The Betrayal of the Body

Psychiatrists' offices are full of patients who hate their parents and feel bound to them through guilt. Similarly, guilt between a husband and wife leads to ill-concealed hostilities.

Causality is responsible for such emotions as guilt and shame, which lie at the core of all emotional disturbances.

conflict between the ego and the body may be slight or severe: the neurotic ego dominates the body, the schizoid ego denies it, while the schizophrenic ego dissociates from it.

One such experience will not lead

An overemphasis upon the role of the image blinds us to the reality of the life of the body and its feelings. It is the body that melts with love, freezes with fear, trembles in anger, and reaches for warmth and contact. Apart from the body these words are poetic images.

We cannot be human and not animal too

The conceited person is preoccupied with his appearance; the vain person is obsessed by his appearance. This overemphasis upon appearance is an ego device to negate the importance of feeling

The ego with its knowledge is shaky and insecure if it does not stand firmly upon the reality of the body and its feelings. When the ego roots itself in the body, the individual gains insight into himself. The deeper the roots, the deeper the insight

Civilization has been a progressive effort to raise man above the animal level

As long as the ego dominates the individual, he cannot have the oceanic or transcendental experiences that make life meaningful