Freud's structural model of the psyche fascinates me! I don't believe that Freud had all the answers, but I do find that his ideas aid in deep thought about human behavior. A good friend of mine posed a thought-provoking question some months back about what keeps us from meditating on a frequent basis. I would like to share my response with you.
(This response is themed on Freud's basic ideas, influenced by ideas of Carl Jung, inspired by my religious beliefs and is my personal opinion)
The Id, the Ego and the Super-ego
We, as human beings "of the flesh", have a tendency to seek after those things that satisfy our natural cravings. For those that are unfamiliar or rusty on the topic, this is the Id (inner desire or subconscious). Then there is the Ego which seeks balance between the Id, the Super-ego and society's demands (the external world). Without the influence of our religion and the ideas of good people that have established the good laws in our societies (and when I say 'good laws,' I mean laws that weren't/aren't self-serving), we would be like infants, crying relentlessly until our body fulfills its next demand.
The Super-ego, or the educated conscience constantly battles with the Id. In religion, we strive to be worthy to feel the presence of Heavenly Father and act in His name. It is in this battle that I wish to propose a brief explanation on why we procrastinate much-needed meditation. And if anyone is interested in reading more on this Freudian philosophy, a good basic summary is found on Wikipedia!
OK, so, in simpler and more straight-forward language, our inner desire is to not have faith in things that aren't tangible (double-negative intended), to handle our problems on our own, to take the credit (PRIDE) for our successes and strengths, to be angry when things don't go our way, to blame others for noted faults or imperfections. The list of selfish desires that goes on and on keeps us off our knees (prayer). But then we recognize in our lives that our acquired knowledge (education) and wisdom (life experience) in the gospel places a higher expectation on our character, on our commitments, on our behavior, and on our ability to carry out our promises to our family and our God. When --and not if, but WHEN-- we fail, we are hard on our self and sadly deny the blessings from heaven by making our self believe that we have lost our right to call upon a higher power.
The Super-ego instills guilt in our guts and we have a hard time feeling worthy of our Heavenly Father's perfect love. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we are always able to feel that love. I emphasized that we will fail, and we all know that because it is a true principle of life. Yes, we knew better. Yeah, we got blind-sided by our pride or selfishness. But, would it be safe to say that we are committing a greater sin by selfishly (and most likely, subconsciously) holding onto our faults and our past sins? With this kind of baggage (spiritual weakness) we can feel an overwhelming barricade from deeper and more fulfilling meditation.Meditation can mean prayer and it can mean deep thought, but whatever it is, it requires a sense of worthiness because our Father does not dwell in unholy places. Good intentions are worthless without action. We know this already! But we also already know that we should be on our knees more and that we should "find time to meditate upon the things of God" as my good friend suggested. Whether we are too busy, too spiritually distracted, too guilty, or not motivated enough for meditation, all of our excuses lead back to some sort of conscious and/or unconscious behavior.
Each one of us has an individual need, problem, desire, or solution, even. I feel that seeking after a better understanding of our individual behavior is like the invocation to our meditation. We are opening up our minds and souls for enlightenment, or as my good friend put it, we are "aligning our will with the Father’s; the ultimate reward of spiritual meditation."
Thanks for your time. That ended up being longer than I meant. I hope it is meaningful to you.
