The systemically suppressed ability and capacity of the Original Mind(Man) to REconnect to its Original State has repressed the quality of the Original Man’s existence, individually and collectively, thus, resulting in the psychological dilemmas and difficulties present amongst us as individuals and as a Nation; intellectually, socially, emotionally or otherwise.
Recently, I was meditating on the State of the existence of the Original Mind in Western indoctrinated societies and I thought about the many published works on [Knowledge of] SELF, as it relates to the African Mind, as written and interpreted by a Dr. by the name of Na’im Akbar. I broke out the books of his that I own and I came across so many wonderful examples of cause, effects and even solutions. I wanted to share one particular excerpt that really stood out for me. Please feel free to express your MIND and add on afterwards.
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(Excerpt from “Light From Ancient Africa” by Na’im Akbar)
CHARACTERISTICS OF WESTERN PSYCHOLOGY
If we take the meaning of the word “psychology,” which the West has distorted and reduced to “the scientific study of human behavior”, we find the first flaw of Western science. The word “psyche” was derived from the Greek language by way of African origin. The word is associated with the goddess Psyche, and to the Greeks meant “soul.” According to Massey (1974a) in his Book of the Beginnings, the word “psyche” is actually derived from the Egyptian language in that “Khe” is the soul, and “Su” is she: Su-Khe. Su-Khe embodies the nature and meaning of the Greek goddess, Psyche. Without the article “p”, the Egyptian word “Sakhu” means the understanding, the illuminator, the eye and the soul of the being, that which inspires. From this linguistic analysis, we find that not only is the study of the human mind offered to us by the Greeks by way of the Motherland, but the terminology as well. The distortion of the Kemetic definition changed the study of the soul to the study of behavior. Because of this, we find a whole array of consequences which have developed and serve as the basis for many of the problems that we remain plagued with today. Some interesting factors to consider are that:
1. The West views man as an object and emphasizes objective methods for studying him. Their objectivity assumes that all valid knowledge is external, leading one to believe that everything comes from outside (including salvation). This view assumes that the human being is no more than a tabula rasa (blank screen) that is imprinted by things in the environment, and that the only way you can understand man is to objectively stand outside and look at him. Western psychology claims it is not legitimate to ask a man what he thinks. The reasoning for this is because it is considered to be “unscientific” and “unobjective,” and therefore, does not qualify to be legitimate science. “Objectivity” is supposedly the virtue of European science, and subjectivity its gravest violation. Introspection and self-awareness, the virtues of ancient Kemetic science, are the ultimate offenses in Western science.
2. Quantification is the only accepted measure of reality in Western science; “if we can’t count it, it’s not real.” According to this logic, there is no such thing as intelligence if you can’t put numbers on it. With this school of thought, one could assess that there is no such thing as happiness because it cannot be calculated. With this, one can’t even be crazy unless they score accordingly on an “objective” measure.
3. The West views material reality as essential. With this logic, the essence of man is assumed to be his material manifestation, i.e. body and behavior. A convenient analogy between the bodies of laboratory rats and that of man is readily drawn, since in this system, the physiological determinants of one are supposedly the same in all related cases. The potential for humans to master and transcend their own physiological aspects has not been clearly addressed in the Western analysis.
4. According to Western thought, there is no superior power or purpose in man. With the hasty dismissal of any superior plan, man’s presence becomes meaningless, an existence with no divine purpose. There can be no expectation of human life if it has no direction or higher meaning[2].
5. From the perspective of the West, the observable activities a person engages in is a true picture of his or her essential being: “what you see is what you get.” According to Western doctrine, human behavior is what it is with no significant meaning beyond what is actually observed.
6. All invisible or intangible phenomena is considered irrelevant within the Western scientific analysis. It views the soul, spirit, revelation and intuition as superstition or illusions.
7. Life and consciousness are identical with physical processes. This means that the brain is equivalent to the mind. The Western-thinking scientists believe they can understand the functioning of the mind through cosmetic experiments: “If we alter your brain chemically or surgically, the mind, being the passive agent, will naturally become a servant of the chemistry.” The chemistry is not ever discussed as the servant of the mind because this would give preeminence to the invisible.
8. Western doctrine emphasizes the individuality of the person and generally ignores the element of transpersonal awareness. An “individual” operating under this reasoning is led to believe that there is no meaningful scientific concept such as a group or a collective being. The idea of a collective mind would require an intangible conception of the mental process. It could not be equated with individual brains. The idea that separate physical entities could share a common consciousness borders on the absurd for the typical Western thinker.
9. Western psychology maintains that man is a product of biological determination, personal experiences, and chance. There is no correct or incorrect order for man’s development under this reasoning. Once again man finds himself reduced by this logic to an existence like the animals. He inhabits the earth with simply surviving against the odds by adaptation to an environment. With this, morality and values can have no meaning outside of personal experience. Therefore, if there is no order, then you cannot expect people to do anything. People are fundamentally free without the guidelines of dome (i.e., “free-dome”). Morality and values serve as the frame of “dome’s” structure. Therefore, a Eurocentric thinker assumes that there is no particular purpose, direction or order. Morality becomes meaningless to them. Moral or ordered conduct has no place in their science, except as an extension of one’s personal biological ethics. Morality, at best, could only be viewed as a temporary environmental adaptation.
10. A characteristic of the Western science of the mind is the opinion that the death of the body is the death of the mind, and that one need not attend to life before or after the body (i.e. “You only live once, man”). This limited concept imprisons the human being into a linear existence which begins at birth and ends at physical death. Human beings as timeless creatures have yet to be recognized or understood by Western science.
The idea of ultimate transformation is a meaningless concept in this time and space-limited designation of human life. Such narrow conceptions of the human being inevitably lead to narrow conceptions of the mind and its potential. Non -Western concepts of mental mastery, transcendence and mental or spiritual pre-eminence are empty and reek of superstition and ignorance. Simply put, Western psychology can conceive only limited and small beings, confined by physical matter, time and space.
[2] We do acknowledge the work of certain European psychologist, such as Carl Jung, who postulated such concepts as the” collective unconsciousness” to the shame and the horror of his Euro-American scientific community. Such thinkers are considered deviants, radicals and lacking credibility within their own ranks of Western scholarship.
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