house of cards introduction

This is the beginning of a new series of talks: the House of Cards. In this short episode I’d like to give a few introductory remarks.

Firstly, what’s it going to be about? In this series, we’ll be looking at the various aspects of the psychology which constitute our sense of self, that is the ego. Some of these aspects of the ego we may already be consciously aware of, but many will be buried in the unconscious part of the mind. And by looking at them, discussing them, it is hoped that we will become more conscious of them. Bringing things from the unconscious mind into the light of awareness, into the conscious mind, is usually enough to undermine their power. Eventually they can fade away and disappear. And that is really our work on the spiritual journey: to investigate our ego, everything that we have attached ourselves to psychologically, and break down that ego, because the ego is the cause of our suffering. And ultimately that sense of a separate self is an illusion.

I would like to stress at the outset that whilst this is primarily a psychological investigation, our aims are very different to those of conventional psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is normally aiming at adjusting our psychology so that we can fit in with society and live normally, like the majority of other people. If somebody is really messed up, then of course this is a good thing. They can live a happier life after becoming more normal.

But here we are concerned with our spiritual journey, and the spiritual journey has a different end point. It is not about becoming normal. It’s not about becoming like the average person, because actually, particularly in modern society, the average person is not in a very healthy mental state at all. Most people have many neuroses, and this neurotic nature of modern society has become so normal that we tend to forget that it is deeply unhealthy, and not conducive to the true enjoyment of life.

So whilst we may be looking at psychological factors during this series of talks, we will not be in any way attempting to paper over the cracks, to add further layers to our already complex psychology. We will not be introducing new masks that will help us throughout the day-to-day routine of interacting with other people. Instead, if we have any aim at all, it is to strip away elements of the psychology, to undermine and uproot those factors within us which constitute the ego. It is a rather destructive work, a negative approach. We are not adding new things, but rather digging up old things, bringing them into the light of awareness, and hopefully eradicating them. If that all sounds too scary, then listen to the series anyway. You can always treat it as philosophy or psychology of academic interest only. But I won’t pretend that that is my purpose in sharing these thoughts with you. My hope is that, through such investigations, others such as yourself can find your essence, the core of who you are underneath the dross of the unconscious mind and its ideas of the self.