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Lesson 36 The Different Types of Self Transferential Developments

I. Empirical Self Transferences There are many examples of empirical Self Transferences such as those developed in dreams, reveries, art, and religions. If one wished to carry the psychological point of view to an extreme, one could consider every person’s life a “drama” that develops in the midst of accidents suffered by the central character. The character may play many different roles, but they will always have the same basic underlying attitude that either unfolds and develops towards increasing integration, or else remains fixed in a certain stage unable to achieve coherence. Every activity a human being develops in the world is accompanied by a corresponding internal representation. So one’s external activities are not unimportant because some produce disintegrating registers, while others produce registers of internal unity, strength and coherence. Thus, even in everyday life there are many self transferential events, just as there are also many cathartic ones. From this perspective, it would be possible for a person to carry out external actions without expecting any external results, but rather valuing these actions only for their self transferential results, that is, for their value as unifying or valid actions. Similarly, acts of love are possible in which one has no expectation of any return. It is possible to love a person, a cause, humanity, a God, etc. in this way. Empirical self-transferential plots are those actions and their corresponding internal representations that give the subject registers of unity and a sensation of internal “growth” or progress. This sensation of unity and internal growth is particularly important, and it enables one to distinguish a cathartic or dis-tensing activity from a self-transferential one.

II. Empirical Self Transference in Religions The themes and plots proposed by religions in prayers or meditation can be followed alone by the believer after he memorizes them, or he can read them. A praying person can also repeat aloud what has been said by another person such as the priest or director of prayers. This external function of reading should not at all be confused with the external guide we know in Transference; the reader is not an internal guide “dis-placed” towards the exterior simply because he reads a Self Transferential process. Let us now consider a prayer in which the same character or central theme (in this case, Jesus) appears in several different plots. This prayer is a declaration of faith, but it also fulfills the requirements to be a self transferential process whether it is repeated by following a director of prayers, or recited from memory alone or with others, aloud or silently. This example is a fragment of the Nice an Creed: “… He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, was seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead…” It is important for the person praying to adopt a posture and attitude of withdrawal, to feel, and if possible to visualize the vertical movements of the guide (in this case Jesus) through all three levels of the space of representation-the middle plane, hell, and then heaven. Jesus is the central theme and also the guide who undergoes transformations. The fusion of the believer and guide enables the believer to experience a mental process, helped by images, that transfers and integrates emotional charges. If the believer completely “gives in” to his prayer, he can strongly relate the scenes of the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus (plots), with a review of the sins he has committed, his bearing of the suffering they have caused, then reaching an image of deserved punishment, repenting, formulating resolutions for future reparation, and finally, arousing his hope of reaching the heaven of the just, and his own hopes for eternal resurrection. It is interesting to observe what a wide variety of self transferential possibilities are opened to the believer in this example. In the great religions we can find many other examples and models of self transferential processes that the faithful practice during their religious ceremonies or during prayers. There are also other resources or practices that can produce self transferential results without having the usually required plots. These are usually static presentations which create modifications in the practitioner only to the extent that he achieves a profound withdrawal. We are referring to the practices of repeating mantras (sacred words) and concentrating On yantras (sacred symbols or visual images). There are also short invocations people use in particular situations that are not quite self transferential plots, but rather “requests” made to the guide or divinity for some benefit. For example, the request “Oh XX, save me from all danger…” gives the person who invokes it a feeling of companionship or strength in the face of difficulties. Finally, there are also certain gestures or bodily postures which fulfill functions of invocation or asking, contact, thanks, etc. However, those operations cannot be considered self transferential processes unless they are framed and included among resources that allow one to enter an actual and complete process. A religious ceremony that includes prayers, gestures, canticles, sacraments, etc., offers a very complete variety of resources for the believer who truly enters into and compenetrates the operations. Although a devotee may always repeat the same ceremony, the person may reach different self transferential depths each time, and may emphasize a different aspect, depending on his or her needs in that moment.

III. The Process of Self Transference Before one starts a self transferential work, one has to fix one’s interest. Once the interest is clearly fixed beforehand, the operator will then know how to structure the plot, what themes to integrate into the scenes, and of course, in what level of the space of representation and in what precincts to develop the work. Let us suppose the operator needs to resolve some past biographical “knots” of real importance to him. Although he sees they are related to images and climates that condition many of his present attitudes, let us suppose he knows unequivocally that in this case they originated in the past. According to this understanding and experience, it is clear he must place the plots in the lower regions of the space of representation, and that the descending road will lead him to the correct ambit. Further, let us suppose in this situation that his interests are related to overcoming past situations of failure that seriously compromise his self-image. Before he proceeds it is absolutely necessary for him to define the limits of these failures. Are they related to situations at work, his relationships, etc.? He must specify and define these situations as precisely as possible. After the operator has properly clarified his interests, he then begins to assemble the scene by mentally repeating the situation in which the problem originated.. So the plot is, partly, the repetition of what actually happened. But only partly, because during this process he can appeal to many allegorizations that will allow him to precisely transfer oppressive charges and integrate the contents into whatever positive outcome he deems most useful. We now give an example extracted from ceremonial works of a self transferential kind where the basic interest is to achieve a “reconciliation” with one’s past. Because there are many kinds of situations that have affected one’s past, we construct several plots that will allow the operator to work more profoundly on whichever kind of situation he wishes. In this example we will see how the theme of She or He is treated without really pretending to achieve a precise definition. We can also observe the allegorical treatment of scenes or situations in which the operator then places his own personal or individual themes. We will break this process into several parts to make it easier to understand. Do not be confused by our use of jungle resources of resistance; they have been used to create tension which is later discharged at the moment one’s destination is reached. Also, do not be confused by the fact that the text has been taken from a ceremonial system. This may complicate an understanding of the mechanism of the entrance because the whole process is framed or included in a setting of “final judgment” where the operator’s entire life is reviewed. But it should be clear that the basic interest is to produce a profound and lasting reconciliation with the operator’s past. The end and emergence from the process are allegorized by a return to the initial steps, but in a final climate of positive experience. It is taken for granted that the operator has already worked on and developed standard precincts or environments for the different scenes; he will then have no difficulty in finding the proposed images. It is also taken for granted that he will continue to work more deeply in future practices. 1. “…Now that you are dead and have descended to the threshold of the world of shadows, upon hearing the sound of the scales, you will say to yourself, ‘My viscera are being weighed…’ and this will be true, because to weigh your viscera is to weigh your actions. 2. “The lower viscera are in the infernal fire. The keepers of the fire are always active, while She or He (depending on whether you are a man or a woman) shyly slips or suddenly appears, only to again disappear in the same way. 3. “First, you will pay the keepers. Then, you will enter the fire and remember all the suffering you have caused in the chain of love. 4. “Ask forgiveness from those you have ill-treated, and come away purified only when you are reconciled… 5. “Then, call Her or Him by name, depending on your condition, and plead to be allowed to see their face. If they accede to your request, then listen to their advice, which is as soft as a faraway breeze. 6. “Thank them with all your heart, and leave following the torch of your guide. 7. “The guide will traverse dark passages with you, and reach a chamber where the shadows of all those you have wronged during your existence await you. They, all of them, remain in the same suffering situation as on the day you left them. 8. “Ask for their forgiveness, reconcile yourself, and kiss them one by one before you depart. 9. “Follow the guide, who knows well how to lead you to the places where your life has foundered, to the sites of things forever frozen. “Oh world of great losses, where smiles and enchantments and hopes are your burden and your failure! Contemplate your long chain of failures … 10. “Ask the guide to slowly cast light upon all those illusions… 11. “Reconcile with yourself, forgive yourself, and laugh. Then you will see how, from the cornucopia of dreams, a hurricane arises that carries the dust of your illusory failures towards nothingness. 12. “Even in the cold and dark forest, you follow your guide. The birds of ill-omen brush against your head. In the swamps, snake-like tentacles drag you under. 13. “Have the guide take you to the dark cavern. You can advance no further until you pay the price demanded by the hostile forms that defend the entrance. 14. “If you finally gain access, ask the guide to slowly illuminate the cavern, to the left and to the right. Implore him to illuminate the great marble bodies of all those you have not been able to forgive… 15. “Forgive them one by one, and when your feelings are true, the statues will begin to transform into human beings who will smile, and extend their arms towards you in a hymn of gratitude. 16. “Follow the guide outside the cavern, and do not, under any circumstances, look back. 17. “Pay your guide, and return to where the actions of the dead are weighed. 18. “Listen to the scales that lean in your favor: Your past is forgiven! 19. ‘You have received too much already to wish for more now… were your ambition to carry you further, you might not return to the world of the living. “You already have more than enough with the purification of your past. 20. “I tell you now: Awake and emerge from that world!” The ceremony we have taken this from continues further, but this is not important for comprehending its self transferential process. We now continue with an exercise of Self Transference.

Exercise: Developing the Self Transferential Process-Descent First, the operator carries out the steps of the Entrance seen above, and then follows the descending road until he arrives at the appropriate Precinct to work on some biographical scene, basing himself on some of the fragments cited in this lesson. It is very important for you to fix your interest before beginning to work so that you can then compose plots related to this interest. The plot must have a biographical base (in this exercise), and have corresponding themes or images. In the case of a climate without images, do the entrance anyway, and then descend to an appropriate subterranean place and ask your guide to illuminate this place until specific themes appear (allegorized or not) that you may then immediately work on. This is an interesting resource to help find a correspondence (fitting) between climate and image in the self transferential system. When you begin to work, it is advisable to at first do only a short development and work on only one plot; go on to do more profound work with it as you continue to practice later. When you finish a session, exchange points of view with the other people, and especially note any resistances that appeared.