The Mind and The World

Introduction.

This essay aims to explore the links between the mind (in its many layers and divisions) and the world (in the different ways in which it is perceived and experienced). In particular, it aims to investigate the manner in which Ego effects our perception of, and experience of, the world.
(In this essay the word ‘mind’ shall be used to describe that which could be considered the “psyche” or “soul”, in laymen’s terms, ‘everything in our heads’. The word ‘world’ is used to refer to everything which is experienced outside of ourselves; the ‘universe’ or ‘reality’ on every level.)
This shall be attempted in three stages. In the first stage, the clauses of the theory shall be explained; the nature of the mind, the objective and subjective nature of the world, the link between objectivity, truth and morality, and the link between unconsciousness and nature. In the second stage various states of unconsciousness, semi consciousness and altered consciousness will be investigated in relation to the presence of the Ego and experience of the material world. In the third stage contrasts shall be made between the experience of the world and the presence of the Ego in Eastern and Western cultures, and between different stages in Western culture.


CLAUSE ONE. Divisions of the Mind.

The idea of the mind being divided between the conscious and the unconscious, and then into further subdivisions is an ancient one, and of great importance to our understanding of the world.
For the purposes of this essay the strongest and most relevant theory of the modern age shall be used, that of Carl Jung.
Jung stated that the human mind exists on two levels; the conscious and the unconscious, and that these levels can be divided between the Personal and the Collective. (The Personal Conscious being that which an individual is aware of consciously, their thoughts, emotions and perceptions. The Collective Conscious being a level of consciousness that is shared by all people and is concerned with universally recognised symbols (such as the cross, a door, certain colours, which may appear and be recognised by most people in religion, stories, advertising or such like) and also with the thoughts and feeling common to an age- the zeitgeist. The Personal Unconsciousness being the things in an individuals mind which they are not consciously aware of. The Collective Unconsciousness being a level of the unconsciousness that is shared by all people, in the world, ever; it contains the instincts shared by all people, and the ‘archetypes’ which are the stories, emotions, or God-like-being which have been experienced by people throughout history (for example, the Christian story of a God loosing His Son and then the Son being reborn is repeated in Egyptian, Norse, and most over religions); the Collective Unconsciousness is the source of the symbols in the Collective Consciousness.
The individuals mind in then further divided. The only Conscious element is The Ego, this is the centre of our consciousness; it contains our conscious sense of identity, a version of our self which contains all of our self with we can tolerate and which we consider to be tolerated by our society, it is like a tool which is used to interact with the outside world. We are not born with an Ego, it is created during childhood. The Ego creates a Persona, which is like a mask for certain occasions, a modified and exaggerated version of the Ego which is assumed for certain jobs, social functions and such like. The Ego also creates a Shadow, which is an unconscious part of our self which contains all of our weaknesses- all the elements which are excluded from the Ego and repressed. The unconscious opposite of the Persona is the Anima or Animus; in a man the Anima is the unconscious personification of the feminine side of his personality (his inner woman); in a woman, the Animus is the unconscious personification of the male side of her personality (her inner man). Existing both consciously and unconsciously is the Self, this is the core of our being and our sense of wholeness and balance, it exists from birth and constantly drives us to survival, understanding and completeness- it can be thought of as ‘our soul’ or ‘our true self’..
Jung’s ideas on the role of the Self and the Ego, and consciousness and unconsciousness, are summarised in the following line from Psychological Commentary on Kundalina Yoga;

“…The Self is then asleep, and in what stage is the Self asleep and the Ego conscious? Here, of course, the conscious world, where we are all reasonable and respectable people; adapted individuals, as one says.”

This theory of divisions of the mind is not entirely new.
Over two thousand four hundred years ago Plato and Socrates thought of the mind being divided in similar ways. In Plato’s books, Socrates says that the mind is divided into three elements; The Rational, The Desiring and The Pride, he says that the three must be in harmony, but that The Rational must be dominant. The Desiring and The Pride can be equated to the Ego and the Persona, and the rational can be equated to the Self, and also the Animus or Animus and the Ego. Socrates also says that consciousness exists on two levels; the experience of the material world (which he equates to a cave in which we are trapped), and can be compared with consciousness, and the experience of The World of The Forms, which contains ‘all things as they truly are’, eternal forms of all things; this World of forms is directly related to morality, and can be ‘remembered’ through rational thought (this could be equated to the symbols or archetypes in the Collective Unconsciousness).
The cosmology and psychology of the Norse peoples in Classical and Medieval times contained divisions of the mind equally complex to Jung in which the Universe and the mind are divided into ‘Nine Worlds’ of Humanity (both living and dead), elemental beings, and Gods. The Nine Worlds in the mind and the world are parallel to each other as macrocosm and microcosm.
The correlation between the conscious/subconscious in the mind and material/immaterial in the world found in classical philosophy and its implications on Jungian theory will be discussed in detail latter.
Another relevant theory is that of the Philosopher Soren Kierkgaard in the Nineteenth Century. Kierkegaard stated that people can grow through three stages of life, or states of mind. The first was the Aesthetic stage, when a person is concerned only with pleasure, all things are judged to be good or bad depending on their beauty or capacity to cause pleasure (this is can be linked with the conscious, the Ego, and the Persona). The next stage which could be reached was the Ethical, when a person is rational, serious and consistent; they choose certain moral rules and live by them (this can be linked with consciousness and the Ego). The final stage which could be reached was the Religious Stage, in which people live by faith rather than pleasure or rationality (this could be linked with the unconscious and the Self).

It should be remembered that these divisions, particularly between Consciousness and Unconsciousness, are not Dualistic distinctions (they are not opposite and opposing divisions), they are different levels of the same thing.


CLAUSE TWO. The World: Objective and Subjective.

The world can be thought of as existing on two levels; objectively and subjectively.
The Objective World contains all things, it is a level of reality which ‘exists forever’, it is permanent, eternal and universal. It is Immaterial- mental or spiritual in nature and we can only begin to understand it through use of Reason and Freewill; through the use of logic or in states of unconsciousness. In short, it is the world as it would be experienced Objectively.
The Subjective World is the world which the individual experiences consciously, using the senses. It is Material; the world which each person experiences through sight, sound, touch, taste and hearing, it is the world of time and space (matter). Because it is experienced consciously, it is also a world of causality- because we consciously experience everything in terms of time and space, everything is seen to be caused and to cause over things. Each person experiences a unique version of the Subjective World, it could be said that there are billions of Subjective Worlds (one for each human), but as Subjective Worlds only exists subjectively, that can be considered ‘less real’, metaphysically speaking, than the Objective World, however, it is the world in which our bodies live.

The 17th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant stated that the world exists on two levels; the ‘world in itself’ (the nominal or objective) and ‘the world as it is perceived (the phenomenal or subjective).
The phenomenal, or Material World, cannot exists objectively because it is irrational. The concepts of time and space are proved to be illogical as they cannot logically exist either infinitely or finitely (time being finite would require one moment in time to have causual properties, time being infinite would require an infinite series of events to have already taken place, space being finite would require some external barrier to limit space, space being infinite would make space impossible to measure, as each fraction of space would be infinite), therefore they are subjective.
The nominal, or Immaterial World, is a logical necessity. It must exist Objectively.
Kant states that human cannot fully understand the Nominal World, so we impose the Phenomenal on top of it. However, the Nominal World is the source of objective truth, morality and judgement and it can be grasped using freewill and reason; because we have the capacity to attempt this, we have a moral duty to try. (This will be discussed in further detail in The Third Clause.)
In the same century, known as The Enlightenment, Berkeley also showed the Material World to be subjective. He showed that a physical object cannot exist without features (in order for any object, for example a chair, a certain geographic location, an animal, to exists one must be able to say that it is a certain size, shape, colour, that it or warm or cold, rough or smooth and such like ) and that every person will experience these features in a different way (for example a person from a cold climate may consider some where to be hot, whilst a person from a warm climate may consider the same place to be mild, or that people may consider an object to be light or dark, rough or smooth, ect, depending on their sensitivity or other factors). Therefore, a material thing can only exist if it has subjective features, so it only exists subjectively.
Another Enlightenment philosopher, David Hume, stated that Causality only exists subjectively. The states that we only believe that one thing causes another, we impose the idea on the world in order to understand it- we do not know it. He used the example of billiard balls; we see one ball move, hit another, and then the other ball moves, but we do not see ‘causality’, we mealy suppose it.
Plato writes that the world exists on two levels, the Material (the world of the senses) and the World of the Forms. The Material world is seen as been like a cave, trapping and limiting mankind. Through the exercise of reason, humanity can ‘escape’ the confines of the Material World and Experience The World of The Forms or Ideas, a level of reality in which all abstract concepts and the ideal forms of all objects exist. For example; in the World of The Forms Beauty and Truth exists ‘as things in themselves’ but there also exists The Table or The Ships, of which all earthy tables of ships are representations of. Everything which people see, or make or think of, is like a replica which is make from the mould of its form in The World of The Forms. In this way the things in the World of the Forms are objective, in that they are eternal and ideal, and the material world is subjective as it is an ephemeral and imperfect version of reality.
Plato believed that our souls begin in the World of Forms, and then we enter the Material World at birth, and all our knowledge (both practical and moral) comes from remembering the World of Forms.
In ancient Hermetic philosophy, the world is considered to be entirely mental or spiritual. The world is thought of as The All, one god like mind or will, of which all other things are a fraction (for example our wills or minds are a part of, or a microcosm of, The All). As with Kant, the Material World is a creation of the human mind to help us function in the world. The Material World is a subject creation, The All is objective.


THE THIRD CLAUSE. Objectivity: Truth: Morality.

In the writing of Plato and Kant there is a direct link between Objectivity, Truth and Morality.

In his book, Republic, Plato describes the link between objectivity, truth and morality in ‘The Cave Analogy’. In this analogy men live in a cave in which they are chained to a rock and forced to watch the shadows of puppets being displayed on the walls of the cave; because they have never seen anything over than the shadow puppets they believe them to be all of reality. This represents mankind’s state in the subjective, material world. One man leaves the cave and is almost blinded by the light of the world outside, but by first living only in the night time, and then by looking only at the shadows on the ground in the day, he is able to adjust to the light, eventually he is able to look at the sun, and is enlightened. This represents man’s struggle to understand the truth of the World of The Forms.
Plato frequently uses the sun as an analogy for the guiding light of truth, morality and objectivity. The World of the Forms contains both the true (original and eternal) versions of all things, and concepts such as ‘good’, ‘beauty’ and ‘justice’ in themselves; therefore its is all that can be considered objective, true and morally good.
Plato also states that morality comes from allowing the Rational side of our minds (which is objective) to be dominant over the Pride and the Desire (which are subjective). It is rationality which can guild us out of the cave of the material world, whilst pride and desire will often seek material things and so trap us. It is rationality which can teach us to experience (or remember) the World of The Forms.
Plato also states that our souls (the part of our minds which have always existed, which could be equated to the Jungian Self) are the only parts of us which exist forever (as there is no known substance which can corrode them, and if something cannot be corroded it cannot be destroyed), therefore our souls are the most important part of ourselves. Because are souls are important and eternal, we should guard or improve them, and the way to do this is to be morally good, and the way to be good is to be rational and so experience objectivity.

Kant states that all judgement, moral or aesthetic, should come from the Nominal (Objective) world.
He defines morality as being that which is ‘universalisable’; a morally good action is one where the world would be a good place if all people did it. He summarised it with the words, ‘let your maxim be one which could be followed by the world’. For example, murder is always morally wrong because the world would be a terrible place if everyone committed murder; telling the truth is always morally good, because the world would be a better place if everyone always told the truth. In this way, morality is Objective- certain things are always morally good for all people all of the time. This is called The Moral Law.
Kant also states that aesthetic judgements, or any other judgements should be objective. He states that to see an object correctly you should see it as an ends in itself (from an objective viewpoint), not as a means to your own ends (from a subjective viewpoint. For example, it is better to see a flower in a fields and think ‘that is a pretty flower’ and walk away, than to think ‘I like that flower, it would look good in my home’ and pick the flower. The same applies to interaction with people; it is morally wrong to treat people as a means to your own ends, they should be treated as an ends in themselves.
Kant also states that humanity is alone in the known world in possessing Rationality and Freewill and that we, therefore, have a duty to use it. Rationality is of great value because it allows us to begin to understand the Nominal world. Freewill is of value because it means that we have the freedom to escape the constant desires of the Phenomenal (Material) World. People can never be satisfied, or morally good, if they are concerned only with material things (which are all ephemeral and subjective) and in an endless, animalistic state of desire, we must use our freewill to choose to follow the Moral Law and be rational, then we may be free of endless appetite for short lived advantages and be morally good.

In summary, Goodness is that which is always good, and Truth is that which is always true. In the Subjective World all things are personally biased and ever changing. Only in the Objective World are thinks permanent, and therefore always true and good.


CLAUSE FOUR. The Self and Nature.

From a Jungian perspective, the Self can be thought of as the most natural division of the mind, as it is the only division which we are born with. The Ego and Persona are developed during childhood as a means of functioning and succeeding in the world, and the Shadow and Anima/Animus develop as reflections of the Ego. The Self is with us from a ‘state of nature’, and does not change its form or function; however the Ego is used to gain power over the natural world, and all over divisions are a consequence of that (because the Ego seeks to empower the individual, it may act in a domineering or destructive way towards the individual’s environment). In addition, the Self is always in a state of harmony and balance and always attempts to bring balance to the rest of the mind; and the natural world is always in a state of balance (between, for example, life and death, light and darkness); therefore the Self can be thought of as a microcosm of the natural world .
(It is also possible that if the Ego and Persona are particularly in opposition to nature, the Animus/Anima may be particularly in harmony with nature.)
The Collective Unconscious can also be thought of as more natural, as it contains humanities ‘animal instincts’ and the archetypes of primitive man.


CONCSIOUSNESS, THE EGO, AND AWARENESS OF THE MATERIAL WORLD.

It has already been described how the ego is modified version of the self, and used like a tool to allow us to function and prosper in society, and how the Material, or Subjective , World is experienced in the form of time, space, and causality.
Now a range of semi- conscious and unconscious states shall be examined, and it shall be considered if the individual’s sense of time, space and causality is affected, and to what extent the Ego is present.

Dreaming.
Of all the above states, Dreaming is the hardest to comprehend, as it is consciously experienced only as a memory, and is by definition unrationalisable.
One thing only can be certain about dreams: the absence of Space- we can be sure that the lands and characters experienced in Dreams have no dimensions or mass in a physical sense, as they experienced whist the dreamer is relatively still in bed.
Time is usually absent, as in most dreams the dreamer neither knows nor cares what time, date or year it is. Time also often seems to pass in an unusual manner, events that would be expected to take a long time can pass in a short time and visa versa, and night and day or the seasons can pass in an erratic fashion.
Causality, as it is experienced in waking life, is often absent. Events can follow each other in an erratic manner, objects may interact with each other in an erratic manner, and events may occur ‘for no reason’. For example; screams my be silent, running may cause a character to move slowly, mortal wounds may be instantly healed, objects and characters may ‘appear from nowhere’, animals may speak in English.
The issues of Ego and consciousness are harder to judge. When dreaming, one is certainly ‘unconscious’ (asleep), the question is if one has an unconscious control over one’s actions and this varies a great deal; in some dreams one has no sense of self or control and the dream is like watching a play or film, in other dreams one has a sense of self but no control over what one does, and in lucid dreams one can have complete control over the dream. As one is asleep, it seems safe to assume that any control over the dream comes from the unconscious mind, which would suggest that one’s self in dreams is not the Ego, it seems like it should be the true Self, however it is often a character very different from the Self, in which case it may be the Shadow or some other part of the mind. Alternatively, it could be that the mind is projecting the Ego, rather than using it as when conscious, in order to show the dreamer something about the Ego that they ought to know, or to test or exercise it in some way. For example, in a dream the dreamer might meet characters that resemble the Shadow, Self or Anima/ Animus and learn from them through some adventure. It is also possible that in our dreams we are our Selves, but when we remember the dream when we wake our conscious minds reinterpret it as being our Egos, as that is easier to understand.

Drunkenness.
In moderate states of drunkenness the Ego can be exaggerated or made more prominent, or almost entirely dropped for brief periods, depending on the situation. One’s sense of Time, Space and Causality can become blurred.
In extreme drunkenness the Ego can be dropped entirely, and as conscious control is lost the Self or sometimes the Anima or Amimus (sometimes a very ‘macho’ man can become emotional and sensitive or a quiet girl can become domineering and aggressive) emerges, but in a crippled and confused state due to the intoxication of the mind. In this state it can appear that the person is massively ego-centric due to vain or aggressive behaviour, but it must be remembered that the Ego is a conscious device and that full consciousness has been lost, and that the Ego is designed to aid us socially, and that people’s behaviour in that state can be extremely anti social and self-destructive. Time and space are further blurred and Causality can be completely forgotten. There seems to be no conscious control, so the subconscious much be in control, although in a debilitated form.

Hallucinations.
When hallucinating (for example on L.S.D. or a variety of mushrooms) Space and Time can become extremely distorted; objects can change shape, colour or dimensions and Time can seem to pass far faster or slower than usual, or to repeat itself. Causality is blurred or lost; sequences of events can appear to run backwards or to repeat themselves and events can appear to happen without any cause.
Consciousness controls the mind in a reduced manner, although one can slip into Unconsciousness control. The Ego can be entirely lost, and ones Self can be unusually dominant, or one can have vivid insights into the Shadow or Anima/Animus. On some occasions ones mind can appear to merge entirely with the universe, leaving no sense of Self or with the sense that the Self and the World are one.

Meditation..
In naturally induced Trance States such as deep meditation, Time and Space are forgotten, and Causality is irrelevant.
The aim of meditation is to silence the Conscious mind and be aware of the Unconscious mind, particularly the Self. Conscious thought and the Ego are lost, and deep insights from the unconscious can be gained, a sense of oneness between the world and the Self, and with it a sense of peace or bliss, can be achieved.

Sex.
Whilst having sexual intercourse, Time can be forgotten, or appear to run far faster or slower than usual. Ones sense of Space is distorted as ones senses are extremely focused on one’s own body and ones partners body, in this case the senses of touch, smell, hearing and taste can be greatly amplified, but ones awareness of any other objects can be far duller, indeed the rest of the world can appear to cease to exist. The Ego is normally greatly reduced or forgotten, but in some cases it can be greatly enhanced. The mind slips between conscious and subconscious control.

It seems that the greater the loss of Ego and the greater the dominance of the Subconscious mind, the less awareness one has of Time, Space and Causality- in short, of The Material World. (See Clauses 1 and 2). Therefore, the greater the presence of the Ego, the lesser awareness one has of the Objective world.


CONTRASTS BETWEEN EGO AND THE WORLD ON A HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHIC LEVEL.

If one looks at Eastern cultures or most cultures from more than two and a half thousand years ago, one can see that it is possible for humans to function with reduced Egos, and that these cultures are more spiritual, and often more harmonious, societies.
In Western culture oppression and submission are covert, but each person is made a slave in their own minds; in Eastern cultures oppression and submission are overt, but the individual is free in their own mind.
In eastern cultures, people experience themselves as immortal beings through work on the bodies (the physical body and the Subtle body (the unconscious, spiritual body) being one); through work with there own bodies such as meditation or work with chakras, the eastern person is aware of past lives, or attempts to reach a state of ‘Nirvana’. In western cultures there is a Dualistic distinction between the physical and the spiritual (and often the spiritual is considered unreal), and people seek immortality through good work in the world; either to seek redemption, or to make a name for themselves which will be remembered.
If one looks at the history of Western society one can make out a direct link between the growth of the Ego and the reduction of Spirituality. First Christianity changed the spiritual focus away from a shared fate with ones people, ancestors and Gods to individual sin and individual salvation, and from ‘human like’, archetypical, Gods to an incomprehensible God. This is a change not only towards the Ego, but also away from the unconscious (the Pagan Gods are balanced beings (being neither Good nor Evil, and some being male and others female) like the Self, and walk the earth with us, but the Christian God is unbalanced (being entirely Good, and male) and separate from us (in Heaven). Capitalism has then demanded that all people to be efficient and ambitious and discourages individuality, and therefore demanded a growth of the Ego. At the same time, spirituality is discouraged (in a system of naked exploitation only the Material, that which can be bought and sold for profit, is real; a cruel reversal of the truth) which has further increased the Ego and further reduced awareness of the unconscious. There has also been an ethical change, first through the Christian notion of Sin and fear of Hell, then through the brutal enforcement of state law, in which the unconscious instincts (such as for sex or self preservation) are made immoral, and therefore repressed and corrupted. In addition, both Christianity (and with it the Feudal System) and Capitalism have been Patriarchal; a male God followed by a masculine system of aggression and exploitation, which can only cause unbalance which leads one further from the Unconscious- which is both male and female.
Unfortunately, Western influence is driving the Eastern world in the same direction.


CONCLUSION.

Considering both the states in which consciousness is altered and the changes in societies, one picture emerges: the greater the loss of Ego and the greater the dominance of the Unconscious mind, the less awareness one has of Time, Space and Causality- in short, of The Material World.
This is of little relevance regarding Consciousness, as it is already know that it is the conscious mind which deals with The Material World.
What is of relevance is the correlation between the Ego and awareness of The Material World. It is already supposed that the Ego is a tool created by the mind to protect the Self and to easy social interaction, but it appears that the Ego may also be a window through which The Material World is experienced, or a tool which shapes our experience of The Material World.
It is already supposed that The Material World is a ‘false construct’, an unreality created by the mind, a greatly simplified and stylised version of The Immaterial World; however it may now appear that the Ego is the part of the mind responsible for creating and experiencing (the processes of creation and experience being simultaneous) The Material World.
The more dominant the Ego, the more clearly The Material World is experienced, therefore the Ego draws one away from the Immaterial, Objective world. To use Plato’s analogy; the Ego creates a cave where mankind hides from The Truth, and it keeps us chained there.
If this is the case, it is of great importance because the Immaterial World is the source of True and Morality, and it is ‘The Real World’. (See Clause 3)
The ethical implications can easily be seen. In the Christian System lack of contact with the Feminine and the Divine (which are both linked with the unconscious brought about the barbarity of the Medieval World. In Capitalism Egoism brings poverty to the majority of people, and damage to the environment (the Self is one with the world, but the Ego cares only for itself in the here and now.)
If Clause 4 is considered, the ethical implications continue, because the Ego also draws us away from nature. Consider the example of two people in a rainforest; one is a western businessman looking to make an investment, the other is an indigenous local. The businessman, with his highly developed Ego looks at the rainforest and sees timber and land to graze cattle. The indigenous person sees trees and plants and animals and earth and sky and spirits. Both are in the same place, but one sees it in a far more destructive way, and ones sees it in a way which is closer to how the forest exists objectively.
In order to enlighten itself, Mankind needs to reduce its Ego. (Although it must be noted that for a modern, Western person to loose their Ego would be psychologically dangerous and socially crippling, so a slow reduction with the aim of reducing the ego to an extent where it in balance with The Self on a world wide scale would be the ideal.)

Humanity has a choice: reduce The Ego or loose Truth and Morality; and without Objective Truth the guild us, our people and our planet will suffer.