Sadhasiva agama by Moolar is
taken for further study in the similarities between Freudian and
saiva siddhantha literatures. There are advantages in taking Thirumanthiram
for this analysis:
1)it is estimated to have been written
in 5th century. Hence it has antedated all the 14- sastra texts.
Therefore we get a glimpses of the earliest roots of saiva schools.
2) it has 3000 verses in all. Therefore
we get a most elaborate description.
There are disadvantages as well :
1) the chapter arrangements, language,
style of narrations need an expert Tamil interpreter
2) as the number of verses are too
many there are chances for arbitrary inferences and selective abstractions.
Nevertheless the overwhelming similarity between the style of narration
in these schools is surprising enough.
FREUDIAN
PHALLIC PHASE:
Around the age of 3 the child enters
the phallic phase, in which the penis or the clitoris is the primary erotogenic
zone. The phallic stage of psychosexual development heralds the arrival
of the oedipal level of development, in which relationships become more
complicated than they were in the past. The emphasis is on triangular or
three person relationships, instead of dyadic or two person relationships.
The phallic stage is also characterized by greater tolerance of ambivalence
and the ability to maintain an internal representation of the absent object.
Another major contrast between pregenital
stages of development and phallic stage is the nature of the child’s libidinal
activity. In the oral and anal stages, such activity , for the most part,
is autoerotic in that the child’s sexual impulses are derived from one’s
own body. Pleasure is still derived one’s own body in the phallic phase,
but that period of development is also characterized by the fundamental
task of finding a love object that will establish later patterns of object
choice in adult life.
Oedipus
complex:
The period of life between the ages
of 3 and 5 is known as the oedipal stage of psychosexual development because
the culmination of infantile sexuality –oedipal complex- occurs at that
time. Freud discovered this crucial cornerstone of psychological development
during his own self analysis and in his clinical work with patients in
which fantasies of incest with parents of opposite sex emerged with regularity
in association with feelings of jealousy and murderous rage towards
the parent of same sex. Drawing an analogy between such fantasies and Greek
myth of Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father and married his mother,
Freud termed the intrapsychic constellation the oedipal complex.
The oedipal stage of development
is of central importance in pathogenesis of neuroses and many anxiety disorders.
Oedipal issues are also important in the psychodynamics of character neuroses
and high level personality disorders, such as histrionic personality. The
Oedipus complex presents a developmental challenge for the child, and the
resolution of the child differs according to the child’s gender.
Resolution
for boys:
first love object of the male child
is his mother. Unlike the little girl, the little boy does not have to
shift his affection to another parent at the beginning of oedipal phase.
The male child essentially falls in love with mother. He wishes to be the
center of her world. It becomes apparent that such are interfered with
by the relationship of his father and mother. As a result, he begins
to view his father as a rival. Freud repeatedly noted that the chief
source of the boy’s anxiety is that father will retaliate by removing the
child’s external genitalia. The male child’s investments in keeping his
genitals supersedes his desire for mother and renounces them. This
phenomenon is termed as castration complex.
Resolution for girls: Freud was
frank throughout his writings about his difficulty in understanding psychological
development of girls. In attempting to explain the resolution of the oedipal
complex in little girls(called the Electra complex), Freud noted that the
discovery of their genital state leads to feelings of inferiority and narcisstic
injury and –to penis envy. Contemporary psycho-analysts however regard
penis envy, only as one aspect of the feminine identity, not the origin
of it.
SIDDHANTHIC SIMILARITIES FROM THIRUMANTHIRAM:
The first 540 verses confine to the description of the PATI qualities and the superego equalants of Freud (Siva qualities in general –ethics-esthetics-and praise of Siva). From then onwards the chapters on yoga starts. Here the souls preoccupation with self-mind&body. This is Freudian equalant of oral stage. The verse from 818-837 describe the sakthi –Siva physical relationship very explicitly.
From the 1000th verse the soul
is attracted towards the sakthi (oedipal complex). Sakthi bedham,
adharavadheyam, and the meditative charts for sakthi worship occupy the
next 400 verses. This is analogous to mother-son relationship (as the soul
is symbolized as nandi it has to be taken as a male child). The liberation
from sakthi and the efforts to move towards Siva are expressed in the next
200 verses ending with aradharam. Then the praise of the father-god in
its symbolic influence on the child-soul as PHALLIC representation is described
in the subsequent verses from andalingam to Siva lingam in the verses 1695-1760
. The verses1901-1951 describe the source of germinal seeds(testicles)
and the importance of it for the male-child-soul (castration anxiety).
The anal stage descriptions are described next to the phallic stage. In
Thirumanthiram they occupy the verses 1999-2377. There after the
pati-pasu-pasa relationship fulfillment progresses till the end of 3000
verse.
The liberation from sakthi and union
with sivam is glorified as final salvation and mukthi which is analogous
to Freudian psyche maturation at the end of phallic stage. There is no
latent stage or genital stage equalants in thirumanthiram. Also the
oral-anal-phallic progression is not evident here but oral-phallic-anal
progression. However the topographical model of mind is followed in the
same order as superego –ego –id and pati-pasu –pasa stages namely the initial
description of Siva and the travails of nandi and then the severing of
attachments. Thus the arrangement is oral-phallic-anal akin to the model
in the agama pattern temples in coramandalam, lingam(superego-siva-father)-pasu(ego-soul-male
child)-pasa(id- severance-pedestal). The nandi faces the sivam on the front
and the sakthi on the right side of its heart. The flag is an insignia
of the final salvation (mukthi). There is no female equalant in the soul
as does in the Freudian analytic study. It is generally felt female soul
development is similar to male soul.
The work of Moolar not only forms
the grammar for saiva schools, it has excellent piece of information in
the self-analysis. The therapist –client model in psychoanalysis and guru-sishya
relationship appear to have semblance Meditation seem
to appear as a form of self –analysis with the individual finding his own
deeper unconscious. Both Freudian exploration and yoga-exploration find
similar results in form and content(topographical and dynamic) as well
of the mind. However it is premature to come to a conclusion. The Freudian
exploration is objective study of mind. The saiva schools study subjectively
the Meta-physical elements. One has to wonder the similarities and
revise more into both schools for deeper meanings. If there is a similarity
between 5th century thought and the19th century one, when the earlier work
was subjective religious self introspection and the later is objective
exploration of psyche, there is reason for the saiva schools to feel proud,
for achieving it first and for ahead of the later. Though the methods were
different it appear -as though- they are different visions of the same.
If it happens to be the same, then that would be the end of the human journey.