Dear One, after doing hard personal growth work it’s natural to want to take a break and relax a bit. Sometimes after we have had a spiritual experience as a part of our personal growth work we want to repeat that experience. We want that spiritual high. And why wouldn’t we? When we are spiritually connected within ourselves we have a taste of our real home and the unconditional love that comes with it. I wrote an article you probably read named Psychology and Spirituality The Essential Partnership. In this article I stress how important doing both our personal growth work and our spiritual works is. Doing one does not preclude the necessity to do the other. There is a danger, however, when we have done some heavy duty personal growth work in concentrating on reconnecting with the spiritual work and avoiding the necessary personal growth work. We must take responsibility for and face the yet to be completed healing of the past, of facing the difficult process of learning win-win communication skills, and to learn self discipline and balance of our thoughts and emotions. You must understand and come to fully know yourself and be free of all negative core beliefs. I understand the lure of wanting to pursue the high of spirituality. It can , however, be a trap and used to deny the necessity to do the other work. Do both your spiritual and personal growth work. Not doing so will cause you to ignore and risk the precious relationship with yourself and others. Avoiding your personal growth work and turning only to what you might call your spiritual work can become another addiction used to deny your pain.
Money Perspective
Dear One, our conversation regarding money was a good reminder to keep perspective. You have been so fortunate in your life to have success and financial independence. The loss of income due to this economic slump we all find ourselves enduring need not rob you of a moment of peace of mind. You have your needs covered. Consider what most people in the world must endure. All you have to do is watch the evening world news to see the suffering. You are so lucky to have what you have. I’m reminded of the wealthy man who watches the ups and downs of the stock market, his health and well being determined by how well his money is doing. His blood pressure soaring, his temper on edge, and his mind focused on either winning or losing. What a waste when he could simply enjoy what he has. What a shame to give up his peace of mind over something that his ego is attached to being important. I think there is such a thing as having too much money or too little. Too little money can be a threat to your health and well being. Too much money can be a burden and shift your focus from what is really important in life. Be at peace, my friend. You have been blessed with more than enough money.
Your Emotions
An important life lesson is to learn to manage your emotions so they support you instead of run you. Emotions are important for your well being however you need to teach them who is boss. Emotions without self discipline will run the show. Don’t allow your emotions to make your decisions. Use your good judgment and intuition to guide you. In our continuing education group we talked about how important this is. You thought perhaps that the story of being unable to meet for your individual session was not a good example. I encourage you to recognize the decisions you made that set that event in motion. Notice how your emotions dictated to you what to do and how to communicate. From that point of view it was a good example and you have the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson from it that could safe you a lot of pain in the future. Discipline yourself to think clearly without allowing your emotions to become so powerful an influence. Your emotions are there to give you energy, color, fun, and power to your life experience. They are not there to make your decisions. Do you recall the metaphors I gave? Put your clear thinking and wisdom in the drivers seat of your car and your emotions in the back seat. You are all riding together in the same car but the one at the wheel is not so reactive. Another metaphor I gave was that of a singer. To sing well a singer must express her emotions but must first have discipline of her voice and technique otherwise she will sing off pitch, forget the lyrics, or get off the beat. Her emotions are important but don’t serve her well if she allows them to run the song. So, your emotions are important but must bow to the wisdom of self discipline and clear thinking.
Purpose of Life
Joseph Campbell said that life in itself has no meaning except to perpetuate itself. However, he did say that there is a purpose to our lives as human beings. Perhaps our lives have more than one sub-purpose all of which lead to the realization of our true divinity and to merge with it. Perhaps one sub-purpose is to realize that all of our life’s challenges have something to teach us and once we recognize the lessons and learn them we have fulfilled that purpose. Perhaps another sub-purpose is to give to others, to sacrifice ourselves and in the sacrifice learn the joy of giving. Perhaps another sub-purpose is to simply enjoy this outrageous creation and not be attached to it violence. Perhaps another sub-purpose may be to role model any accumulated wisdom to others and thus serve as angels on earth. We are not alone in this journey. There have been many before us to show the way. Campbell tells us this through is description of the hero’s journey. It tells us to take heart and know that our struggles are not unique and can be overcome. He tells us that there is real hope and purpose for our lives.
Embrace Life’s Losses
Joseph Campbell was a realist. He didn’t attempt to hide or soften life’s difficulties. Instead his work encouraged us to embrace life and life’s losses. He realized that loss, challenge, and difficulty is the grist for the mill. Without difficulty there is no change. Without change there is no growth. Without growth there is no way for us to connect with our source. Without connection to our source we are bereft. Without connection to our source we are lost and are driven to ever wander in search of something that comforts us but never finding that comfort. Campbell tells us to face our dragons and realize that in facing them they melt away. In facing life’s losses we transcend their perceived power to destroy us and we enter into a new level of realization. We come closer to the joy of experiencing the unconditional love and bliss of our source. That is what life and life’s challenges are about. Finding and experiencing our source.
Sound of Aum
Joseph Campbell was on a quest to learn the truths and meanings from symbols, myths, and stories over all time. In his talks with Bill Moyers in The Power of Myth series he spoke of the sound of the universe, “aum.” He said “aum” is the sound of all being, birth, coming into being, and resolution. This is once again the universal theme of the circle that Campbell and Jung spoke of. Parahamansa Yogananda, one of the great spiritual teacher of the 20th century, spoke also of the sound “aum” and encouraged vocalizing that sound as a spiritual ritual coupled with meditation. So what and why would such a sound exist? Is it the result of some vibration linked with all that is? Campbell speaks of it as to reflect a congruency in the manifestation of the circle of life. It’s like the sound of “aum” is almost like a lullaby accompanying the whole cycle of life and death. And yet “aum” is also beyond the circle of life as we know it. It is also the “song” of all that is, seen and unseen, understood and not understood, physical and spiritual, embodied and disembodied, and all of feeling and that which is yet to be and never to be perceived. It reflects the mystery of what is.
Joseph Campbell’s Courage
Joseph Campbell was an intellectual, a professor, and what he called a “maverick.” What he revealed to the world has been liberating for anyone seeking the true nature of what stories, symbols, religious texts, artwork, and other expressions throughout time reveal. In doing so Campbell risked severe judgment and rejection by many religious communities. Campbell’s work repeatedly carried the message that those who take literally what should be seen as metaphor clearly miss the message and wisdom of the ages. He called himself a “maverick” because he did not adhere to any religion but instead studied all religion and all expressions of human experience. He relied on his intuition and intellect to guide his judgments. This took courage and a commitment to finding he truth. It is easy to accept without question a literal interpretation of a text or symbol. It takes wisdom and courage to trust intuition and to do the emotional and intellectual work of defining the truth ones self. Joseph Campbell was courageous and all who truly listen to his work and message find hope and deep resonance to what feels true.
Literal Versus Metaphor
Joseph Campbell believes that millions of followers of the major world religions including Christians have taken literally in religious texts what should be taken as metaphor. I would imagine that Campbell placed himself in a contraversial position when he said this. In his interview with Bill Moyers in the Power of Myth television series Campbell explained the repeated themes he found in all cultures over all recorded time and the various ways these repeated themes were expressed. He said that the world’s great religions had the same message, the same god, and yet were at odds with one another because of the misinterpretation of the symbols. Having taken them literally instead of metaphorically they seemed to be saying different things. Campbell said that all the symbols were saying the same things: that God is not outside of ourselves but within us. According to Campbell this literal interpretation of religious symbols is the cause of many wars. To this Bill Moyers asked Campbell, “Who would die for a metaphor?” Campbell answered, “People are dying all over the place for a metaphor.” Although Campbell’s words have undoubtedly offended many, his words have been a liberating breath of fresh air for many others.
Knowingness
There are those who are true seekers of the mystery behind the mystery of life. Joseph Campbell said, “Those who know, don’t. Those who know they don’t know, do.” These words reflect the mysterious nature of reality. You can see this mystery in the world of physics. Every time there is a breakthrough in discovering the basic make up of matter there is yet revealed another mystery to uncover. It seems the closer you get the farther you get. Albert Einstein likened it to hiking up a steep mountain where at some point the trail becomes shrouded in clouds and the hiker must rely on his intuition to know where the trail is. Somehow we are prevented from seeing the truth with our conscious analytical mind and must turn to some other part of our selves to know. I have seen this same phenomenon in my work in psychotherapy. Uncovering one truth reveals the beckoning call of yet another truth to be uncovered. It is ever fascinating and does beckon you to continue in your search. But like Einstein suggest perhaps it is our intuition that will reveal to us the basic truths of nature and reality.
This Is Not Home
Repeatedly seen in Joseph Campbell’s study of myths, metaphors and symbols is the theme of transcendence, a recognition that there is something beyond our physical existence. There are hints and even direct references in his work encouraging us to look within ourselves for this transcendent experience. For example, he says that it is only in the experience in the present moment that we can experience immortality. He says it is all in you. It is not outside of you in some perceived god or deity. That god is within you. He says you are already a part of that god. It is only by looking within ourselves that we can know this. We may think that this world of which we are conscious is home. We may think it’s the only reality because that is what our senses perceive. Yet Campbell more than hints that this reality we see is not true reality. This is not home. Home is behind the five sense in the here and now. Those who have had a transcendental experience or have had a near death experience where they were conscious know this to be true. This is not home. Home is another awareness, a greater expanse of reality beyond human comprehension. Yet it exists.