Psychoanalysis of Freud and Appar - a comparision - Part 1

Psychoanalysis of  Freud and Appar - a comparision

However crude and simplistic this study may be, I nevertheless want to write about this to initiate new thinking about some hidden components of Hindu thinking particularly as available in Tamil literature and which, thanks to Brahmanism (perhaps mostly introduced by Western Indologists) has been bypassed, marginalized, thrown aside and so forth. I welcome criticisms or deconstructions of my views, as that will be the only way the TRUTH of the matter will surface to the fore and become part of our conscious apprehensions.

1. By Psychoanalysis, Analytical psychology, Depth Psychology and so forth I understand a kind of Psychology where the notion of UNCONSCIOUS, however differently it is understood, plays a prominent role in the analysis of human behavior. Freud saw the Unconscious as something that comes to be because of suppression and repression and which are mainly related to instinctual and libidinal sexual urges. Jung subsumes this under Personal Unconscious and on the basis of the presence of the same archetypes across many individuals, cultures, the past and present in the dreams and mythologies etc  notes also a Collective Unconscious, a layer deeper than the Personal Unconscious of Freud.  Now this is where both the similarities and differences between the Tamil Saiva Psychology and these Western psychologies emerge. There is the notion of Unconscious is Saivism but understood as the MaRai poRuL, the concealed realities and which are related to the Tirobavam of BEING, an activity of BEING casting a screen so that some truths remain beyond the reach of understanding till the Pakkuvam, maturity is reached by the anmas. There is also the admission of  the presence  of Mummalam and which breed BLINDNESS and because of which people remain not seeing even though it is there right in front of their eyes.

2. Appar resembles Freud in taking up the analysis of sexual behavior of animals as well as the human beings in this remarkable Patikam, the TiruvaiyaaRu Patikam (4:3). We can see his thinking is along the surface structure  (SS) and the deep structure (DS) lines, in terms of Hermeneutic Science and in which from the features of the observable SS,  he locates the DS that remains the Agentive Cause and declares that he UNDERSTANDS the roots of sexual behavior of creatures in accessing this Depth where he sees the Dance of Siva and Sakti and which can also be understood as the SivaliGkam. However we can see that for Appar the sexual behavior of all animals - elephants, birds, cattle, deer, monkey and so forth - are BLISSFUL, full of JOY and HAPPINESS and because of which they SING and DANCE. Unlike for Freud, the starting point of Psychoanalysis is NOT the diseased and abnormal mind with the suppressed and repressed causing hysteria and so forth. For Appar the bliss producing sexual behavior is the SS  part of animal and human behavior and which remains INCOMPREHENSIBLE if it is just noted as such and left at that or worse still put them aside as revolting disgusting etc.The question he poses: Why there are males and females among these creatures and why when the males and females come together, attracted sexually there is HAPPINESS and because of which they dance and sing?

With this question he SEES the Dance of Bliss of Siva and Sakti as the DS of it all and with that UNDERSTANDS such phenomena and thrills at it.

3. He also notes that vision of DS is KaNdaRiyaatana, that it is a vision that normally escapes the ordinary individuals. Thus in noting that the seeing DS of the sexual behavior is NOT possible for all and just like that and that it is a GIFT, blessing from BEING granted only for the deserving. In this way he brings in the notion of PAK, KUVAM a condition of Spiritual Maturity for the psychoanalyst - not everyone can be a true psychoanalyst even by training for it requires a spiritual maturity which is NOT a matter of learning, training, birth and so forth. The verse 6 touches on an aspect of this:

6.

taNmatik kaNNiyinaait taiyal nalllaadum paadi

uNmeli cintaiyaraaki uNaraa urukaa varuveen

aNNal amartuRaikinRa AiyaaRu adaikinRa pootu

vaNNap pakanRil aadi vaiki varuvana kaNdeen

kaNdeen avar tiruppaatam kaNdaRiyaatana kaNdeen

Meaning:

The Crescent Moon Siva wears as Candrasekaran, is COOL because it lets flow the Amutu that cools the heart of all because of sexual pleasures it serves to enjoy. Uma stands as the seed of all feminine charms that evoke the sexual desires. Thus singing their inseparable union out of the deepest LOVE possible, I became one of soft heart at their contemplation. Understanding this and even melting further at the Kindness of BEING for blessing the creatures thus, I was moving towards AiyaaRu, where He resides with Uma. And there on the way I saw the colorful PakanRil, the bird that never separates from its spouse dancing and living together. At that point I saw with my mental eyes, the Divine Feet of Siva ,(where he creates the male and females of all species with agitating the Natam and Bindu). Thus I saw what are impossible to witness with the fleshy eyes alone.

The key word here is “uNmeli cintaiyaraaki” and which means being with a melting heart ie. LOVE and Care unto all. What is important to access a vision of the Depths that would destroy the MYSTERY surrounding the sexual behavior is NOT intellectual acumen, skills in verbal disputes, vast scholarship in scriptures and so forth but rather a CULTURED HEART, the refinement of FEELINGS and EMOTIONS so that there is LOVE and CARE for all. But this life of feelings is NOT divorced from that of THINKING for he mentions uNartal, understanding along melting the heart, urukal: uNaraa urukaa varuveen. The culturing of the heart, of desires,  feelings and emotions cannot be accomplished without THINKING and both must go together. We must THINK deeply and metaphysically so that our FEELINGS are also cultivated so that we  become uLam Meli Cintaiyar - people with thoughts that reflect LOVE and Care for all.

Does Western Psychoanalytic tradition emphasize this subjective reconstitution in the direction of Love and Care as a prerequisite for a person to be a psychoanalyst? I doubt very much. If they do then they will include religion or metaphysics as part of the training of the Psychoanalysts.

ULLAGANAR

( December 2003 )

( Edited and re-paragraphed by his student )