[From The Rosicrucian
Digest May 1948]
A COMMUNICATION recently received reads: "We are
inclined to think, to believe, that our own emotions are unique and so, when we
encounter in ourselves, frightening emotions, we wonder if we are exactly
normal and what causes these feelings or urges. Would not one be better armed
against
fear and doubt if he were at least aware of these basic human
and animal emotions and instincts and able to recognize them in himself?"
So much has been written about fear, from both the poetic and
religious point of view, that many have come to believe that fear has no
advantage whatever to mankind and should be completely stamped out. Fear, like
other emotions, such as grief, mirth, and joy, can become exaggerated and
distorted. Therein lies its danger. It is necessary to distinguish between
normal
fears and abnormal ones. This statement implies that certain fears have a
rightful place in the so-called state of normalcy. Since fear is
one of
the emotions, it might be asked: What are the emotions from which fear springs?
Further, what is the relation of the emotions to the instincts, since the two
are so often commonly confused?
Instincts are the result of basic adjustments in an organism
that have caused it to acquire a certain behavior. Such adjustments are often
mutations, that is, alterations of the genes, that part of the living cell
which transmits the hereditary characteristics. We know all too well that all
of our actions have not been premeditated. We are caused to act
involuntarily
and to respond at times in various ways. We know that there are often urges
which are overwhelming. It is some of these urges that are commonly known as
the instincts.
In his primitive state, for eons of time before he had the
ability to think about his environment and analyze its effects upon him, man
must nevertheless have responded to his surroundings. There must have been
numerous conditions with which man was confronted and whose effects produced
similar sensations within him. The continual impact of such impulses, which
cause sensations of a similar general nature, eventually brought about an
alteration in the neural (nerve) pathways of man's nervous systems. A pattern
of behavior was then established, just as when water, flowing over a certain terrain,
gradually wears away the soil to form its own channel.
Gradually, after untold generations, according to the laws of
genetics, the genes were altered by such behavior. The offspring would then
acquire this pattern of behavior. Whenever the offspring were subject to
conditions that caused the original stimulus, the organism would then have the
tremendous urge to respond in the accustomed way. To oppose this "path of
least resistance" causes a nervous chaos and an irksome feeling. To
gratify these urges is satisfying. Consequently, there was a tendency to
continue to pursue them. Instincts have been called
unlearned adaption.
In other words, the organism was originally not conscious of adapting itself,
of learning a way or a method to meet a condition. Subsequently, the lesson
learned became wholly subjective. It was rooted deep in the genes and we cannot
possibly know objectively how it came about an untold number of years ago.
There are certain patterns of behavior that are common to
life. They apparently were essential to the continuation of life then and are
now.
Such, for example, is the instinct of self-preservation.
We shall take the position that emotions are the sensations
which arise out of the instincts. They are often confused as sensations can be.
To better understand this, let us compare the instincts to the primary
qualities of our receptor senses. Agencies outside of us, external forces, by
means of their vibrations, act upon our faculties of sight, hearing, tasting,
and so forth. As a result, we experience such sensations as color, form, scent,
sound, and the like. There are agencies or vibrations which act upon us from
within
as well. Within each cell, there exists a state of balance, a harmonium. These
conditions of stability must be maintained. Hereditary development has
determined what particular nature that stability shall assume. It must follow
the pathways which have become established for it. Whenever this equilibrium is
disturbed, the neural systems respond. They produce their
internal
vibrations. These internal vibrations are the
instincts. The
instincts in turn produce in our consciousness sensations just as the
vibrations of matter do. These sensations, however, are the emotions.
Someone may advance the argument that sensations, such as
colors and sounds, cannot be separated from the external factors that cause
them. We cannot, for instance, see the color
red externally or apart
from some image. Neither can we detach the sound of a shrill whistle from that
which causes it. On the other hand, this critic may contend, we can experience
instincts apart from the emotions. Therefore, they must be separate.
But do
we experience them separately? Is not the instinct of curiosity, for
instance, always intermingled with emotions? Does it not also constitute, at
times, a feeling of fear and then again a satisfaction that is unmistakably
enjoyable? The maternal instinct likewise cannot be separated from a matrix of
emotions, such as fear, joy, and anxiety, depending upon how it is aroused.
At times an instinct is more dominant than are its sensations
or the emotions which follow from it. Then, through a lack of thorough
self-analysis, we think that the instinct stands alone. At other times, the
emotions are so dominant and the motivating instinct so subtle that we are
inclined to believe that the former stand by themselves. The emotions are thus
natural to man. They are not wholly, as the ancient Stoics stated, a disease of
the mind.
How does an emotion or sensation of the instinct, such as
fear,
serve man? Fear is a motive of avoidance. It is an escape from an
unpleasantness that may become a danger--that is, threaten, for instance, the
security of life. Pain is repugnant to life. That which pains us causes our
fear of it. In a general sense, what is it that we fear? Is it not pain, mental
or physical, and everything that may strike at our continued existence? No
matter what may be the object of fear, the avoidance of it is prompted by these
factors. Fear thus provides an opportunity for
retreat from danger.
The individual who would be absolutely devoid of fear would
undoubtedly be likewise without any sense of prudence. He would be inept in
evaluating such circumstances as might entail undue risk. Such a person's life
expectancy would be far less than that of anyone possessed of normal fears. We
look out upon our world and we see many things occurring that threaten
disastrous results to the ego, to the self. They may take our life, our health,
or the lives of those included as part of our ego--our loved ones. These
observations stir the instincts and sensations arise from them such as the
emotion of fear. This does not mean that we shall necessarily be terrified. It
does mean, however, that we shall be obliged either to avoid such circumstances
or take steps to bring about their surcease.
From this we can see that
suggestion plays a prominent
part in arousing fear. A combination of events or things may appear
threatening. If careful observation is possible before we act to escape the
impending things, we should undertake it. Subsequent inspection and reason may
prove that there are no grounds for fear. If such an observation is not made,
there is a probability that we may continue all through our life to retreat
from similar things which are quite harmless. In fact, such an experience may
develop into an obsession and
abnormal fear.
Many morbid fears and phobias are caused by extreme fatigue,
the result of excessive exertion or illness. For us to think, to reason
extensively, to resort to any form of mental concentration, requires the
exertion of will power. The desired ideas must be kept dominant in the
consciousness. Thus, when an experience or some form of ideation arouses the
emotions,
will must be exercised to analyze them. If they do not warrant
emotional expression, the intelligent, strong-willed person suppresses the
prevailing emotions. When one is seriously ill and consequently weak, his
emotions, as most of us know from personal experience or observation, get the
better of him. Whatever causes the fear at such a time may become a
dominant
idea. There is an inability to come to a logical conclusion which might subdue
the idea. Latent thoughts are released which normally would be suppressed. They
become associated with and fortify the central idea of the fear. The unchecked
emotional stimulus implants with tremendous force the ideas causing the fear in
the subjective mind. Thereafter, all similar experiences release that idea from
the subjective mind. There is then caused a recurrence of the tremendous emotional
stimulus that was originally associated with the idea. This, then, is a
phobia
which is removed only with considerable difficulty.
When one becomes extremely fatigued from exceptional
exercise, he is likely to develop a state of anxiety. He begins to worry about
things which normally he would oppose with logical explanation. He is unable to
marshal the necessary bulwark of rational thoughts, and fears begin to grip
him.
Neurasthenia is a state of nervous exhaustion that results
because of conflicting emotions. It may become a vicious circle. The nervous
exhaustion and depression contribute to fear, worries, and the anxious state.
These, in turn, keep the nervous energy at a low ebb. When you find yourself
becoming extremely nervous, with a quivering in the region of the solar plexus,
you will experience emotional instability; a sensation of excitement
intermingled with indistinct fears will be had. These are not normal fears as
we have explained. They are engendered perhaps by a physical deficiency of some
kind. Prolonged insomnia will often cause such phobias and fixations. The mind
is incapable of proper rationalization. A return to physical normalcy will
frequently cause the disappearance of these fears. Persons who are afflicted
with extremely low blood pressure experience waves of ungrounded fears.
Let us remember that an instinct is a form of immortal
knowledge, for most certainly it lives on in the
vital life force of
each gene. The Cosmic provides the substance. We, by our living, make the mold.
We have formed the instincts.
The version of the nature of the emotions and instincts, as
given here, is primarily a
Rosicrucian conception. In fact, it may not
be wholly acceptable to orthodox psychology. Current investigations, however,
point toward its confirmation, which will then support another original
conception of the Rosicrucians.
* * *
Each man has
within himself all the energy he needs for any great accomplishment; but he
must learn how to handle and use this great power for the good of all.--Mary A.
Christoe, F.R.C.