Self-Preservation And Procreation As Instincts In Mutual Conflict
By The Pathwork Guide
Greetings, my dearest friends. God bless each one of you. Blessed is this hour.
In the last lecture we discussed the instincts of self-preservation and procreation as they appear in harmony and also in distortion. I should now like to continue with this topic and show you specifically how these two instincts combat one another and the particular distortion that each instinct causes when the soul is disturbed.
Any distortion is the result of adopting a particular attitude and rigidly adhering to it. This happens when the personality unconsciously regards such an attitude as a solution to life's difficulties. The various aspects we discussed in connection with the idealized self image are uncosncious attempts to cope with life. Because they are erroneous solutions, they have to be rigid. The more it is sensed that this "solution" does not really work, the stronger is the drive to make them work. And this causes the rigidity. Growth, development, maturing, and the healing of distorted soul forces lies in eliminating the pseudo solution and replacing it with truth, which is always flexible and knows no rules. This alone can be the true security, although the personality going through this process feels acute insecurity and anxiety when called upon to give up the pseudo solutions.
The function of the instinct of self-preservation is to maintain and safeguard life. It is concerned with avoiding danger and securing safety from danger. In a state of health and maturity, real dangers -- not only physical ones, but any threat to the healthy growth of the individual -- are warded off. But in distortion the dangers are imagined and unrealistic. When a human being considers himself threatened by not being loved, admired, approved of, or agreed with, this represents an unrealistic danger.
I mentioned three main pseudo solutions: (1) the quest for love, (2) the quest for power, and (3) the quest for serenity. In each of these attitudes the personality feels that living according to the dictates of these "solutions" will help him to master life.
As far as generalization will allow, it can be said that the distortion of the instinct of self-preservation leads the soul to adopt the pseudo solution of the quest for power. The distorted instinct of procreation leads the soul to the quest for love. Yet both instincts may serve both ends, since safety as well as pleasure are necessary in the life of man. If the instincts are distorted, they conflict with rather than complement one another. Therefore, compromise has to be found even in the pseudo solutions. About this I should now like to be a little more specific.
If the instinct of self-preservation is distorted, the following process occurs: the child experiences insecurity, either from lack of love, from lack of understanding of its own individuality, from a general uncertainty in the atmosphere or with respect to the personality of the parents. This creates anxiety. The child feels an atmosphere of danger. In that instant the instinct of self-preservation starts to work. It is called upon, so to speak. In order to ward off danger, the personality assumes certain inner and outer behavior patterns, above and beyond the character distortions that the distorted instinct of self-preservation ordinarily brings in its wake. This I discussed in the previous lecture. These trends are aggressiveness, hostility, a power drive, a need to triumph over others, competitiveness, excessive demands, and so on. The idealized self image will be set up according to these tendencies. I emphasize again that this does not necessarily mean that contradictory aspects, such as the quest for love, for instance, are not also present. Also, I want to repeat that what I say here presents only a rough general outline. It has to be found in its particular and specific form within each individual whop works on this Path: as to how it manifests, for there are many variations possible. For example, it is possible that the predominant aspect of wquest for power may exist without any apparent aggressiveness or hostility. The possibilities are manifold. Integration and self-finding can occur only and when these aspects are individually verified and experienced, possibly in entirely different terms than as mentioned here.
The distorted instinct of self-preservation will lead to the pseupo solution of a quest for power, with all its demands, affressiveness, and
power drive. The psyche thinks: "If I assert myself and my power, my omnipotence, and my invulnerabillity, then nothing can happen to me. As a result, I will not be threatened by the dangers ofa hostile world which does not understand me."