#2 Energy, Systems & Dharma
“Ya gotta listen to the words.” is a favored expression of mine (as I hope it is for every practicing mental health professional). In the previous Building Block #1 I discussed Energy and the Life Process and brought forth some ideas that were generated from an article I happened upon in financial news. While intently forging a new perspective for psychological research, I touched upon some very expansive, fundamental areas and I painted with a broad brush. That’s because the overall conceptual themes contained within these Building Blocks, consciousness, psyche, personality, etc. will necessarily repeat with nuanced contextual use as the administrative dynamics of dharma are theoretically brought forward and applied.
Imagine that you hold in the palm of your hand an exquisitely cut gem with an infinite number of facets. As you look at the gem from one angle, a particular facet illuminates and you affix your jewelers loupe to glimpse the character depths of the gem. Then tilt your hand ever so slightly and a second facet flashes and provides another tiny, yet varied look-see of the gem’s inner characteristics. Another tilt of your palm, another flash, another view; and on-n-on it goes ad infinitum.
With every flash, each facet provides a variant reappearance of the same deep character theme of the composite gem. All together they display an integrated personality motif of the gem’s superlative global properties along with a captivating allure to look within again-n-again for greater clarity and understanding of the composite structure.
Every facet of an individual’s countenance and character, one’s persona, projects a composite psychosocial pattern of energy events from deep within the psyche. Pick any facet, any defined personality trait or pattern of behavior, and apply your loupe for greater focus, appreciation and understanding of individual personality development. Then, for even greater clarity, apply the thermal dynamics of a mechanical system to that which you see. It was explained to me decades earlier that the overall process of any mechanical system, simple or complex, remains rather straightforward.
After isolating and defining a system of interest: 1) identify the energy source to the system, then 2) the locale where work will be done to 3) produce an end product that retains value. Here, human consciousness powers all developmental systems of individual personality. It subsumes and stimulates the inherent, unceasing thermal activity within the psyche that affects personality development. The work done within the psyche will always have a definitive bearing upon the personal value of the end product, one’s behavior.
Whether we’re aware of it or not, throughout the life process, all behavior is routinely accompanied by an autonomous self appraisal. Subsequently, it influences the personal value of one’s choices and cognition. The work for this assessment is initiated from within the psyche as a natural process, an inherent tendency to always support and uphold the most efficient function of the aggregate system, the individual self. Most succinctly, this defines the thermal dynamic of dharma.
A young child knows what it means when a toy is broken and may react in a myriad of ways according to the situation. The child doesn’t necessarily care why; the bottom line is that the toy doesn’t work anymore. It has become useless as a plaything.
Many adults behave in similar fashion when their car unexpectedly won’t start. Yet, as adults we can rationalize that broken toy and that towed-to-the-shop car as composite mechanical systems that have become inoperative. No work is being done so, at zero efficiency, the products remain valueless (with regards to their intended purpose).
All of us have reexamined, reconfigured, replaced or discarded personal thoughts, behavioral patterns and habits that have lost value over time. Everyone makes these kinds of changes throughout the life process as the self expands and matures. Just ask any dieter who has tried several programs that didn’t pan out.
Yet consider a dieter’s initial decision to first adopt a particular regimen and then another choice, later in time, to drop that routine because of unsatisfactory results. Both time-locked decisions had been made with life-affirming intentions to benefit the self. And both acts reflect the incessant impulse of dharma from within the psyche.
Those two dietary decisions were idiosyncratically filtered before cognition and behavioral intent was egoistically attached. Changing course for one’s personal well being – physically, emotionally, mentally and/or spiritually -- is first and foremost a psychological thermal dynamic. It functions as a feedback mechanism with the intuitive mind. It is spoken of as one’s common sense or moral compass for it is absolute, ceaseless and self-evident of correct and proper personal behavior. This is the essential psychic process that sets the ongoing themes of individual character and countenance, the consolidated persona of one’s personality.
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