Relationship life

The interactions determined by the psyche between different Egos

Given that our knowledge of how the functioning of the nervous system (and in particular the brain) determines the dynamics of the psyche which involve the conscious Ego is still limited and unsatisfactory, we are in the position of having to rely on the empirical perception of what our Ego experiences, to evaluate the correlation between the events that concern us – as living human organisms – and the mental experiences deriving from them. When the Ego is able to observe the experiences determined by its psyche with a certain critical detachment, it realizes how these experiences are influenced by relationships with others, relationships that in some cases the Ego desires and seeks, in other cases are accepted out of custom or necessity, and sometimes it is forced to suffer in spite of itself. If the Ego is able to evaluate with sufficient attention its reactions to the psyche's dynamics that involve the Ego of the person with whom it interacts, it will be particularly cautious in choosing those with whom to establish a relationship, avoiding, as far as possible, to be ensnared in a naive spontaneity which, starting from the premises of sympathy, can later produce conflicting reactions that are difficult to control.

In the event that, in a relationship between two people, both Egos fully identify themselves with the dynamics of the psyche in which they are involved, the reactions of both are automatically determined by what we could define – in an imprecise but effective way – the psyche's chemistry, for which the attunements of the psyche of one exert a certain influence on those of the other, in a game of reciprocal stimuli of which each of the two Egos experiences the effects, be they positive, neutral or negative. The cultural programs that are transmitted to the members of a certain human social group often impose – or attempt to impose – some rules on the behavior to be adopted, and on the ways in which the psyche's dynamics can be expressed, during the interactions between two or more individuals in different circumstances: obviously, if the Ego identifies with its own psyche, its adherence to certain rules of behavior will depend on the reactions that the same psyche imposes on it. In this time, in our culture we often see forms of aggressive and violent behavior that prevail not only over what in other times would have been considered normal rules of good manners, but also over those rules that should be considered as an inalienable heritage of civilization, ethics and human intelligence, such as reasonableness, mutual respect and kindness in the interactions with others. The prevalence and defense of aggressive and uncivil self-affirmation of the psyche's dynamics is symptomatic – as well as of the uncritical identification of the Ego with its own psyche – of a state of magmatic and conflictual crisis which characterizes the psyche itself in the periods of transition from a consolidated cultural phase, now come to an end, to a new phase still in process of formation.

If the Ego of one of the two people involved in the interaction or relationship has already undertaken the path of differentiation from the dynamics of its own psyche, while that of the other still identifies with them, further difficulties may arise, deriving both from the incomprehension, on the part of that Ego who identifies itself with the psyche, of the position of the other Ego – often perceived as aloof, cold or even inhuman – and from the overload of tensions generated by the psyche with which the other Ego has to deal, the management of which becomes problematic. In fact, the psyche produces its effects with particular efficacy by induction, that is, by means of that operating modality whereby the dynamics that are produced in a person can arouse immediate, intense and often uncontrolled reactions in another person involved in the relationship with the former. For this reason, it may be appropriate for those who want to engage in an activity of liberation of the Ego from its subjection to the psyche, to limit the interactions with others to the bare minimum, based on what is required by human needs, and establish relationships only with people they know very well, who can understand and respect their needs even if they do not share them. It should be remembered that this liberating activity is not motivated by a rejection in toto of the human psyche, towards which the Ego continues to maintain a strong interest, but by the Ego's need not to be subdued by those aspects of the psyche that it feels are not in harmony with its own true essence.

The relationships between two Egos already sufficiently advanced in the path of critical detachment from the dynamics of their own psyche and the resulting emotional involvements are based on mutual respect and natural kindness, and are generally motivated by needs of common interest that go beyond personal purposes: each of the Egos involved in the relationship knows from experience, in fact, that the spontaneous dynamics of the psyche can prevail over the Ego's ability to control and evaluate them in the event that the timing of the interaction imposes reactive automatisms that can take it by surprise. However, in the case of an Ego that has already progressed in this path of liberation, even the automatic reactions of the psyche are much more in harmony with the needs of balance, serenity and well-being of the Ego, compared to what usually happens when the Ego identifies with the psyche's attunements that involve it. Not infrequently the same spontaneous and automatic reactions of the psyche undergo a natural process of slowing down that allows their qualitative improvement, without the Ego having to intervene directly: two people who have already reached a good evolutionary level can certainly benefit from an interaction in which the psyche can manifest itself in natural harmony.

The phenomena of the psyche that intervene in the interactions among a plurality of people can be observed and described in their complexity, which grows as the number of individuals involved increases, until they are transformed into what are defined as mass cultural phenomena, to which an enormous economic and political importance is attributed in our today's societies. However, beyond their interest as a field of observation of the dynamics of the collective psyche, these phenomena are of little significance for the process of evolution of the conscious Ego, who does not have the necessary resources to deal with the psychic energy that accumulates in the interactions between many individuals whose Egos are still subject to the dynamics of the psyche in which they are involved. In our sociocultural systems – founded on the interaction of millions of people – the Ego, by the mere fact of wanting to carry on its experience of organic life, must find a way to conform, in one form or another, to the demands that the programs determined by the phenomena of the collective psyche impose on it. In this process of adaptation the Ego often has to experience the complexity of the psyche, especially when it is involved in the conflict between the reactions of inner origin determined by its psyche and the rules or demands – also of originating from the psyche – that the cultural system of which it is a part tries to impose on it.

The love for others in the light of NDEs

In many NDEs, the Spirit is experienced as a source of infinite and unconditional love, which welcomes and comforts all creatures returning from their human experience, deeming each of them worthy of the same attention, the same importance and the same solicitous comprehension, regardless of how they reacted to the events in which they were involved during their earthly adventure. The condition experienced in the Spirit dimension is that of a substantial unity of consciousness, beyond its division into a multiplicity of individual experiences. These experiences are most likely at the origin of the ethical and religious norms that invite us to love our neighbor (that is, the other) as our own Ego. But the same NDEs demonstrate how the changes in the orientation of the Ego towards human life and the dynamics of the psyche that govern it are determined by the direct experimentation of a reality of a different order, and by the consequent assimilation of a form of energy which the Ego did not previously have, or had in very limited quantities. However, in the reality of organic life in which the Ego is immersed, even if for a limited period of time, the functioning of the brain determines the onset of those dynamics of the psyche that involve the Ego to the point that the latter ends often by identifying with them, and it is very difficult for it to find the resources to free itself from this condition of subjugation. It is evident the importance that each Ego attributes to the experiences determined by its own psyche, among which the effects of NDEs must also be included.

The Ego can undertake a path of separation and liberation from the psyche's dynamics that tend to involve it, but it cannot subject the psyche to its own will – however good its intentions may be – since it does not have adequate energy resources. There are people who show a natural disposition to love others, and strive to alleviate the sufferings that fate reserves for many humans, because the psyche's positive polarity manifests itself in them in this way. Similarly, the negative polarity of the psyche causes other people to abuse or exploit their fellowmen, taking advantage of their misfortunes. It can also be assumed, as some do, that these orientations of the functioning of the individual psyche are related to a greater or lesser influence of the Spirit on the Ego, and actually many NDEs involve a sometimes radical reorganization of the attunements of the psyche that the Ego experiences when it returns to organic life. However, it remains to be understood why the Spirit allows the psyche to maintain its bipolar character, and does not intervene in the same way towards all human beings, or at least towards all those who pass through a condition of temporary suspension of vital activities and consciousness, but prefers to assign only to some of them the task of spreading – in the dimension of organic life, dominated by the human psyche – the effects of what they have experienced in the Spirit dimension.

The love radiated in the Spirit dimension, experienced by the Ego during many NDEs, is a form of energy which, by pouring on the Ego, makes the latter feel the substantial unity of everything and everyone, and frees it from many of the conditioning determined by the human psyche, on the basis of which the Ego oriented itself in its life. But if the Ego has not directly experienced the Spirit dimension, by assimilating a little of that energy that there permeates everything, it runs the risk of believing that it could transfer into the sphere of organic life the experiences we read about in the NDE reports, using its will as energy source. However, human life still takes place through an organism whose complex functioning requires particular resources, and whose vulnerability to trauma, infectious diseases, congenital defects and aging is evident. Furthermore, every organism shows features that make it different from the others, and that influence in a particular way the conscious experience of the Ego that lives through that organism. Therefore, our love for others often manifests itself as love for another's organism as well, because we believe, not without reason, that the living conditions of organisms have a substantial effect on the life experiences to which the Ego of others is subject. As we can see, it is a rather complex process, the management of which largely depends on the dynamics of the human psyche, in which each Ego is involved and often ensnared.

But if we recognize the presence of negative elements in the lives of others, and if our love for others is manifested in the desire to make their life experience more positive, or at least to alleviate their sufferings, shouldn't we come to the conclusion – in the light of the experiences reported by many NDEs – that the best thing for those who suffer is that their human life can end, so that their Ego could return to the Spirit dimension? Ultimately, in the dimension of organic life, in order to give one must have, and it is evident that in the overall dynamics of the human psyche there is a deficit of love, concord and mutual understanding: this deficit cannot simply be compensated for by a naive use of goodwill, which may work in a certain reduced context, but does not seem capable of solving humanity's problems on a global scale, as it has not been able in the past. It is no coincidence that those who have experienced the Spirit dimension, once returned to organic life and to the influence of the human psyche, often perceive this return to the body as a command, or even as an imposition or a constraint, on the meaning of which they continue to question themselves, given that, if at times they seem to have received clear and illuminating information and knowledge in this regard in the Spirit dimension, such knowledge is forgotten when the Ego goes back into its own organism.

The fact that the Ego is forced to go back to organic life even against its will is often interpreted by the same Ego as a task or mission that has been assigned to it and that it must carry out. Therefore some are led to believe that this mission consists in contributing to bring about – over time – a transformation of the human psyche from an energy characterized by a marked bipolarity to an essentially unipolar one, the manifestations of which should be oriented according to what is currently considered as its positive polarity. Others, on the other hand, believe that organic life is a sort of test bench for the Ego, a gym in which to train and engage in testing, improving and strengthening its spiritual resources. Therefore the Ego would be forced to experience organic life – at least according to the interpretation given by those who have been reluctantly forced to leave the Spirit dimension – to improve in the practice of love for others or to better understand the meaning of human life, through a full immersion in the energy field of the psyche. The difficulties of life would fulfill precisely this function, and eliminating them would mean removing from the gym the tools needed to train: the variety and quality of these tools is dosed so that each Ego can train in relation to its own resources and the needs of its achieved spiritual level, on the basis of its own potential. This training program would not be imposed on the Ego, but would be agreed and accepted by the same Ego in its spiritual state beyond time, and would involve the temporal experience of a life lived through an organism.

Whatever the interpretation that each of us likes better regarding the meaning of human life, it is still an interpretation of the psyche that can be of some help in dealing with the problems, risks, difficulties and pains of this life: in fact, the Spirit dimension – according to what many NDEs testify to us – has completely different features compared to that of organic life, and therefore, once the spiritual Ego has managed to access that dimension (or return to it), it will no longer ask itself questions about the meaning of human life in the same form in which it does while living it. The conscious Ego, living as an organism, might be interested in understanding how its choices, behaviors and orientations – substantially influenced by the human psyche – can have consequences on its ability to access the Spirit dimension, or on the ways in which it will be able to dwell in that dimension. But this too seems to be a problem generated by the psyche and linked to the human condition, as the NDEs do not provide univocal, coherent and convincing information regarding an evaluation system based, for example, on merit: it seems that the Ego can in every case be welcomed with love in the Spirit dimension, for the mere fact of having lived and suffered – for better or for worse – the contamination determined by the human psyche. The weakness or strength shown by the Ego towards this contamination depend on its starting spiritual resources, and therefore on its original condition: ultimately, on the same Spirit by which it was emanated.

The limits of emotional feelings

In human relationships often prevail those automatisms of the psyche, determined by the brain functioning, which we call feelings, and to which we attribute a particular value as we are led to believe that they are intimately ours, even when they represent nothing other than the ways in which the nervous system of our organism reacts to the environmental circumstances and human interactions that fate reserves for it: the emotional feelings represent a good demonstration of how the dynamics of the psyche rarely are at the service of the evolutionary process of the Ego, who is often ensnared, flattered, deceived, and in any case controlled by them. The manifestations of emotional feelings are already evident in the behavior of many higher animals, to which at least one form of a sentient Ego can be attributed (even if not evolved), and represent the way in which the natural psyche determines and controls the functioning of each individual organism. The further cultural elaboration by the human psyche attains a general classification of the feelings, which are considered positive or negative not so much on the basis of their evaluation by the Ego that directly experiences them, but according to the effects that the cultural conditioning programs can have on social interactions and their consequent dynamics. It may therefore happen that feelings such as hatred, resentment or anger, which should be considered negative based on the direct effect they have on the conscious Ego, are culturally valued if directed towards an enemy (be it real or presumed), towards an opponent (political, economic or sports), or towards someone who we believe has wronged us. Similarly, we can experience a feeling of contentment, joy or even happiness when an event occurs that dominant cultural programs lead us to consider positive, even if it has no direct connection with our conscious Ego: this is the case, for example, of the joy brought about by the victory of a team in a sports competition.

The complexity of emotional feelings makes them all the more effective and convincing for the Ego, the more it uncritically identifies with the dynamics of its own psyche, naively entrusting its destiny to the spontaneous power of the human psyche rather than training itself in the use of reason and critical intelligence, also – and above all – in human interactions. Obviously, this happens because the human condition itself usually implies the submission of the Ego to the psyche, and consequently the Ego's spiritual evolution, and the intellectual and emotional resources that can favor that evolution, represent the exception rather than the rule. However, the consequences of this state of affairs are there for all to see: the human world, and the world shaped by humankind, cannot be different from what they are in their transformations over time, as they reflect, in their positive and negative aspects, the bipolar character of the psyche's energy that predominates on this planet. The resulting general picture is rather confused: as far as the past is concerned, what has happened can no longer be changed, and each conscious Ego has lived the positive or negative experiences that fate has reserved for it; as for the future, the positive polarity of the psyche always induces an element of hope aimed at enhancing the value of this life, and the commitment of a large part of humankind is aimed at trying to improve, in one way or another, the conditions in which human organisms must live, so that the psyche can express its potential, amplifying its often controversial effects.

This state of affairs is at the basis of the strong increase in simultaneously living human organisms that has occurred in the last century: not surprisingly, the need to reproduce is all the stronger precisely where environmental conditions do not offer sufficient prospects for a healthy and balanced organic life. The natural psyche, in fact, tends to produce a greater number of new organisms when environmental conditions eliminate a large part of them in the formation and growth stage: but the increase in knowledge in the medical field, and the technical resources that have allowed the production and large-scale diffusion of food, pharmaceutical substances and medical equipment, after having developed in the most scientifically and technologically advanced areas, have extended the their effects in many other regions of the planet, reducing mortality – especially in children – caused by disease and malnutrition, and causing an increase in the population. Obviously, these masses of young or adult population, not finding sufficient resources to live in their areas of origin, or under the impulse (determined by the psyche) of the desire for a more rewarding life, go in search, often deluding themselves, of better prospects of life in the economically more advanced areas, at least at present. Certainly our planet is going into crisis also due to the excessive human demand for resources, which is unprecedented in its history.

The emotional feelings determined by the psyche's dynamics in relation (and as a reaction) to events of this gravity show, with their ambivalence, the naivety of the hope that human problems can be solved by relying on the spontaneity of the human psyche. In fact, both in the case of a feeling – which we can define as positive – of love for our fellowmen and human solidarity, which pushes towards an unconditional acceptance of masses of poor people in search of better living conditions (for whose needs someone will then have to provide), and in the case of a feeling – perhaps selfish, but understandable – which leads to setting limits on indiscriminate reception, due to the too high number of potential migrants, the problems generated by the growth of the human population of the planet cannot be solved, except by placing a limit on that growth. Obviously, those who believe that the value of life consists in manifesting love and solidarity towards the poor and the needy, are induced to behave accordingly, not to solve the problems of this world on the basis of more or less intelligent and reasonable evaluations, but with the aim of a possible reward that they believe they can obtain in the Spirit dimension, or, more simply, because their conscious Ego identifies with the attunements determined by the psyche's polarity perceived as positive. However, always remaining in the context of this life, it would be appropriate to remember that, precisely because of the bipolar character of the human psyche, sometimes the intentions felt as positive, and the consequent behaviors, determine effects that, over time, show negative aspects that had not been foreseen or evaluated carefully enough.

The splitting of consciousness into a multitude of individual human organisms – each with its particular endowment of positive and negative experiences, which increases over time – who try to interact in different ways, sometimes helping each other, other times confronting even violently, continues to be an enigmatic phenomenon also in light of the information on the Spirit dimension that we can deduce from many NDEs. That dimension, in fact, presents aspects so different from those of human life, that inevitably the conscious Ego that has experienced them ends up considering the latter – if not just as a dream – at least as a temporary and evanescent form of reality, and therefore of a lower quality than the permanent reality of the spiritual dimension, which however can be experienced as such only once the Ego has definitively concluded the experience of organic life. But as long as the Ego remains bound to the life of its organism, the Spirit dimension can only be thought, imagined or, at best, experienced through a gap in the temporal dimension that opens up and then closes again, as anyone who has been forced against their will to return to their bodies, or who resorts to psychedelics to experience alternative and impermanent forms of reality, knows well. It is evident that the conscious Ego yearns to feed on an energy of which in this world it finds traces and surrogates in some forms of experience that have a temporary effect: yet a full immersion in the inexhaustible source of that energy is precluded to it, at least as long as it remains bound to its own psychophysical system.

Tensions originating from the psyche in human relationships

It is surely possible to imagine a life of relationship in which the encounter with the other represents the approach of two essences by their nature similar which, as a result of the mutual contact, feel both pervaded by a form of positive energy. This is what usually happens in the Spirit dimension, at least according to what we are told by many NDErs. In the dimension of organic life, however, interpersonal relationships almost always involve two or more Egos, each of which is subjected to the tensions that the psyche determines in terms of desires, worries, or positive or negative dynamics of various kinds, with all the sentimental and emotional reactions that may result from them. Each Ego inevitably brings with it the attunements of its own psyche, which – as a result of the relationship – are subject to a series of reactive interactions (which we could define as chemical) with those of the other. These tensions – which, in the various forms in which they occur, have been extensively described and empirically studied – not infrequently involve the Ego with that particular intensity that distinguishes the so-called sentimental life, to the point that the Ego can be completely absorbed by them, whether it is a matter of tensions perceived as positive, to which the Ego can be irresistibly attracted, or in the case of negative tensions, from which the Ego is unable to escape despite the suffering it has to endure, or which it is induced to arouse in the other for retaliation.

The study of human relationships makes us well understand how the energetic tensions that are produced due to the bipolar character of the psyche's energy and the dynamics resulting from the various interactions between people – through which these energetic tensions accumulate and discharge – determine for the conscious Ego all that range of emotional feelings that goes from the positive extreme of an intense happiness to the negative extreme of a distressing despair, even in the case in which the organism does not present evident signs of trauma and injuries, or symptoms of diseases and malfunction. Only in some cases, for example when the fact of maintaining or losing the means of subsistence depends on the outcome of a certain relationship, it can be thought that the organism reacts negatively to the prospect of having to face a situation of risk for its wellbeing or its own survival, but often things are not like that: in the case, for example, of an unrequited love, or of an intense desire whose satisfaction depends on the decisions of another person, the suffering that the Ego may have to endure depends on a tension produced by the psyche from which the Ego cannot escape, even if all the vital needs of its organism are satisfied. Anyway, we can recognize an interconnection between the complex dynamics determined by the way in which the psyche's energetic tension manifests itself in human interactions and relationships, and the emotional and sentimental reactions - both positive and negative - that the Ego experiences and to which it reacts, often automatically, aware of what it is experiencing, but lacking any knowledge about the functioning of the dynamics by which it is involved and with which it unconsciously identifies. In this respect, it makes sense to speak of a subjugation of the Ego (and its resources) by the psyche's energy.

In terms of increasing the knowledge that we humans have at our disposal, we come every now and then to a point in which we understand that it no longer makes sense to ask ourselves the question of why something exists (as happens in physics, for example, in the case of the gravitational force or electromagnetic energy), but we can just recognize the evident existence of the phenomenon, renouncing to ascertain and verify its cause. Also with regard to the energy of the psyche and the influence it exerts on the feelings and emotions that involve the Ego, as a conscious subject and experimenter of its effects, we are in the same condition: we have to recognize the existence of energies and dynamics whose cause is beyond our human capacity for understanding. However, we can ask ourselves whether the resources available to the Ego can in turn exert an influence on the dynamics of the psyche: in order to answer this question, it is first of all necessary to bear in mind how the fragmentation of consciousness into a plurality of organisms, each with an Ego whose resources greatly vary from one person to another, makes it difficult, or even impossible, to define a standard model of the Ego. Even when, as in the pages of this blog, we limit ourselves to attributing to the Ego the essential function of conscious subject of experiences determined by the psyche, we must always recognize the individual differences in the way in which the Ego reacts to the involvement in the attunements of its own psyche, with which it very often uncritically identifies itself.

In order to meet the needs of survival and well-being of its own organism, the Ego normally subordinates its freedom to the rules of a collective system whose functioning is determined by the ways in which the human psyche manifests itself in the political interactions between the members of that system, and the sociocultural programs deriving from them. There are cases, however, in which the Ego feels the need to defend its freedom even running the risk of its organism being damaged or eliminated due to its choices. However, even in these cases, the Ego should be able to understand if its determination still depends on being subject to dynamics of the psyche that fascinate and ensnare it with their numinous character of endogenous origin, showing a vitality that clearly prevails on the conventional rigidity of often obsolete and sclerotic social norms, or if it feels the need to undertake a true path of liberation from the seductive or depressing perspectives with which the psyche fascinates and deludes it. For this reason the Ego should first of all dedicate its resources to reflect on itself in order to find its true and reliable foundations, without letting itself be too much charmed by the psyche's dynamics – be they of exogenous or endogenous origin – which determine those feelings and emotions that represent, as we use to say, the very essence of life, but giving them the right value, provided that they do not deprive it of the energy necessary to successfully complete the process of evolution undertaken.

Having said this, we must necessarily recognize that – as long as we remain in the dimension of organic life – the very plurality of the Egos means that each of them must seek in itself the mysterious meaning of their own individual existence and the way to interpret this life to the best of their abilities, based on the resources at their disposal. It could be observed that, even if the paths to be followed may be various and very different from each other, the final goal is unique for everyone: but the differences remain, and consist precisely in the ways in which the various paths are followed, also taking into account the fact that, according to what is reported in many NDEs, in a lifetime the Ego can only walk a stretch of road, and therefore, even at the end of it, the goal may still be far away. Always in the light of what many NDErs tell us, the ways in which this path of spiritual evolution can be followed are essentially two: the path of love and that of knowledge. The way of love, which is often summarized in the golden rule love your neighbor as you love yourself, is anything but easy to interpret and implement in the reality of human life, since the other's Ego can be entangled in the dynamics of its own psyche as much as, or even more than, our Ego: in principle, it is reasonable to assume that love for others should be understood as an activity aimed at alleviating their suffering and, if possible, giving them a little bit of joy. It is clear, however, that in order to give one must have, and in the general balance of the natural and psychic energies that determine the dynamics of human life there is a deficit of love that cannot simply be compensated by our good will.

In any case, the way of love implies a life of relationship, since it is based on the interactions with others and on the management of the dynamics of the psyche that these interactions determine. The path of knowledge, on the other hand, can also be undertaken and walked alone: in fact, its purpose is to awaken and experience the spiritual energies to which our Ego can possibly access already during this life, once it has managed to differentiate itself from the psyche's attunements in which it is normally involved. Knowledge is directed first of all towards the various attunements that the Ego directly experiences in the various circumstances of its life, and then – indirectly – towards the attunements experienced by other people, on the basis of the information that the Ego is able to acquire in this regard. However, it should be remembered that the Ego cannot arbitrarily take the path of knowledge as a consequence of a free choice, but can do it only if and when a thorough examination of the experiences of its own life, and of the ways in which it has let itself being involved in the dynamics of its own psyche, induces it to turn its attention and interest towards the mystery of its individual existence, leaving it no choice but to explore its own true essence. However, the way of love remains more normal, and in a certain sense more human, even if the results it obtains are not always the ones hoped for: on the other hand, the way of knowledge does not preclude a benevolent attitude towards others, but it anyway implies a certain suspicious precaution towards the psyche's dynamics in which the other's Ego can be involved, and with which it often identifies.

The tensions that must be faced on the path of knowledge only in part arise from the interactions and relationships with others, which cannot be completely avoided – even if they can be limited to the bare minimum – if the Ego wants to meet the needs of its organism. The reason why the Egos of a large number of humans let themselves be so easily controlled by the dynamics of their psyche is to be found in the effective power of the psyche, which seduces, deludes, frightens, rewards or punishes the Ego, at least until the latter is bound to its own organism: through the brain functioning and the interactions between a plurality of brains, the psyche influences in a decisive way every aspect of human life, regardless of the consequences that its bipolar dynamics may have for the sensitivity of a single individual Ego. Inevitably (and unjustly) some Egos are forced to endure a life of suffering and pain, even atrocious, without being able to influence and modify the dynamics of the psyche that cause such sufferings. Therefore the Ego must not underestimate the psyche's power, and if it feels the need to undertake the path of knowledge it is necessary that it can rely on a form of energy that protects it from the negative tensions that can arise at any moment, and which it is forced to confront: it is a question, so to speak, of learning to navigate in the insidious sea of the psyche without shipwrecking or going adrift here and there, but making the best use of the sails and rudder of our solid boat, orienting ourselves with a reliable compass.

The energy that the Ego can rely on to confront the psyche's power is of a spiritual nature, and comes from a different dimension than that which the Ego experiences during its organic life. It is not easy for the Ego to be able to find a channel that allows it to draw on spiritual energy, since it has usually been programmed to adapt to the dominance of the psyche's energy and to be influenced by it, to the point of considering the defense of organic life – personal, of one's descendants, or of the social group of which it considers itself a member – as the supreme value. On the other hand, the same energy of the psyche can manifest its disruptive and destructive negative polarity, subverting – again through the domination exerted over the Ego of a certain number of humans – those same values that the positive polarity promoted with particular emphasis. The ascertainment of the bipolar character of the psyche's energy, and the direct experience of the tensions deriving from it, not infrequently drives the conscious Ego towards the search for a form of energy that allows it to maintain its original sensitivity intact throughout the journey of crossing the psyche's sea, experienced through organic life. In fact, the subjection of the Ego by the psyche and the same uncritical adaptation of the Ego to the needs of organic life through which the psyche conditions it and, so to speak, tames it, almost always imply a renunciation by the Ego of those sensitivity requirements deriving from its more or less developed spiritual component in favor of an adaptation, which it considers advantageous, to the psyche's dynamics in which it is involved.

The weakness of the Ego towards the psyche's tensions is obviously reflected in human interactions and relationships: the psyche's energy, once it easily overcomes the weak control resources available to the Ego, is discharged into the interpersonal dynamics of couple, group or mass, determining the whole range of behaviors that can be observed when the psyche shows itself in its natural state. The cultural programs of control of these dynamics generated by human interactions – aimed at containing the disruptive and conflicting effects of the psyche's energy – sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. The strong increase in the number of human organisms living together on our planet also determines an intensification of the psyche's tensions, which can break the (not particularly solid) barriers built over time by human reason to channel the energy of the psyche. The negative effects deriving from interpersonal tensions are reflected on the balance of the Ego, even if it is not directly involved in these interactions, especially when its sensitivity leads it to perceive the human experiences in their choral aspect, and to ascertain their substantial disharmony: consequently the Ego, reasoning on the very nature of the psyche's energy and on the power it exerts in the dynamics of human life, must resort to the help of an alternative energy of non-bipolar quality, in which it can place trust and which it can consider truly friendly, to be able to successfully carry out the task in which it has committed itself by living this life, voluntarily or because it was unwillingly obliged.   

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