How Adopting a Psychological Framework Can Reduce Anxiety and Increase Wellbeing ...
"I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as a plant and rose to animal, I died as animal, and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I [ever] less by dying." Giordano Bruno
I ask that you use your own personal discrimination when reading this article, and set aside any words, aspects or concepts that do not resonate with you. For I recognise your freedom to choose what is right for you, and would not wish to violate your freewill, but rather, I would act only as a resource for your seeking.
According to the theologian Paul Tillich, there are principally three types of anxiety which Humans are subject to: (a) death in the shape of non-being; (b) meaningless and emptiness; and (c) guilt and self-condemnation. Each of these are detailed in more depth below. One could see that at one time or another, each one of us have probably suffered from one or all three of these forms of anxiety. We could conclude that it actually defines the Human condition! If this is the case, then as I have stated previously, Mankind is in a state of psychological sickness, brought on by the spectacle of our own perceived mortality, which prohibits a deeper understanding of the nature of our lives, leading to a misinterpretation about the reasons why we suffer.
This piece will examine the mythology of reincarnation, as a psychological framework for wellbeing. What do I mean by psychological framework? Well, I mean a coherent belief system, by which we can contextualise our lives, which has the most beneficial outlook upon our wellbeing. As conscious beings of will, we can either accept the beliefs of our family and culture without question, or by using our freewill, adopt a belief system, which affirms life, helping to support us to accept the incredible gift of a Human life, upon this beautiful planet. The predominant belief of our culture is that the life we lead is a one-off affair. We are born, we suffer, we die – that’s it!! This approach, it seems to me, builds in unnecessary degrees of anxiety. Our prime power as humans, is our freewill to choose what is right for us as individuals, which leads to outcomes which support us to the greatest possible extent!
"I know I am deathless…We have thus far exhausted trillions of winters and summers, / There are trillions ahead, and trillions ahead of them." Voltaire
Creative Living is the process of spontaneously reacting to whatever arises within our own lives, in relation to one of these three sources of anxiety, where we continuously reorder our perceptions, interpretations, and conclusions, in accordance with a dynamic belief system, which reaffirms that all is well, and the universe has our back. I propose to you dear reader, that we can adopt a more creative approach, as defined above, to the psychological challenges that we all face.
I would like to pose the following question: "is it psychologically more beneficial to believe in reincarnation, or to believe that we just have one life, one shot, and that’s it?" I would always argue that psychologically it is always the former and never the latter. Reincarnation, in effect means immortality, not of the Human personality, but the deeper essence of our identity, which is called our soul. This, by all accounts, is a non-physical, energetic series of subtle bodies, which maintains a continuous repository of our unique experiences, across space and time. Now, if your reaction to the former paragraph is incredulity, then I draw your attention to a way of thinking which is rationalistic, based upon scientific truths, which is not always psychologically healthy.
Let me be clear, I am not stating that reincarnation is the truth, nor am I stating that it is not the truth. We do not know what the truth of it really is! Humans adopt belief systems, either consciously, or unconsciously, in accordance with their psychological dispositions (see below), as sometimes dictated by the culture in which they were brought up. With every paradigm shift (change in basic assumptions) that Humanity goes through, the nature of truth always seems to change. As we learn more, and our models evolve, new interpretations, theories, and hypothesis continuously arise. In this context, the search for truth per se, can sometimes be seen as a rather futile or irrelevant pursuit. Science seems to have left an indelible mark upon us, which has raised the need within us for absolute truth, to the highest of human pursuits, as opposed to determining what is the most important proposition which will make us happier and healthier. Perhaps we need to re-examine this need, which has been thrust upon us, by those who need to know, above all else, in the wake of the rise of atheistic material reductionism.
It is apparently a well-known fact, arising from countless studies, that we are all driven by what is taking place below our conscious awareness, in what is defined as the unconscious, by as much as 95% [1]. This implies that what we believe and how we act, comes from the unconscious part of all of us. The unconscious is composed of habits, patterns, creativity, emotions, personality, beliefs, biases, long term memory and automatic body functions. Whilst the conscious is composed of will, planning, critical thinking, short-term memory, judgments and decisions [2]. One can easily conclude that our conscious capabilities are mostly, if not all, driven by the unconscious. If that is the case, then the arc of our lives, the jobs that we supposedly select, the partners and friends that we pick, the beliefs we hold, the authority we believe we have and the groups and tribes that belong to, are not consciously chosen. They are unconsciously thrust upon us, by the unknown influences of our hidden cognitive biases, unresolved traumas, unspecified imprints and indefinite mass psychosis’s. Any conclusions, interpretations and certainties that we believe that we have, are at best built upon shifting and indeterminate sands, providing psychological safety and security and at worst, inflated, borderline disorders, verging upon narcissistic and psychopathic pathologies! This is what I call the ‘psychological disposition,’ which is not just a personal, but also a collective challenge. When I use the term 'psychologically beneficial', I'm referring to the extent of the impact that our unconscious has upon us, with regard to our general wellbeing. Any conscious belief system, such as believing in reincarnation, which positively offsets or recontextualises, through Creative Living (see above), unconscious influences, is I believe psychologically beneficial.
The Anxiety of Death or Nonbeing
The belief in reincarnation addresses one of the most fundamental forms of anxiety that Humanity has to constantly cope and live with, which is that eventually we will die and enter into a state of nonbeing. This is why the reincarnation psychological framework (RPF) is so beneficial to us. To a certain extent, if accepted and lived within, it could begin to alleviate the anxiety that wells up in us at the thought of our own deaths. As we explore the myth of the RPF, and it becomes richer, and more encompassing, explaining more of the phenomena that we encounter, then the possibility of adopting it may begin to increase. Believing in it, having faith in it, and trusting it, could potentially bring about a reduction in the anxiety of our physical death of the vehicle that carries this present human incarnation.
"Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives." James Joyce
The so-called argument of the realists, who believe that it’s better to believe in something which is true, but is not psychologically beneficial to one, as opposed to believing in something that’s not true, but is more psychologically beneficial for one, does not seem to be to make a great deal of sense. Again, I remind you that the use of this framework is not an argument for what is the truth, or what is not the truth about reincarnation, for we really don’t know one way or the other. So, let’s stop beating around the psychological bush, and plump for the one that is the most psychologically beneficial to us. Anybody that continues to argue that the realist position is the better one, needs to take a long hard look inside themselves at their psychological disposition (as described above) and their shadow aspects. If they did so, then I’m fairly certain that their position on reincarnation might change. Let’s be clear, as a mythological framework, there is tremendous amount of logic to it. One life is way too short to raise ourselves to any level of wisdom, understanding and maturity. It only makes sense, when one has dozens if not hundreds, if not thousands of opportunities to grow and evolve and take on different personas across the ages. Moreover, the law of conservation, a redoubtable foundation block of science, would be observed, as nothing would be lost, in evolutionary terms.
For some, the RPF may allude to the proposition of the fundamental unity of an intelligent, conscious universe, represented maybe theistically by a Supreme Omnipotent Being, which maybe rejected by the realists, naysayers and pessimists, on the following grounds:
Because of the ignorance of the impact and effect of their own unconscious psychological bias, victimhood and inferiority complexes, caused by their unresolved and unexplored psychological dispositions. This negative and unwitting position dominates their perspectives, causing insentient resentment, anger, mistrust, disappointment, grief and ultimate despair, bubbling up in their psyches, misleading and misrepresenting their deeper connection to the possibility of their own unique specialness. This state precludes the acceptance or recognition of a beneficent being, or their inclusion as a part of it.
By associating the idea of a Supreme Omnipotent Being, with limited, controlling, distorted and self-serving interpretations of ‘God’, as presented by the majority of western religions. This is how God is traditionally represented, and how some are conditioned, within our modern global culture, causing gross denunciation of anything that even faintly approaches the stamp of the existence of a unified intelligent Creator.
By the conscious justification, substantiated by a belief or suspicion that if a Supreme Being did exist, why does it allow untimely death, persecution, inequality, loss, disease, suffering, enslavement, pestilence, violence and war? Therefore, such a being is either suffering from gross and unequivocal moral incompetence or cruel indifference, or as is more likely the case, that it does not exist at all! For them the uncertainty of a deity free universe, filled with apparent chaos, injustice and meaningless, is easier to hold as a central truth or tenet, as opposed to the beauty, elegance and sufficiency, of the belief that there is only one being at play, within its own eternal game of hide and seek. The deeper questions that are really being asked by these individuals is “if God exists, why do I suffer, why at times am I unsafe, why don’t my dreams and desires come true”? “Why do I not really seem to matter in the grand scheme of things;” The answer to this question is dealt with below.
The Anxiety of Meaningless & Emptiness
The proposition of the RPF brings back real meaning into our lives, it imbues us with a sense of wonder, excitement and adventure. We become the perpetual gameplayers, the citizens of eternity, creators extraordinaire. True meaning is once again abroad in the world, where atheistic scientific materialism had once consigned it to clinical facts, figures and algorithms. The fundamental truth of reincarnation is that there is only one player, playing all the parts, simultaneously. That player is consciousness itself. The game, in which it plays, is also consciousness (it is both the subject and the object, and the means of perception). It is all one interconnected, extraordinarily complex, intertwined, and interlaced experience of consciousness, exploring itself, ad infinitum. You are an aspect of this singular consciousness. You are the Universe, seeking itself, exploring every facet of its manifestation, from a subjective perspective. Once this understanding begins to seep into our lives, landing within our unconscious, perhaps the anxiety of meaningless and emptiness will begin to diminish.
"Let us face it: 'deep down' nobody in his right mind can visualize his own existence without assuming that he has always lived and will live hereafter." J D Salinger
The Anxiety of Guilt and Self-condemnation
The RPF also enables an understanding that each one of our lives is filled with opportunities to learn grow and evolve. Prior to each incarnation, our soul chooses the themes, which it desires to explore in the incarnation it is about to take. Our lives become a glorious setup, directed by none other than ourselves, in the form of our soul. Therefore, any suffering we experience, only reflects the themes themselves. Even though the suffering causes us grief, loss, and pain, they are all designed to help us grow. Again, if this is the case, then as a psychological framework, this will begin to alleviate anxiety. So, guilt and self-condemnation, is to be viewed as just catalyst, which is the term that we use to denote positive aspects of suffering, which promote growth.
"All human beings go through a previous life… Who knows how many fleshly forms the heir of heaven occupies before he can be brought to understand the value of that silence and solitude whose starry plains are but the vestibule of spiritual worlds?" Charles Dickens
Using this type of psychological framework could promote a sort of spiritual bypassing. Therefore, it is vitally important that we fully meet anything that arises within our lives, with love, compassion, and understanding. Even though we are now considering ourselves to be immortal, human life is still a serious affair, and not to be taken lightly. Each life is a gift, a jewel, a spectacle of great grace, it is not to be flitted away lightly. Our Higher Self, known as the soul, is always guiding us forth, towards experiences, which will benefit us. We need to learn ways in which we can listen to this guidance. The greatest tools that we have is trust and faith. By adopting this positive psychological framework, and relaxing into it, allowing ourselves to be held within its elegance, it enables us at the beginning and end of each day, to be grateful to what we have experienced. Gratitude for the journey is an essential aspect. Loving whatever we experience either good or bad, it’s essential. Faith is knowing that everything is always turning out for the best even though it does not look like it sometimes. Maintaining a positive attitude insures, more fruitful outcomes to the experience of living on Earth.
"There is no death. How can there be death if everything is part of the Godhead? The soul never dies, and the body is never really alive." Herman Hesse
As creators, let us pursue belief systems which benefit us, instead of depleting us, or causing us to be victims, or degrading our specialness. I therefore commend to you the proposition of adopting the RPF, as a way of being, as an ontological expression, which affirms life and promotes wellbeing.
Do You Believe in Reincarnation?
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