In this series of New Humanist psychology, we have focused on various aspects of the functioning of our consciousness and have given orientations to get out of the world of suffering, to advance towards a coherent life, and to open up the possibility of real and profound change in ourselves and in those around us.
By Jordi Jiménez
Many of the topics covered have touched on what we call the “deep spaces” of human consciousness: topics such as gratitude and asking, inner guidance, exercises with the Force, and even the Principles of Valid Action. As simple as some of these may seem, they can introduce the practitioner daily into those spaces that are rare in everyday life. This inner journey has, in turn, the capacity to transform that same life, as the changes occur in the depths of consciousness.
Other themes have fully touched on the functioning of our consciousness from the point of view of experience, from the registers we have, from experience, in a kind of psychology of phenomena (phenomenological) that is based on that, on experience. Subjects such as mental images, memory, attention, possession, or climates and tensions enter into this more mental or psychological field.
Being-in-the-world
So, we have travelled some paths that we could call spiritual and others that would be more psychological. But we cannot forget something very important: every human being and every human experience always takes place in a milieu, in a context. The human being is always a being in the world (thus, all together with hyphens). There is absolutely nothing in this universe that is isolated from its environment. Even in the infinite sidereal voids, any existing element is with that context, even if that context is the total void. Nor is the living, existing human being isolated from his environment, however hard some may try to isolate him. One can, for example, remove oneself from the urban social environment and go and live on a desert island, but no doubt in doing so one will have to relate to that new environment in some way since one’s survival will depend on the relationship one establishes with that natural environment.
Having solved the inevitability of the relationship between being and the environment, let’s get down to business. Psychologists and spiritualists, many of you already know this, but it is worth remembering: nothing changes in a person if he does not modify his relationship with his environment, with his social, personal and even material environment. Today I heard a very illustrative joke on the radio. A girl explains to her friend that she went to a psychologist and that he finally gave her a diagnosis for what is happening to her. And what did he diagnose you with, says her friend? He diagnosed me with a lack of money. Indeed, many of the problems we may suffer in everyday life have more to do with external, social difficulties than with some internal or psychological problems. The threat of unemployment and poverty, the labour blackmail to which millions of people around the world are subjected, the scarcity of the most basic elements for survival, the lack of minimum health or education services in large parts of the world, social extortion based on speculation in housing or food prices, the uncontrolled violence that spreads everywhere… We could go on for a long time describing distressing situations in many contexts where a great many people have to live their daily lives. No friends, some people don’t have psychological problems, they just live in a context of terrible f…..
But well… what about the people who do live in an affluent society, who have all their material affairs solved and have no major anxieties or fears in their daily lives… and then it turns out that they are the ones who commit suicide the most, for example.
The intangibles
When we talk about social environment or context, we are not only referring to the material context but also to a context that we could call “intangible”, to the field of values and priorities of a society. Some cultures are materially well off, but extol values such as extreme individualism, lack of solidarity, hyper-competitiveness, and lack of communication, where information is manipulated and people are shamelessly deceived, where the struggle for the power of the fittest is the highest value, authoritarianism and lack of freedom, revenge, discrimination and intolerance of the different…, in short, societies with cruel, predatory and selfish personal relationships. Yes, Marxist friends, having one’s material needs met does not bring happiness, and it is not because this happens in a capitalist society. In a context of inhuman and violent intangibles, reinforced by the audiovisual media, their economic interests or their power interests, who can boast of psychological health and a reasonable internal balance?
Psychological or internal problems do not belong to one alone. One has them because they are symptoms of a social imbalance. But internal problems also radiate to others and act socially in a constant feedback loop. And we are not referring to more or less serious mental illnesses that have their origin in organic failures. We are talking about internal contradiction as a sign that something is not right in oneself and that in many cases it is nothing more than the continuity of social contradiction that is fed back to the individual in a closed circle.
In today’s article, we are not going to give any advice or propose any practices for our well-being. Today we only want to raise awareness of the need for a more humane world, where peace and non-violence advance. The central problem is violence in all its forms, not only physical, but also economic, racial, religious, sexual and psychological violence with all its variants derived from these. And these forms of violence that pervade every corner of the world are both symptoms and causes of our internal violence. But each of us can and must overcome the violence within and without by treating others as we wish to be treated and by reconciling with ourselves and with others. Each of us can cut the chains of violence as far as our strength reaches: to our neighbour or the whole world if that is the case. By cutting this feedback we will humanise the world and build a better future for our descendants.
