In the past, religious and spiritual traditions dealt with these manifestations through moral and ethical purification. Because of the increasing secularization of society, these practices are generally not applied strictly and completely. However, psychological understanding shows us that even moral and ethical purification might not be effective in dealing with deep-seated neurosis, or with what is called structural weakness in the ego. Our present understanding of how unconscious beliefs and motivations manifest in distorted attitudes and behavior can help us see how one can be scrupulously devout and moral but at the same time be addictive, abusive, or otherwise psychologically unhealthy. Events across the range of modern spiritual institutions demonstrate this amply; we have seen how spiritually elevated or brilliant teachers and personalities can behave in psychologically aberrant ways; this has included Tibetan lamas, Zen masters, Indian gurus, Sufi teachers, Catholic cardinals, Hasidic rabbis, fundamentalist evangelists, and so on. There is no reason for us to assume that this is a contemporary phenomenon rather than a long-standing one that is coming to light. It is obvious that such aberrant behavior indicates a psychological disturbance that is bound to influence and distort our spiritual attainment. This points to the need to include our sophisticated psychological understanding in our spiritual training. Using this understanding to serve our spiritual development might help us to appreciate that the specialization that created the field of psychology can be fruitful in surprising ways. 

From the perspective of Being, then the major mental pathologies can be understood thus:

1. Psychosis is a reflection of the absence of, or conflicts about, the Merging Essence in the symbiotic stage.
2. The schizoid condition is a reflection of the absence of, or conflicts about, the Strength Essence, mainly in the differentiation subphase.
3. Pathological narcissism is a reflection of the absence of, or conflicts about, the Essential Self, primarily in the practicing subphase.
4. The borderline condition is a reflection of the absence of, or conflicts about, the Personal Essence, primarily in the rapprochement subphase.
5. Neurosis is a reflection of the absence of, or conflicts about, the essential aspects involved in the Oedipus complex. We will not discuss the oedipal phase here, but will only mention that it is possible to see that there are three essential aspects involved in it: the aspect of Passionate Love related to oedipal love; the aspect of Power related to oedipal hatred; and the aspect of the Personal Essence in one of its developments which involves the sensuous and sensual qualities. This last aspect has to do with personalizing the physical body, i.e., integrating it into the experience of the Personal Essence. 

The perfection of reality includes even what we call imperfection from the egoic perspective. Reality is a perfection that cannot become imperfect. In the language of the Enneagram, this is the Idea of Holy Perfection. The moment you see that there is nothing but God, you recognize that everything is perfect at all times and at all points in space. If God is everything that is, how can there be imperfection? When you don’t like some manifestation and you want things to be different, all it means is that you have not surrendered to the Holy Will. You have your own prejudices and ideas about how things should be, and these could form the basis of your own personal religion! The Idea of Holy Truth is that nothing is excluded. The ego is not excluded, thinking is not excluded, reactivity is not excluded, neurosis is not excluded, and the physical realm is not excluded. This is because there is nothing but the One, so there is no other. Obviously, when there is one and no other, “one” is not being used in the mathematical sense. Pythagoras taught that numbers start with three: One is God, two is the Logos, and three is the beginning of creation. Since reality is one and there is no other, how could there be duality? So every time you experience a new dimension of Being, you realize that it is part of the One, which includes all numbers, so the two resulting from the new dimension is included within it. This is difficult to conceptualize, because this One is an infinite existence. Since it has no boundary and encompasses infinite space, you can’t conceive of it as the mathematical one. When you demarcate one area of physical space and then another, can you say that there is more than one space? Both are subsets of, and included in, the all-encompassing space. 

This fact does not mean, however, that spiritual attainment is independent of one’s mental health. The perspective we have been unfolding is that of how the rigidity and opaqueness of ego structuring obscure our true nature from our awareness. The more transparent are the structures of the self, the more access we can have to the dimension of true nature. There can be breakthroughs when for one reason or another one’s obscuring structures are not in force. This may result from making some of the structures transparent, so they allow access to essence, but other structures may remain unclarified and manifest in neurosis or distortion. Furthermore, a borderline might have a weak ego structure, making his or her structure not only not cohesive, but also, and as a result, not so able to block such deep potential. So such an individual might develop an access to true nature, while still being a borderline. However, this access is bound to be limited one way or another. Furthermore, this access is not going to affect one’s life in the balanced and integrated way necessary for Spirit to integrate life into its dimension, which is an important part of spiritual attainment.

Of course, these tension patterns and the psychodynamic defense mechanisms that go with them are generally unconscious. They surface to consciousness only when the individual is approaching awareness of the genital hole and the psychological material associated with it. The tension in the head manifests in extreme cases as headaches. The tension in the pelvis can lead to all kinds of sexual difficulties. The importance of the genital hole becomes obvious when we realize that it is a universal phenomenon. We find that it is part of the unconscious self-image in all individuals, men and women, without exception. It does not signify pathology or neurosis. It is part of the normal self-image of every person, albeit unconscious. The only possible exceptions are those who do not defend against space. If a person can experience space completely and consciously, then there will be no genital hole in the self-image. This assertion might sound preposterous to many, but it becomes understandable if we comprehend the relationship between space and the genital hole. We have discussed space as the true nature of the mind. As well, we have discussed essence or true being in its various aspects and manifestations. We have also seen that most people do not normally experience either essence or space. This means that the identity or self-image of the normal person does not include space.