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

food that has been set aside for a later meal, but he may become so hungry that he cannot
resist eating it anyway. Discovered, he is shouted at, struck and shunned. He is called a rat, a
coyote, a snake or any animal which the family associates with the sneak-thievery of food.
Temporarily pushed outside the family circle in rejection and disgrace, he broods about his
fate. The hunger pains have vanished and he is no longer quite so sure why he stole the food.
It is now that the Shadow rises to the occasion of his distress. The Enemy Shadow has many
functions but the most important one is to defend the ego against attack. It is the miscreant
alter-ego. It accepts the blame for the theft. Unconsciously the child understands that it was
someone else who took the food and brought this punishment on him. In the most insidiously
subtle way imaginable, his ego heals the wounds of insult by removing him from
responsibility and blaming his shadow. (The devil made him do it.) This is necessary for, in
order for him to go on living happily with people who have physically harmed and rejected
him, he must be able to differentiate his ego from the bad boy/animal that they punished. He
does not consciously recognize this alien individual; but deep within his psyche, the `evil
one' thrives. The Enemy Shadow will grow stronger each time the boy commits an antisocial
act. If he does something bad and is not caught, the Shadow rewards him with feelings
of superiority and insight into human duplicity. If he is caught and punished, the Shadow
comforts him with delicious plans for revenge. In either case the Shadow has fulfilled its
function: the boy develops a suspicious awareness. He's ready for trouble. He understands
deceit.
By the time our model child reaches maturity, his definitions of evil will be carefully
recorded in his Enemy Shadow's lexicon; but he will not be consciously aware of his
constant reference to the entries. He will always believe that the person he despises or
distrusts truly deserves to be despised. Not easily will he come to understand how much of
himself he has conveniently projected onto the despised target.
5. HEROES
There are basically four sequential projections of the Hero Archetype: Trickster,
Superman, Human, Savior-Bodhisattva.
Punishing `bad' behavior is one side of the coin. The other side is appealing to the
`good.' As a child of three, four or five, the boy continues to find that he is frequently
reprimanded for being disobedient, greedy, or disruptive. But the rat, coyote or snake in him
need not remain in perpetual disgrace. It can be rehabilitated.
The dynamics of normal family life are such that members strive to maintain a benign
or civilizing balance. Mutual support means mutual reliance, and each member of the unit
must behave responsibly. Laziness, selfishness, deceit and all forms of behavior which
breach security, cause dissension or squander assets are obviously detrimental to the family's
welfare. So the child must tame his own desires, subordinating them to the collective desires
of the unit. He must learn to be ethical in his dealings with other people. He must learn to
CHAPTER 7 A WORKING MODEL OF THE PSYCHE
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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