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Creating Bridges: The Spiritual & Philosophical |
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Teachings from the Western Mystery Traditions:
The Esoteric "Paths of Return"
Closing the Door to Dualism
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by Jacquelyn Small
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The human psyche, who is the creator of our perceptions and conceptions, is antinomous by nature, which means it is made up of pairs of contradictory opposites living harmoniously together as a whole. If we could see our psyche, we1d no doubt be looking at the Chinese yin/yang symbol, which makes this principle plain. Dark and light, masculine and feminine, heavenly and earthly, positive and negative, new and old, and on and onx. even the word Œunity1 has as its opposite Œthe more-than-one.'
Within our subjective reality, these pairs of opposites never disrespect each other1s natural but contrary way of being. The shadow side, for instance, will always have a distorted, unconscious shadowy way of being, while the light will behave as clarity, consciousness, and light. Our masculine (yang) side is focused and directive, while our female (yin) side is expansive and receptive. Each has its important role to play in our full blossoming as a human soul. The shadow, for instance, which is the hardest part of ourselves to accept, offers us the gift of knowing those parts of us that are still unfinished, living in the closets of repression in our unconscious mind. So perhaps while here on earth, we learn from the nots. Living within the tension of these opposites, then, is natural and of God. We learn to do this by denying neither side, while always seeking that "third and higher"way that will balance and blend the two into something useful and new.
So while living here on earth, it appears that duality is a fact and serves a vital function, from which there is no escape no matter how we may try. I1ve met people who believe that to be "spiritual" we are supposed to always be positive. Yet I1ve learned from raw experience that this is never truly the case. Though we may pretend to be so, there is always a dark side of any circumstance or person that must be acknowledged. And denial of the dark side, we've learned, really gets us in trouble, creating more and more of the very thing we are seeking to avoid! The human psyche doesn1t like to be lopsided, according to Dr. Carl Jung; it seeks to know both sides of any polarity to feel whole. Completion, then, and not perfection, is what the human psyche seeks.
To give credence to this antinomous psychic nature of ours, remember that our physical base is made from a double-helix DNA, and that our atoms can function as both the particle and the wave. This is known in physics as the "law of complementarity". Our nature, then, is duality-within-oneness. And "viva la differance"! It takes two of anything to make a dynamic movement for a creative force to ignite. And further, it is through this very battling these inner opposites that consciousness is born. Without the friction caused by our own polarities, we could never create anything new, nor could we ever know ourselves.
Therefore, anytime two contrary opposites are tearing at us, we can know that something new is trying to be born: A sacred function has activated, designed to move us to some higher, greater "third." The term for this in spiritual psychology is "dichtomy-transcending." Therefore, it is important for us to struggle with duality in order to evolve. So let1s learn from our human psyche1s natural way of being, since this is how God made us. Perhaps "being spiritual" is really acceptance of all that is. And that even the contrary opposites within us each have a sacred function.
A psyche divided against itself in "either/or" judgment cannot remain steady for long. It will turn us into shame-based, blaming creatures, neurotically clinging to one side of the pole, trying to always be perfect, positive, or right while seeing the other as imperfect, negative, and wrong. And even worse, we waste a lot of energy in trying to prove our case! So, acceptance of both sides of our nature as natural and holy is the first step toward our sanity and open-hearted relationships. From truly understanding this principle of antinomy, we learn to let go of our fanatical judgments and perfectionist ways. To say, "I1m always anything" just might draw its opposite to us. It is the greater side of wisdom to learn this important truth and learn to live in harmony with the opposites, so we can drop judgment and blame. Perhaps closing the door to dualism is our next right step in evolution. But! We never will close the door to dualism by being positive only! -- but by acknowledging both sides of everything that exists as real. When both the light and the dark are accepted and honored for what they truly are, then we are living in unity consciousness. Then we have learned to love it all. So coming into Unity consciousness is a paradox: As Carl Jung once proclaimed, "All God-things come in pairs."
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Jacquelin Small,
Spiritualist, Clairvoyant Psychologist
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JACQUELYN SMALL, LMSW, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in human psychology and clinical social work. She is a licensed non-denominational minister and a licensed psychotherapist who works with both spiritual and psychological concerns.
Jacquelyn is a popular presenter and consultant in academic settings, new-thought churches and new paradigm conferences and mental health settings, known for her easy-going, self-disclosing, humorous style of intimate relating with her audiences.
She has a long history in addiction counselor training, consulting and counseling, and trains all kinds of health professionals in the emerging field of spiritual psychology. She is one of the teachers who has been selected by Unity Church for their national TV ministry. She served as the Director of Training for the Texas Commission on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse for nine years, and served on the adjunct faculty of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Stanford, California for four years.
Jacquelyn has authored eight books about soul-based psychology and the process of personal transformation, some of which have become classics in the counseling and consciousness fields. She is represented by the Tom Grady Agency. She has many audio tapes as well through Eupsychia's publishing company, Eupsychian Press.
Her published books are:
* Becoming Naturally
Therapeutic (Bantam)
* Transformers, the
Artists of Self-Creation
(DeVorss & Co.)
* Awakening in Time
(Eupsychian Press)
* Embodying Spirit (HarperSanFrancisco
/Eupsychian)
* Rising to the Call with
co-author Mary Yovino (DeVorss & Co.)
* Becoming a Practical Mystic (Quest Books)
* Psyche's Seeds-The 12 Sacred Principles of Soul-Based Psychology (Tarcher/Putnam
/Penguin)
Jacquelyn is a regular columnist for Science of Mind Magazine and is featured often in other magazines. Among the many conferences and programs for which Jacquelyn has keynoted or presented programs, include:
* The Association for Humanistic Psychology
* Association for Transpersonal Psychology
* Omega Institute
including their Body &
Soul Conferences
* Tracor and Texaco, Inc.
* Church of Religious Science Annual
Conference
* Great Lakes Addiction Conference
* Whole Life Expo
* The College of William & Mary's Annual Addictions Conference
* Most major universities
in the United States
* U.S. Department of Heath, Education and Welfare
* Omega Institute's
Body & Soul Conferences
* New Age Magazine's Bahama Teaching Cruise
The ConferenceWorks!
She has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, America's Talking, Wisdom Television and Radio, New Dimensions Radio, NPR's People's Pharmacy and a CNN's series on Alternative Healing and continues to make regular guest appearances for radio and television.
Jacquelyn Small serves on the Advisory Board of the International Psychosynthesis Association, the National Council on Codependence, and The Holistic Alliance of Professional Practitioners, Entrepreneurs and Networkers, Inc.
She is the Founding Director of Eupsychia (pronounced u-si'-ki-a) Institute which means "good psyche" or "well being" in Greek, a not-for-profit professional training and healing program in Soul-Based Psychology and Integrative Breathwork. With her staff of dedicated, experienced spiritual therapists, she conducts workshop intensives throughout North America on a regular basis.
Eupsychia Institute
PO Box 151960
Austin, TX 78715-1960
(800) 546-2795
Local (512) 327-2795
Fax (512) 327-6043
eupsychia1@aol.com
Contact Webmistress
www.eupsychia.com
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