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FINDING A BIOLOGICAL SELF

If a man devotes himself to the instructions of his own unconscious, it can bestow this gift [of renewal], so that

suddenly life, which has been stale and dull, turns into a rich unending inner adventure, full of creative

possibilities” Marie-Louise von Franz.

Anxiety and depression originate from a basic denial or misunderstanding of our own inherent

identity. This influences the course of many of the diseases that are on the foreground in modern

society. Unfortunately, most of the time medical practice leaves little time or scope for the

exploration of the subjective aspects of individual disease patterns.

However, anyone working with patients in everyday situations is aware of the fact that health and

illness fluctuate and follow unpredictable patterns that seldom respects the statistical mean of

medical descriptions. We need to find a model that defines health and illness in a way that allows

for limitless individual diversity. The problem is that it should also present us with enough

consistency for each patient to describe his or her personal biological self within definable

parameters of health and well-being. Modern medicine is moving closer to a theoretical model that

incorporates the understanding of matter and biological systems in terms of quantum physics and

chaos mathematics. This creates a wider background against which doctor and patient can

describe disease patterns and therapeutic possibilities.

In ordinary language: we need to use a dynamic model of health that is based on a particular

person’s own biological self and not on a rigid mechanical image created by limiting statistical

instruments. Yet we have to find enough consistency to define and maintain general well-being.

Although this is an idealised view that is still difficult to achieve in ordinary medical

representations, we could prepare the way by changing our own mindset and build a personal

image of our biological self. Such an individual bio-self could then be a starting point in all our

negotiations about health. This may force the medical world to acknowledge that health is more

than physical processes explained in terms of anatomic and chemical abnormalities.

In the mean time, where do we start in our

search for a comprehensive biological self that

could bring coherence and security in the face

of modern day stress and illness?

laws of nature…

“The most comprehensive soul, which can run and stray

and rove furthest in itself; the most necessary soul, which

out of joy flingeth itself into chance: " Friedrich Nietzsche

To find our biological self we have to consider the

natural laws that define our biological system and

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keep it going. We have to recognize the symbolic patterns that we use to describe these natural

laws, see how these symbolic images influence our identity as individuals and eventually decide

what symbolic script we use to coherently adapt to a specific environment.

We all have pre-existent patterns inside our system that are linked to our individual circumstances

via the symbolic connections we make of the interaction between inner and outer world. Although

these patterns adapt to incorporate our individual biological identity they are still inherent to all

biological systems and thus to all humanity. They are the driving forces behind the quality and

direction of energy shifts in our system. These symbolic patterns not only represent what is

happening between our bodies and the outer world but may also cause what is happening inside

our bodies, such as the beginning or progress of an illness. We do not only create symbols, but

also follow symbols.

Because these symbolic expressions follow the designs that are inherent to nature itself, they

contain the ‘laws of nature’. Medicine, like any other science, depends on the models it creates

around these symbolic expressions to explain and apply the laws of nature - laws that determine

the response of our biological body whether it is what happens in the brain when we feel when

sad, how we move through space or the fleeting activity of a subatomic particle during the

radiation of a cancer cell.

At the moment medical research is mostly based upon the examination of isolated phenomena

severed from their natural environment. Knowledge is channelled through the readings of highly

technical machines and statistical formulae, which gives only a partial rendering of what happens

in nature itself. Although this method orders the data about the natural laws involved in our

biological system in a seemingly objective way, it still uses expressions that are essentially

symbolic such as metabolic syndrome, neural networks, and receptor sites. These are all examples

of images we create about the way our system organises itself, images that fit our present world

view. However, they are not really more exact than examples from previous eras in medical

history such as ‘suffering from phlegmatic temperament’ or ‘treating a cold system with warm

herbs’. Without these symbolic expressions medicine would not be able to communicate

information or control treatment interventions.

Now that the practice of medicine is severed from religious tradition it has become more difficult to

recognise and use symbolic descriptions to communicate biological insight. Yet, there are also

many aspects of inner self-experience that go beyond medical explanations and which create a

sense of shortfall when we try to understand ourselves in terms of modern biological models. Even

when neuro-science tries to link different feelings to what they observe in the brain, there is a

haunting intuition that we are still missing something.

What is it that we are looking for?

We are hard wired to experience a profound sense of happiness and achievement when we are

able to authenticate and endorse our conscious experience of nature, whether in the jungle,

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laboratory or our inner thoughts. We need to know that we are part of the universal order in living

matter, and it is this sense of ‘wow’ that we are looking for. This confirmation often goes beyond

rational logic and experience. Most of us merely feel it as a form of deep inner knowing, an

unexplainable sense of self. It is this sense of self that the tribal shaman or ancient priest was able

to invoke during a healing ceremony. It is the need for this sense of self that today drives

individual patients to alternative practices that have little more than symbolic value.

Therefore, although the achievements of medical technology, especially in modern

operation theatres and laboratories are phenomenal and awe-inspiring and manage to

negotiate surprising levels of healing, we still need something that connects us to the

essence of being alive, of being part of

nature.

hidden reality...

Whether working in the African countryside or

in the modern suburbia of South Africa, it was

always clear to me that patients interpret their

symptoms and illness against a back ground of

symbolic images that seemed to have amazing

consistency. Studying the symbolism of

traditional medicine all over the world and in

systems such as Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic

medicine, alchemy or medical astrology

brought forward patterns that coordinated with

my patient’s personal experiences. It was easy to identify similar images in mythological, religious

and other collective interpretations, mostly of

how we deal with the unexpected and the

unknown. Eventually, I assumed that these

symbolic images had to be based upon the

natural processes that our biological system

uses to organize itself during infinite

variations of interaction with the outer world.

But where do the symbolic images come

from?

Through the ages humans found fascinating

ways to express the ephemeral glimpses into the workings of nature and thus of their own body.

Because of the enigmatic quality of these moments of insight, people relied on symbolic

descriptions of these experiences – metaphoric equivalents which took their cue from the sensory

world they lived in such as the climate, what caused pain, what food was available. These images

Just a reminder that the concept of symbolic

expressions indicates that whatever cultural perspective we use to describe our system’s

organisation, it is always an imagined and thus symbolic description of certain aspects of our inner

world. It is similar to gods, spirits, unicorns, dragons, dark matter, and black holes that are

expressions of certain phenomena that we have observed in the outer world. These expressions

carry the potential and energy of the process it describes, make it available to our conscious

experience and give us the ability to influence the process through conscious understanding and

actions.

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are then interpreted and ordered according to the knowledge system of their particular culture.

For example in a hunter culture people relied strongly on knowledge about the physical qualities of

the land, humans and animals. This they combined with what they felt during trance dancing and

other forms of physical endurance to coordinate their representations of health and well-being into

coherent symbolic descriptions. In an agricultural culture people used the seasons, the interaction

with domesticated animals and plants. They combined the herbal and intoxicating qualities of

plants with the natural rhythms of their bodies to explain how nature works. Later, with the

emergence of industrial environments, people’s symbolic structures gradually changed into images

that related to mechanical processing. Blood flow and a heart’s pumping ability, the suction of air

into lungs, how cells and organs are shaped, the distribution of chemical substances in the body,

the strength of muscles and the alignment of bones became the symbolic images according to

which our system’s inherent nature was described.

Now, the present electronic era has a strong influence on our symbolic expressions although we

still shape the understanding of our inner organisation, and thus our medical explanations, within a

mechanical framework. Objective data starts to take on a horizontal spread of fluctuating realities,

even in health and medicine. Hierarchical structures and classical physical models are no longer

adequate, even when we deal with the description of matter and we hear words like lateral

velocity, neural networks, quantum fields, tunnelling, entanglement and vibrating springs.

In other words, since the beginning of time, humans dealt with the threat of disease by linking

their sense of self with those laws of nature that determine the outcome of the interaction between

their bodies and the environment. This they did by finding equivalent symbolic images in their

environment such as stones, sacrificial animals, astrological designs, shapes on the slide of a

microscope and light waves behind a glass screen. Ritual, prayer, divination, mind altering herbs

and chemicals created in a laboratory were used to enhance this process and to create the sense

of that we could ‘know’ our inner or hidden self.

It did not seem to matter that this understanding was in the form of symbolic structures

which were only authentic because they

resonate with a gut-felt sense of reality.

faces of the moon…

”A wonderful harmony arises from joining together the

seemingly unconnected." –Heraclitus

Let’s use the moon as example of this and see how

the laws of nature become part of our symbolic self-

experience. We have reached a point in our

conscious development where we proudly declare

that we no longer see the face of a goddess with

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magic powers on the surface of the moon. However, now that we have removed ‘supernatural

spirits’ from our newly established relationship with the moon, we forget that the moon still carries

strong associations with our inherent biological rhythm, a rhythm that links our inner world to the

cycles of night and day, gravity and movement, seasons and fertility. In other words, it is still a

certainty that the moon influences our body and psyche, irrespective of which symbolic images we

use to describe this effect. We still feel apprehension or enchantment when we are outside in the

silver light of the full moon. Many patients do experience an increase of migraines, arthritis,

allergies or just a sense of irritability that they link to the phases of the moon. Female hormonal

rhythms still follow the 28 day cyclic rhythm of the moon – something that could be an epigenetic

adaptation during a specific phase in human development which focused on moon symbolism.

We do not know if there is a possibility of an, up to now un-researched, electromagnetic

interaction with our system or whether there is a gravitational pull on our cells which are mostly

water like the sea itself or if emotional changes in our body happen as part of the unconscious

influence of archetypal symbolic associations with the moon. All we know is that walking on the

moon, knowing that it is a barren

piece of rock, does not change the

fact that we are influenced by the

moon and still make symbolic

representations of the way the

moon makes us feel.

In bio-analysis we would not try to

prove or disprove the reality of the

moon’s effect on our system. We

accept that the widespread

symbolic influence of the moon

since the beginning of human

consciousness is now part of how

we experience certain inherent biological rhythms. Some of us deny any effect based upon the lack

of scientific proof, some accept their tendency to get migraine or feel anxious as a non-mysterious

part of their personal bio-logical rhythms, some believe that the moon has a direct effect on their

‘energy field’ and others are convinced that they are in contact with a greater cosmic spirit via the

moon. Whatever our particular symbolic interpretation, it is always an important clue about the

organization of some of our individual feedback systems that are associated with specific biological

rhythms.

In essence then, we will not believe in or create symbolic images about the moon’s effect if it is

not already part of our inner biological organization and thus part of our personal identity. The

mother goddess and her moon associations are not merely vague transcendental ideas but is

rooted in embodied experiences. Every change that she underwent through the ages was a change

in how we interpret the hidden effect of light, gravity and the cyclic rhythms of the earth on our

biological system.

The architect of analytical psychology, CG Jung, defined these

different symbolic constructs that represent important parts of our inner organization as archetypes. He saw archetypes as a

kind of readiness in all of us to produce comparable mythical ideas that are based upon the interpretations we make of

recurrent subjective responses. It seems natural to suspect that these subjective responses rest upon the body's natural inner

organization. The moment a body sensation or experience is infused with strong emotion or feeling, it is stored in our

unconscious world together with ‘symbolic’ images – consciously perceived or imagined - as fixed associations.

However, archetypes are also similar to atomic particles which we know only through their effect. Although we make a clear

representation of archetypes, we do not experience them directly through our senses or in our rational mind.

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This example of the moon illustrates that we easily recognize and share symbolic images because

they are based upon the same consistency which shapes millions of individual human beings into

bodies that are similar enough to be identified as a human being. These symbolic images are

consistent enough to make it possible for humans to understand themselves and each other, yet

flexible enough to allow for the massive diversity which maintains human evolution. Unfortunately,

both modern medicine and psychology create little opportunity for the exploration of symbolic

processes while alternative medicine uses symbolic expressions as if it is pragmatic formula, fixed

rules that could be applied to everything and everyone.

In bio-analysis we give attention to the collective symbolic images that all cultures

have developed over time to understand how the body organises itself. However,

we do it in a way that respects modern scientific reality as well as the fact that our

body and its responses are seldom

exactly the same for all people.

patterns of self…

“For completion the traveller always has to come

back and recreate his reality with a greater self-

reality" Friedrich Nietzsche

Whatever collective metaphor we adopt for the

symbolic description patterns of our self-

organisation, it will always take on certain

personal qualities. We all know that, although

many fall ill with the same disease, only some

die. A broken leg prevents one person from

walking for months, while another runs freely

after a few weeks. One woman becomes pregnant every year and another equally healthy woman

has only two children during a lifetime. As humans we did not develop according to a perfect blue

print but are the end result of many trials and errors in specific environments. These biological and

mental trade-offs our personal ancestors have made through previous generations have become

part of our unconscious knowledge and are part of our inherent, individual identity.

The statistical models of modern medicine also acknowledge that we do not all respond in the

same way to similar disease processes. However, statistics does not tell us why a specific person

falls ill or what he or she feels when ill. Again we have to seek for abstract or metaphorical

patterns to see how we connect our illness or well-being to the way our own system organises

itself. In our multidimensional modern world we have to produce even more complex symbolic

patterns to integrate our inner and outer environment into a coherent whole. Now that procreation

and physical survival are no longer our only inherent goals, health and disease are more than ever

dependent upon a flexible and personal interplay between the unknown and our comprehensive

identity.

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In the end we have to coordinate all collective images, whether gods or statistics,

with how we depict our individual biological survival strategies – our body posture,

facial expressions, rational opinions,

imaginary games or phobias.

our own true self…

"Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is

enlightenment. Mastering others requires force. Mastering

the self requires strength." Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

We are not born with empty bodies and minds, but

start life with a set of ingrained bodily information

about abilities and weaknesses, about our intrinsic

attributes, a basic life expectancy, and even

possible epigenetic knowledge about recent

ancestors. Since birth this set of information is

continually challenged by the conditions of our

environment and together our inherent qualities

and the environment shape a coherent self which

grows and matures all throughout our whole life.

In other words, our coherent identity is not a fixed construct like a table or car. It is a collective

image of inner organization at a specific moment and we are as much the many characters in our

dreams as we are the one in the mirror while brushing our teeth. At the same time, this self-image

is like a cloud, changing shape all the time. In fact, being the sum of our inner organization it has

to change each time we adapt to something in the outer world.

However, something keeps us together and alive as specific field of organization. It is this sense of

self that entices our inner mind to organize our system in such a way that we stay a coherent

whole, a whole that not only our conscious ego can recognize, but also others can discern as a

specific being. We are not directly aware of this innate design upon which we base our survival,

desires and hopes, nor do we control the effect the outer world has on us in a direct way. And yet,

this inner self is continually expressed in our conscious choices because, as humans, we do not

merely follow moment-to-moment instinctual needs. We know intuitively that we have a unique

self and what we do follow is the needs of this integral identity.

Over many years of working with patients, trying to unravel the hidden messages behind

persistent symptoms, it became clear to me that everybody has a symbolic script, a 'fairy tale'

about their life that draws their choices and responses towards a given pattern like a strange

attractor. This 'fairy tale' is not told to us by birth, but given to us as hundreds of riddles to solve

as we go along. Because this script is part of our biological system, our body is central to this

unfolding story. We therefore have to become familiar with those situations that our body is

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conditioned to and those that carry the possibility of new development.

However, when we observe ourselves against such large field of existence and become aware

of all the dimensions we exist in, we also become aware how much of our self-experience is

vague and mostly defined in symbolic images. Interestingly, this vagueness does not bother

us and, for some or other reason, our conscious mind accepts these symbolic interpretations

as the full reality. In fact, symbols push and pull on our ego’s reasoning to enhance our scope for

multi-level survival. They combine and coordinate the biological needs of all humans with our

personal needs and desires.

Unfortunately, symbols can also shelter emotional and physical habituations which could damage

our health and lessen our long term chances of survival. In other words, symbolic interpretations

can also hide our better selves if not clearly understood.

Illness and disease may result from clinging to symbolic

patterns which have lost their protective and developing

value - when we slouch forward to express our system's

inability to face outer demands, our back joints and

eventually the spine will develop permanent damage.

We thus have to get to the point where there is a willing interaction between our

conscious and unconscious worlds to understand the symbols that represent our inner

organization; we have to take part in our inner

script.

reading the script…

Conscious and willing analysis of our personal

symbols takes us to the hidden places beyond the

limited perspectives and assumptions of everyday

living, especially where it comes to our health. We

never think about ourselves without picturing it in

some or other symbolic form. Giving attention to

the symbolic association may present us with a

perspective we never would link to our body,

identity or interaction with the outer world.

Unfortunately, we seldom take the time to integrate

these symbolic images into a coherent whole.

However, the increased role of meditation the lifestyle of ordinary people and the recent

consideration of subjective processes in neuroscience research indicate the importance of a

conscious experience of self. In fact, there are clear signs that conscious attention and intent may

transform the structure of the brain itself and bring about visible physical change to our system,

Remember that unconscious is not

merely that which is not conscious, but rather conscious is merely that

which is not only unconscious.

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not only psychological adjustment.

In the first place, our ego has to suspend its natural 'know all' tendency and make time to consider

the symbolic expressions that come through from the unconscious in the form of habits, repeating

thoughts or words, dreams or disease symptoms. Facial expressions, posture, colour, shapes,

textures, swear words, types of pain and allergies are all symbolic expressions of natural

tendencies in our inner organization.

The pain we felt in our leg when we fell after we scurried away upon seeing our partner embracing

someone else, becomes a permanent symbolic association between pain in the left knee and a

feeling of betrayal. As betrayal is a shared human condition, it could also become linked to the

archetypal field of betrayal and eventually build a large chapter in our personal script that

stretches through time – incorporating a past betrayal by a parent or expected betrayal by a child

in the future. Our whole organization then becomes influenced by this expanded part of our inner

script - our unexpected emotional responses, our immune responses, the amount of

prostaglandins we produce and the chronic arthritis in our left knee. However, conscious analysis

and participation may bring differentiation between the associated event and the body's

responses, preventing the habitual rerouting of the sense of betrayal via the pathways initiated by

the leg injury. In other words, when we are aware of the tendency to reroute a sense of betrayal

through our left knee, we can stop this inappropriate feedback process and force our system to no

longer associate pain, a specific way of walking, and the release of hormone-like substances that

would damage our knee, directly with our sense of self.

To understand this, it is important to remember that symbolic images are more than mental

constructs and are also experienced as emotions and feelings. We therefore have to ask why does

fear of rejection cause our backache while loneliness does not, or why do we feel fear and not

anger when we are tired. Or, does a pain in our throat relates to guilt because of the rich meal we

ate, or reminds us of a possible heart attack or could it be because we are claustrophobic from an

interdependent and smothering relationship. In other words, when reading our script, we have to

get rid of the modern notion that 'psychological' means that it is less real, especially when it

comes to illness and disease. Our conscious ego plays out all the different roles in our inner script

and is seldom aware of the full adaptation process during inner-outer interaction. Our ego is

always influenced by our unconscious identity in every conscious thought, feeling and action.

The more one-dimensional our conscious attitude, the more our body has to compensate with

symbolic expressions of other unconscious dimensions. If our ego identify too much with the

sensory and physical aspects, our body may respond with unexpected rhythm changes or esoteric

nightmares. If it identifies too much with the unknown or spirit it loses contact with the body and

eventually becomes bogged down with bodily symptoms. This confirms one of the most crucial

chapters in our inner script, namely that whatever our body portrays is always a shortcut to a

hidden, but true identity. In other words, body symbolism is the best indication of what is going on

in our system’s overall organisation.

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Equally we can say that consciousness based upon observing the overall symbolic

representation of our inner identity will always enhance our well-being and bodily

health.

listening to the inner self…

Bringing about conscious reconciliation with our coherent

identity also helps us to accept our own weaknesses as

well as the difficulties in our environment. This however

requires more than merely understanding the deep and

subjective processes that design our inner identity and

its relationship to the unknown. It is also more than

being aware of our body and its spontaneous responses.

In other words, it needs a clear exploration of the

dimension that balances these two dimensional poles.

We have to listen in on the ongoing mental discussion

we have with and through our inner self as we go along

our everyday activity.

As humans we 'think' with language all the time. Every word we think with is also a symbol of

what is going on inside our inner organisation. "...that stupid man nearly drove into my car. What

else can you expect from some-one in a yellow BMW..." or "...I love parties like this...everybody is

relaxed and even a bit silly..." or “…I am so scared of becoming an overweight mothering person…”

Although the words we use for our inner dialogue carries some collective symbolic value (what all

humans share in the form of archetypes, memes and social patterns), they relate more to our

individual associations and immediate adaptation reactions inside our own system.

In other words, there are always associations

between our inner organisation and the words

we use during inner thoughts, outer

conversations or during our dreams. The same

is true about the words we spontaneously use

to depict a part of our body, recall a memory or

describe a symptom or illness. Conscious

listening to our ongoing conversations inside

and outside reveals important aspects of our system’s organisation. Cognitive therapy, favoured

by present day neuroscience is a good example of such a self-listening process.

Listening to ourselves in a contemplative way is a habit that we can easily learn and

which takes the least effort and time in a fast flowing modern world.

Our biological or physical self creates an inner mind

which designs an inner script. The inner conscious mind also creates a conscious mind that is able to

intuit and give shape to symbolic images based

upon our inner script. This symbolic interpretation

of our inner script models our interaction with the outer world which again transforms our physical

biological identity.

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moments of being

To recap, when we read our inner script we

have to suspend our conscious reasoning and

be open to the subtleties of the unconscious.

We need to complete a feedback cycle between

a deep sense of self and ordinary everyday

activity. That means we have to create

moments of being where self-experience

confirms a heightened and immediate contact

with reality.

Rigorous exercise and attentive meditation

often create such moments of significant living.

The same is true for waking after an intense dream or noticing an incredibly beautiful scene in

nature. Again the ego is suspended, but now the mind is alert in the immediate moment. This

means to be acutely aware of the senses and what is felt in the body while experiencing an intense

confirmation of being.

The idea of samadhi in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy is a good example of such an uncorrupted

form of self-attention. Samadi is a state of being where our

personal ego fades away and the conscious mind

experiences an expanded form of self-experience. In other

words, there is no loss of self as seen in trances, with drug

taking, psychosis or incoherent meditation. In fact there is

a stronger sense of individuality, but in the absence of

emotional and rational ego distortion.

Of all the routes to our inner self, such confirmation of being is probably the most difficult when we

live in a modern society. Already more than a hundred years ago Nietzsche said that "... modern

creatures wish rather to be hunted down, wounded and torn to shreds, than to live alone with

themselves in solitary calm. Alone with oneself!—this thought terrifies the modern soul; it is his

one anxiety, his one ghastly fear…" (Thoughts out of Season; English Edition, page 141). Finding

enough courage, time and ‘silence’ is not easy. This is all the more true in a world of Facebook,

Twitter and personal blogs where it is so easy to lose track of our true self-experience.

Once again it is irrelevant which symbolic background we use for finding such a total sense of self.

What is important is to experience this sense of self as clearly and authentically as possible and be

sure to ground it into a personal bodily awareness. Remember that consciousness is not equal to

mere thinking. Conscious observation or relaxed attention is a self-regulatory and creative process

that not only brings about insight into our biological self, but can cause growth and change

damaging habits. This ability to maintain bio-dynamic attentiveness always amplifies the symbolic

An etymological analysis of samadhi

(समाधि) is sama (even) and dhi

(intellect), which is equal to a state of equilibrium brought on by a

detached intellect.

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impression we have of our integral and comprehensive identity and will improve our general health

and healing after trauma or illness.

In other words, for a healthy lifestyle, we have to create an unreserved sense of

meaning by combining our innate sense of

being with our everyday experiences

I am because I am…

To consolidate: Identity it is the golden thread that

runs through our lives, runs through all aspects of

nature. If we lose identity we become alienated

from life itself. From the smallest single cell

organism to the complex system of a human body,

survival depends upon a sense of individual self.

This sense of self has to sustain appropriate

defences against what is foreign but allow enough

interaction to generate growth and new life.

In us as humans, our biological or physical self has

complex nervous and immune systems which

protect and manage our identity, mostly in an

unconscious way. However, our system also

creates a conscious mind with which we control the outer world. The success of our conscious

world view depends on its ability to bring the different levels of functionality together and draw on

all levels of our identity in an equal measure. In other words, it rests with the integral or individual

‘self’ to maintain the measure in which our conscious mind is in touch with our immediate

experiences and deepest intuitions. However, our conscious mind has to learn how to use bodily

sensations, posture, movement, dreams, language expressions and personal ideals to explore the

symbolic script that defines our coherent identity.

Training ourselves to do regular inner observation is the least we can do to support the

organisation of our inherently intelligent system and save it from the onslaught of

unsuitable outer influences.

Images used are the writer’s own and from the public domain facilities of the National Library of Medicine

(NLM), Wikimedia commons and www.wikiart.org.