the challenge of life as a new thing is revealed, as the gestation of God's providence is brought to the light of day in a fresh creation, soft and beautiful, invigorating and restoring. This faith that affirms that all things work together for good for those who love God (Rom. 8:28) is the essence of the psychic thrust that heals. It is the spearhead that drives the power of the Holy Spirit deep into the shivering, clammy flesh and cowering mind of the afflicted one and illumines his whole personality with God's uncreated light. From this stems the healing power of the Holy Spirit, and a fresh glimpse of reality then informs the previously diffident, hopeless individual, who can at last respond positively with a strengthened, vigorous will.
The counsellor shows this faith not so much in speech as in wordless communion. What one is as a person flows out from one psychically so that even a child or a mentally defective person can appreciate the solicitude and authority that informs the work of the devoted minister of healing. When a relationship of trust has been established, only then can one offer the person one's support and affirm its constancy. At this stage the psychological techniques associated with positive thinking can be used. The main work is to arouse the client's interest, so that the black, dank apathy disappears and is replaced by a lively commitment in the new work that eventually blossoms into willing service. One has to forget oneself if one's work is to be of the greatest value and also if one is to be accepted unconditionally by other people. This is a very practical application of Jesus' dictum, The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; where I am my servant will be. Whoever serves me will be honoured by my Father' (John 1 2:25-6).
The self that is loved by the superficial man is the ego-nature suitably adorned by the finery of wealth, worldly success and the esteem of others. Only when that superficial self is left behind can the Spirit within, that of Christ Who is our hope of a glory to come, be encountered, and the person move from the limitations of this world that ends in death and enters into a present knowledge of eternity. In this knowledge he forgets his ego and its demands; instead he serves God to the exclusion of all else. In God's service alone is the perfect freedom to be oneself, since He knows us as we are, and does not need to be impressed by our cleansed image. We remember, of course, that Jesus, like all spiritual teachers expounding the way of life, speaks in vigorous hyperbole. The denunciation of self-love and the commendation of self-hatred is an emphasis on the radical nature of one's submission to God's service - which is always extended to the service of one's fellow men. When I cease to think about myself but can accept myself for what I am, and get about God's work, I know of that positive approach to life that alone tells of immediate and everlasting freedom. This indeed is the end of liberation: to be oneself and do the work which has been apportioned to one each moment of life.
In fact, the power of positive thinking is ultimately limiting to the full development of the person. When I am at a low ebb, then assuredly some small success or minor recognition can renew my self-esteem by investing it with a reasoned confidence. But when I am truly in harmony with life and in rhythm with the flow of the cosmos, the necessity for success and recognition fades into the background of my considerations. What matters is the work at hand, the privilege I have of doing it, and its end-product in terms of service to my fellow men. To be able to esteem oneself as a person in one's own right is the beginning of a valid independent existence; to forget oneself completely in the glorious flow of creative activity that pervades the universe is the end of total living.
This is, as we noted previously, the progress from the development of a fully substantiated ego to the establishment of the deep centre in which the spiritual self is known. The creative activity of the universe is the outer thrust of the Holy Spirit, and as one participates in it with selfless abandon, so one knows the spiritual self, the soul within, and its vibrant exultation is a part of the triumphant joy of eternal life. The counsellor who knows this joy in himself will transmit it psychically to those whom he serves. It must be added, as a sober fact of life, that our world is hardly one of joy and exultation on a day-by-day rational basis; the tragedies inevitable to living, stemming both from existence itself and from man's terrible cruelty and aggressiveness, would seem to make spontaneous paeans of praise somewhat insensitive if not simplistic. But the soul knows that in the depths of life there is an eternal spark of God's presence, and this will prevail; indeed triumph, long after the outer façade of destructive fury has spent itself and become dissipated into the mists of insubstantiality. This is a living faith that renews and regenerates all whom it touches.
This faith is of a very different order from the unconscious - and not infrequently crudely conscious - manipulation that may proceed from a particularly enthusiastic counsellor. This enthusiasm is based on the certainty that what he believes and expounds is the whole truth, and that healing depends on his client accepting this approach without reservations or criticism. We all tend to become manipulative when we are sure we know the answers and have the key to the mystery of healing. This dogmatic certainty can even be transmitted psychically to the client, who then conjures up dreams and memories that seem to confirm a specious hypothesis that masquerades as absolute truth. Many such hypotheses, such as the importance of the trauma of past lives (with a reincarnational bias) or of the earliest period of intra-uterine development of the embryo with the uncovering of suggestive memories, may indeed have a substance of truth behind them. But the memories evoked by techniques of regression may simply represent the uncovering of conversations heard and stories read to one at a very early period of one's life.
The psyche dramatises its contents, especially that which was once repressed and is now uncovered. Our dream life is the most eloquent example of this dramatisation of our interior world of ideas, drives and emotions. Their elucidation can be helped by the established canons of interpretation developed by the classical schools of dynamic psychology, especially the Freudian and the Jungian, but in the end the dreamer and the thinker has to come to his own conclusions. Our inner lives are all unique, though in many respects they share common factors of detail and symbolism. A manipulative therapist can easily impose his will and interpretation on to his patient who then follows uncritically in the way shown by the dominating guide. If we are humble, silent and open, we can get ourselves out of the way and let the Holy Spirit show the client what the truth of the matter is that shows itself to him in thoughts, piercing emotional thrusts and evocative dreams.
Dreams function on a number of levels. Most are essentially psychological mechanisms of inner release and instruction. Apart from the surface dreams that are an obvious reaction to an immediate life situation, there are more profound dreams that indicate some unresolved tension in one's inner life or act as a corrective against a conscious over-reaction to some pressing situation or circumstance. There are also much deeper dreams that have a cosmic, mystical significance as well as those that remind us that we do not live alone in a private world but are in psychic communion with all souls, the deceased no less than those still in the flesh with us. Such psychically enlightening dreams may have a strongly precognitive aspect that is suddenly brought to mind later on when it is confirmed by an apparently trivial event in one's life or a more compelling tragedy or triumph that shatters one in its intensity. I personally believe that we can understand aspects of the after-life through instruction that is given by the Communion of Saints by means of deep dreams and that our loved ones on the other side of life can communicate with us on this level. The information that at times can be given seems to me to be far too complex to be a mere projection of one's own inner thoughts. And the emotional release afforded by these glimpses has a sanely liberating effect on one's future life. At any rate they deserve careful consideration and a deep reverence, since they reveal the heart in all its complexities.
It should also be noted that faith and doubt are obverse sides of the same coin. Faith without doubt leads to credulity and irrationality that find their end in crass superstition and the persecution of those who do not share that faith. On the other hand, obsessive doubts paralyse one's initiative and lead one to imprisonment in the status quo-which is identified with unalterable reality. If faith is the yearning of the soul for its release from the bondage of materialism to the freedom of full participation in eternal life, then doubt is the mumbled warning of the rational mind that the release yearned for may be the precipice that leads to total destruction. And this is the perpetual conflict lying at the heart of man's aspirations; a knife edge separates annihilation from fulfilment, total obliteration of the personality from a full participation of the person in the divine nature so that he may come to share in the very being of God (2 Peter 1:4).
The spirit of discernment acts primarily through the rational mind, which is especially powerful in the male. But that spirit also acts psychically through the intuition, which is especially strong in the female. While faith leads us on, doubt draws us back from ultimate commitment. The final decision is a resolution of these two attitudes; it is a reconciliation of the two opposing tendencies.
Only when faith and doubt are both given their due regard, and the messages of each are received attentively and with reverence, can the will function in clear awareness and the soul move towards its true destination, which is God. Our faith can be real only when it is viewed before a severe background of doubt. The proof of one's faith is the way one directs one's life in accordance with its precepts. In other words, faith is made real by action. It gives substance to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see (Heb. 11:1). In fact these realities are already seen by the soul's eye, which is the spirit within us. But what is known to be true by the deepest intuition has to be brought into outer reality in the action of our lives, so that it may transform both our own personalities and the world in which we live. Faith, if it does not lead to action, is in itself a lifeless thing (Js. 2:17). But the action must always first be scrutinised and censored by the mind, which is the advocate of doubt. When enthusiasm has been tempered by doubt, judgment and a considered, well-conceived action will be the result. This will lead us on to the path of life both in eager expectation and in fear and trembling, so that we are ever open to the responses of other people and the directives that arise from new circumstances. These come about in our progress towards full humanity, towards the actualisation of the self into something of the nature of Christ.
Therefore doubt, though stressing the dark, forbidding side of existence, is as much part of the divine providence as is faith. It tempers exuberant recklessness with the stern facts of life, it brings idealism down to earth, making it practical. But in the end, if it is allowed always to have the last word, it truncates the full development of the person, who remains merely an intelligent puppet, and is not allowed to attain his destiny which is to be a spiritual being, one who can know God, obey His high calling and enter into the divine stature of Christ. In doing so he also becomes fully human, in the footsteps of Jesus in His mighty incarnation.