Assagioli is a very “reliable” teacher amongst many “unreliable”
ones.
We may simplify the matter by using the word “crisis” to express it.
There can’t be advancement without crisis, as well as there isn’t
crisis without advancement.
To advance means to break a status of inertia (concerning the mind or the conscience).
That is why the initiatory path is a string of motion and crisis which are necessary
in order to go from a sphere of conscience (the status quo of: I am here, I am
this) to the next one (today I am this, different from before).
A while ago I gave the example of locomotive drawing carriages in order to explain
this concept.
The locomotive (the will) that draws the “train” of a complex personality
(carriages) offers a clear metaphor of the immobility, where
the only way to be broken is through the intervention of a titanic inner boost
(even by emulation) such as the Act of Will.
This is also the title of a fundamental work by Assagioli, dedicated to a will
that nothing has to do with the: I like this, I like that of the confused aspirant.
Breaking a status of quietness, though, brings crisis, which is undone through
motion.
The crisis, then, is the symptom of the impending advancement
and change.
It is a necessary symptom which must not be avoided, but that can indeed be
accelerated, purposely inducing crisis after crisis; in this
way one’s own process of change and growth is accelerated.
Crisis, though, must be measured by guiding their progression. Therefore the
function of an instructor is to explain what they are about; pointing out what
is individually useful and tolerable; suggesting times,
cadences and rhythms of the conscious, intellectual and initiatory
process.
A Master gave a correct definition: the (real) initiation is a process of fast
acceleration of processes (the short and steep way of the initiate)
which, otherwise, are faced slowly (the large way of the common conscience).
Here is the excellence of the pair Acceleration (of inner
processes) and Advancement which we must learn to acknowledge
and apply to ourselves. Furthermore, we must remember the quality of
the process of interiorization, which is another relevant factor of
advancement.
If we could start from the conscious application of these
3 aspects (acceleration, advancement and quality) we would already be halfway
through the Work.
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Q: Dear Athos, thanks for your reply... You talk about the possibility
of voluntarily inducing crisis in order to accelerate the process… but,
when distress, desperation and terror have been so extremely intense to be tolerated
by personality…
With regard to these periods of oscillation, I don’t believe in the possibility
of staying neutral, which doesn’t have much to
do with the conscious Acceptance; on the contrary, I think it is necessary to take active part
to the whole process.
Dear friend, in order to answer I had to simplify your message. When I wrote about the possibility of
inducing crisis, I didn’t think about an anarchic or autarchic method. I rather meant the method possible
through the guide of an experienced Brother which leads us to “meet” our inner ghosts, in order to free
them and be free from them, acquiring their energetic potential. Socrates talked about “demons” (positive)
and “dčmons” (negative) . Today we talk about conscious (relatively stable), sub-conscious (the
underground of personality) and super-conscious (the sky inside every human being).
I am aware of the great effectiveness of the “eastern methods” (Yoga) in the knowledge and control
of those spaces of conscience. Despite this, though, in order to avoid confusion, I keep advising all
the western researchers to undertake a “guided process” close to the ideas and language they are
familiar with. Methods of inner research have been studied for the western sphere as well (we mentioned
the Psycho-synthesis founded by Prof. Roberto Assagioli), and they are as efficient as the eastern ones.
The crisis is, after all, an emotional, therefore mental, split. It is true that it helps to grow and
to “burn karma”, but these can’t be improvised techniques. Not knowing their mechanisms, in fact,
the results might be distant and dangerous. I’ll give an example. What adult would allow a child to play
with a motorboat?
The answer is as obvious as saying that one shouldn’t try and induce crisis as an amateur.
Eventually we may end up talking about oscillations. Oscillation, of course, is the antithesis of
immobility and emotional control. Therefore I don’t see how its absolute undesirability can be denied.
Furthermore, words like inner tranquillity, self-control and detachment go towards the exact opposite
direction than the idea of unsteadiness and emotional oscillation.
Besides, we must not forget that the word “emotional plane” is the “erudite” translation of “astral plane”.
And everybody knows that astral stands for low evolution.
Fraternally
Esonet’s Editorial Staff.
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