THE JOURNEY OF THE SELF
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Chapter 3
Phase Three: The World of Outer Dependence

The beginning of phase three is the manifestation of the definable and discernible heavens and earth. For the microself, this phase is the pain and agony of individualization which starts at birth. This stage heralds another release, another unfoldment. The birth of the child comes with a cry.

In phase three, then, the child is born. The wet, infirm being emerges from the womb to live off the breast of the biological mother. Slowly, it learns to feed from mother earth. The duration of most formative learning in this stage of Outer Dependence generally covers the first seven years or so of life. Outer dependence in the general sense, however, continues all one's life.

In cosmic terms, the earth is born and cooled off from the cosmic furnace. Land and sea separate. The water cycles cool the earth and create the water channels like veins of the body. After the individual elements assert themselves and mineral life is formed, vegetative life develops. Primal simple life and later animals begin to roam about. Birth, the dawn of creation, and the development of complex life from simple unitary cells.

During this state, the physical and material forces grow and prevail with maximum force. In the case of the cosmos, we have witnessed the awesome power of physical matter in the sudden emergence and eruption of fire and rocks on earth, the ever increasing number of planets and the galactic systems, together with the built-in physical laws that hold and bind them. The mass of planetary bodies and their energies exhibit an awesome majesty and beauty.

The same forces and processes prevail in the microself. The material and physical needs and forces in the child prevail. The physical body asserts itself, demanding food, satisfaction, health, peace, tranquility and equilibrium for the body. The first motherly action when the child is born is to reassure it and put it to the breast.

The earth, too, once it is born, is cooled and energized by the rain. The water cycle, seasonal cycles and an incredibly vast mosaic of outer sun and planetary bodies, dependence and interdependence begins.

In this state, the vegetal self is predominant in the life of the newborn. It possesses three powers – those of feeding, growth and expulsion. These systems develop in complexity and are refined as the child matures. The newborn is totally concerned with preserving its body through attracting and obtaining adequate comfort and nourishment. The appetites and instincts of the child are now clearly manifest. The other activity of the child is the repulsion of whatever is harmful to its body: automatically, by the expulsion of its own wastes, and consciously, by repulsing what it dislikes – milk which is too hot or too cold, for example. If the two processes of attraction and repulsion are not functioning properly, the balance is disturbed and the child will grow ill. The physical body has within it the mechanisms and controls which determine its state of comfort and equilibrium (good) or disturbance and discomfort (bad).

As the child develops and takes on the qualities of the animal self, it acquires in addition two other powers – of movement and that of comprehension.

The child now has emerged from the safe environment of the womb, where it was protected, contained and sustained. The child in the womb was not aware of its environment, or indeed of its own life or its mother. Now, suddenly, the child is dependent on the breast and has an inherent sense that if that dependency is discontinued, it will suffer. Its concern and anxiety concentrates primarily on feeding and other related basic activities of the animal self. Outer dependence is recognized.

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The Seven Factors of Influence on the Self

There are seven major factors that exert considerable influence upon the life of every person and they can be described as follows:

1. Conception. The circumstances, conditions and state of the parents at the time of conception of the child is one such factor. <snipped>

2. The genetic factor. The genetic heritage of the child, which it inherits from both its parents, bears considerable influence upon the life of the child, often irreversibly in one direction or another. <snipped>

3. During pregnancy. The condition and state of the mother during the nine months of pregnancy influence the child in more ways than simply by the quality of its food intake. <snipped>

4. Conditions at birth. The physical environment at the time of delivery is a factor of influence. <snipped>

The actual time of birth also reflects upon the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm. <snipped>

5. The weaning period. The fifth factor is the growth of the child in its first two years of life. <snipped>

6. The first seven years. During this period, the child develops and exercises his senses and other faculties by increased interaction with the outer world, and the animal self becomes pronounced and developed. <snipped>

7. Personal will and determination. This factor is of considerable importance and has much to do with the innate, primal, inner and spiritual aspects. If all of the previous six factors have elements that weaken or work against the individual, the seventh factor can still predominate and overcome some of the limitations and enable the person to attain spiritual awakening. <snipped>

The seven factors described above constitute the major influences at work on the destiny of the individual in general and broad terms. They have been presented as an illustration of milestones in one's life.

Summary

We have observed in this third phase of Outer Dependence that the self begins to mature and the individual grows and strengthens physically.

At the end of its first two years the child has generally been weaned from the breast, but it is not weaned from dependence on specific adults. It is still completely dependent on others for clothing, shelter and other needs. This limitation, dependence and need, imposed by nature upon the child during this period, acts as a spur for the faculty of reasoning and intellect to grow and develop. The cat is born with its fur coat to protect it against the elements, but man must make arrangements for food, clothing and shelter. It is these basic needs that stimulate our minds by interacting with the world. Our very limitations, basic needs and deprivations speed up the development of our creative thinking and intellect as we strive to attain efficient physical (both in body and environment) harmony with the elements in the outer world.

The child loves its parents because of the familiarity, interaction and support which bring balance and tranquility to the child, but at the same time, it yearns to have its own store of food. This is a desire for independent security. It may seem greedy for the child to hoard, but this is in reality a reflection of its inner desire for self-reliance by securing additional insurance of a source material and physical security.

During its first seven years, the child begins to broaden its horizons and sees more and more that the limits of its environment constantly expand and extend further.

With this broadening of horizons come new unknowns and surprises, with the attendant agonies and joys of growing awareness. Each time the child is surprised by a new experience, the input or stimulus is processed into the system and related to what is already there. So consciousness and intellect continue to broaden and deepen, providing a more coherent and stabilizing foundation for new experiences to be related, processed and absorbed into the network of knowledge already there.

As the child increases in its interaction with others (peers and adults), its new experiences will beget a certain value of acceptability or rejection. It soon learns that certain behavior or action brings about a beneficial effect (good feeling and reward from others). Obedience to the system of values in society will also ensure acceptability and, thereby, the satisfaction of future needs. One learns to give in order to get and appreciate the balance and equilibrium that comes from such cooperation and exchanges. So starts the rise of ethics and morals in the child.