A good article found.

The influence of the Vedas on the west I am glad so many of you enjoyed it and found it insightful. 

Here is something new which I started 5 months ago but then didn't finish it and completely forgot about. As a trainee in Psychodynamic therapy, I thought I would write a piece on the Gita and Psychoanalysis/Psychology based on the theories of Sigmund Freud. I have tried to fit in some concepts of Psychoanalysis and how they can be seen through the lens of the Bhagavad Gita. 

Out of the four Gita's that I have I decided to use ' Royal Science Of God-Realization' by Paramahansa Yogananda. I have used various verses from the book to fit in the context of the topic and related them to the Psychoanalytic theory.   

THE BHAGAVAD GITA & PSYCHOANALYSIS

Over 5,000 years ago the greatest conversation ever took place In the land of Bharat on a battlefield called Kurukshetra.

It is known as the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is a book of many things spirituality, dharma, yoga, psychology, consciousness, science, self-realization, philosophy, the list goes on and on and on. There is no subject, topic, or question it does not answer.

In the west, we attribute psychology to great minds such as Sigmund Freud known as one of its founders and the creator of Psychoanalysis but thousands of years before Freud the concept, foundation, and the literal application of psychology had already taken place.

On the battlefield Arjuna the greatest warrior of the epic Mahabharata is faced with a grave dilemma. Seeing his relatives, teachers, gurus, and soldiers on the battlefield he is overcome by various emotions that lead to complete bewilderment. He does not want to fight against the people he loves, most of whom are his family members and teachers also known as gurus and he starts to feel an immense sense of anxiety, sadness, and guilt.  In a psychoanalytic sense, we can describe anxiety as an experience concerning a feared future occurrence. This would sit perfectly to how Arjuna currently feels but how can he feel guilty? as guilt is experienced in relation to an act already committed. The reason is Arjuna knows the possible outcome already as he is the greatest warrior on the battlefield, he is supported by Krishna, plus he has already defeated some of these warriors in a previous battle. So in a sense, his guilt stems from what has not even happened yet but is due to occur soon.

Within moments his bewilderment turns into a severe form of anxiety, depression, (Neuroses) and his mind becomes confused with negative thoughts about his position. At one point he even contemplates suicide as he says it is better to die than to fight or that he would rather be slain by his family than to kill them. His psychological issues have now also started to give him physical symptoms such as sweating, dry mouth, skin burning, and weakness of the legs to the point where he cannot even stand up straight. We can say Arjuna's emotions and mental health are a cause for concern. Especially to that of his dear friend and charioteer Krishna.

Why is Arjuna so perplexed and struggling with this conflict within his mind and how does it relate to Psychoanalysis? According to Freudian theory, the mind is divided into three parts which are the ID, Ego, and Super-ego which form the unconscious/conscious mind these three parts are always in conflict with each other.

ID - The Id part of the mind is driven by the (pleasure principle) which manifests itself in our unconscious mind and is responsible for our wants, needs, and desires. It is purely driven by bodily desires and inclines people towards easy physical and emotional rewards and takes us away from discipline and self-control.

The Super-Ego is the part of our mind that has the desire to follow the rules and do the right thing according to society this is known as our conscious mind. The Super-Ego tells us what is right from wrong and creates defence mechanisms to keep the ID at bay these defence mechanisms keep us safe from feelings of anxiety and guilt.

The Ego part of the mind also known as the (reality principle) that has to accommodate between the two and acts as a mediator between the ID and the super-ego.

What happens next is the first counselling session to ever take place in written history. Arjuna becomes the patient and Krishna the therapist and advisor. Arjuna then surrenders himself to Krishna and asks him for his help and guidance. Now if we look at the situation of Arjuna from a cognitive-behavioural view then we can establish that his negative thoughts and beliefs are directly impacting his physical behaviour He knows that killing his family in battle is morally wrong for him and is dwelling on how will this be deemed throughout society and people in the future and this is causing immense anxiety.

Verse 28

Arjuna says  “O Krishna, seeing these, my relatives, met together desirous of battle my limbs, are failing and my mouth is parched. My body trembles, my hair stands on end. The sacred bow Gandiva slips away from my grip, and my skin is afire. Neither can I remain standing upright. My mind is rambling, and, O Keshava I behold evil omens! “

Verse 47

Arjuna having spoken thus on the battlefield, his mind is disturbed by grief, flinging away his bow and arrows, sat down on the seat of his chariot. Arjuna says he will not fight.

What happens next is the first counselling session to ever take place in written history. Arjuna becomes the patient and Krishna the therapist and advisor. Arjuna then surrenders himself to Krishna and asks him for his help and guidance. Now if we look at the situation of Arjuna from a cognitive-behavioural view then we can establish that his negative thoughts and beliefs are directly impacting his physical behaviour.

Krishna then proceeds to engage in talking therapy with Arjuna and begins to tackle the root causes of his anxiety and depression by revealing to him the nature of one’s true self and that he has already set the fate of the opposition and Arjuna is simply the tool and the means to carry it out. He informs him of the various yogic paths and the knowledge of the eternal soul. The key aspect of this discourse is that it requires Arjuna to go through deep introspection.

This would have been an intense CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) session considering the environment so the goal of the therapist (Krishna) would have been to help the client/patient (Arjuna) to find some form of clarity in regards to his questions and to help Arjuna find the answers to perform his duty and fight as quickly as possible.  CBT helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. Krishna explains to Arjuna the cognitive process of how the thoughts of Arjuna are manifesting to his physical capacity.

SANKHYA AND YOGA: COSMIC WISDOM & THE METHOD OF ITS ATTAINMENT

Verse1

Madhusudana (Krishna) then addressed him whose eyes were bedimmed with tears, and who was overcome with pity and discouragement.

Verse 11

The Blessed Lord said: Thou hast been lamenting for those not worth thy lamentations! Yet thou dost utter words of lore. The truly wise mourn neither for those who are living nor for those who have passed away.

So how does Krishna come to the aid of his devotee and friend in the realm of Psychology? Here he describes the fundamental proponent of Psychology which is consciousness and explains the nature of the self.

Verse 19

He who considers the Self as the slayer; he who deems that it can be slain: neither of these knows the truth. The Self does not kill, nor is it killed.

Verse 20

This Self is never born nor does it ever perish, nor having come into existence will it again cease to be. It is birthless, eternal, changeless, ever-same (unaffected by the usual processes associated with time). It is not slain when the body is killed.

Verse 26

But if thou dost imagine this soul incessantly to be born and to die, even in that case, O Mighty-armed (Arjuna), thou shouldst not grieve for it. For that which is born must die, and that which is dead must be born again. Why then shouldst thou grieve about the unavoidable?

RIGHT ATTITUDE & EVENMINDEDNESS

In these next verses, Krishna explains the three modes of nature and how to control the mind.

Verse 45

The Vedas are concerned with the three universal qualities or gunas. O Arjuna, free thyself from the triple qualities and from the pairs of opposites! Ever calm, harboring no thoughts of receiving and keeping, become thou settled in the Self.

Verse 51

Those who have mastered their minds become engrossed in infinite wisdom; they have no further interest in any fruits of actions. Freed thus from the chain of rebirth, they attain the state beyond sorrow.

EMPOWERING ARJUNA THE CLIENT

Verse 32

O son of Pritha, fortunate are the Kshatriyas when such a righteous battle has, unprovoked, fallen to their lot, they find therein an open door to heaven.

Verse 37

If thou shouldst die (battling thine enemies) thou wilt gain heaven, if thou conquerest, thou wilt enjoy the earth. Therefore, O son of Kunti (Arjuna) lift thy self up! Be determined to fight!

THE ID, OBJECT RELATIONS & CONTROLLING THE SENSES

As I previously mentioned in regards to Freud’s theory of the mind being split into three parts we can next examine how Krishna and the Gita help Arjuna in bringing the ID (unconscious) to the conscious state of mind. The ID is apart of our primitive human drive which relates to pleasure and the need for us to experience these pleasures such as sexual feelings, aggressive drives and memories stored in our unconscious. Sometimes we can have bad memories stored away in our minds in the unconscious and not realise how they still affect us this can be termed in Psychoanalysis as ‘repression.’

Melanie Klein who was another great Psychoanalyst and an admirer of Freud’s work created a theory called object relation or attachment theory. Her work was primarily related to children and how they became attached to the mother's breast and the significant psychological impacts of children relating these objects can have later in adult life. However, we know that object relations and attachments do exist in adult life as well maybe even more so. So what does Krishna say to Arjuna about controlling the senses? An important thing to mention Is that Krishna is also known as Hrishikesh (controller of the senses)

Verse 58

When the yogi, like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs, can fully retire his senses from the objects of perception, his wisdom manifests steadiness.

Verse 59

The man who physically fasts from sense objects finds that the sense objects fall away for a little while, leaving behind only the longing for them. But he who beholds the Supreme is freed even from longings.

Verse 60

O son of Kunti (Arjuna), the eager excitable senses do forcibly seize the consciousness even of one who has a high degree of enlightenment and is striving (for liberation).

Verse 61

He who unites his spirit to Me, having subjugated all his senses, remains concentrated on Me as the Supremely Desirable. The intuitive wisdom of that yogi becomes steadfast whose senses are under his sway.

SENSE TEMPTATION AND ANGER

Verse 62 – 64

Brooding on sense objects causes attachment to them. Attachment breeds craving; craving breeds anger. Anger breeds delusion; delusion breeds loss of memory (of the Self). Loss of right memory causes decay of the discriminating faculty. From decay of discrimination, annihilation (of spiritual life) follows. The man of self-control, roaming among material objects with subjugated senses, and devoid of attraction and repulsion, attains an unshakable inner calmness.

Verse 67

As a boat on the waters is carried off course by a gale, so an individual's discrimination is driven from its intended path when the mind succumbs to the wandering senses.

REALISING PEACE

To bring this to a closure let us look at how Krishna in the therapeutic sense helps Arjuna to regain clarity by peace of mind and to get back to his Dharma (duty)

Verse 70

He is full with contentment who absorbs all desires within, as the brimful ocean remains unmoved (unchanged) by waters entering into it—not he who lusts after desires.

Verse 71 -72

That person realizes peace who, relinquishing all desires, exists without craving and is unidentified with the mortal ego and its sense of "mine-ness". O Partha (Arjuna)! this is the “established in Brahman” state. Anyone entering this state is never (again) deluded. Even at the very moment of transition (from the physical to the astral), if one becomes anchored therein, he attains the final, irrevocable, state of Spirit-communion.

We can see how humble Krishna is in his approach as being the greatest spiritual master tells Arjuna at the end of the session 'this is my opinion but you must decide for yourself what you feel is best'. Here he is not assertive in his position but is behaving like a therapist and giving the control back to the client to form his own decision.

Arjuna now feeling more stable in the mind, his anxiety put to rest, his guilt vanishing, his sense of being and duty re-established and feeling empowered picks up his bow and begins to fight the greatest war in his life after he conquered the greatest battle which was himself!

With courtesy. Author ?