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Power,
Spiritual Alchemy and Transformation:
A
Talk with Caroline Myss
By Dawn Baumann Brunke
Caroline
Myss, Ph.D., has degrees in journalism and theology, as well as a
doctorate in intuition and energy medicine. From 1982-1995 she worked
as a medical intuitive, "seeing" illnesses in a patient’s
body by intuitive means. In
partnership with C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., a Harvard-trained
neurosurgeon and founder of the American Holistic Medical Association,
Caroline recently co-founded the Institute for the Science of Medical
Intuition.
Some
of Myss' books include Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of
Power and Healing and Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can.
She is currently
writing yet another book tentatively titled Sacred Contracts (to
be released in June of 2001 by Harmony Books), which explores the
transformation of the self. As
Myss notes,
"Many descriptions can be applied to the nature of the spiritual
journey. For me the concept that most suits the model of spiritual
development and self-investigation is to enter into the self through
the archetype of the spiritual alchemist in search of the process of
personal transformation."
It is on this topic that our interview began.
DB:
Let's begin with the
spiritual alchemy theme you're working with in your upcoming book and
workshop. Who is the
Spiritual Alchemist? Is
this the same archetype as the Magician?
CM: No. The
magician is different. Think
of David Copperfield. He's
not an alchemist.
DB:
Right, he works with illusions.
Whereas with alchemy, we're looking more to transformations?
CM:
Precisely. That's
one of the major differences. You
might think of transformation as the theme of the alchemist.
Spiritual alchemy is the journey of self-transformation.
I teach people to identify the thoughts and patterns in their
life that qualify for "lead" and how to take that lead into
their inner laboratory and convert it into gold.
That's the theme around which I've built this workshop.
The reason why I think
this subject matter is so appealing is because the alchemist archetype
has become very seductive to people, even down to being the central
focus of what are now the most popular books on the planet -- the
Harry Potter series. The
whole idea that there's an entire school of wizards is about alchemy
and transformation. It's
interesting to me that even though the author J. K. Rowling may have
no idea what she's doing on a conscious level -- and I'm not
suggesting that she doesn't, but let's play out for a moment the idea
that she was just inspired to do this -- what if she is setting the
groundwork early on for children to be totally captivated by the idea
of transformation? That
that's really what's going on underneath the pages of those charming,
charming books. It looks
like Harry Potter is off to a wizard school, but in fact what kids are
inspired to think is: is it possible to do transformation?
DB:
And that's probably why the book is equally popular with so
many adults right now as well. I've
read three of the books and I'm totally…
CM: Captivated is the word.
Captivated and enchanted by the book.
That's exactly right. There
is a process of enchantment that goes on with the thought that there
is a level of power that we can activate within ourselves that is very
real. It's not a lark.
And that process becomes awakened when we recognize that the
journey of life is fundamentally one of transformation.
The
thing that I find so interesting is that when people are in my
workshops they think they've chosen to somehow or other undergo
transformation. That's a
phrase I've heard thousands of people use -- "I’m undergoing
transformation." You
have to understand -- we have no choice in the matter.
There isn't one human being who isn't being directed by that
fundamental archetype of continually re-evaluating their relationship
to power. The whole theme
and focus of my workshop is power and how human beings relate to
power. What causes someone
to lose his or her power? How
does one become empowered? I
don't think people are aware that power is indeed the fundamental
ingredient of the human experience and that everything they do, say,
where they live, what car they drive -- everything is a power
statement or lack of it.
DB:
How do you define power?
CM:
Power has multiple levels of manifestation.
On one level it's stuff. People
are stuffologists and the more stuff they have the more power they
have. You can have an
inner tube or you can have a yacht; if you have an inner tube you
don't have any power but if you have a yacht you do, even though both
of them are no more than stuff to sit on the water with.
On the physical level, power comes in the form of beauty, in
the form of the physical geography of your body.
Physical power also includes money -- let's not forget that.
After
the realm of physical power comes mental power, such as your job, what
you do, the pedigrees after your name, doctors, lawyers, CEOs and
other alphabetic appendages. Then,
after that -- and this is so humorous -- because the next level of
power that people admire is the person who doesn't need power.
The person who doesn't need power is the one who becomes most
powerful. There you have
the realm of the spiritual. When
someone gets to the point where they don't need any power to be on the
planet, then they are deemed the most powerful.
Isn't that ironic? Don't
you think it's hilarious?
DB:
Well, it's the completion of a cycle.
So, yes, it does get funny at that point.
CM:
Precisely. And I
can't tell you how primal this fight for power is, and how subtle it
is. In a workshop, for
example, people will come into the room and run like crazy to stake
their territory to the closest seats towards the stage.
They'll throw their coats or notebooks on the chairs, and the
understanding is "If I'm here today, I get it all weekend."
There's no policy that says who gets to sit where or when.
But what they'll do is leave their stuff.
Make no mistake that this is a statement of power.
You cannot imagine the physiological responses that I've
witnessed in people when someone else has taken their chairs.
You have what equates to a power violation that is a form of
territorial rape. And
people don't realize that in every single exchange they have, they are
actually dealing with power. So, what I focus on is teaching people a
model of what I call inner reference that they can use to identify
when they are losing power and why, how much and how fast and how to
recover it.
DB:
Though, as you mentioned before, isn't the kicker not to even
need the power?
CM:
That's not true. The
point is to redefine your understanding of what is power.
It's essentially your soul.
Power in the physical world is your capacity to experience the
force that your soul has to maneuver matter, to incarnate matter, to
control matter and maneuver it. What
you're witnessing at the physical level is your soul in action.
DB:
Are we talking about "creating your reality?"
CM:
We're talking about co-creating reality.
We don't create reality. We
don't even co-create reality. We
respond to reality. And
what we're recognizing is that we have the capacity to consciously
respond to our lives and that choice of response has more influence
than we've ever even considered before -- biological influence,
physiological influence, emotional influence, physical influence --
and that every single response kicks off consequences on a million
different levels. We never
knew that before. So when
we think about something like co-creating our reality, it's far better
and more accurate to say we co-influence it.
Because we do not create it.
We simply respond to and we influence it.
In workshops, I say to
people, "How many of you think you create your own reality?"
and their hands go flying up. I
say, "How many of you are happy?"
Then the hands don't go up and I ask, "So, how good are
you are with this creating your reality stuff?"
I'll say, "I've got bad news for you.
You don't create your own reality.
And the sooner you realize it, the more you'll remember you
have to pray."
DB:
It almost sounds as if you are saying reality is something out
there that is created for us.
CM:
No. We respond.
Do you think you create all of nature?
DB:
Not literally.
CM:
What do you do with it? You
respond to it. And in your
response, you are influencing the reality within which you live.
But you don't create the outside world.
You simply respond to it.
DB:
I'm thinking in more basic terms -- artistic terms, for
example: you write a book, create a painting.
CM:
Well, yes, you create that.
That's different. That's
baby stuff. Those are
projects, but in an interesting way if you really thought about it, do
you create that or are you being directed spiritually to do that?
DB:
I suppose it's a combination.
CM:
Yes it is. So,
therefore, you co-influence. You
see, you really have a partnership with the creative force of life.
You have a partnership with divinity and you have a partnership
with that which is called the force of creation.
If you understand that, then you recognize that that
partnership requires that you make choices.
Choices within the paradigm of alchemy are like formulas within
a laboratory. If I choose
negativity, then that's going to result in a certain type of
consequence in my laboratory, so I do co-influence my reality because
I'm creating a very toxic one. That's
how it goes. In my
workshop, I teach people the principles of what creates what
consequence and when something is very positive how to use that to
melt down some intense lead in their life that's causing them harm.
DB:
I'm still not understanding what you mean about not having a
hand in creating reality. Let's
say you get to a very expanded state where you are identifying with
All That Is, for example. At
that point you are creating reality; aren't you?
CM:
No. You're
accepting it. At the end
of the day, what all spiritual traditions aim for as the state of samadhi
or enlightenment is a full acceptance of All That Is without the
need to change anything.
DB:
Okay. I'm
comfortable with that.
CM:
So, at that point are you creating reality or are you accepting
it?
DB:
I would say all of the above: accepting, creating, feeling,
experiencing, being. If
you are All That Is, then you are doing all of those things, being all
those things.
CM:
Well, it's interesting because from the mystical texts none of
the great mystics would ever use the word create.
Never. They all say
release, surrender, accept, but never create because that's the realm
of the divine. For
example, if you read the book of Job, you'll find that's the last time
Yahweh addressed people in the first voice.
He said to Job, "I don't owe you an explanation for what I
do when I create anything. Because
you don't create. Your job
is to accept what I create, not to tell me what you're going to create
with me. That's
ridiculous."
You
should read the book of Job; it's fabulous and probably one of the
most popularly studied and scholarly works in the scripture precisely
because it deals with this question of creation and whether we
influence it or do we simply accept it.
Is the ultimate act of peace the surrender and trust that the
reality that has been created for us is the most perfect reality that
could be created for us, and, therefore, we accept it and, in
accepting it, that's the ultimate act of creating our reality?
It's paradoxical.
DB:
So, we accept it as the perfect creation…
CM:
Bingo!
DB:
…that we created.
CM:
No! We accept it as
that which WAS perfectly created for us.
That's a very different and crucial difference in wording.
We accept that it was created as perfect for us, not that we
created it perfectly. We
don't have that kind of clout. It's
unfortunate, but we don't. We
just don't. That's the way
it is. If we did, people
would be able to heal themselves in the blink of an eye and they
can't. People's lives
would be happier and they're not.
People's children wouldn't be drug addicts and they are.
At
what point in your capacity to create reality do you draw the boundary
between your life and someone else's?
If you create your reality, why can't you make that person in
your life love you because they are in your reality?
Because you can't. You
don't have that kind of clout. Any
more than someone can say drop dead and you really do.
That's preposterous. They
can't create your reality even though you're in that reality.
Think about that. It's
not possible.
DB:
How about we talk about the transition points as one moves on
one's spiritual journey from one state of consciousness to another?
CM:
Well, the first transition as I see it is when you begin to
separate from what I call the tribal or group mind.
I believe -- and I think it's more than obvious -- that the
first stage of consciousness for people is group consciousness, where
their consciousness is held and where they hold others within thoughts
that all of them believe. In
the process of doing this, none of them is solely responsible for the
cause and effect of these belief systems.
Let me give you an example.
Numerous times in workshops I ask how many people see
themselves as a consciously, sophisticated individual, and hands go
up. I remember challenging
an English woman about one of her belief patterns.
She was saying, "I could imagine that there might be other
nationalities one would want to be other than English, but I
personally cannot imagine what one of them would be."
I looked at her and said, "I can think of one."
And then she caught herself and said, "Oh, well I
certainly don't believe that myself, but I was taught that."
This is how people let themselves run back to the group mind,
because it's such a safe way to say, "I'm not really at
fault"; "I was simply doing my job"; "That's the
way we are"; or "We grew up that way."
So, the first level of the psyche is the group one.
DB:
The "everyone believes this" mentality.
CM:
Right. But
eventually every single person begins to feel suffocated with that
state of consciousness. That's what the teen-age rebellion is all
about. At this stage,
people say, "I've got
to experience who I am and discover what I believe separate from what
I was told to believe." The
rebellion starts, and that's the phase where the self begins to
discover the self. At that
point, a person wants to discover their personal heart, what reality
is for them, separate and above from what the tribal mind tells them.
Here's an example. It's
been my experience that many people have encounters or experiences
with spirituality, such as deep profound dreams of direction or
guidance that are not common to people who are involved in religion
versus spirituality. When
they would speak to their family, who are very religious but not what
you'd call consciously spiritual, the family would deny that such a
thing could happen. And so
within the person who is developing his or her own spirituality, being
able to expand your reality to say, "Well, this is normal and
this can happen" is something that every person begins to yearn
for at some point along the way. They
want to experience the birth of themselves, and that's the second
stage. It's during that
phase that you kind of fill up on yourself and with yourself.
The next stage is the
search for meaning. It is
to say, "Now that I've discovered myself and know myself, I'm
still hungry; this still isn't enough."
And that's when the search for meaning in life kicks in with
full measure. It's when
people start to turn in some way, whether consciously or not
consciously, toward the examination of the spirit.
As Carl Jung put it, you begin to wonder if what you do in the
world makes any difference, if you're making a contribution to
people's well-being. My
brother is a trader at the Chicago Bond Pit, so I've gotten to know
several traders, most in their 40s, who are now going through exactly
this shift in which they are saying, "I don't want to trade the
rest of my life; there's no purpose in it.
I'm not helping anybody. There
has got to be something else that I can do."
So they are going through this -- for some of them -- crisis.
It's a crisis of meaning.
DB:
So, one of the ways this last stage works out is through
service?
CM:
Yes, they are looking for a means of service.
That's correct. You
could say that the three stages are first the examination of the
physical world; secondly, the psychological-emotional world; and the
third is the spiritual. A
lot of what I talk about in my workshop is what it means to find one's
path of service.
DB:
Let's pull that back into power, where we began.
Service is connected to that phase where you don't need power,
or, perhaps more precisely, where you are channeling power through
you. Service is a movement
of power through you to help others and the world.
CM:
Yes, that's exactly right.
For me, this is why this workshop is of value to people,
because everybody at some point in their life explores their
relationship to power: how to accumulate physical power, how to become
empowered through that which they accumulate, and how to return power
to life.
For
more information, visit Caroline's website at www.myss.com
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In
Search of Original Wisdom and
Moving
Towards Compassion: A Talk with Gregg Braden
by Dawn Baumann Brunke
Gregg Braden is the
author of Awakening to Zero Point and Walking Between the
Worlds: The Science of Compassion.
He is a frequent lecturer and guide to sacred spaces around the
world.
When Gregg and I spoke
via phone for this interview, I had a list of questions neatly
prepared. However, the
conversation quickly forged its own unruly path.
We ended up talking about so many different subjects -- many of
them definitely on the esoteric side -- that as our time came to a
close, Gregg laughingly noted, “I don’t know how you’re going to
fit all that into an interview.”
“Thanks,” I said, “Me either.”
In an attempt to present
the gist of this thought-provoking material, I eventually discarded
the idea of an interview. Here,
therefore, is a thematic arrangement of Gregg Braden’s words and
thoughts from our recent talk.
On
Earth Changes and The Shift:
The context within which
we are viewing the events of our lives and witnessing outrageous
phenomenon (for our own scientists are documenting unprecedented
natural phenomenon in terms of earth and space alike) looks
frightening to many Westerners. As
I have traveled through many of the indigenous cultures of the world,
Egypt
,
Bolivia
,
Peru
,
Nepal
and elsewhere, it is interesting that almost universally these
cultures not only allow for the changes which are happening, but they
expect them and they expect them now.
Quite literally, there is
a new species of human that is being birthed within this generation,
at the close of this grand cycle of experience that the ancients
called the Shift of the Ages. This
new species has been predicated, prophesized, and expected through
ancient and indigenous cultures. It
is only in the West that we’ve been surprised and mystified because
it is in the West that we’ve lost the texts.
On
What Happened:
Seventeen hundred years
ago, key elements of our most sacred heritage were taken from the
texts that define our history. In
325 AD, the Emperor Constantine put together the Council of Nicea.
Essentially, he gathered together the historical and religious
texts of his time and told the council that because so many of the
texts were redundant, many confusing and some so mystical they
weren’t understood, they were to come up with a condensed version.
Twenty-five biblical texts were thus taken out of our
references during that time and an additional 20 supporting documents,
such as the book of the Secrets of Enoch, were also removed.
The books that were left were rearranged and condensed, and
that’s what we’re working with today.
I am constantly in awe of
how well we have done in our societies, family relationships, and
science and technology without really knowing who we are, where we
came from, why we’re here and what we can expect to happen.
The indications of this are that, at best, we were working with
an incomplete understanding of the forces of our world and our
relationship to those forces. The
pieces that were taken out were the ancient sciences of compassion,
the highly-sophisticated technology that we call prayer, and the role
of emotion and feeling in our bodies.
Those were the texts that were removed and those are the pieces
that will now complete the wisdom that we’re developing in the West
today.
On
The Missing Texts:
Through mystery schools,
sacred orders and elite priesthoods, this information has always been
retained and we’ve always had hints that there was this body of
information that might help fill in the gaps of our understanding of
the world. The texts point
to the fact that now, at the closing of the millennium, something
precious, rare and unique is happening to the earth and the people on
the earth. It has never
happened before. The underlying current has been that something big is
going to happen. In the
West, it has been feared because the texts describing this have been
taken away, whereas in the East and indigenous cultures it has always
been a part of their belief system.
On the Essene Mirrors
From the perspective of
the ancient Essenes, every human on the earth is an initiate in the
Mystery
School
that we call Life. Whether
they are conscious of it or not, every human will experience in the
presence of others mirrors of themselves in that moment.
If we have the wisdom to recognize those mirrors, we may
accelerate the evolution of emotion and understanding.
What the Essenes said was
that for us to know and master ourselves in this world, we will see
one or some combination of mirrored patterns in others.
The seven mirrors are progressively more and more subtle.
Back in the ‘70s, we heard about the first mirror, of who you
are in the moment. The
notion was that if you find yourself around individuals who are angry
or dishonest, they are showing you your dishonesty or anger.
Sometimes the mirrors would apply, but sometimes they
wouldn’t. We had
discovered the first mirror, but had yet to see the other mirrors,
such as the second mirror, which reflects what we judge in the moment.
This is tremendously
powerful but very subtle. The
ancient Essenes had a very sophisticated understanding of
interpersonal human relationships and the role of emotion in those
relationships. It’s the
role of emotion that we have carefully sifted out of our Western
experience up until very recently.
Now, as we go back into these texts, we see that it is emotion
that provides the power and, when coupled with logic, true magic and
miracles occur.
On Emotions as the “Forgotten
Switch”
One of the great mysteries of life sciences is the question of why
two-thirds of our genetic code is turned off.
Up until discoveries in 1953, science has always believed the
genetic code was fixed. Now,
within the last three years, Western researchers have found that it
appears the human genetic code is a variable code rather than a fixed
code, and that it is our responses of feeling and emotions as we go
through the challenges of life that determines which one of those
codes are switched on and switched off.
In the ancient
traditions, there is a quality of emotion and feeling and thought that
appears to optimize those genetic codes and “turn them on,” thus
giving us longevity, vitality and tremendously-enhanced immune
systems. That quality is
what we today call compassion. That
is the common thread of emphasis through these ancient traditions,
this science of compassion.
On
Light and Dark:
It’s like a drop of
water. In our Western
technologically-oriented world, we try to compartmentalize water into
hydrogen and oxygen. The
reality is that water can only be water in the presence of both
hydrogen and oxygen. If
you look at either alone, you don’t have water.
It’s the union of both that allows the miracle that we call
water to exist in our world today.
It’s the same with light and dark.
It is impossible to have
the quality of experience that we have in our world today in the
presence of only light or only dark.
This is the irony, the great dichotomy, for the moment an
individual draws the line between dark and light, the moment you
identify something as light or dark, you have fallen in the ancient
trap of judgment. The key
to this time in history is transcending that judgment of light or dark
and recognizing both as components of the whole, of the single
experience.
On
Light, Dark and the One:
One of the ancient tenets
that may hold the greatest potential for healing of our bodies and
bringing peace to our world is the tenet that reminds us that of the
6.5 billion or so people in this world, there is only one of us here.
There is a single consciousness experiencing through many
bodies, and the breadth of our consciousness and experience -- from
the lightest of the light to the darkest of the dark -- are all part
of that One.
Seventeen hundred years
ago, we began to look at light and dark as opposites; we began to
judge one as being better than the other when in reality we live the
experience of both, and both are only possible in the presence of one
another. Darkness is only
possible in the presence of light and light is only possible in the
presence of the dark.
On Moving Towards Compassion
If we believe there is a single source of all that is, then we have opened
the door to healing the illusion of separation.
We have opened the door to healing the judgment of light and
dark. In the presence of
that healing, our body responds. I
believe this holds the greatest possibility for the healing of our
bodies and the healing of nations.
By simply embracing the possibility that there is one source of
all that we will ever know in this world, and that all we witness and
experience is of that source, we are invited to transcend our
judgments. As we do so,
the polarities fall away.
The key to this time in history is to transcend judgment and
allow for the possibility that light and dark are one and the same,
and, as the Egyptian Master Thoth said, different only in seeming and
part of an even greater force. As
we embrace that, we open the door to the possibility of compassion.
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Embracing
Change: An Interview with Patricia Sun
by Dawn Brunke
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"If
you want to do something for world peace, cultivate
kindness, stop hating, and have hope for all
individuals."
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Beginning
as a family counselor with two degrees from the UC--Berkeley, Patricia
Sun has been a pioneer in ushering forth a creative, new style of
thinking, feeling and being in the world for over 30 years. She has
led thousands of workshops and lectures focusing on expanding our
consciousness, re-perceiving reality, and moving ourselves forward in
a collective evolutionary leap.
Although
I have been a fan of Patricia Sun and her insightful philosophy for
quite some time, I had not heard much of her for the past ten years. I
began our interview with this observation, wondering if she had
purposely kept out of the limelight.
PATRICIA:
It's true; I decided to stay out of the limelight and wait until the
time was closer. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, I
"opened" and began teaching. Some people, including some
well-known speakers, would take a piece of that teaching and run off
with it. That helped because it spread the information, but they often
didn't quite get the whole picture. It was missing the essence, which
is about being truthful and earnest. The discoveries of how we can
grow and the insights we need to have really come from the inside out.
To have genuine empathy, not as a make-nice tool but as an
understanding, is essential to the next step. So, to get back to your
point, I realized that some people were somewhat slick or capable of
saying all the right words without living it.
DAWN:
I sometimes call that the "marketing of the New Age."
PATRICIA:
Yes, you got it! And it hurt my heart so much that I felt I had to
withdraw and pull in because this was obviously not the right time.
But now is the right time! Now, I'm filled with hope and insight for
people who will be able to see and not be so attached to having to be
right all the time so that they can't grow and find their innocence
and kindness - for themselves and others.
DAWN:
Let's talk about that for a moment. What makes this the right time?
We've been through the emotional wringer this past year and many
changes are going on. People have been talking about these changes for
years, but you're right that there is something qualitatively
different now - it's almost palpable. What is that? How do you see
that?
PATRICIA:
About 25 years ago, I had a premonition that in some 20 years we would
go through a very big change, one that would allow us to really mature
and heal ourselves individually and collectively -- not so much by
trying to force a collective change as by coming to a certain ripeness
inside so that we would realize we have the power to heal ourselves
psychologically and physically. I don't mean that in a woo-woo way,
but in a very healthy, sane and sound manner. That premonition began
my journey around the world, to visit some 38 different countries. I
realized that I was planting seeds, and that it was important to stay
low-key, because once you say, "I've got it" or "This
is it," then resistance starts to build. But, if you start giving
away seeds, people will claim their seeds. Some nurture them and grow
them, and that makes a foundational change.
Another
part of the premonition came in deep meditation. I asked what I was
supposed to do, and the words came, "To end wars." I thought
- give me a break! (laughs) Then, I heard my inner voice telling me to
calm down and find out more. I saw a vision of the earth as if from
the moon. I saw cylinders of light coming down and the words,
"The Age of Avatars." An avatar is someone like Jesus or
Buddha, someone who really experiences God. It's not about trying to
be good, but about sensing the connection to goodness so that you are
living it. Within these cylinders of light on earth, I saw a
countenance, a very loving and radiant face, and I realized that
person had learned to love completely within a body. When that person
turned to others on the planet and looked at them with such love and
acceptance, those people felt it and then became filled with radiance
too. And they turned to others, and so on, until a critical mass was
reached and the whole world was lit.
I
think the ripeness for that time is here. There is a readiness inside
the average person on the planet - every person, every race - to be
real, to say "Oh, what the heck…what's the goodness here? What
will make the planet healthy? How can we have good food, fresh water,
good relationships with our spouses and children, and enjoy living
with other people?" There is a readiness, and there is also
simultaneously an inability to have the vision of what it takes to get
out of the trap.
We
don't realize that polarized thinking creates what we resist. An
ancient Chinese proverb states that we become what we resist. I think
we are changing how our brains work and we're maturing collectively.
We have magnificent brains, but we use a great deal of our brilliance
to keep ourselves stuck and ignorant, to keep ourselves from not
shining. We are so afraid of our beauty and radiance and brilliance
because it scared the adults around us when we were children. There
really is a psychological defense that short-circuits our own
flowering.
DAWN:
Let's address that fear, because what we need is to not deny our fear,
but walk through our fear. Still, how do we do that? We naturally want
to cling to our old ways because that is our comfort zone. So, how do
we let go of fear, when it is so real in the moment?
PATRICIA:
The key to radiance is real love. One of the first things that helps
us to let go of old-style thinking is to realize we are in a process
and that everybody is somewhat caught up in that. Everybody is
changing and everybody longs to change. The thing that makes us most
stuck is either/or thinking - either I'm afraid or I'm not afraid;
you're my friend or you're not my friend. When you think either/or,
you throw out all the major capacities of intelligence - and I mean
intelligence in two senses of the word, both in terms of information,
all the information between one pole and the other pole that would
help us use the second meaning of our intelligence, which is our
ability to be creative and invent new solutions that are the source of
our power and healing and change. We mostly feel fearful because we
feel powerless. We feel powerless, I contend, because of a style of
thinking that splits information in two poles that makes us lose all
the operative information we need to solve the problem.
There
is only one sentence that George Bush and Osama bin Laden have said
identically: "You are either for us or against us." Nothing
will ensure war more certainly or entrench rivalries more seriously
than for or against thinking! We have to find the place where we are
really for everyone but willing to say what doesn't seem okay about
the situation. We need to find where I have empathy for what you are
saying and really listen so I understand what is hurting you instead
of saying that it shouldn't bother you. And you, likewise, would
listen to what was really bothering me. If we do that, I absolutely
guarantee that we would both have little eureka light bulbs go off
over our heads and we'd both come up with creative solutions that
would be different than either one of us could have conceived alone.
That is the very essence of growth and creativity.
To
get back to your question of what can help us not be so afraid, it
would be to extend ourselves to feel and perceive others and not be so
hasty to just be right. I always say that it's much more powerful to
be good than to be right. Why? Because good guides us in moving
towards that which is good. Being right makes a deadlock, an enemy,
and it sucks us down from expanding our perception. It also frightens
the other person and makes the position more stubborn. That is why we
get destructive and do horrible things to one another, whether in
personal relationships or in the big picture. And the big picture is
just an extension of the same psychological dynamic that is going on
inside our personal lives.
So,
the solution to move forward in our change is to realize: 1) it's
happening to everyone; 2) it's a process; and 3) it's a shift in the
style of the way we think - not just what we think, but how we think.
The process of discovery has to shift from skewing our logical mind to
sift every bit of information to make us look right to using that
logical mind to sift information towards what would make a good
outcome for everyone. That is a whole different use for our
intelligence! It allows us to use our intuition, which is our
inspiration that allows us to be wholly creative and think of
possibilities that were never thought of before. That is our
brilliance, our true humanity that we use such a small percentage of.
DAWN:
I'm reminded of a story you've told about sitting in an airport when a
woman came and sat down not far from you and began crying. She cried
for 15 minutes or more, and you just sat with her while she cried,
sending her mental notes of encouragement - get it out, that's good.
And when she was done…
PATRICIA:
Yes, she got up to walk away, but stood before me for a moment first.
And she said, "I knew you were someone I could cry with."
And that's our humanity! If we let just a fraction of that power into
actualization, we would create heaven on earth. I used to say this
often - there is only one thing keeping us from having heaven on
earth: we can't believe it! Why? Because we don't want to be wrong -
so we'll be right and make it hell! (laughs)
DAWN:
So, where did that belief come from? Why do we still have it and why
do we keep holding on?
PATRICIA:
I think it is simply that we are terrified of being wrong. It is as
simple an issue as an evolutionary stage where our biology is such
that we are imprintable. We have a hugely complex form of social and
psychological imprinting. In the first six years of life, children are
very psychically open. They pick up not so much what we say but what
we really feel and think. They pick up our fears. They feel that
collective horrible sense that we almost don't deserve to be alive if
we are not right. This is poison!
The
problem is that we haven't gotten the difference between being good
and being right. Jesus and Buddha spent their lives trying to explain
the importance of moving towards the good, which is love and
compassion. Jesus endlessly spoke about the Pharisees not getting it.
The Pharisees are representative of modern day, organized religion and
institutional thinking, in that they represent the rules, the focus of
being right and "us versus them" mentality, not the love and
healing and compassion which leads to solutions. The kingdom of heaven
is actually all around us; we just don't see it. Just like the
Pharisees.
Freedom
and liberty are not something someone gives us. Rather, it's about the
freedom and liberty of our soul to be present and alive. It has to do
with goodwill and connecting inside, asking not what makes me look
right or gives me power over someone, but what is the wholesome thing
to do - not just for me, but for the other person. When we start
thinking in this less polarized way, there is an evolutionary miracle
that happens: our brain starts functioning in a different way. The two
hemispheres of our brain, instead of battling each other in fear and
polarization make that leap of creativity and start to genuinely link
up. And that is us being whole. That is what we are hungry for.
Patriotism
is a beautiful thing - to love your country, your land, and your
people and have a deep emotional affinity. But it can be so easily
corrupted to polarized thinking, to harming others and ourselves if we
don't realize what it is that is beautiful. It is beautiful because it
is love.
DAWN:
I think many people were easily swept into a corrupted view of
patriotism with September 11. All the American flags, for example,
were on the one hand a positive coming together of support, but all
too often I sensed a deep-rooted "us versus them" mentality.
I wanted us to create a new flag, with a picture of the earth on it,
something for us to remember that we are all one people. You have a
great saying on your web site …
PATRICIA:
"You can't take sides when you know the earth is round."
Yes, patriotism is a fine thing when we love our country, but we can't
use it to harm others. What does love our country mean? It means love
our people, our constitution, our way of life and to self-correct with
good will. But how about the way of life that is corporate greed, the
ways that poison the politics, people and land? It is not either/or.
We need to move to a both/and view of the world. We are good and we
need self-reflection to grow, heal and be genuinely creative.
Simplistic
thinking and polarized thinking are what we go to when we are afraid.
When we don't have information, we go to the simplest outlook, to
black and white. But then we have to lie to ourselves. Black is never
as black as you're painting it and white is never as white. We need to
respect the tendency when fearful to be polarized, and then attempt to
depolarize those situations rather than accelerate them.
All
of this is about loving our world. It's not an accident that Nazi
Germany happened. That's a historical example of organized black and
white thinking and the hell it creates. We can now genetically
engineer, put chips in people, cause death on a scale of millions that
the Nazi's couldn't even imagine. And we are very close; we have that
capability. But, instead of fear and capability, we need to mature
ourselves to a place of knowing "that which is greater," to
guide our hearts and minds to be creative, to find solutions that are
not simplistic and destructive but creative and healthy. That is our
challenge: to be truly creative and healthy and not make enemies of
anyone.
From
my point of view, the extreme right and the extreme left have always
been the same - it's the extremeness that is the polarization, for
it's coming from fear, from only seeing it's own point of view and,
therefore, causing harm. We need an overview so that we can look at
different poles and see all of the information and possibilities
in-between, and find what is best at both ends. It's amazing how this
frustrates people - what side are you on? I'm on both sides! I care
about both sides, about the health and well being of all the children
on this planet. We are not safe and happy and healthy if we do not
have compassion for all children of the world. Who is America but us?
We are all the people of all the world.
When
we think in a simplistic way, we miss so much reality that we become
what we resist. We have a difficulty facing ourselves - seeing that
which we resist. We need to make judgments, of course - to observe
what works and what doesn't, but not to be judgmental. Being
judgmental is a form of madness that screams powerlessness and
ruthlessness. When we can make good judgments and update them and not
stay rigid, we come from goodwill and promote goodwill back to us.
That's why Jesus said love your enemy. If you love your enemy, you
don't have an enemy anymore!
Polarization
isn't intrinsically wrong. It is a tool for progressing. You look at
one pole, then the other, and all the journeys and differences
in-between, and then you create something else. And then wherever you
are, you make some more polarizations. And you look at one pole and
then the other, and all the degrees and experiences in-between, and
then, coming from goodwill, you make a creative progression. That is
the evolutionary leap. That is what we are here to do.
We
don't quite know it yet, though, and we're caught in a reactionary
fear. The real fear is that we'll be wrong and we don't deserve to
live if we're wrong. The foolishness about that is that everyone is
wrong about something, sometime. Or else you're dead! Being wrong is
the way we learn and discover - we try something, we discover it was a
mistake. I believe Thomas Edison said that the man who makes 100
mistakes is 100 times ahead of the man who makes none. Why? Because he
knows 100 things that don't work. And I'd say it's even richer than
that because you not only know 100 things that don't work, but with
each try you encounter information, discover things that later on down
the road provide the crucial answer to a problem that can only be
solved by that adventure, which was a mistake!
To
think in a simplistic linear style is to be an immature linear
thinker. To think in an intuitional style that is fear driven (with
demons and goblins) is immature intuitive thinking. But when they
mature, intuition becomes inspiration, creative insight, and new
thoughts guided by what is good. And logic becomes a fabulous,
exquisite tool for supporting intuition through facts. And then we
become brilliant! Then we become what we are really built to be. I
think that is the crisis of our times: to discover that, not just with
a few individuals, but globally and collectively.
The
minute we start operating from goodwill, it's an alchemy, for
something irrepressible begins - it is love. It is what Jesus and
Buddha and all the great leaders taught - it is the link to that which
is greater. That is what the word religion means - not the dogma and
the rules, but the link to that which is greater. We transform the
world by transforming ourselves.
DAWN:
It's always back to the self, isn't it?
PATRICIA:
Yes, because we're the point of power. We have the choice at any given
moment.
DAWN:
And the Pharisees, the marketing of the new age, limiting religious
dogma -it's as if that is the distraction, the creation we made and
still make so that we don't have to see our inner self.
PATRICIA:
Exactly! You know what Carl Jung said? He said that people invented
religion to avoid religious experiences.
DAWN:
That's a good one! No kidding!
PATRICIA:
Yes. And sometimes people create patriotism to avoid being patriotic.
Because to really be patriotic is to love all the citizens of our
country. To mature to that level would cause the realization that the
United States is made of all the people of the world and if we truly
wished them well, we would be the leaders, perhaps, that we were meant
to be.
To
learn more, visit Patricia Sun’s web site at http://www.patriciasun.com/
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