A Psychology of Love

Chapter One: Mystics and the Promise of Love In this chapter I will draw on mystics from the five main world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism) to show that the experience of our higher Self lies within, that connecting with it re uires a psychological !ourney towards self"#nowledge, and that in opening to the Self within we connect with love, which is our true nature$ I will conclude this chapter %y drawing on research from the &lister Hardy Society which shows that, contrary to modern materialist assumptions, all of us can and do experience moments in which we touch that deeper part of ourselves and that this can change the way we live$ Mystics of all religions have undergone a journey of self-exploration in order to reach a connection with God or, as it is often called, their Higher Self. Their precious teaching is that this higher Being is oth transcendent and i!!anent within us, not only greater than us, ut lying at the deepest part of our eing. The Hasidic" tale elow tells of this discovery# $%ne night, &y'i(, the son of )e *e(l, drea!ed that there was a treasure hidden under the +raga side of the ,arsaw ridge. So he travelled to ,arsaw. &t the ridge he tried to reach the spot, ut a soldier was standing guard there. &y'i( paced ac( and forth, waiting for the soldier to go away. The soldier !eanwhile eca!e aware of &y'i( and as(ed hi! what he wanted. &y'i( told hi! the truth# that he had drea!ed a out a treasure uried under the ridge. The soldier said, $-on.t e a fool. /ust ecause 0 drea!ed a out a treasure in the oven at the ho!e of &y'i(, )e *e(l.s son in 1racow, doesn.t !ean 0 have to go there.. &y'i( pro!ptly turned around and went ho!e. ,ith care and not a little excite!ent he too( his oven apart and ehold, he found a treasure that fulfilled his wildest drea!s. $2,einrach "344 p.567. 0n 0sla!, the +rophet Muha!!ad received a series of revelations fro! God in which He told hi! he was $nearer to hi! than his jugular vein.. 0n the Hadith 5 &llah declares $,hen 0 love hi!, 2he who follows !e7 0 shall e his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall wal(.. The Sufi6 0 n &ra i puts it this way, $There is no lover and no eloved ut God. 21hittic( 5889 p.487.

Hasidis! egan in the seventeenth century as a revivalist !ove!ent within /udais! that sought to live a life of passionate devotion to God. 5 6 The Hadith are the sayings of Muha!!ad 6 Sufis! is the !ystical tradition within 0sla!
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The 1hristian !ystic Tho!as Merton descri es the Self in psychological ter!s# $0t starts not fro! the thin(ing and self-aware su ject ut fro! Being ontologically seen to e eyond, and prior to the su ject-o ject division. :nderlying the su jective experience of the individual self there is an i!!ediate experience of Being. 2Hart "34" p.37# to (now the Self is to eco!e one with it;. 0n the Hindu :panishads, we have so!e of the !ost ancient testi!onies to the nature of the individual and the universal Self, going ac( to 488B1. Through rigorous introspection and devotion, !ystics reached the deepest states of Self-awareness. Here is a story fro! the 1handogya :panishad# & young Brah!in9 oy, Sveta(etu, as(ed his father a out true (nowledge. $<Bring !e a fruit fro! this anyan tree.= <Here it is, father.= <Brea( it.= <0t is ro(en, Sir.= <,hat do you see in it>= <?ery s!all seeds, Sir.= <Brea( one of the!, !y son.= <0t is ro(en, Sir.= <,hat do you see in it>= <@othing at all, Sir.= Then his father spo(e to hi!# <My son, fro! the very essence in the seed which you cannot see co!es in truth this vast anyan tree. Believe !e, !y son, an invisi le and su tle essence is the Spirit of the whole universe. That is )eality. That is &t!anA. TH%: &)T TH&T.=. 2:panishads "3A9 p.""B7. The Buddhist !ystic, -.T. Su'u(i explains self-reali'ation thus# $0t is the experience a !an can have only when a higher real! of unification is revealed, that is, when the !ost funda!ental asis of identification is reached$2Su'u(i "3B3 p.;37. These are the insights of the !ystics, ut in order to spea( to the !odern world, can there e a psychological interpretation for what happens in this condition of Self-reali'ation> &t the eginning of the twentieth century,
0n the +erennial +hilosophy C which states that there is a universal truth ehind all religious traditions and which was articulated in the oo( of that na!e y &ldous Huxley - it is understood that ulti!ately the individual self is one with the Ground, God or Higher Self. The unifor!ity of this $non-dualist. view has een Duestioned in recent ti!es y scholars of religion and transpersonal consciousness, with varying degrees of union etween the individual self and God eing posited that are on a spectru! fro! dualis! to non-dualis!. Suffice it to say that for the purposes of this thesis, !y argu!ent re!ains that God or the Ground is at our very heart, whether or not there is ulti!ately a solute or only partial union. 9 Brah!ins are the priestly caste in 0ndia. A &t!an is the Sans(rit ter! for the Self !anifesting within the individual.
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)o erto &ssagioli, a psychiatrist and colleague of 1arl /ung and one of the earliest pioneers of +sychospiritual psychologyB, ridged ,estern psychology and the teachings of the !ystics. He posited the ontological reality of the Higher Self, and said that the individual self and the Higher Self, are two aspects of the sa!e eing# he oldly descri ed the individual self as an outpost of the $per!anent centre. or $true Self., which can e experienced within y a shift of identification fro! the individual self to the Higher Self. The !odern +sychosynthesis psychotherapist +iero Eerrucci descri es it thus# $+ersonal and Transpersonal Self are the sa!e reality experienced at different levels. 2Eerrucci "345 p.;97. F To reach the Self, the !ystics attest to a journey to achieve Self-(nowledge, which involves a shift in our self-identity. )a i Gushner says we !ust un urden ourselves of our narrow sense of self ecause $as long as you hang on to your selfhood, going around eing a su ject and !a(ing others o jects, you will not see !e. 2Gushner "336 p.967. Meister Hc(hart, the great Medieval 1hristian !ystic, says $& !an has !any s(ins in hi!self, covering the depths of his heart. Man (nows so !any thingsI he does not (now hi!self. ,hy, thirty or forty s(ins or hides, just li(e an ox.s or a ear.s, so thic( and hard, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to (now yourself there.. 2Huxley "3B8 p."A57. The Musli! !ystic Ha'rat 0nayat Ghan puts it succinctly# $The tas( to e acco!plished is the entire forgetting of oneself and har!oni'ing with one.s fellow !an. 2Ghan "344 p."487. The 0ndian saint )a!ana Maharshi teaches that it is only our !ista(en identification with our individual self that prevents us fro! (nowing ourself truly# $*ou are the Self even now, ut you confuse your present consciousness or ego with the & solute 1onsciousness or Self. This false identification is due to ignorance, and ignorance disappears together with the ego. )ealisation already existsI no atte!pt need e !ade to attain it. Eor it is not anything external or new to e acDuired. 0t is always and everywhere C here and now, too.. 2%s orne 5885 p."497. The Buddha taught that we !ust let go of our attach!ent to our self-identity and then we can e free# $&h, so happily we live, ,ho have no attach!ents.
+sychospiritual psychology adds to its predecessor, Transpersonal psychology 2which deals with personal and collective psychology7, $the distinction of a spiritual consciousness C that of the Self. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol.0? p.";B7.
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,e shall feast on joy, &s do the )adiant Gods. 2The -ha!!apada 5889 p.9;7. To put the journey into +sychosynthesis. psychological language# $,hat has to e achieved is to reach upJ to unite the lower and the Higher SelfJa tre!endous underta(ing. 2&ssagioli "336 p.5;7. This process involves a gradual $disidentification. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol. " p."A7 fro! the contents of consciousness - in the for! of thoughts and feelings pertaining to ourselves as separate individuals and to which we are often neurotically attached - and an identification with our $transpersonal essence. 2i%id7. F +erhaps the reason the !ystics have inspired people for so !any centuries is that they ring the pro!ise of love to a world so sadly lac(ing in it. ,ith Selfrealisation co!es a natural outpouring of love. )a i Schneerson attests to the discovery that $Kove is the foundation on which the entire world is uilt. 2Schneerson "339 p.A57, while the Sufi )u!i says $& !ature !an is insane for love. 2Eadi!an and Erager "33B p.""47. Tho!as Merton discovered a well of love lying within, and with this love ca!e a deep understanding of his fellow !an# $1o!passion teaches !e that !y rother and 0 are one. That if 0 love !y rother, then !y love enefits !y own life as well, and if 0 hate !y rother and see( to destroy hi!, 0 see( to destroy !yself also. 2Merton 5889 p."";7. The Bhagavad Gita, Hinduis!.s hy!n to love, says# $,hen a !an sees that the God in hi!self is the sa!e God in all that is, he hurts not hi!self y hurting others. 2:panishads "3A9 p.6"7. Thich @hat Hanh is a ?ietna!ese Buddhist !on( who lived through the ravages of the ?ietna! ,ar, losing friends and fa!ily in the violence. His poe!, $1all Me By My True @a!e., attests to the infinite love that is at the heart of us all, ehind the apparent screen of duality# -on.t say that 0 will depart to!orrow C Hven today 0 a! still arriving. Koo( deeply# every second 0 a! arriving To e a ud on a Spring ranch, To e a tiny ird, with still-fragile wings, Kearning to sing in !y new nest, To e a caterpillar in the heart of a flower To e a jewel hiding itself in a stoneJ 0 a! the child in :ganda, all s(in and ones, My legs as thin as a! oo stic(s,

&nd 0 a! the ar!s !erchant, Selling deadly weapons to :ganda. 0 a! the twelve-year-old girl, )efugee on a s!all oat, ,ho throws herself into the ocean &fter eing raped y a sea pirate. &nd 0 a! the pirate, My heart not yet capa le %f seeing and lovingJ +lease call !e y !y true na!es, So 0 can wa(e up &nd the door of !y heart 1ould e left open, The door of co!passion. 2Thich @hat Hanh "333 p.B57 +sychosynthesis sees love as a natural expression of the Self. Eerrucci tal(s a out love as eing $intensely present in us. 2Eerrucci "345 p."4;7. He goes on to say that the !ar( of conscious love, love that is an expression of the individual self guided y the Higher Self, is that it produces a $synthesis. etween individuals 2i%id p."457, the natural outco!e of $love in action. 2i%id p."4;7. The iologist Teihard de 1hardin, spea(s of love in this respect as $the totali'ing principle of hu!an energy. 2i%id p. "457. /oan Hvans, the founder of the 0nstitute of +sychosynthesis, descri es the $!oral i!perative. of acting in tune with the Self, descri ing the Duest for wholeness as $a sacred Duest towards eco!ing a !oral eing. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol 0? p.";47. F 0s it possi le for us to taste the nectar of union with the Self if we are living twenty first century secular lives, preoccupied with the world and not pursuing a $spiritual. calling> The answer, contrary to what !aterialist scientis! would have us elieve, is yes, we can and do parta(e of the experience. ,illia! /a!es, the @ineteenth century psychologist, was one of the first pioneers to chart spiritual experience as a natural and universal pheno!enon, in his oo( $The ?arieties of )eligious Hxperience. written in "385. He concludes his study with the words, $0 a! so i!pressed y the i!portance of these pheno!ena that 0 adopt the hypothesis which they so naturally suggest. &t these places at least, 0 say, it would see! as though trans!undane energies, God, if you will, produced i!!ediate effects within the natural world to which the rest of our experience elongs. 2/a!es 5885 p.95;7.

Eollowing in /a!es. footsteps, %xford +rofessor of Loology, Sir &lister Hardy 2who, ironically, once taught )ichard -aw(ins7 set up the $)eligious Hxperience )esearch 1entre. in %xford in "3A4 to study spiritual experience $as an exercise in hu!an ecology. 2Hardy "3B3 p.67. He collated thousands of letters responding to a national survey carried out in which the general pu lic in Britain was as(ed if they had ever had a religious experience. 4 Here is one of the replies# $0 cannot say how long it too( to develop, ut the ecstasy lasted over roughly three wee(s. The !ain sensation was of eing loved, a flood of sweetness of great strength, without any ele!ent of senti!entality or anything ut itself. 0 also felt a unification of !yself with the external world# 0 did not lose !y own identity, yet all things and 0 so!ehow entered into each other. 2Hardy "3B3 p.947. 0n the sa!e year that &lister Hardy set up his research unit, the psychologist, & raha! Maslow ca!e up with the ter! $pea( experience. to descri e those !o!ents in which we catch a gli!pse into a deeper part of ourselves that is oth i!!anent and transcendent. +sychologist and Buddhist practitioner /ohn ,elwood affir!s that, $Split-second flashes of this open ground are happening all the ti!e. 2,elwood 5888 p.B87. 0n +sychosynthesis, we would descri e these as $superconscious.3 energies 20 will say !ore on the superconscious in the next chapter on consciousness7 eing experienced y the self, without a shift of identification ta(ing place and which have a finite life-span, ut can e a ladder on the path towards Self-realisation 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol. 0 p.397. There are exa!ples in Hardy.s research, however, in which an individual experiences a shift of self-identity si!ilar to that descri ed y the !ystics, which +sychosynthesis descri es as an .0.-Self identification 2Hvans7. This shift changes the way a person lives, and relates to others, as attested to y this wo!an# $%ver the past eighteen !onths 0 feel 0 have esta lished a per!anent relationship with GodJta(ing God.s pro!ises co!pletely on trust and trying to live on two levels C !y own and his. This has resulted in the !ost wonderful feeling of freedo! and a flow of love and co!passion for others. 2Hardy"33B p."857. 0t would thus appear that we all have access to these deeper states of awareness descri ed so eloDuently y the !ystics. 0n the next chapter, 0 will
&lthough Hardy used the word $religious., he points out that the experiences collated, although so!eti!es descri ing God and others not, !ight e !ore accurately descri ed as $spiritual., in that they are not confined to religious affiliation ut are !ore to do with an awa(ening to spirit oth within and eyond the individual. 3 &ssagioli coined the ter! to descri e the source of $higher. feelings, as distinct fro! the $lower unconsious. which contains iological drives and repressed feelings 2&ssagioli7.
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explore why it is that for !ost of us these !o!ents of peace and love are so fleeting, and why, for !uch of the ti!e, our lives are caught up in pain and suffering.

Chapter Two: Consciousness and the Long Road Home In this chapter, I will attempt to show how it is that we do not #now our own true %eing, the ground descri%ed %y the mystics' I will explore the nature of consciousness, in the context of a paradigm shift which posits that consciousness is spirit in matter( I will go on to explain how the developing child experiences consciousness through different states, and how pain and suffering cause him to shut down on consciousness, thus cutting herself off from her true nature( finally, I will present )sychosynthesis* +gg diagram as a model of consciousness, showing the lin# %etween ,I* and Self, and I will show that one of the main differences %etween )sychosynthesis and -ranspersonal therapy is the concept of the will as the expression of the Self, teleologically directing the individual towards synthesis and love$ 0f joy and love are !y true nature, why don.t 0 (now it> This is the Duestion people as( when told that we each of us have access to that treasure. To find the answer, we need to have an understanding of the nature of consciousness ecause awa(ening is si!ply an expansion of consciousness in which the individual transcends her separate sense of herself and touches the deeper ground of eing. 1onsciousness, according to +sychosynthesis, is the Self !anifesting in the real! of !atter 2/oan Hvans7. To explore consciousness is to engage with the de ate etween science and religion that has een going on for five hundred years. Before 1opernicus, spirit and !atter were not distinguished as separate# ,ith the 1opernican shift"8 and the su seDuent do!inance of the !aterialist worldview, consciousness could not e explained scientifically and thus eca!e relegated to the purview of religion and psychology 2at est7. 0n recent years, consciousness has co!e under the scrutiny of science and is eing studied fro! such diverse perspectives as neuro-science and Duantu! physics, still with the underlying hypothesis that !atter gives rise to consciousness. Ero! the perspective of the !aterialist paradig!, the origin of consciousness continues to perplex scientists. There is, however, a growing paradig! shift which sees consciousness not as a pheno!enon arising out of !atter, ut as the funda!ental nature of the !anifest universe. To Duote the theoretical physicist and explorer of !ystical experience +eter )ussell, $The faculty of consciousness can e li(ened to the light fro! a fil! projector. The projector shines light onto a screen, !odifying the light so as to produce any one of an infinity of i!agesJthese i!ages are the for!s of consciousness. The light itself, without which no i!ages would e possi le, corresponds to the faculty of consciousness. 2)ussell 588 p.657.
1opernicus discovered that the earth revolved around the sun. ,ith this discovery ca!e the irth of !odern science and the paradig! ased on the assu!ption that the physical world is the real world, and that anything that cannot e explained physically does not exist.
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1onsciousness is ehind the !anifest universe, and as such it exists not only in hu!ans, ut also in ani!als, plants and even ele!entary particles. $There is nowhere we can draw a line etween conscious and non-conscious entities. 2)ussell 5888 p.697. The difference etween hu!ans and other entities ani!ate or inani!ate is our capacity to (now we are conscious, as the Sufi poe! says, $God sleeps in the roc(, -rea!s in the plant, Stirs in the ani!al, &nd awa(ens in !an. 2)ussell 5888 p."";7. F The identification of the individual self with pure consciousness, eyond the contents of consciousness which filter the light, is the experience of liss, serenity and love descri ed y the !ystics. &s a ridge etween psychology and the !ystics, +sychosynthesis posits the axio! that the Self $exists as an ontological reality., and that its functions at a personal and transpersonal level are consciousness and will"" 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol 0 p.";7I psychological Self-reali'ation is therefore spiritual Self-reali'ation 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol 0? p.";B7 and the process is innately predisposed towards greater wholeness and love, ecause of the nature of the Self# $the Self is a spiritual eing i! ued with love. 2i%id7. To return to the Duestion as(ed earlier, $if joy and love are !y true nature, why don.t 0 (now it., 0 !ust now explain how it is that consciousness !anifests in stages in the hu!an psyche"5, and how, through wounding, we co!e to foreclose on our connection to Self. &ccording to +sychosynthesis, the developing child experiences consciousness through differing states, which are stage-specific. 0t is as if the light of consciousness is filtered initially, we $see through a glass dar(ly.. &t each stage of develop!ent, the self eco!es identified with that particular state and consciousness is only (nown fro! that perspective. The first of these states is the physical# the infant.s first experience is in her ody. She feels cold, hungry, terrified, excited, all at the level of instinct. Gradually, after several !onths, the infant is conscious through her feelings as well. Her response to the world is y way of feelings of happiness, sadness, panic, content!ent, fear, rage. Hventually, y the age of around three, the child is a le to for! !ental concepts of her experience. The world is la elled and !apped# !eMit, goodM ad, happyMsad. &s Being awa(ens to each new state, it $differentiates fro! and includes. 2Gen ,il er7 the state efore it, so that $the su%!ect of one
$,ill is the Self in action. 2Manual ?ol 0? p.";B7. 0 use $psyche. to !ean the experiencer of consciousness, !uch as the Gree(s used the word $soul..
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stage eco!es an o%!ect of the next. 2,il er 5888 p.6;7. Thus, a new- orn infant only (nows experience through her ody, ut a two-year old responds to the world through her odily experience C racing heart, sweaty hands, widened eyes, and her feelings C fear. Concentric ring diagram of consciousness . Body, /eelings, 0ind, +xistential, -ranspersonal, Self
Gey BOBody EOEeelings MOMind HOHxistential TOTranspersonal SOSelf

B E M H T S

&t three, this is co!pounded with the !ental awareness $Me want !u!!yN.. &t the next stage, she transcends the identification with !ental awareness with the realisation that $0 a! thin(ing.# the experience of $0. wa(es up. &t this stage, which goes on developing well into teens and later life, and which 0 have called Hxistential in the diagra!, she has a sense of herself as an individual, autono!ous agent of her life. Beyond this stage there is the level of consciousness that transcends the oundaries of the individual self, which in the diagra! is called Transpersonal. &t this stage, the individual experiences life in all its ups and downs as spontaneously arising experience, without an identification with a sense of self"6, or, as Erances ?aughan puts it,
This stage is not to e confused with the earliest infantile state of undifferentiated consciousness. ,il er has ter!ed this confusion of stages the $pre-trans fallacy., explaining that, $hu!an eings have access to three general real!s of eing and (nowing C the sensory, the !ental and the spiritual. Those three real!s can e stated in any nu! er of different ways# su conscious, self-conscious and super-consciousI or pre-rational, rational and transrationalI or prepersonal, personal and transpersonal. The point is that since prerational and transrational are oth, in their own ways, nonrational, then they appear Duite si!ilar or even identical to the untutored eye. 2,il er 5885 p."4"7. .
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$there is nowhere to go and nothing to do for oneself. 2?aughan 5888 p.;97. The individual is therefore a le to see the $other. not as an $it., ut as a $thou., to Duote the !ystic and philosopher Martin Bu erI she is not in opposition to the world. This is the doorway to the !ystic states of consciousness 2which continue to expand ut which are not within the purview of this thesis7 in which an ever-deepening experience of pristine consciousness is reali'ed, without the filters of the individual sense of self ";. ,il er puts it thus# $&t the very upper reaches of the spectru! of consciousness, your individual 0 C your separate self or inner su ject C eco!es an o ject of the ulti!ate 0, which is none other than radiant Spirit and your own true Self. 2,il er 5888 p.6;7. 0n the end, the journey of Self-awareness is an experience of co!ing ho!e, in which we reali'e that we were not only the individual wave, ut the whole ocean."9 The poet T. S. Hliot poignantly descri es this journey# ,e shall not cease fro! exploration &nd the end of all our exploring ,ill e to arrive where we started &nd (now the place for the first ti!e. 2Hliot "3B; p.5557. Thus, the locus of identification shifts as we !atureI however, it is i!portant to point out that at any stage along the way, the individual.s identification with a particular state can drop away, and the individual experiences si!ple, unfiltered awareness, as ,il er puts it, $!o!entarily leaping forward into greater realities. 2,il er 5888 p.697# the pea( experiences or superconscious energies !entioned in the last chapter. But for this experience of flow to eco!e the locus at which the self resides and wills, as opposed to a !o!entary dropping away of identification, reDuires the gradual expansion of consciousness descri ed a ove. &nd that expansion can e a difficult and thorny path. This is ecause the e!erging self contracts with the pain of life at each different level of consciousness, going unconscious to what it cannot ear. 0n ,il er.s words# $0n the grand !orphogenetic !igration fro! !atter through ody through !ind through soul 2existential7 through spirit, facets of consciousness can e split off, distorted or neglected at any of the waves 2stages7 C facets of the ody can e repressed, ele!ents of the !ind can e distorted, aspects of the soul can e
There is still an individual self, ut it is directed y the Higher Self. 0t should e pointed out here that although the process of awa(ening is linear, in the sense of states of identification to e !astered at different stages, the actual lived experience tends to e !ore of a fluctuation etween states C once the age-related stages have een !astered. ,il er says, $These are not rigid and discrete levels li(e the floors in a uilding, ut overlapping waves of self-develop!ent. 2,il er 5888 p.367.
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denied, the call of the spirit can e ignored. 0n each case, those alienated facets re!ain as $stic( points. or lesions in awareness, split off or avoided C a frag!entation that produces pathology. 2,il er 5888 p.337, and this results in the failure to transcend and integrate through the different stages of consciousness. Thus, at each stage, the expansion of consciousness is restricted when our free flow of eing is !odified y our ehaving in a way that defends against consciousness at that level. ,elwood descri es psychological distress as eing co!posed of three !ain ele!ents# $the asic pain of experience that see!s overwhel!ingI the contracting to avoid this pain, and the stress of continually having to prop up and defend an identity ased on this avoidance and denial. 2,elwood 5888 p."637. Thus, in the flight fro! pain, we foreclose on our experience of the world, shutting out so!e aspects of awareness and overly identifying with others, and in so doing, we live unconnected fro! Self, lost and alone, alienated fro! ourselves and others. F 0t is this latter point which, i!portantly, +sychosynthesis spea(s to# how can we live in har!ony in the world, how can we love one another to the est of our a ility> This is where +sychosynthesis psychotherapy co!es in# /oan Hvans states that# $the purpose of psychospiritual psychotherapy is to develop an ethical consciousness in the act of eco!ing a !oral eing. 2Manual ?ol 0? p.";37. &ssagioli used the !odel of an egg to descri e how an individual.s consciousness could eco!e aligned with Self. +gg 1iagram (overleaf) 2ey' -he 3ower 4nconscious comprising repressed elements$ -he 0iddle 4nconscious comprising elements easily accessi%le to consciousness$ -he Superconscious comprising higher feelings such as compassion, creativity, illumination$ -he Self which is represented %y a star at the top of the +gg %ut is in fact the entire +gg %ecause the Self is present at all levels of %eing$ -he Collective 4nconscious comprising our collective human experience$ &t the centre of the Hgg is the 1onscious self or $0., the $outpost. of the Self in the real! of individual identity 2Eerrucci "345 p.;97. The journey of the self in +sychosynthesis therapy involves the integration of the repressed areas in the Kower :nconscious and, at the sa!e ti!e, the opening up to the Superconscious C unconscious ecause, as yet, only di!ly (nown, in which we experience the energies of the Self descri ed y the !ystics"A. The pivotal
,e repress Superconscious experience to protect ourselves fro! receiving wounding to that which is !ost precious to us. Haronian ter!ed this $repression of the su li!e..
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point in the wor( of therapy is the freeing up of $0. consciousness fro! identification with the contents of consciousness, a process which &ssagioli called $disidentifcation., descri ed thus in his !axi!# $,e are do!inated y everything with which our self eco!es identified. ,e can do!inate and control everything fro! which we disidentify ourselves. 2&ssagioli "336 p.567. &nd the purpose of wor(ing towards increased $0. awareness is $Jthe esta lishing of a direct relation to the Self. 2Eir!an and Gila 5885 p."497. &ssagioli explains that $the higher one ascends, the !ore the li!its of individuality tend to disappearI the higher one ascends, the !ore the individual eco!es united with the whole. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol. 000 p. B97. 1rucially, and this is central to +sychosynthesis theory, with $0.-Self awareness will is freed up and our perspective for action eco!es transpersonal. ,e can thus choose to act as !oral eings,"B or, to Duote /oan Hvans we $release the personal will to ta(e responsi ility for our spiritual Being. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol. 0 p.937.

This $0.-Self experience is different fro! an experience of the Superconscious which is transient and does not involve a new level of identification 2Manual ?ol 0 1hapter Eive7.
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Chapter Three: Psychotherapy as the

uide

In this chapter, I will present the reader with the -riphasic 0odel, a map of the levels of the self designed %y Joan +vans and Jarlath Benson$ 5ithin the context of this model, I will give a %rief historical overview of psychotherapy*s understanding of the self and its defences, moving from )sycho"1ynamic to Self")sychology to Humanistic"+xistential, ending with )sychosynthesis$ I will highlight the #ey psychological insights of each school in dealing with psychological distur%ance, and point out how )sychosynthesis departs from these models in its understanding of the context of the Self$ /arlath Benson, the +sychosynthesis psychotherapist, says that, ehind the !ultifarious presenting issues, people co!e into therapy ecause of a failure of love, while the Hxistentialist psychotherapist Hric Ero!! declared that $the ulti!ate conseDuence of psychology is love. 2Ero!!, "339 p.597. Eor over a century, psychotherapy has explored how we cut ourselves off fro! our real self and the capacity to love, ut the definition of that self has evolved over ti!e, roughly corresponding to the evolving levels of self on our )ing diagra!. Hvans. and Benson.s Triphasic Model uilds on the different levels of self identification y giving us a three-tiered !ap on which to locate the self as it !anifests in the client. Because we draw on !uch of the theory of the early pioneers of psychotherapy, 0 will present an overview of their discoveries, set within the context of the Triphasic Model. &t the sa!e ti!e, 0 will show how only a +sychosynthesis psychotherapy can ulti!ately engage with the dile!!a of psychospiritual alienation. -riphasic 0odel (overleaf) +erhaps the earliest pioneer in the field of psychological exploration was Sig!und Ereud, who explained pathology in ter!s of repression and the unconscious. Eor Ereud, psychological distress or neurosis co!es a out as a result of the dyna!ic etween Hgo and 0d. Hgo represents the individual.s capacity to relate to herself and the outside world realistically, flexi ly and with discri!ination, while the 0d represents the unconscious. Ereud showed that for the infant, the world was un eara ly painful, ut that the rage and fear experienced in the day-to-day encounter with life needed to e repressed into the unconscious, the 0d, for psychological survival. 0n explaining the !echanics of repression, Ereud explained that $the ego is an organisationJ that tries to avoid unpleasure and pain y opposing or regulating the discharge of instinctual drives 2also located in the 0d7 in order to confor! with the de!ands of the real world. 0t does this y !eans of a variety of !echanis!s of defence, the chief of which is )epression. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol 000 p."357. Margaret Mahler.s wor( de!onstrated that the ego

evolves through a series of stages in which the infant achieves psychic $separation. and $individuation. fro! the !other, with which initially it is identified 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol 000 p."3B7. Thus, in Hgo +sychology, the ego is an intra-psychic !echanis! which creates a oundary etween self and other. +athology occurs when repression prevents the co!pletion of the individuation process, !anifesting as psychosis, orderline and narcissistic disorders and neurosis, which represent varying degrees of failure to differentiate self fro! other. &lthough repression is the ego.s atte!pt to !anage un eara le experience, suffering is actually the result of the life-long struggle to !aintain those defences, the preoccupation with propping up a fragile sense of self which is narcissis!. "4 0n +sychosynthesis, we recogni'e that ego is the $vehicle which the Self uses to !anifest and !aintain itself in the world. 2Benson in op. cit.7, and that inadeDuate ego function is pathological. This is of particular i!portance when it co!es to wor(ing with spirituality, in which there is often a !isunderstanding a out the nature of ego, as explained in ,il er.s $pre-trans fallacy.. But where +sychosynthesis parts co!pany with Hgo +sychology is in the assu!ption that achieving ego strength is the end of Self reali'ation. 0f we go ac( to our concentric ring !odel of consciousness in the last chapter, the ego is for!ed y the third year, and coincides with the capacity to thin(, the Mind )ing on the !odel. Thus, when the self identifies with the ego, even when it is healthy, it is still identifying with the o jects of consciousness, and this is narcissis! in its truest sense. 0n the words of &l!aas, $@arcissis! is the condition which results when the self identifies with any content of experience to the exclusion of its funda!ental Being. 2&l!aas "33A p.6B7. The next great discovery in the field of psychology was the reali'ation that the self is relational, and that psychological growth is in response to others, which in the school of % ject )elations are called $o jects.. 0t was Melanie Glein who too( the first step in recogni'ing that the li ido or instinctual drive was in fact relational# the a y.s needs were satisfied through relationship. Eor Glein, the good full reast that satisfies eco!es, in the a y.s fantasy, retaliatory, and the a y thus for!s within itself the i!ages of the good and the ad reast. The fear of the ad reast is uncontaina le for the developing ego and so, according to Glein, the infant projects it into the caregiver, who then introjects it in the for! of projective identification. The good carer $gives these feelings ac( safely to her infant. 2Scharff P Scharff 5889 p. ;;7, containing the un eara le for hi!, and her ego capacity develops, ut !aternal failure, in which this projective identification is not contained, leaves
"4

@arcissus, in %vid.s tale, was doo!ed to search for love in his own reflection.

the infant una le to project the ad o ject into the !other, and so is overwhel!ed y un!anagea le feelings. Eor Glein, all infants !ust progress fro! the $paranoid-schi'oid. position in which the infant negotiates his persecutory fears, to the $depressive. position in which the infant !oves into grieving for the pain caused to the !aternal carer, together with the acceptance of loss and reality, the strength to ear the reali'ation that his carer is oth good and ad. Eailure to progress to the depressive position results in inadeDuate ego function in which the self is overwhel!ed y unconscious fear and rage. )onald Eair airn too( % ject )elations theory further# $the a y egins with a self syste! that see(s relationships as its primary need. 2Sutherland "348 handout7. ,here attach!ent needs are !et, the infant, to avoid the pain of separation, and the overwhel!ing feelings that go with it, introjects the carer in the for! of a good o ject. This is the prereDuisite of ego strength. ,here her needs are not fully !et, however, the infant introjects the carer in the for! of an ideal o ject, and represses the parts of the experience which it finds un eara le# the feelings of hurt or fear and the anger that goes with the! in the for! of $internal. o jects. 0n later life, these inner o jects turn inward on the individual and outward on the world, creating a $reactive !atrix. 2Sutherland "348 p.4537 of oth longing and loathing in her relationships. &s +sychosynthesis practitioners, we wor( with the dyna!ics of projection and introjection, particularly when they !anifest etween client and therapist, which is (nown as transference and counter-transference, and of which 0 shall say !ore in the next chapter. ,hile % ject )elations theory shares with Hgo +sychology li!itations in the potential reach of its wor( due to its understanding of the nature of the self, its conceptuali'ation of li ido as relationship-see(ing opened the way to seeing the self as drawn to see( connection with the other, the i!plications of which are only fully reali'ed in psychospiritual psychology."3 ,or(ing towards a healthy ego is the ai! of the afore!entioned pioneers of the psyche. 0f we loo( at the Triphasic Model, we see that at each level on the !odel the self progresses fro! a state of fusion to differentiation. &t the first level, the fusion is with the $other. in the for! of the !aternal care-giver, and differentiation results in the $0.s identification with its Hgo self, which is $a set of oundary conditions serving to create a vehicle for one.s distinction which
&lthough eyond the scope of this thesis, 0 also include two further theorists, who too( the concept of the self eyond the confines of the ego, ut not as far as the Hu!anist-Hxistential psychologists - -onald ,innicott, who e!phasi'ed the early !aternal care-giving and the develop!ent of a True Self, and Hein' Gohut, who posited the healthy narcissis! of a free and spontaneous self.
"3

functions through negation. 2+sychosynthesis Manual ?ol ? p.";7. The dile!!a at this stage is the self.s survival of acute separation anxiety as it says $no. to the other. ?ery often, it is this neurotic struggle 58 that is foreground in the client.s presentation of her pro le!, with sy!pto!s !anifesting as wor( or relationship pro le!s, anxiety, stress or depression. The therapist.s wor( is around e!otional affir!ation and holding 2Hvans calls it $saying <yes= to the client.s <no= .7, as split off parts are na!ed and integrated. F Building on the +sycho--yna!ic schools !entioned riefly a ove, Hu!anist - Hxistential psychotherapy arose in the fifties and sixties, influenced y the Hxistentialist !ove!ent in philosophy. @eurosis, for the existentialists is the escape fro! Being, $ y failing to e authentic and adhering to the anony!ity of confor!ity. 2-oel "338 p.B57. To act $in good faith. is to e true to yourself, and this involves confronting what 0rvin *alo!, a (ey existentialist psychotherapist calls the $givens of existence.# $the inevita ility of deathI the freedo! to !a(e our lives as we willI our ulti!ate aloneness and the a sence of !eaning in life. 2*alo! "33" p.;7. This school of psychotherapy wor(s not only with the psycho-dyna!ic issues of uilding sta le ego function when needed, ut with the roader Duestion of !eaning and authenticity in an individual.s life, eyond the injunctions of the $shoulds. and $oughts. internalised y fa!ily and society5", and corresponding with the Hxistential ring in our !odel of consciousness. %ften this is the wor( of the $!id-life crisis., in which people as( the!selves $what is the !eaning of !y life, what a! 0 doing this for>. /a!es Hollis descri es what he calls the $Middle +assage. 55 as $a (ind of tectonic pressure which uilds fro! elowJ The acDuired sense of self, with its asse! led perceptions and co!plexes, its defence of the child within, egins to grate and grind against the greater Self which see(s its own reali'ation. 2Hollis "336 p."B7. & raha! Maslow, who studied !e! ers of the population with !ini!al psychological ill-health and coined the phrase $self-actualisation., descri ed psychological !aturity and fulfil!ent as $acceptance and expression of the inner core or selfJ eing fully hu!an. 2Maslow "336 p."4;7. 0n +sychosynthesis, guiding clients in this existential level of awareness is seen as a core aspect of psychospiritual psychotherapy. ,ith existential
-isidentification and the e!ergence of $0. awareness is less easily achieved, ut still possi le over ti!e, when wor(ing with clients with orderline or narcissistic personality disorders 5" Ereud na!ed these voices $SuperHgo injunctions.. 55 This !iddle level is !ore a structural than a chronological develop!ent, although sy!pto!s at this stage often !anifest as the $!id-life crisis., in which clients suffer fro! a loss of !eaning and purpose in their life.
58

awareness, corresponding to the Hxistential )ing on our diagra!, the client egins to encounter his true spontaneity and authenticity. This is the e!ergence of what &ssagioli ter!s the $0., ut crucially, where &ssagioli !oved eyond the Hu!anistic -Hxistential schools was to say that the $0. is the ridge to what he called the Transpersonal Self, and when consciousness is identified at this level, we egin to experience our true nature, the ground of the !ystics. The second level of the Triphasic Model is the level of the differentiation of the $0.. +iero Eerrucci descri es the $0. as $the !ost funda!ental psychological experience we can have# crystal clear, li!pid consciousness. 2Eerrucci "345 p.AB7 &t this level, the self !oves fro! an identification with the $false self. 56 to a sense of its freedo! of expression and autono!y. The therapist.s stance when wor(ing at this level is around ena ling the client.s connection to !eaning and values in his life so that he can start to see eyond the lac( and white opposites of his childhood structures towards a synthesis of awareness, with the e!phasis on action rather than reaction. F 1arl /ung was the first person to use the word transpersonal when descri ing his concept of the $&rchetypes. in the $1ollective :nconscious. - those lueprints of hu!an experience, such as !othering, herois!, envy, the Goddess, the wise !an, that we all share, that are eyond the personalI however, he did not distinguish pre-personal fro! trans-personal archetypes, another instance of ,il er.s $pre-trans fallacy., 2for /ung, anything in the collective was nu!inous7, nor did he adhere to the ontological existence of the Self, saying only that the Self was a psychological entity. Thus, although his thin(ing on archetypes is i!!ensely rich and infor!s !uch +sychosynthesis wor(, especially in the areas of drea!wor( and i!agination, of which 0 shall say !ore in 1hapter Eour, /ung.s &nalytical +sychology falls short of eing a true psycho-spiritual psychotherapyI to Duote the Transpersonal therapist /ohn )owan, there is, in /ung $a (ind of reductionis!, where /ung is forced y his own logic into saying that the spiritual is nothing ut the psychological. 2)owan 5885 p.6;7. Moving eyond /ung, +sychosynthesis. founder, )o erto &ssagioli was a !an ahead of his ti!es, whose 0nstitute opened in "35A. &lthough &ssagioli.s understanding of the self and psychological distur ance drew on the psychological !odels of the pioneers who had gone efore, his psychospiritual perspective was new# a radical re-uniting of psychology and spirituality, which for the past five hundred years had een torn asunder 2)owan7. &s 0 have already shown, &ssagioli pointed out that the sense of $0.
56

,innicott.s phrase

as our witnessing centre, free fro! the contents of consciousness, is none other than the i!!anent di!ension of the transcendent Self 2corresponding to our Transpersonal and7, to which the !ystics attest through direct experience. 0n co!ing into the world of for!, the $0. or self forgets its true nature. The process of awa(ening to ever-expanding states of consciousness is therefore a process of re!e! ering, and the reali'ation of the $0. as Self is an experience we all can and do have 2&ssagioli7, and +sychosynthesis therapy guides us in this process. &t this stage, the dile!!a is what Hvans calls $the hu ris of the <0=., and the client !ust negotiate the opening of the heart as love of the other egins, Bu er.s $0-Thou. experience. Self reali'ation reDuires a sort of a dying, a death to the individual sense of self in which we !ove on to experience ourselves as part of a greater whole. 0t is ecause we have fought so hard to differentiate and survive that we fear the death of the $0., i!agining our annihilation at the hands of an overwhel!ing $other.. The dile!!as of the self at the third level in the Triphasic Model are those of the call and surrender to a higher purpose, to love, in which we eco!e the vehicle for the transpersonal to !anifest through us. The therapist at this stage is a guide along the way, a co-traveller ut not a spiritual teacher, facilitating the client.s $0.-Self connection and !irroring and sharing in her awe and wonder as she opens !ore and !ore to her true self. &t each level, the will is progressively freed so that, finally, the client is a le to say $thy will not !y will., and this is +sychosynthesis. central contri ution.

!i"liography &l!aas &. "33A -he )oint of +xistence Sha! ala# Boston &ssagioli ). "336 )sychosynthesis Thorsons# Kondon 1hittic( ,. 5885 Sufism %ne ,orld# %xford -oel -. "338 -he )erennial )sychology -oel# -u(infield Hliot T.S. "3B; Collected )oems Ea er# Kondon Eadi!an /. and Erager ). "33B +ssential Sufism Harper San Erancisco# San Erancisco Eerrucci +. "345 5hat 5e 0ay Be Tarcher +uttna!# @ew *or( Eir!an /. and Gila &. 5885 )sychosynthesis S:@*# @ew *or( Ero!! H. "339 -he &rt of 3oving Thorsons# Kondon Eronsdal G. 5889 -he 1hammapada Sha! ala# Boston Hardy &. "33B -he Spiritual 6ature of 0an %:+# %xford Hart +. "34" -he 0essage of -homas 0erton 1istercian +u lications# Missouri Hollis /. "336 -he 0iddle )assage 0nner 1ity Boo(s# Toronto Huxley &. "3B8 -he )erennial )hilosophy Harper and )ow# @ew *or( /a!es ,. 5885 -he 7arieties of 8eligious +xperience +ro!etheus Boo(s# @ew *or( Ghan H. "344 -he &wa#ening of the Human Spirit %!ega# @ew *or( Gushner K. "336 -he 8iver of 3ight /ewish Kights# ,oodstoc( Maslow &. "336 -he /arther 8eaches of Human 6ature &r(ana# @ew *or( Merton T. 5888 -homas 0erton +ssential 5ritings %r is# @ew *or( %s orne &. 5885 -he -eachings of 8amana 0aharshi in his 9wn 5ords Sri )a!anasra!a!# Tiruvana!alai 0ndia )owan /. 5885 -he -ranspersonal Brunner-)outledge Hove )ussell +. 5888 /rom Science to :od +eter )ussell# Sausalito Scharff /. and Scharff -. -he )rimer of 9%!ect 8elations )owan and Kittlefield# Kanha!, :S& Schneerson M. "339 Toward a Meaningful Kife ,illia! Morrow and 1o.# @ew *or( Su'u(i -. "3B3 0ysticisim Christian and Buddhist :nwin# Kondon Thich @hat Hanh "333 1all Me By My True @a!es +arallax +ress# Ber(eley -he 4panishads "3A9 +enguin# Kondon ?aughan E. 5888 -he Inward &rc &uthors Guild Kincoln :S& ,einrach B. "344 ;iddish /ol# -ales Schoc(en# @ew *or( ,elwood /. 5888 -oward a )sychology of &wa#ening Sha! ala# Boston ,il er G. 5888 Integral )sychology Sha! ala# Boston *alo! 0. "33" 3ove*s +xecutioner +enguin# Kondon Manuals Hd. Hvans /. )sychosynthesis 0anuals ?ols 0, 000, 0?, ?