By FabianLyngdoh
Mental health is one of the major issues that are being seriously discussed today because mental health problem is said to be on the increase in every society in the world. Factors leading to mental health or mental illness are partly personal and partly social, and the Khasi elders of old had understood this reality and expressed it in terms of ‘ka rngiew’ (spiritual personality). As human beings we live in two worlds throughout our physical existence.First, is the inner world of our own minds, hearts and souls; and second, is the outer world of thesocial milieu existing outside our selves.There is an intermediate realm between these two worlds, and that is the family. It takes at least two human beings to make a family. ‘A family’, implies not only that of father, mother and children, but also any closed group of human beings committed to lifelong, intimate and primary relationships. In the Khasi context, the family always represents the ‘kur’ (clan) which is the fountain of all supports, physical, mental and spiritual. The family is the continuum of the inner world of the self, as well as the continuum of the social milieu. It is the abode where the individual’s physical, mental and spiritual balance is maintained. In the traditional Khasi clan, all members, males and females are equal. Every female carries the image of a mother, and every male carries the image of ‘u kñi’ (maternal uncle). The ‘kur’ guides and arms its members with the power to transcend all existential barriers.Love and happiness are the ultimate ideals that human beings are seeking for, and the family which lies in between is the care centre that sets a balance of human personality in the growing youths, the active adults and the retiring olds as well. If a person finds no identification with the outer world, and the family itself totally reflects that disagreeable outer world, he/she would retract deep into his/her inner world trying to find peace in loneliness and narcissism, and this may ultimately lead to mental imbalance.
According to Khasi belief, man is a physical as well as a spiritual being who has a unique position and status among other beings. Every human being has ‘ka rngiew’ which may be conceived of as the spiritual personality or identity of the body and the spirit combined. ‘ka rngiew’ means the place or position or status of each human being, man or woman, among other human beings and among other spiritual beings like ‘ki ksuid’ (demons), ‘kipuri’ (nymphs), ‘ki blei ki dken’ (gods and goddesses), ‘ki sna-iap’ (ghosts) and other beings, physical and spiritual within the cosmos. It is not man’s personality in the social frame of reference, but it is his personality that is balanced in the spiritual frame of reference.When a person is in this balance, the Khasis say that he/she is ‘dang eh-rngiew’ (spiritual personality intact).
The Khasis speak of a person who is ‘u ba la jem-rngiew’, meaning that he is out of position or in unstable equilibrium. In that unstable position a man’s spiritual status is degraded or disfigured and evil may befall on him. To bring him back to his original status it requires first of all his own personal resolution, and second, the help of others especially through religious rites. These religious rites reflect the love and concern that his clan members have for him/her. The process of recovery according to the Khasis is to re-establish a person’s status as a human being with body and soul, created by God Himself, who has such and such a recognized name given and confirmed in the ceremony of ‘ka jer ka thoh’, belonging to such and such a clan, born from such and such a mother, who holds such and such a position in society, etc., the more we can recall of his/her various aspects of identity and human relationships, the better it would be. A man ‘ba dang eh rngiew’ (whose spiritual personality still intact), ha‘ka tynrai’ (origin), ‘ka dew’ (reason to exist), and ‘ka jingïadei’ (relationships) is part of the human community and the entire cosmos.
To manifest his existence as a being, he stands by his name that was religiously confirmed, as a particular person who has ‘ki kur and ki kha’ (agnates and cognates), who was born to the world through a real human mother, and who has a relationship in the family and the society. He/she is like an important thread in the cloth of the mystery of God’s creation. If somehow the thread is pulled out of the cloth and stands alone, it becomes useless and without purpose. Similarly the man who becomes ‘uba la jem rngiew’ (losing status and spiritual identity) stands alone without purpose.
A person’s ‘ka rngiew’ is not fixed but keeps on changing according to his changing relationships and actions. For example, if a man kills another man, justly or unjustly, his ‘ka rngiew’ shall carry the mark of ‘ka tyrud’ (killer spiritual force) which is added to his spiritual personality. ‘ka tyrud’ becomes personified in him, and every one in the society would as far as possible avoid personal relationship with such a person. Among various aspects of his identity, all beings in the cosmos shall know him also as the killer of so and so. If a person kills a man or woman intentionally without cause, then he would be dealt with as a criminal by the political authority. But if he happens to kill a person unintentionally or on proper ground of self defense, then the rite of ‘ka mait tyrud’ would be performed to clear his ‘ka rngiew’ from such unwanted identity and keep in mind and heart at peace.
Not only the physical environment and the human society, but the entire cosmos is understood by the Khasis as the medium where human beings live with their respective ‘Ka rngiew’, like water is to the fishes. Man cannot be a human being without ‘ka rngiew’ which is his overall personality, physical, mental and spiritual as recognized by his fellow human beings, by all creature animate and inanimate and also recognized by spiritual beings. It is on this reason that the Khasis believe that man should not stand against nature, but adjust himself with it according to the requirements of his human existence.
In the traditional Khasi milieu, everyone has concern and respect for everyone else’s ‘Ka rngiew’. For example, if we measure the length of a coffin with the height of a living man we ‘pynjemrngiew’ him (tarnish his spiritual status). The coffin is meant for the dead not for the living. A living man has a place among the living not among the dead. So by measuring the height of a living man with the coffin we push him to take a place among the dead. If we call a man, ‘a dog’, we ‘pynjemrngiew’ him because the identity of a dog is not in his ‘Ka rngiew’ as recognized in the cosmos. If we call a male adult ‘pha’ or ‘ka’, the words addressed to females, we would ‘pynjemrngiew’ that person because a man is recognized as a male in the cosmos. The Khasis are very careful in this matter and they would be seriously offended by such actions. Except in the cases of heinous and culpable homicide, and intra-clan incest, the Khasis have all the necessary rites to re-establish a balance in the spiritual personality of their clan members through their traditional counseling psychology. Understanding this concept of social support available in intimate human relationships we may say that in the past, majority of mental illness in the Khasi society could have been due to natural and physiological factors rather than social factors.
According to Khasi belief, if a person’s ka rngiew’ is intact he/she would always be fully healthy and strong; all physical and mental illnesses are attributed to the reason of ‘ka jemrngiew’, and the final curative process is ‘ka pynehrngiew’ to re-establish a balance in the spiritual personality even if the observable disease had been cured through herbal medicine. So, it would be good if indigenous psychologists who understand the concept of ‘ka rngiew’ from the point of view of the tribe undertake scientific research to what extent this traditional psychology had played a role in the past to deal with mental and spiritual wellbeing, and to what extent the Khasis’ perception and attitude are governed by it in the social situations of today.