The Book, The Withdrawal of Human Projection looks like one I would love to read and add to my library. Amazon has 7 copies left, just wanted to stop by and tell you that this was one excellent Posting to the group.
M On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 2:12 AM, Merle Lester <merlewiit...@yahoo.com>wrote: > > > > for suresh...merle > > Having trouble viewing this email? click > here<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C> > *Return to Emptiness: free copy of The Withdrawal of Human Projection > * > *COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS may receive a free copy for use in teaching and > research.** Simply respond to this email indicating you will request that > your library order a copy.* > *[image: Developmental Time, Cultural Space]* > *Pages: *118 pages* > Publisher: > *Library of Social > Science<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245A&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE> > * > Author: > *M. D. Faber* > Date of Publication: > *June 1, 2013* > Paperback: > * List Price $34.95 > ISBN: 091504207X > *Hardcover: > * List Price $39.95 > ISBN: 0915042088* > * > *For information on ordering this book through Amazon, click > here.*<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245B&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE> > *Because we believe The Withdrawal of Human Projection is an important > book—and wish to assure that it achieves the widest possible circulation—we > are offering a free copy to college instructors if you will simply ask > your library to order a copy. Please respond to this email—write to > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com—providing your name and the name of > your college or university. We will send you a free electronic copy of > the entire book (identical to the physical copy, including the front & > back cover).* > *Professor emeritus of English at the University of Victoria, M. D. > Faber is a renowned authority on the psychology of religion and author of > nine books, including Culture and Consciousness, The Psychological Roots > of Religious Belief, and The Magic of Prayer: An Introduction to the > Psychology of Faith.** > * > *We are immersed within culture > like fish in the sea* > We experience culture as if air that we breathe. Or one may say that human > beings are like fish within water—embraced, encompassed and incorporated by > “society.” In many post-modern theories, there is barely a concept of a > self prior to or separate from the symbolic order. Some theorists contend > that our psyche is constituted by nothing more or less than the “discourses > that push and pull us.” > Scholars focus on the inescapable power of discourse, yet rail against the > dominating, oppressive dimensions of society. The term “hegemony” conveys > the idea of culture and its ideologies as an omnipresent—and potentially > destructive—force. > But what is “culture?” Why is there such an intimate connection between > our minds and society? In *The Withdrawal of Human Projection, *M. D. > Faber departs from conventional approaches—providing a psychological > analysis of our *need or desire for culture. *What motivates us to bind > ourselves to the symbolic order? > *How is it possible to separate > from beloved objects?* > Faber begins with the child’s attachment to mother and family. We > experience a deep, profound tie to early love objects. Simultaneously, we > are compelled to separate from these objects and move into reality—a place > that does not contain the mother. *How is it possible to achieve > separation from that to which we are so deeply attached? *This is the > subject of Faber’s book. > Separation from our mother and families, Faber says, generates a > “life-long mourning process,” triggering an endless “search for > replacement, for someone or something to fill the gap.” The child deals > with separation by choosing “transitional objects”—blankets, teddy bears, > story books—that afford the magical or illusory belief that one is “staying > with the caretaker at the same time he or she is moving away from her or > giving her up.” We bind to objects that “symbolize and evoke the comforting > presence of the mother.” > Our relationship to culture, according to Faber, derives from our > relationship to transitional objects. Cultural objects are glorified, > puffed-up transitional objects. We bind ourselves tightly to the cultural > domain as part of a ceaseless struggle to come to terms with separation and > loss; to solidify and stabilize the self. > *Ambivalence* > Faber hypothesizes that we are tied to the institutions of society out of > the tie that binds us to parental figures within. Our struggle to establish > “dual unity” binds us to the objects of our inner world, and hence to an > overestimation or attachment to cultural objects that become “projective > exemplifications of either acceptance or rejection; in other words, > psychological symbols.” > At the same time that we seek to maintain the tie to mother, we struggle > to separate. Insofar as cultural objects symbolize mother, our relationship > to these objects is inherently ambivalent. We simultaneously seek to fuse > with these objects and to differentiate—separate—ourselves from them. We > come feel dominated and oppressed—tormented— by the very ideologies, ideals > and cultural objects to which we have become deeply attached. > *Because we believe The Withdrawal of Human Projection is an important > book—and wish to assure that it achieves the widest possible circulation—we > are offering a free copy to college instructors if you will simply ask > your library to order a copy. Please respond to this email—write to > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com—providing your name and the name of > your college or university. We will send you a free electronic copy of > the entire book (identical to the physical copy, including the front & > back cover).* > Contemporary scholarship views the power of culture to shape the self as > inevitable and nearly inescapable. Lacanians state that “is no other but > the other.” Submitting to culture, we become “subjects of the symbolic > order.” > However, there are other perspectives. Books like Freud’s *Civilization > and Its > Discontents*<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245C&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE>suggest > a clear distinction between society, on the one hand, and the > individual, on the other. The fact that human beings suffer from—and can > perform a critique of—civilization implies that there is a part of the self > that is *not* bound to civilization. Many social movements subsequent to > Freud’s book built on the assumption that liberation entails “throwing off” > the yoke of society. > *Return to emptiness* > Faber turns to Buddhism as a method for achieving a "break" from the > symbolic order. Whereas Descartes said, I think therefore I am, Buddhist > tradition embraces an idea that is precisely the opposite of this French > conception. Buddhism—Asian philosophy, generally—contends that thinking > impedes discovery and understanding of the self. One becomes who one is by > abandoning thoughts—returning to the space of emptiness. > Indian philosopher > Rajneesh<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245D&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE>explains: > “Thoughts are like clouds in the sky; they have no roots in you. > They come and go. You’re just a victim, and you unnecessarily become > identified with them.” The self, according to this view, is not the > thinker, but the being who *experiences and observes thoughts.* > *Because we believe The Withdrawal of Human Projection is an important > book—and wish to assure that it achieves the widest possible circulation—we > are offering a free copy to college instructors if you will simply ask > your library to order a copy. Please respond to this email—write to > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com—providing your name and the name of > your college or university. We will send you a free electronic copy of > the entire book (identical to the physical copy, including the front & > back cover).* > Within the symbolic order, identity is achieved through “identification.” > We find it natural and normal to define our selves in terms of our > relationship to cultural ideas and objects. People identify with nations, > with a political position (“left” or “right”), with an ethnic group, a > baseball team (becoming a “Yankee fan” or a “Met fan”), religious belief > systems, a musical performer (becoming a Lady Gaga fan), with an actor or > actress, or an ideology (libertarianism or socialism). > Identifications are the foundation for what Faber calls “ordinary > consciousness.” We define ourselves by projecting existence into cultural > objects. Our attachment to these objects replicates attachment to infantile > love objects. Living through identification, human beings imagine that they > cannot do without—live without—these beloved cultural objects. > Buddhism seeks separation from the symbolic order: abandonment of cultural > objects: return to our “original nature.” The idea of “emptiness” lies at > the heart of Buddhism. Zen master Shunryu > Suzuki<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245E&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE>explains > that emptiness is not merely a state of mind, but the “original > essence of mind which Buddha experienced.” Emptiness is the pure, inner > space where language, discourse and society cannot enter. > *Liberation from the Symbolic Order* > Buddhism—separation from the symbolic order—implies the possibility of > liberation from ideologies and hegemonic societal structures. Charlotte > Joko > Beck<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=289245F&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE>states > that the purpose of Buddhist practice is to “die slowly, step by > step, gradually disidentifying with wherever we’re caught in.” As we > identify ourselves with less and less, we can “include more and more in our > lives.” > Disidentification means withdrawing psychic energy from cultural objects > to which we had been attached. Many of us are so deeply invested in culture > that we can hardly conceive or imagine such a state of being. We all are > “fans”—people who are fanatically committed or devoted to cultural objects. > We imagine that we benefit enormously by virtue of our relationship to > society. Yet, we often feel tormented. Culture (e. g., the mass-media) > presents an endless, eternal stream of gratification. We feel that we are > energized by this connection. > Perhaps, however, an image from *The > Matrix*<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=2892460&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&t=0&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE>depicts > the true state of affairs. Human beings are batteries—perpetually > feeding the symbolic order. We are *tied to society by an umbilical cord, > *precisely as an unborn child is tied to its mother. We feel we are being > nourished by the images that enter from the Matrix. In reality, we are > feeding the Matrix with the substance of our bodies. > *Because we believe The Withdrawal of Human Projection is an important > book—and wish to assure that it achieves the widest possible circulation—we > are offering a free copy to college instructors if you will simply ask > your library to order a copy. Please respond to this email—write to > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com—providing your name and the name of > your college or university. We will send you a free electronic copy of > the entire book (identical to the physical copy, including the front & > back cover).* > *EXCERPTS FROM THE WITHDRAWAL > OF HUMAN PROJECTION > > M. D. Faber on Money, Capitalism and Consumerism* > The drive for wealth is closely bound up with the drive for omnipotence. > *Money > denies dependence. *Because money functions as an agent of control at the > deep psychological level, providing the dependent personality with the > dream of unlimited power, wealth becomes in the transitional mode a means > of accomplishing one's total independence. Were one to possess the object > entirely one would not need the object any more. > The capitalist, in his insatiable greed, is willing to sacrifice human > beings, the very "flesh and blood, nerves and brains" of working people in > order to maximize his profit, which is derived from human labor. Like the > Aztecs of old, the owners of industries, of mines and factories, are > "prodigal with human lives," casual about "wasting" the men and women to > whom they believe they have some sort of natural right. "When profits are > at stake," writes Marx, "killing is no murder," just as in the religious > sacrifice of human beings killing is also no murder but a "religious" > action. > Because interest leads to money after a period of waiting—and because > money is a symbol rooted in the drive to control and reunite with the > internalized object—interest becomes a psychological scheme to fill time > with the magical presence of the maternal figure. One is making money as > time passes, and to this extent the emptiness of time is denied, the > absence of the object is denied; indeed, the emptiness of time and the > object's absence are only *illusions.* > Time is not simply passing, it is breeding money, which makes one secure > in its passing. Thus the interest in interest attests to the individual's > desire to be imaging unconsciously the object of one's security *all the > time, *just as the child has the mother *all the time *at the level of > his primary, internalized *holding. *The feed of cash proceeds > uninterruptedly at the level of transitional need. One "goes through life" > with his lips at the breast. > Our passionate chase after *goods *is, first. our attempt to discover new > forms of attachment" in our alienated, kin-less culture, our paradise *lost. > *We shop, buy, *consume, *feed ourselves "products," in a pathetic, > obsessive struggle to deny the absence of those flesh-and-blood contacts > that formerly tied people together and provided them with precious > compensation for the *loss *of the object. Second, we make our obsessive > economic activity, our endless oral frenzy, a part of the "national > purpose," or indeed the national purpose *itself *("the richest country > in the world!")—in an effort to convince ourselves that we do in fact live > in a genuine society, a truly cohesive group, a shared community of emotion > and purpose. We know deep down, however, that loneliness and isolation are > the rule. > > * The Withdrawal of Human Projection: > Separating from the Symbolic Order* > *Table of Contents* > *Foreword by Richard A. Koenigsberg* > > *Acknowledgements* > > *Part One: The Transitional Nature of Ordinary Consciousness * > > 1. The Process of Mind-Body Conversion > 2. From the Cradle > 3. The Internalization of the World > 4. The Mirror > 5. The Dark Side of the Mirror: Splitting > 6. The Agony of Differentiation > 7. The Sands of Time and the Container of Space > 8. The Stimulus Itself > 9. The Ward > 10. The Tie to the Culture > 11. The Oedipus, and After > 12. Notes and References Part One > > *Part Two: The Cultural Sphere * > > 1. Some Background > 2. The Religio-Economic Realm > 3. Money and Magna Mater > 4. The Sacrificial Way to the Object > 5. Sacred Lucre > 6. Psychodynamic Extrapolations > 7. The Metaphors of Marx > 8. The Interest in Interest > 9. The Vicious Circle and the Bad Parent > 10. More Opiates, More Anxieties > 11. Lurking Ambivalence > 12. Goods and More Goods > 13. Notes and References Part Two > > *Part Three: Disrupting the Tie to the Inner World* > > 1. A Glance Backward, A Glance Forward > 2. The Meaning of Non-Ordinary Moments > 3. The Emergence of the Non-Ordinary World > 4. Solidifying One's Change > 5. Transforming the Past at the Mind-Body Level > 6. Notes and References Part Three > > > *Because we believe The Withdrawal of Human Projection is an important > book—and wish to assure that it achieves the widest possible circulation—we > are offering a free copy to college instructors if you will simply ask > your library to order a copy. Please respond to this email—write to > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com—providing your name and the name of > your college or university. We will send you a free electronic copy of > the entire book (identical to the physical copy, including the front & > back cover).* > This message was sent to bmles...@tpg.com.au by > oander...@libraryofsocialscience.com > Unsubscribe<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/su?e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C>| > Manage > Subscription<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/s?e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C>| > Forward > Email<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/c/f?e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C>| > Report > Abuse<http://www.benchmarkemail.com/Abuse?e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C> > > > <http://www.benchmarkemail.com/sign-up/email?utm_source=cus-foot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ft-logo-footer&e=31CA55&c=4BF35&l=4E9ADE8&email=ixXm0ij%2BbPTN6%2BIQ4YtZ3gUPiXYo5miE&relid=2E04A96C> > 92-30 56th Ave Ste 3E, Elmhurst, NY, 11373 > > > > > > > >
