seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

and protect them, they very likely would not survive their first night of screeching. Nature
intends that we be slaves to cuteness.
The reciprocal mother/baby bond is probably the strongest and most enduring of all
instinctive bonds. It will not take Baby long to learn what the rest of us have happily
discovered: Mother is the one person in the world who will insist that we are decent,
intelligent, industrious and good looking despite all evidence to the contrary.
By the time that Baby is old enough to protest the injustice, Mother has a new
Adorable Little One to occupy her attention. Fortunately Baby now has teeth and is able to
eat the food which Father, who farms, hunts, and fishes, brings home and gives to Mother
who cooks and distributes it to the family.
4. FRIENDLY SHADOW AND ENEMY SHADOW
The friendly shadow, who is usually the same sex as ourselves, is our frequent dreamcompanion.
Since it grows up with us, it assumes a variety of developing forms.
No longer anybody's Baby, our Child must establish new relationships with his
family. For many years to come they will be his indispensable support group. They will
protect him, teach him and act as his companions and guides. They will share their food with
him in time of scarcity, nurse him when he is sick or help him when he is in trouble. This
relationship is special; for while he must be extremely close to his family, he must not
consider them as potential mates. Nature does not intend that they should be breeding stock
since inbreeding is so frequently a genetic disaster.
The instinct that promotes mutual support of family members while simultaneously
nullifying sexual attractions is the Friendly Shadow. Father, brothers and sisters who guide,
protect, and provide for our model child are the first persons upon whom he will project this
archetypal regard. It is worthy of note that this instinct is apparently evoked between all
developing youngsters who share the same domestic environment. Not too long ago the
Israelis reported that of several thousand young adults who had been raised together from the
time of their infancy in Kibbutz nurseries, there was not a single instance of inter-marriage.
Each toddler instinctively regarded all members of the group as his brothers and sisters and,
accordingly, the sexuality of all members of the opposite sex was neutralized. The fraternal
attitude overrode the biological fact.
Our model child, at the age of two or three, is now diverting much of the attention he
had lavished on Mother to the other members of his family. Additional projections of the
Shadow upon friends, particularly a best friend or buddy, will occur later as he becomes older
and more socially involved.
As the child is taught right from wrong, he becomes confused whenever his own
desires conflict with those of his family. He may know, for example, that he is not to eat
CHAPTER 7 A WORKING MODEL OF THE PSYCHE
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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