Psychosynthesis Wisconsin

Distance Study is Postponed to 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 14:31:00 +0000

Hedi Weiler and I have decided we need to postpone the distance study of Assagioli's Height Psychology until next year. She is still recovering from her surgery and I am in the midst of moving my practice into a new place and setting. Our energies are required in those arenas at this time. We appreciate the interest and will be posting off and on on this blog in the meantime. As soon as we know when the study will start, we will post the dates here.

New Online Distance Study Begins October 4, 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 15:19:00 +0000

Sign up for a three-session distance study of two of Assagioli’s monographs on higher psychology: “Transpersonal Inspiration,” and “Symbols of Transpersonal Experience.”* You can sign up by contacting Carla Peterson at carlapeterson(at)clearwire.net.

Hedi Weiler and Carla Peterson are the group facilitator/guides. This study will consist of readings, reflection questions sent by email and posted on this blog, and conference call discussions. The conference calls will be on the dates below at these times: 2 p.m. Eastern time, 1 p.m. Central time, 12 noon Mountain time, and 11 a.m. Pacific time. For international times please see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html.

The first session on October 4, 2013 will introduce the group study process, practices to engage, questions for self-reflection, and resources for contemporary researches and writings on “higher” psychology.

The second session on October 11, 2013 will offer participants the opportunity to discuss their insights, questions, and/or experiences with their reading of “Transpersonal Inspiration,” their engagement with practices of self-reflection, and explorations of contemporary ways of talking about inspiration and transpersonal experiences.

The third session on November 1, 2013 will consist of discussion of “Symbols of Transpersonal Experience,” self-reflections by the participants and the further explorations by the group into contemporary descriptions and insights into transpersonal experiences. We will offer concluding thoughts and information about future opportunities for distance learning.

( *Transpersonal Inspiration” can be found at: http://www.psychosynthesisresources.com/NieuweBestanden/transpersonal_inspiration.pdf and “Symbols of Transpersonal Experience” at: http://www.synthesiscenter.org/articles/0211.pdf

There will be no cost for these distance-learning sessions, but contributions to the Center for Awakening will be gladly accepted! Contributions can be made online at CFA’s website www.centerforawakening.org or to Treasurer, at the address listed on the website.

International Day of Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:32:00 +0000

The International Day of Peace is September 21st, on a Friday this year. Let us exercise Good Will and commit to observing the International Day of Peace.

Some suggestions for peace activities are presented in the official website. Here's both a link and a quote from that website:

Each year, events take place all around the world for the International Day of Peace. Every Peace Day event provides an opportunity to inspire individuals and empower communities to celebrate victories for peace that have been won throughout the year, and to rededicate our commitment to work for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world all year long.
A Peace Day event can be as simple as lighting a candle or meditate on Peace on September 21. It can be as complex as organizing a Peace Concert for thousands of people. In between, there is a whole scale of events on different levels that might fit your family, group, class, or community.

Synchronicity & Good Will

noreply@blogger.com (Natasha) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Feeling most appreciative of the concept of Synchronicity right now.

Have included a topical description which I rather like.

"...The idea of synchronicity is that the conceptual relationship of minds, defined as the relationship between ideas, is intricately structured in its own logical way and gives rise to relationships that are not causal in nature. These relationships can manifest themselves as simultaneous occurrences that are meaningfully related.

Synchronistic events reveal an underlying pattern, a conceptual framework that encompasses, but is larger than, any of the systems that display the synchronicity. The suggestion of a larger framework is essential to satisfy the definition of synchronicity as originally developed by Carl Gustav Jung^"

In an appropriate touch the above comes from Wikipedia*... I say 'appropriate' given our current topic of 'Good Will' since Wikipedia was created on the premise of giving as many people as possible access to information of all kinds without charge. And also for people to share together their knowledge, so that all might grow as a result. imo a most noble concept, totally in the spirit of 'Love in Action'.

So ... back to Synchronicity. Hedi's post with the idea of Goodwill being 'Love in Action' continues to stay alive in my thoughts, making my experience fuller day-by-day. Thanks Hedi.

Quite by chance I came across this quote by Erik Erikson which was actually what I planned to share on this post. So here it is - hope you enjoy....

"We Are What We Love"

Please everyone and anyone, if you are reading this and feel some inspiration calling, feel free to post any thoughts (full or budding!) about our theme of Good Will that Carla has kicked off for us.

Would be great to hear where you're sitting with this concept and for us all to benefit from the immense wisdom I know is out there, as we connect heartfully with each other :-)

Arohanui Everyone.

^{*Thought I'd include this about Wikipedia also for anyone with an interest:}
Wikipedia (ⁱ/ˌwɪkɨˈpiːdi.ə/ or ⁱ/ˌwɪkiˈpiːdi.ə/ WIK-i-PEE-dee-ə) is a multilingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based on an openly editable model. The name "Wikipedia" is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning "quick") and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.
Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in certain cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or with their real identity, if they choose.
The fundamental principles by which Wikipedia operates are the Five pillars. The Wikipedia community has developed many policies and guidelines to improve the encyclopedia; however, it is not a formal requirement to be familiar with them before contributing.
Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting 400 million unique visitors monthly as of March 2011 according to ComScore.^[1] There are more than 85,000 active contributors working on more than 21,000,000 articles in more than 280 languages. As of today, there are 3,977,584 articles in English. Every day, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world collectively make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to augment the knowledge held by the Wikipedia encyclopedia (see also Wikipedia:Statistics.)
People of all ages, cultures and backgrounds can add or edit article prose, references, images and other media here. What is contributed is more important than the expertise or qualifications of the contributor. What will remain depends upon whether it fits within Wikipedia's policies, including being verifiable against a published reliable source, so excluding editors' opinions and beliefs and unreviewed research, and is free of copyright restrictions and contentious material about living people. Contributions cannot damage Wikipedia because the software allows easy reversal of mistakes and many experienced editors are watching to help and ensure that edits are cumulative improvements. Begin by simply clicking the edit link at the top of any editable page!
Wikipedia is a live collaboration differing from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, Wikipedia is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years. Older articles tend to grow more comprehensive and balanced; newer articles may contain misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Awareness of this aids obtaining valid information and avoiding recently added misinformation (see Researching with Wikipedia).
What Wikipedia is not circumscribes Wikipedia's scope. Further information on key topics appears below. Further advice is at Frequently asked questions, advice for parents, or see Where to ask questions. For help getting started with editing or other issues, see Help:Contents.

noreply@blogger.com (Natasha) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 01:48:00 +0000

Carla spoke recently about 2012 being an important year in so many ways ... and offered us the opportunity to explore Good Will 'together'. What a marvellous thing.

As I write I feel excited about the great potential awaiting us on this new journey. The adventure of unearthing ideas/concepts to help build our individual and collective capacity - so we're more 'able' to approach each moment with sensitivity & mindfulness.

I'm really curious to know - do others also have this experience of time speeding up too? And moments - or even longer periods - of that scattered and unfocused experience? I sure do!

Roberto suggests 'The more conflict there is, the more energy is wasted'. The idea of wasted energy really rings true for me, in my life. I'm going on record here when I say I'm committed to re-channeling my own energies more effectively, more skillfully in 2012 - for the good of one and all.

There's a wonderful phrase Roberto offers us, "Make haste slowly". Those words keep making an appearance in my mind as I sit with all this. As I explore the concept I want to acknowledge our earlier book study on the 'Act of Will', which has given/reminded me, of many skills which I've been able to utilise in this process! Tied up in this experience there's also a gradual, and ongoing, letting go and a 'grieving' for the time wasted as I've gotten caught up in the busy-ness of life and also for the reality that as one person there are limits to what I can do in any given moment.

Hedi recently spoke about Good Will as 'Love in Action'. What a truly marvellous concept. I think to myself in response 'Yes, there ARE ways I can contribute - now how can I share love with others practically?!'.

So in the spirit of love I will take up your invitation Carla and share my earlier meditations in my next post. This feels a very public place to share for a shy person like me - and I do this in the spirit of love even in the face of vulnerability...

Festival of Goodwill

noreply@blogger.com (Hedi) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Today is the Festival of Goodwill, among other names. Below is a
quote from the World Goodwill section of the Lucis Trust website.
For more information about this world wide organization see
lucistrust.org. It's very timely and comes right at a time when
Carla and Natasha are pondering this subject. Thank you
both for recognizing and following up on this much needed topic.

In Light and Love, Hedi

World Goodwill
...is working to establish right human relations through the use of the power of goodwill

The most contagious human quality which can be organised and made effective is goodwill. It has been defined as “Love in Action”. People of goodwill are potentially the richest asset in any nation, and can have tremendous influence on public opinion when properly associated and focussed. To bring in the new day, we do not need a further appraisal of the world condition based on a particular ideology or point of view. Rather, we need a deeper sense of reality based on spiritual values, and a new perception of humanity as a unit of divine life within an ordered and purposive universe.

GOODWILL IS... the touchstone that will transform the world

...a little Good Will emerges....

noreply@blogger.com (Natasha) — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:17:00 +0000

Greetings everyone

Well here we stand again at another point of transition on planet earth.

Specifically I'm speaking about the twists and turns of the seasons...June is fast approaching, bringing winter to the southern hemisphere and summer to the northern. Once more we humans get to find ways to adapt to our external climates.

What about internally though - how are we weathering the seasons within us at this time in our existence? How are we manifesting in the world? For those who are willing ... some thoughts for hearty contemplation:

1) How do you find you're personally 'doing' with this concept of having Good Will for 'self' and 'others'?

2) and how about globally, how does it feel we're going 'collectively' as the human race, as souls on a journey, as caretakers of the earth?

In 1974 Sam Keen spoke with Roberto Assagioli and during that meeting the subject of Good Will arose.

Sam Keen: 

Good will seems to belong more to religion than psychotherapy, Can’t the will be healthy without being good?

Roberto Assagioli: No. A person is always in a social 
context; he is not an isolated unit. So the more conflict there is, the 
more energy is wasted. If we are to have any deep peace it depends upon 
the harmonization of wlls. Self-centredness is deeply destructive to 
the cooperation without which a person cannot live a full life in 
community. Why should we consider good will an expendable virtue, a 
matter only for the religious? I can go even a step further. This same 
principle applies to an individual’s relation to nature and the 
universe. No person can take an arrogant stand and consider himself 
unrelated to the universe. Like it or not, man is a part of the 
universal will and he must somehow tune in and willingly participate in 
the rhythms of universal life. The harmonization and unification of the 
individual and the universal will – the Chinese identification with the 
Tao, the Stoic acceptance of destiny, or the Christian will of God – is 
one of the highest human goals, even if it is seldom realized.

So here we are - 38 years on - literally in a new millennia! And yet, I'd suggest, as a species at least, we are still grappling with the same concept. So in the spirit of 'picking up the proverbial ball' that Roberto has offered us in his words and ideas.

"How can we actively manifest Good Will in ourselves - and the world?"

more to come...

On Good Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:49:00 +0000

Natasha and I have been in an email dialog for a couple of months. We’ve reflected on her and my experience of The Act of Will book group and will projects in which we were engaged from late January to late March of this year. I had noted that 2012 seems to be/feels like an important year for many reasons. One aspect of this year for me is the growing sense that time is speeding up, and that there are many, many things competing for our time and attention. I believe getting control of personal time and tasks is increasingly important so that we can be sensitive and mindful of each moment rather than scattered and unfocused.

Natasha had identified ‘Good Will’ as important, and wrote, “How can we manifest Good Will in ourselves and in the world?” Clearly, unless we are aware of what we are doing, we will not know if what we are manifesting is Good Will or if it is merely some whim. We need to be attentive to our intentions in whatever action we undertake.

We thought about finding relevant readings that further illustrate what Good Will is, and how we develop it. We agreed to look for such readings. So far, my attention has been drawn to Lovingkindness Meditation as an example of how to develop Good Will. Practices such as Lovingkindness Meditation, expressing appreciation, practicing gratitude, all foster Good Will. Along the way I encountered a link from www.gratefulness.org to an International Symposia for Contemplative Studies. Here is the link to a wonderful presentation on empathy and compassion, http://events.powerstream.net/008/00189/2012_ISCS/SaturdayPage.html.

We also agreed to use Assagioli’s Creative Meditation focused on Good Will, and follow up on what comes to us. Natasha has done some Creative Meditation with her question about how to manifest Good Will. She has written a bit about her meditation, and I hope will post here about what came to her during the meditation and as a result of further reflecting on it.

We intend to make a number of blog posts on our exploration of how to manifest Good Will. We hope you will join us and make comments and offer suggestions for further pursuit in our exploratory efforts.

Appendix Two: Thinking and Meditation; Appendix Three: Questionnaire on the Will; Appendix Five: Differential Psychology

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:42:00 +0000

Appendix Two: Thinking and Meditation

Assagioli identifies three types of meditation here: reflective, receptive and creative. He relates thinking and meditation, emphasizing that what many or most of us call thinking is more like having thoughts that spontaneously and without control, play in our mind. We are not actually directing them to some chosen end. Meditation, he says, will help us calm and direct our thoughts so that they may effectively accomplish the thinking tasks we have set our mind to do.

In order to meditate, we need to get physically relaxed and calm, emotionally calm and tranquil and mentally recollected, turning our "mind's interest and attention inward." It will take time and persistent effort to bring the mind under control.

Reflective Meditation
Reflective meditation involves thinking about some subject, "exploring all its implications, ramifications, and meanings." As we attempt to do this, we soon realize that we are likely to fall into mental shortcuts, prejudices and to jump to conclusions. Practice will help us achieve more concentration and clarity. The objects of meditative reflection can be: psychological and spiritual qualities to which we aspire; symbols of higher qualities and integration; "seed-thoughts" such as simple statements of aspiration, or even paradoxical statements, such as Zen koans; and the Self. Reflective meditation on the Self is meant to give us the ability to distinguish between the Self and our identification with various functions and elements of the personality. We reflect on the Self, so to speak, "from above" and aim at "understanding, interpretation and evaluation of what we discover in ourselves."

Receptive Meditation
The purpose of receptive meditation is to be able to receive inspiration, messages, and guidance for action from the superconscious. For this to happen, the mind must be silent and waiting. Assagioli notes that our minds often rebel against silence and try to fill it, but if we persist, the mind will quiet. If we become "heavy" or "somnolent" we should end the meditation because there is danger that we will get messages and urges from our personal lower unconscious or from the lower collective unconscious.

Assagioli discusses the forms in which messages arrive, through "seeing" (understanding), intuition, or illumination - in which a sense of inner divinity seems to permeate oneself, nature and living beings. Another way is through "hearing," having a sense that some message has been "spoken" and that we have heard it. We feel we need to respond, allow the message to work within us. A third way of receiving a message is through the sense of "contact," of being "in touch" with the Self which brings us into a greater alignment with It, and gives us a greater sense of life and energy. The fourth way of receiving messages is in a strong "stimulus to action." We have an urge "to do a given thing," to take on certain tasks or some mission.

Assagioli makes it clear that these messages, whatever form they take, are clear at the time, but fade from awareness quickly. Therefore, we ought to register them. Registration means to deliberately write down what we have received as soon as we can, which will also help in understanding what they are about.

Sometimes, the message we receive comes at a later time, after a meditation that has not seemed particularly fruitful. It will help if we stay open to such delayed messages by maintaining "an inner attitude of watchful waiting."

Creative Meditation
Assagioli suggests that thought is powerful and creative in itself. Yet, because of our undisciplined minds and our internal conflicts and contradictions, we do not create what we would like. He says we need to understand our motives, making sure that they are good, and clarify and determine our objectives. He indicates that this current period of time is one in which new "forms" "are being built into every sphere of life." Our role in creating these new forms can be important.

The stages of creative meditation as given by Assagioli are:

1. Clear conception and precise formulation of the idea;
2. Use of the imagination, i.e., "clothing" of the idea in pictures and "suggestive" symbols;
3. Vivifying the idea with the warmth of feeling and propulsive force of desire.

The final section of this Appendix includes a rather extensive outline for meditation on the will.

Appendix Three: Questionnaire on the Will
This is a relatively short but intense and searching questionnaire on one's relationship with one's will, its qualities and aspects, and status of one's development and training of the will.

Appendix Five: Differential Psychology
In this Appendix Assagioli addresses the "angles" which psychologists might use to differentiate among people. Some psychologists use traits and factors to make these distinctions, some use various typologies, and some seem to approach individuals as individuals (Idiographic Psychology). There are many dangers in rigid typologies and ways of categorizing people and their personalities, but, Assagioli says, there are some distinctions among people that have some usefulness. For example, he writes that the differences between introversion and extroversion, in general, and on different personality levels, can help us understand and (presumably) accept the differences among us. When introversion and extroversion are applied to the four Jungian psychological functions, we can see that the personalities of introverted feeling types and extroverted sensing types, for example, might have quite different perspectives on whatever they are viewing or dealing with.

Toward the end of this Appendix Assagioli makes the point that deep understanding is different that simply "knowing about" someone. He writes that Binswanger concluded that "this understanding requires union of heart and head" which can be called "loving thinking." Finally, "in the realm of the superconscious and the Transpersonal Self, "we find the paradoxical union or integration and coexistence of the individual and of the universal."

Chapter 17: The Joyous Will; The Will Project; and Appendix One: Self-Identification Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Gaston La Touche The Joyous Festival

Chapter 17: The Joyous Will
This chapter begins with acknowledgment that the "association of will with joy may seem surprising." Since will has often been associated with forbidding and denying one self satisfaction of one's inclinations and desires, this is understandable. However, Assagioli says, "the act of willing can be and often is intrinsically joyous." He says "there is not yet a coherent psychology of joy" because, in essence, we do not have a coherent psychology of true psycho-spiritual health.

In the remainder of the chapter Assagioli examines satisfaction of the various levels of needs and resulting experiences of enjoyment or joy. Basic needs' satisfaction results in pleasure. Happiness is the "general subjective state of a person whose 'normal' needs and desires are (...) satisfied" Fulfillment of higher needs leads to joy, and "finally, the full Transpersonal Realization and even more the communion or identification with universal transcendent Reality ... (is) bliss." There are, of course, times of adjustment and struggle during which one does not experience joy, but these times are temporary. It is also possible to experience mixed feelings of joy and pain (as different subpersonalities experience different feelings). And, some people may be so focused on satisfaction of higher values that even pain is experienced as joy.

The Will Project

-Introduction-
The introduction emphasizes the importance of inner attitude and the "constant application of "good will" needed to bring about changes in the inner attitudes of people. Assagioli is especially concerned about the application of will to "the great issue of peace and war." He says that "good will automatically excludes violent conflicts and wars. It would be well to realize this strategic point and to make a campaign for good will, in schools and everywhere." Further, he advocates the higher uses of the will, Transpersonal Will and identification with Universal Will, toward "achieving true peace."

Assagioli than presents an outline of a "program of Research on the Will and Its Applications." I will not attempt to summarize that outline here. Much of it is an outline of the material in the body of The Act of Will, and some of it points to what would be involved in an expansion of the book's effort to understand and apply the will in individual and social development.

Graeme Wilson has undertaken to further fill in and expand on the outline, and to collect relevant materials related to the will on his website, www.willproject.org. His website includes references to the works of philosophers, psychologists and occultists who have written about the will.

Appendix One: Self-Identification Exercise

Identification and Disidentification

This exercise helps us to distinguish between the contents of our consciousness and consciousness itself. We usually identify ourselves, not as the "I" but as only a part of our self. "This identification with only a part of our personality ... prevents us from realizing the experience of the "I," the deep sense of self-identification, of knowing who we are. Because of our partial identifications we too often experience certain kinds of losses as a kind of "death," a "painful crisis." We must then "enter ... into a new and broader identification ... into a higher state of being." We can facilitate this "rebirth" process by a "conscious, purposeful, willing cooperation." And, we can do this by "a deliberate exercise of disidentification and self-identification.

The Identification Exercise

Participants in The Act of Will book study will recognize this exercise as the alignment process with which we begin each telephone conference call. "I have a body and I am more than my body. I have desires and I am more than my desires. I have emotions and I am more than my emotions. I have a mind and I am more than my mind. (disidentification) I am a center of consciousness and will, the personal self. And further, I am the Transpersonal Self and more. (identification)

Assagioli recommends that the full exercise as he presents it in the book be practiced daily, especially shortly after awakening, and in abbreviated form throughout the day.

Hedi Weiler provides a lovely recorded version of the exercise on the Center for Awakening website at www.centerforawakening.org/resources/meditation

Chapter 15: Planning and Programming, and Chapter 16: The Direction of the Execution

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:59:00 +0000

Chapter 15: Planning and Programming
In this chapter, Assagioli begins by discussing the importance of planning and programming the psychological dimension of one's personal life. He recommends carrying out a personal psychosynthesis and engaging in interpersonal and social psychosynthesis. Clearly, he intends to convey that planning and programming are not just for projects, but rely on the personal psychosynthesis of the one doing the planning and programming.

He then claims that the personal psychosynthesis and personal life plan depend on following the "rules and techniques" common to all planning and programming. He lists four such rules.

The first and most important rule is "to formulate ... the goal to be reached, to retain it unswervingly in mind through all the stages of execution, which are often long and complex." One essential thing in following this rule is to continue to focus on the ends to be achieved rather than to get lost in allowing the means to themselves become the ends. He says, "a vigilant and energetic will is indispensable for maintaining the means in their place, ... being master of them, while only using those that truly serve the intended purpose, and (only) to the extent they serve it."

The second rule is to consider whether an intended program can be realized. We are to examine its feasibility in terms of the "capacities, circumstances and resources"... we have "at our disposal."

A third rule in planning is to establish right cooperation with others, exploring whether others are doing something similar, and cooperating with their efforts rather than trying to duplicate them. "What are needed are the wisdom and humility to acknowledge what has already been done, or is in preparation, in the same direction as our projects, and then to cooperate ... with those who are doing or propose to do the same thing."

The fourth rule of planning is recognize, distinguish among, and properly sequence the phases of planning. The phases of planning are: formulation, programming, structuring, project-making, model or pilot project. Assagioli gives the example of a student of his who wanted to operate from different and higher motives than the materialistic ones that were driving him (he formulated the issue). The planning for the change he wanted to make involved establishing a program of increasing his awareness of how materialistic considerations influenced him, and to "choose which ones he would like to reduce". Then, structure was selected, that of making choice about motives to act upon, as awareness had increased. The project was to expand his awareness of materialistic drives. And, a pilot project was selected, doing an evening review of how he had been influenced during the day by materialistic thoughts, feelings or actions. Over time, the student was able to be more intentional about reducing materialistic motives and getting in touch his his higher values.

Assagioli says it is important to realize that what may seem to be a step-by-step process often also requires the ability to keep all the "steps" in mind at once. He compares this to mountain climbing which involves vision, foresight and attention simultaneously to the distant goal, the immediate objective and full attention to action steps. He calls this a "trifocal vision" of the "perception and retention in mind of the distant gaol and purpose; the survey of the intermediate stages which extend from the point of departure to the arrival; and the awareness of the next step to be taken." Also important are issues of timing and duration within each stage and between stages. Finally, plans must be flexible so that they can be adjusted as circumstances require.

Then Assagioli addresses the personal and transpersonal psychosyntheses, stating that "(c)areful planning and patient execution of a life plan and subplans are necessary if one is to fulfill (one's) personal existence and become all that (one) can." As each person's life plan necessarily involves the lives of others, there is also a need for interpersonal and social psychosynthesis. "Moreover, the individual life plan must be coordinated, integrated and harmonized with plans that include other people."

A Note on Social Psychosynthesis
In this section of the chapter, Assagioli considers the relationships between the individual and society. He recommends using the principles he laid out in his pamphlet, Balancing and Synthesis of Opposites, (New York, 1972). He presents a diagram of a triangle with Conformity, Adaptation, and Rebellion at the base. These are considered to be on a continuum with each other. However at the top of the triangle is the point labelled Transformation. Transformation resolves the polarity between conformity and rebellion. From a higher level one can "be an integral and effective member of society while maintaining his independence fully. This position (transformation) stands for action in and on society, in order to transform it." This statement leads into a discussion of the responsibility each person has to find some time and space, however small, to be "inwardly free."

Assagioli ends this chapter with reference to the Universal Plan, and the necessity of the individual to remain in its flow, to find their own place in the current. He says that "we can know something of it and glimpse its broad lines and especially its evolutionary direction, and thus recognize it is the direction of the greatest good." "...(W)isdom is necessary for harmoniously interweaving the individual plan in the Universal Plan; and will is need for ... proceeding on a straight course."

Chapter 16: The Direction of the Execution

"...the true and natural function of the will as this stage is to direct the execution."

(Note that these days, it would be more common to call this stage 'the direction of the implementation'.)

The will directs implementation by "taking command of and directing the various psychological functions": sensation, emotion/feeling, impulse/desire, imagination, thought, and intuition. In his analogy of driving a car, Assagioli says that before a person gets in and drives the person she or he checks the tires, gas levels, etc. The analogy in the direction of the implementation is that there is certain preparatory work in "the development and cultivation of the various psychological functions and with will-function of the self." Once we get in the car to drive, we are generally able to drive without having to painstakingly consciously focus on every movement we make, as we did when we were first learning to drive. We have integrated patterns of behavior and attention that allow us to drive and notice the scenery or carry on a conversation with someone else in the car. Similarly, if we have developed the psychological functions, our will can simply direct them in carrying out their activity. However, most of us will require conscious and focused training and strengthening of the psychological functions and practice in using them with focused awareness.

Assagioli goes on to identify and elaborate the various ways that the will helps us to use and direct each of the psychological functions.

Sensation - The will is used to bring sensations into conscious awareness and keep attention focused rather than allowing our attention to drift to distractions. It prompts us to concentrate on the "task of receiving, assimilating and integrating the messages brought in by the senses." It directs us to persist in training the power of observation.
Emotions - The will connects and relates to the emotions. Through skillful will we transmute or sublimate certain emotional energies. If the emotions are very strong, the will directs the discharge of intense energies through catharsis, symbolic satisfaction or even some degree of satisfaction. We are advised to pay attention to the level of "energy charge" of the will itself.
Imagination - First, Assagioli says, the Psychological Laws from the chapter on Skillful Will, provide us with much information about how the will can work effectively with the interactions among sensations, images and desires/impulses. He suggests the will can be engaged to systematically train the imagination so that it can form and hold all kinds of sensory images. We can also use creative imagination and the techniques of the Ideal Model. The will, therefore, has a rich field in which to work, with regard to the imaginative function.
Thought - Assagioli says that the will focuses attention on a particular problem, which the mind can examine, reflect upon, and generate possible solutions or hypotheses, and ways to test them.
Intuition - Here the will cannot exert a direct influence, and there may be an inverse relationship between the exertions of the will in this regard and the activity of the intuition. Instead, Assagioli says, the will can clear a channel of communication from the superconscious to the intuition by eliminating distractions. In addition, the will "can formulate (clear and concise) questions to be addressed to the superconscious sphere." Answers may emerge fairly quickly or may take some considerable time to appear.

Chapter 13: Deliberation, Choice and Decision, and Chapter 14: Affirmation

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Chapter 13: Deliberation, Choice and Decision

To choose is necessary because there are many goals it would be possible for us to pursue - goals towards which we have some urge. We cannot pursue them all.

We need to deliberate, to consider the possibilities rather than impulsively decide or act. The consequences of not deliberating can be harmful. Deliberation requires thinking, and, Assagioli says, "Thinking is uncomfortable and tiring; it demands concentration and requires a persistent use of the will." We must learn to think, reflect and meditate. We need to take time to think and deliberate, not let ourselves be rushed into decision/action by our drives and urges. We must actually inhibit such impulses. This, too, requires will.

Inhibiting Function of the Will
Assagioli distinguishes between inhibition of impulses and repression of impulses. Inhibition recognizes the impulse, examines it, analyzes it and determines how to deal with it, through expression at another time, transmuting it, or directing it another way.

Deliberation
Deliberation is an important process that requires seeing the issue clearly, forming alternatives and assessing likely outcomes of the various alternatives. Then, an analysis of feasibility and the timing for carrying out an alternative is made. It is also necessary to consider the possible consequences of a proposed action. This requires a sense of the way different people could respond to our words and actions. We need to be able to take the perspective of others, see from their point of view what we do or propose to do.

Inspiration and Intuition
Assagioli says that we sometimes receive ideas for actions from the higher unconscious "in the form of illuminations, inspirations, and urges to action both inner and outer." We should welcome them and also scrutinize them to be clear about their origin. We need to assess both the prompting itself and a correct way of proceeding. However, we need not be "excessively critical" which would "stifle the inspiration." Wisdom is called for. And, if we need inspiration, Assagioli says, there are "available methods for activating the superconscious and for linking it with the conscious personality." He cites receptive and reflective meditation, and dialog with the Higher Self.

Consulting with Others
When we consult with others we have to clearly formulate what we want to say about our problem or issue. The person with whom we consult will questions for us as well, which induce us to think more about the issue(s). The listener becomes a catalyst for us, their listening presence seems to make it easier to arrive at solutions or to eliminate blocks in our thinking process.

Yet their can also be difficulties when we consult others, particularly if we have not done our own part, expect too much of the person(s) we consult or rely on them without exercising critical thinking. And, if we consult with a number of people, their advice can conflict.

A consultant can help in several ways:

to help define the problem
to remind us to take multiple perspectives and keep them in mind when an issue is one of relationship(s)
to fully consider the material and psychological consequences - the causes and effects - of our (proposed) actions
to sort out and interpret "impressions and indications...received from the unconscious and especially superconscious urges and intuitions."

Collective Deliberation

Assagioli clearly indicates that collective decision-making is preferable to undemocratic, authoritarian decision-making. However, he also names some pitfalls of collective deliberations: individuals' preconceptions, individual and group prejudices, and "not least, the obstinacy and pique aroused by pride ... induce some to attempt to impose their personal opinions without truly listening to the ideas of others."

He suggests that the fewest possible people be involved in actual decision-making, but that they consult with others. Another help is to put time limits on both discussion and making the decision. And, finally, decision-makers should observe a rule that "demands that those who make the decisions assume all responsibility for them, as a group no less than as individuals."

Individual Differences

Assagioli describes two kinds of personality tendencies related to decision: the impulsive and the indecisive. He offers remedies for the impulsive: calm deliberation, inhibition, and meditation. Indecisive people are often introverted people who have feelings of inferiority. Other causes for indecisiveness include fear of making mistakes and "unwillingness to assume responsibility." Assagioli states, "...to decide is inevitable" and those who are indecisive have to develop the courage to make mistakes. Two other psychological types are those who are obstinate and those who are changeable. Obstinacy is a result of rigidity and is sometimes confused with having a strong will. Those who are changeable need to recognize that there "are unchanging laws governing the evolution of life, and our decisions can be taken and upheld in harmony with them."

Choice

When we decide we choose. We prefer one thing/way/course over another, which means we must relinquish others. We often dislike having to give up one alternative even though we decided to choose another. Or, we may try to refuse to choose so we can "have our cake and eat it too." That, of course, never works. The remedy is to "foresee in the clearest possible manner what effects the choice will have..." both immediately and in the future. And, then, we courageously make our decision.

We can train ourselves to choose well and wisely by practicing with smaller and less important decisions. We can go on to practice with matters of greater importance. Assagioli cautions, "It is also important to realize that if one wants to accomplish an aim to which a value is attributed, one must also will the means of pursuing it, however unpleasant and painful they may be." We can affirm, moreover, that "It is worth the effort."

Chapter 14: Affirmation

This chapter begins with a consideration of times when we can benefit from working through all the stages of the act of will. Assagioli urges us to examine ourselves in relation to each stage of the act of will to see if we typically get stuck in one or another stage. He writes, "From a study and understanding of the six stages we can learn how to use our will, where we typically fail, and what exercises to use to overcome our deficiencies."

"Affirmation is a pivotal stage in the act of willing." It gives power to our movement into achievement of our goal. "The word 'power' should be well-noted; it means two things: power in the sense of capacity, and power as potency, or energy."

"Volitional affirmation" is, he says, a synthesis of faith and conviction. Faith perceives intuitively the reality of what is not yet manifested. It is also "faith in oneself" - that is to say, the real Self, "what we are essentially." Conviction is mental, conscious, a recognition that the willed action/goal is rational, in harmony with truth. The combination or synthesis of faith and conviction "results in certainty."

Affirmation needs to have a high 'psychological voltage,' to be powerful and intense. Affirmation must take on the quality of "command," an "inner knowing," an "authority" that will be exercised. Such authority is to "be exercised particularly on the psychological energies and functions within us that we need to use to achieve our purpose."

The Techniques of Affirmation

Use "words of power." They should be short, clear, 'pithy' words or phrases, written and/or said aloud. E.g. "think of the goal" or "it is worth it"
Use images - "use the image or vision of what is wanted as if it were already accomplished." Or, use and images that is a "symbol of what we will to realize"
Use gestures or body movements, or perform acts that "directly or symbolically express what is to be achieved"
Use repetition of affirmations: at definite times; in a series; with variations in their form

There are some cautions to be observed in using affirmations. One is to make sure of our motives, that they are good. Another is to avoid sparking "contrary reactions on the part of others" by communicating calmly and without aggressiveness. Hurry and impatience about results will not be helpful. If resistances arise within us, we can learn from them and work through them.

Assagioli recommends that when we use inner affirmations directed towards our psychological functions, we disidentify from the particular psychological function and identify with the personal self - the center of consciousness and will. Two essential affirmations help us remember and act from a "distance," "above," from a higher perspective. They are:

I AM A WILL; I AM A CONSCIOUS, POTENT, DYNAMIC WILL.

I AM A LIVING, LOVING, WILLING SELF.

An important point is made at the close of this chapter. Assagioli writes, "much of what is said in this book faces two ways at once: one toward the use of the will to accomplish a variety of purposes, the other toward using the will to train the will itself. ... Every act of the will trains the will and each bit of training allows for further acts of will."

Chapter 11: From Intention to Realization, and Chapter 12: Purpose, Evaluation, Motivation, Intention

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Chapter 11: From Intention to Realization

The first paragraph of this chapter indicates that understanding the act of will itself is necessary for beginning effective training of the will. As well, engaging in act-ion is part of the training of the will, which can lead to the will's "progressive ascent through the attainment of strength, skill, goodness and universality." Carrying out acts of will relies on understanding the stages of the act of will, and also increases the capacities of the various aspects of will.

There are six stages or phases in the act of will. They are linked, and the outcome of willed actions is dependent on the strength of each link. The stages are:

Purpose (goal), Evaluation (valuing), Motivation, Intention
Deliberation
Choice and Decision
Affirmation
Planning - Working out a Program
Direction of Execution of the Plan

Assagioli notes that individuals may have difficulties with any of the stages, and may, depending on the individual and his or her circumstances, get stuck in any stage of the act of will. Yet, if the individual understands the stages, he or she can analyze where s/he gets stuck. Then s/he can consciously strengthen his or her ability to work through that step.

Chapter 12: Purpose, Evaluation, Motivation, Intention

Four elements are grouped in the first stage of the act of will: purpose, evaluation (valuing), motivation and intention. Assagioli says these four elements are necessarily interconnected. We often become conscious of one element first and then become aware of the others.

We can become aware of much through self-observation, he says, but when it comes to motivation, there are both conscious and unconscious dimensions. Some motives originate in unconscious drives or urges, and the conscious mind will then rationalize a desired action. Assagioli notes that "there is almost alwas a combination of the two (conscious and unconscious motivations) in very variable proportions." That is why we need to analyze our motivations accurately, either through self-analysis or through working with a therapist or educator.

In the process of addressing increasing awareness of motives, Assagioli notes that his technique of "acting as if" is sometimes looked upon as being inauthentic or false. In reality, he says, it is a leaning toward acting in alignment with our real will rather than acting upon so-called lower motives. He emphasizes we can do this with integrity. "This is due to the psychological multiplicity that exits in each of us." If, however, the "lower" motives have a lot of energy, we are best served if we do not deny or repress them, but instead, discharge, transmute or sublimate them.

Assagioli recommends distinguishing between urges or drives, and reasons. Drives or urges can be either conscious or unconscious. They spontaneously move us in the direction or their fulfillment. On the other hand, reasons are conscious, "and have a cognitive, mental aspect." Because of our multiplicity, at times our motives are in conflict with each other. And yet, sometimes lower and higher motives are actually in synch with each other, too. A Talmudic saying, here quoted by Assagioli, points to being able to utilize even our lower motives, "Serve God both with your bad impulses and with your good impulses." Having motivations in synch allows us to "direct(...) all the biopsychological tendencies to higher purposes and creative activities." The advantages of enlisting lower motives in service to higher ones are listed:

we avoid condemnation and repression of the lower drives into the unconscious
we can use the "potent" energies of lower drives in productive rather than destructive ways, or balance them with an opposing tendency
the "very energies themselves become transmuted and sublimated through being redirected to higher ends."

Assagioli advocates that we keep in mind a relative assessment of motives. Whether they are "higher" or "lower" we can make no final judgments about the worth of the motives of others (or ourselves, perhaps). Yet, he says, we make judgments all the time, in the sense of evaluation. There are two different meanings of 'judgment' at work, he explains. The first kind of judgment is moral judgment; the second kind is discriminatory judgment - being able to discriminate on the bases of many and diverse elements.

He further examines the situation of being motivated by so-called lower motives and claims that these do not necessarily result in an act (product) that is objectively of an inferior quality. Assagioli says that such lower motives can actually help us move forward in our "higher" aims. He gives us as an example, the use of both a "stick" (shame) and a "carrot" (reward) method that relies on some lower motivation to help us with a higher aim. The important thing is "to make sure that the lower motives are aligned with the higher motives, and that it is these that are in control and determine the action."

Assagioli summarizes this stage of the act of will, outlining what a person needs to do to complete this stage:

"That person must get his goals or purposes clearly in view."
"Then he must evaluate his goals"
"he will examine his motives trying to become aware of the unconscious ones"
"motives must be aroused and used"
"Psychological energies must be set into motion and used with clear intent in the service of a higher good; must be mustered and combined so that the will can effectively proceed to action that will lead from goals to accomplishment."

The above set of internal actions lead to zest which is needed to make "deliberate examination of the ways...to actually achieve a given aim." Thus, the first stage engages the "dynamism of (one's) motives," without which one will "remain only a dreamer instead of the doer of willed action."

Chapter 9: The Transpersonal Will, and Chapter 10: The Universal Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:34:00 +0000

Hubble photograph

Chapter 9: The Transpersonal Will

In this chapter, Assagioli refers to the 'foundation' and 'framework' that transpersonal psychology provides. He cites Maslow's observation that many who have achieved success in personal life and development reach a point of dissatisfaction. They have been able to satisfy the first two levels of need, which include basic psychological needs for survival, and personal needs such as belonging and love, and self-actualization.

Many years ago, I heard a song, "Is that all there is..." which, for me, captured the essence of the inner desire for something more. That desire can emerge in both those who are very healthy, and also in those who have needs from the first two levels that have not been met. In agreement with Maslow's identification of Meta-needs, Assagioli offers the examples of Viktor Frankl and Leo Tolstoy, who learned the "importance of the need for understanding the meaning of life." Another example is that of people in concentration camps whose most basic needs were not met, yet survived. Frankl himself, survived because of his connection to his life's meaning.

Assagioli thus identifies a "third and higher level" of the "constitution of man" - that is, "the area of the superconscious, which culminates in the Transpersonal Self." The superconscious involves higher needs, and these in turn, evoke the will to meet them. The Buddha is a prime example of the will to life meaning. He devoted years of study and practice until he achieved Enlightenment and could show others the way through the maze of what Suzuki called 'Ignorance.'

Being subject to such dissatisfaction, to needs we do not know how to satisfy, creates anxiety and a desire to evade it. There are two basic responses to this desire to evade anxiety caused by dissatisfaction with life and the search for meaning, says Assagioli. The first is an attempt to find some kind of primitive immersion into a collective object or group. The other evasive response is to seek transcendence by "rising above" ordinary consciousness. Both involve attempts to leave individual consciousness behind. But, Assagioli says, neither of these efforts to assuage the existential anxiety involved with questions about life's meaning will be successful. "So we need to face courageously and willingly the requirements for transcending the limitations of personal consciousness without losing the center of individual awareness." And, he says, "this is possible because individuality and universality are not mutually exclusive; they can be united in a blissful synthetic realization."

Assagioli acknowledges that sometimes people spontaneously experience "sudden, unexpected illumination." He says that in those cases the Transpersonal Self exerts a "pull from above." There is a Transpersonal Will operating from the superconscious level, which acts to exert that pull. The personal self experiences this as a "pull or call." Such experiences of being pulled or called have been variously described by writers on consciousness, by poets and mystics. Assagioli goes on to say that there can be a struggle between the Transpersonal Will and the will of the personal self. The stages of such struggles and crises and their resolution are discussed in his book, Psychosynthesis.

In addition to the search for life's meaning or for enlightenment, there are other responses to the call or urge to transcendence. They are transcendence through transpersonal love; action; beauty, or Self-realization. He says, "These ways of transcendence can also be expressed in terms of will, the fundamental will to transcend personality limitations through union with someone or something greater and higher." In each of these ways, there is the union of will and love.

Assagioli then goes on to describe in more detail what the various kinds of transcendence can entail. In the case of love, that love can be romantic union, or altruistic love, or the mystical love of God/the Divine. Transcendence through transpersonal action through use of the Transpersonal Will, even at the cost of the person's own survival needs can stem from devotion to an ideal or a cause. Transcendence through beauty is characteristic of many artists, who are impelled to create because of the Transpersonal Will, although they may also exercise their personal will in concert with it. Transcendence through Self-realization "means giving particular value to those emerging potentialities which belong to the sphere of the superconscious, and have their origin in the Transpersonal Self." Self-realization is contrasted with self-actualization. Assagioli maintains that someone can be 'self-actualized' without necessarily having any "higher motivation." Self-realization means transcendence of the ordinary human experience and can be seen as almost god-like or divine, but is still human potential, not something supernatural, as Maslow pointed out.

There are three stages of Self-realization, Assagioi writes. They are:

activation and expression of the potentialities residing in the superconscious
direct awareness of the SELF which culminates in the unification of the consciousness of the personal self, or 'I,' with that of the Transpersonal Self
the communion of the Transpersonal Self with the Universal Self, and correspondingly of the individual will with the Universal Will.

Hubble photograph

Chapter 10: The Universal Will

This chapter begins with a reflection on what Universal Reality is and is not. Assagioli says that one difficulty in addressing the issue of Universal Reality and Universal Will is that in the past such discussions occurred in the context of religious belief, which is now rejected by many people. Even people who accept religious understandings "live as if God did not exist." He says there is another way to approach Reality, that of the intuition. It is possible to have an "intuitive, direct experience of communion with the ultimate Reality."

A second approach is that of the "perception of analogies" and an appreciation of the "essential unity of all aspects of Reality." An example is that water is basically the same whether it is seen as a small drop of dew, an ocean or a piece of ice, a snowflake or water vapor. Human consciousness can be gradually expanded, Assagioli claims, to "experience some of those wondrous mysteries," that is, of the identity of human and Divine, of the fact that there is only the One Life we all share. Expanded consciousness, however, does not mean that the human mind can comprehend all the "wonder and mysteries of the cosmic manifestation."

There are "successive degrees" of being dis-identified from our "various psychological elements" and existentially experiencing conscious "Being - ... being a living self." He shows three diagrams of experiential realization of the relationship between the SELF and the individual psyche. In the first diagram, the energies of the SELF are "bent on influencing the whole man (person) by radiation from and through the superconscious level." In the second diagram, the activities of the SELF are distributed to show that they are tending rather equally between the personality and Reality. "(T)he subject has some realization of his participation in a universal state of Being, while preserving at the same time a vivid, even sharpened sense of individual identity." The third diagram shows that the radiation of the SELF is mostly toward transcendent Reality. Yet, even in this case, "the sense of individuality is not wholly lost."

In the last few paragraphs of this chapter, Assagioli extends the analogical discussion. He asserts that all human love participates in some way, or is an expression of "a universal principal of LOVE." Likewise individual will and Universal Will are related. "The harmonization, communion, unification and fusion of the two wills has been - and is - the deep aspiration, and ... the highest ... need of humanity." "It means tuning in and willingly participating in the rhythms of Universal Life." Mystics have written of their struggles and their movement towards unification of the individual and Universal Will. Assagioli quotes two of them, Dante and Christ.

Dante - "My will and wish were now by love impelled, The love that moves the sun and all the other stars."

Christ - "Not my will, but thine be done" and "I and the Father are one."

Chapter 7: The Good Will, and Chapter 8: Love and Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:19:00 +0000

The Good Will
In chapter seven, Assagioli turns his attention to the interpersonal, social context. He discusses the fact that humans do not live in isolation and must interact in personal and social relationships. He emphasizes the importance of the Will for the "many attempts (that) are being made to replace competition with cooperation, conflict with arbitration and agreement, based on an understanding of right relations between groups, classes and nations." He points out that to arrive at "harmonization" of the wills of those concerned with any particular effort, individual wills must discipline themselves and choose aims that are "consistent with the welfare of others and the common good of humanity."

The individual accomplishes the tasks of such discipline and choice-making by eliminating obstacles and actively developing and expressing a good will. Selfishness presents a significant obstacle. It can be countered by skillful use of the will. Moreover, good will must be mobilized to give energy to make the effort. Another obstacle is self-centeredness, lack of understanding another's perspective and insistence on one's own point of view. Such lack of understanding is itself an obstacle and requires "the intention to understand and also the relinquishing of ... self-centeredness ...". Assagioli says that humanistic psychology provides people with the means for increasing their understanding of others. Humanistic psychology through presents knowledge of how humans are constituted, how humans vary individually and as groups, and promote understanding and expansion of empathy. Empathy is "the projection of one's consciousness into that of another being. ... (A)pproaching him or her with sympathy, with respect, even with wonder, as a "Thou" and thus establishing a deeper inner relationship." Deepening empathy results in a wider and greater appreciation of the "wonder and mystery of human nature." We become aware that human nature involves conflicts and suffering, and a core of goodness and possibility for change in everyone.

With that understanding, Assagioli claims, ...(W)e are induced to drop the ordinary attitude of passing judgment on others. Instead a sense of wide compassion, fellowship and solidarity pervades us." We can both accept the be-ing of others, and also their potential for becoming. We become aware that we have some responsibility for how we influence others, as well. "And the more we are aware of this, the more we can see to it that our influence is beneficent and constructive." And this hinges on our intention. "The good will is ... a will that chooses and wants the good."

Love and Will
Chapter eight begins with the claim that, "One of the principal causes of today's disorders is the lack of love on the part of those who have will and the lack of will in those who are good and loving." From this point, Assagioli explores the types of love: love directed toward oneself; maternal and paternal love; love between men and women; fraternal love, altruistic love; and humanitarian love; impersonal love; and love of God.

Some "observations ... about the general nature of the most important relationships between love and will" follow. As he implied earlier, Assagioli says that usually, love and will are not in balance, but are most often found in inverse relationship. He points out that love is attractive and magnetic and outgoing, while will is more "dynamic" and has a tendency to be "affirmative, separative, and domineering." The differences can lead to opposition of love and will. To love well, is an art that requires use of will.

"To love well calls for all that is demanded by the practice of any art, indeed of any human activity, namely, an adequate measure of discipline patience and persistence. All these we have seen to be qualities of the will." Good loving and good willing both require knowledge about human beings, which is obtained through humanistic psychology. (See above.) After a certain amount of knowledge is obtained, three methods can be undertaken that will lead to "the harmonization and unification of love and will." The three methods are: developing the weaker of love and will, such that both are available; awakening and manifesting the higher aspects of both love and will; and, operating them together in alternation so that each arouses and reinforces the other.

Developing the weaker of love and will means that "emotional types...must see to the progressive development of the will and its increasingly active employment" and "volitional types ... have to take particular care that the quality of love tempers and counterbalances it employment, rendering it harmless and constructive." The will training might consist in "cultivation of aspects in which it may be deficient." This may mean that the person has to overcome inertia or resistance. Where love needs to be strengthened, fear may need to be addressed.

Awakening and manifesting the higher aspects of love and will requires that we first of all recognize that there are lower and higher aspects of both. Compassion is a higher form of love than possessiveness is, for example. And, domination is a lower form of will than directing the will towards non-ego-involved and constructive ends.

Gradual fusion of love and will and their resultant synergy takes place over time, is part of the whole process of psychosynthesis, and "anyone who sets himself to practice it soon realizes how difficult it is."

The Principle and Technique of Synthesis
Assagioli says that achieving "a synthesis between love and will demands much skill in action." Among other things, it "calls for persistent vigilance, for constant awareness from moment to moment." This kind of 'mindfulness' "makes possible the active intervention and commitment on the part of the self, who is not only an observer, but also a will-er, a directing agent of the play of the various functions an energies." To bring about the synthesis (not a compromise, but a "higher unity endowed with qualities that transcend those of either") wisdom is essential. Wisdom works by regulating from a higher level, that of the Transpersonal Self, which is "a higher unifying center of awareness and power." The process of transpersonal psychosynthesis "constitutes the high effort, the central drama of man, who, either consciously or unconsciously, aspires to this goal, or is pushed toward it by his inability to find lasting satisfaction or a true peace until he has attained it."

Chapter 5: The Skillful Will: Psychological Laws and Chapter 6: Practical Applications of Skillful Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:03:00 +0000

Chapter Five - The Skillful Will: Psychological Laws

Assagioli begins chapter 5 by identifying two mistakes people make about the will. One is that using the will means using a kind of force to oppose other psychological functions, such as desire or imagination. The other mistake is to abandon the will and allow whatever happens to happen. He then goes on to describe the skillful will, that aspect of will that has "the ability to develop that strategy which is most effective and which entails the greatest economy of effort." It does this by stimulating, regulating and directing other psychological functions: sensation, emotion/feeling, impulse/desire, imagination, thought and intuition.

In the section on "The Psychological Elements" Assagioli presents his famous star diagram.

He discusses the relationships among the psychological functions, distinguishing between those that are "spontaneous" and those that can be influenced or directed by the will.

Then he discusses the nature and role of the unconscious, which has two parts. One part is conditioned. It is 'set' and is not easily influenced. The other is more flexible; it is available for new impressions and connections. Interestingly, Assagioli calls this the "plastic" part - and brain plasticity is currently being researched intensively. Impressions that are made in the unconscious, do not just disappear or sit there, they act in the unconscious. We can use this fact to our advantage, Assagioli says. He provides ten psychological laws that when observed, allow us to develop and use our will skillfully.

"The Ten Psychological Laws"

Law 1 – Images or mental pictures and ideas tend to produce the physical conditions and the external acts that correspond to them.

The will can be used purposefully and consciously by the individual to choose, evoke, and concentrate on the images and ideas that will help to produce the actions (s)he desires.

Law 2 – Attitudes, movements, and actions tend to evoke corresponding images and ideas; these, in turn (according to the next law) evoke or intensify corresponding emotions and feelings.

...Through conscious and purposeful movements, one can evoke and strengthen positive and desired inner states. e.g. mudras

Law 3 – Ideas and images tend to awaken emotions and feelings that correspond to them.

...The centrally located will can mobilize the energy of the emotions and feelings through the use of appropriate ideas and images. e.g. “evocative words”

Law 4 – Emotions and impressions tend to awaken and intensify ideas and images that correspond to or are associated with them.

... vicious and virtuous circles -- feedback processes

Law 5 – Needs, urges, drives, and desires tend to arouse corresponding images, ideas, and emotions.

... wishful thinking and rationalization

Law 6 – Attention, interest, affirmations, and repetitions reinforce the ideas, images, and psychological formations on which they are centered.

Attention makes images and ideas more exact and clearer

Interest increases the prominence of ideas and images, making them seem larger and of longer duration

Affirming images and ideas gives them more force and effectiveness

Repetition drives in the idea or image and makes it penetrate more deeply, sometimes creating almost an obsession

Law 7 – Repetition of actions intensifies the urge to further reiteration and renders their execution easier and better, until they come to be performed unconsciously.

This is the way habits are formed. “Will and intellect can form habits of thought and will. We are responsible for forming our habits and even when acting according to habits we are acting freely.” William James

Law 8 – All the various functions, and their manifold combinations in complexes and subpersonalities, adopt means of achieving their aims without our awareness, and independently of, and even against, our will.

We can “seed” our unconscious...

Law 9 – Urges, drives, desires, and emotions tend and demand to be expressed.

“Drives and desires are the active, dynamic ... springs behind every human action.” Assagioli Sometimes we need to find harmless and/or constructive means of expression for these, as to repress them sends them into the physical or they “come out sideways”.

Law 10 – The psychological energies can find expression: a. directly (discharge – catharsis) b. indirectly, through symbolic action c. through a process of transmutation.

Regarding direct expression – the will needs to deliberate, choose, and regulate the expression

Regarding indirect expression – means of symbolic expression can be chosen, such as physical exercise, using objects, or writing

Regarding transmutation, there are several ways and means:

Elevation – transformation into a “higher” value
Purification – of motives and intent
Interiorization – transmuting a “lower” quality to a “higher” one, eg. pride to a sense of inner dignity
Extension – ripple the energies outwards, eg. self-love to love of family, community, etc.
Outer Expression – crystallizing a value into action, chosen purposefully

The Act of Will. Roberto Assagioli.

Chapter Six - Practical Applications of the Skillful Will

In this chapter are presented some specific psychological techniques for applying skillful will.

I. Realizing the Value of the Will. This technique was discussed in chapter two as well. It relies on imagination to spark desire and emotion to increase the strength of one's will.

II. Technique of Substitution. Energy follows from giving attention, which has a tendency to increase interest. Thus we can give attention to a substitute for an unwanted thought or behavior, and thereby shift our energy to the new thought or behavior, reducing the pull of the old one.

III. Psychological Breathing and Feeding. We can pay attention to and choose our "psychological environment" to a much greater extent than we usually do. By withdrawing our attention to the "poisons" of greed, violence, fear, and depression we tend to diminish these in the inner and outer worlds. Through cultivation of positive qualities that counter these poisons we help ourselves and the world.

IV. The Technique of Evocative Words. Assagioli points out that words will evoke "the state of mind, the physical state, and the acts that correspond to (them)". Attention and repetition reinforce the image or idea, and an unconscious activation of what is signified by the word occurs. This means that simply seeing a word that signifies a desired quality will tend to move one toward acting with that quality. We can amplify this in various ways by concentrating on the word, writing it repeatedly, viewing it in poster-sized print, chanting or singing it, etc. Yet, for some people, a particular word may evoke a resistance, ambivalence or other negative reaction, so we have to be careful to notice such resistance and skillfully work with or around it.

V. The "Acting As If" Technique. In some 12-step programs this technique is summarized as "fake it until you make it." By changing our behavior, facial expression, tone of voice, even our costumes, we can find our internal state changing. More recent work done on facial expression and emotion validates Assagioli's comments about how putting on a smile can affect one's mood, or how imitating another person's facial expression can give entry into their emotional world. Assagioli gives many interesting examples from the lives of people such as the French general Turenne who "marched resolutely in front of his troops going into battle" which gave him a reputation for courage. He acted as if he had it, and so inspired his troops. In this section Assagioli also addresses dealing with very strong fears by working to desensitize them or to gradually build up a tolerance for the activity that generates such fear or reluctance.

Chapter 3: The Qualities of the Will and Chapter 4: The Strong Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Here is a definition of ‘Quality’ from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quality

quality [ˈkwɒlɪtɪ]

n pl -ties

1. a distinguishing characteristic, property, or attribute

2. the basic character or nature of something

3. a trait or feature of personality

4. degree or standard of excellence, esp a high standard

5. (formerly) high social status or the distinction associated with it

6. (Music, other) musical tone colour; timbre

7. (Philosophy / Logic) Logic the characteristic of a proposition that is dependent on whether it is affirmative or negative

8. (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) Phonetics the distinctive character of a vowel, determined by the configuration of the mouth, tongue, etc., when it is articulated and distinguished from the pitch and stress with which it is uttered

9. (modifier) having or showing excellence or superiority a quality product

[from Old French qualité, from Latin quālitās state, nature, from quālis of what sort]

Chapter 3 The Qualities of the Will

This paragraph is a very short reprise of chapters one and two. In chapter one, the Will is presented as the dynamic “inner power” that decides, chooses, and persists in doing “what is to be done.” It is intimately tied to the core of the personality, the self. In chapter two Assagioli explains that the qualities of the will are the modes of expression of the-will-in-action.

Chapter Three explores the characteristic ways in which the will in action expresses itself, as exemplified by great and smaller ‘willers.’ Assagioli provides seven sets of such characteristics.

1. Energy – Dynamic Power – Intensity

This dimension of the Will is clearly associated with the aspect of will Assagioli calls strong will. The “power element” is often quite necessary, but is not sufficient for acting either with skillful or good will. And, sometimes, Assagioli says, the will, especially under the influence of the higher aspects of the Transpersonal Will, can act without effort. Assagioli points out that the energy, power, intensity element of the will can be and is experienced when we meet with opposition to acting as we will. Then, he says, we experience the intensity of our will.

2. Mastery – Control – Discipline

This dimension is related to the quality of energetic power. It is essential in training to be able to do something, for example, play a musical instrument, and to acquiring the skills one needs to accomplish some goal. Assagioli discusses discipline – out of favor in the 1970’s, and inhibition.

3. Concentration – One-Pointedness – Attention – Focus

Assagioli states that this essential quality of the will comes into play very strongly in the skillful will aspect. His quotation from Ramacharaka’s Raja Yoga is both delightful and challenging.

4. Determination – Decisiveness – Resoluteness – Promptness

Assagioli relates this quality of will to the stage of Determination, in which the need to decide is addressed and resolved in the stage of Decision. This quality is also needed in the stage of Direction of the Execution of a planned act or course of action.

5. Persistence – Endurance – Patience

My mother would have called this quality or set of qualities “stick-to-it-iveness.” This quality keeps the willer steadfast through long, even seemingly fruitless endeavors, trials and tribulations. Sometimes, as in the case of Viktor Frankl, this quality is expressed in heroic measure.

6. Initiative – Courage – Daring

This quality occupies a middle ground between requiring “full and complete security” on the one hand, and on the other foolhardy risk-taking dare deviltry.

7. Organization – Integration – Synthesis

Assagioli says about this dimension of the will that it “operates in various ways. First as an inner synergy, coordinating the various psychological functions; it is the unifying force which tends toward, and enables one to achieve, personal psychosynthesis. It is also active at the transpersonal level and works toward the unification of the personal center of consciousness, the “I” or ego, with the Transpersonal Self, leading to the corresponding harmonious cooperation of the personal will with the Transpersonal Will (transpersonal or spiritual psychosynthesis).

Chapter Four – The Strong Will

Chapter Four presents a number of exercises to strengthen the will. The first exercise Assagioli presents is to use memory and imagination in reflection on what the lack of strength of will has cost you, followed by reflection on what the advantages a strong will would bring to you, and concludes with imagining and visualizing “yourself as you will be when you have attained inner and outer mastery.” He strongly suggests writing down in some detail the specific details of the first two reflections. Another exercise is to read material about people who have exercised strong will, and books and articles also by writers who write to awaken “inner energies.”

Once motivation is aroused by the first two exercises, the next exercises presented will strengthen the will through exercising it for the sake of strengthening it; through the medium of physical exercise; and through approaching daily life as an opportunity to exercise the will.

In the last few paragraphs of this chapter, Assagioli dispenses some advice I really like. He writes in relation to using the will to alternate between periods of activity and rest, “An ordered rhythm in our activities generates harmony in our being, and harmony is a universal law of life.” This leads into two other counsels. One is to harness other drives or impulses in service of the will, when one lacks the strong will one is trying to develop. He says pride, ambition, or play can be strong incentives and the will can use them. The other counsel is to take the attitude that opposition from others or difficulties in relationships offer us opportunities, the “parallel bars,” on which our will can exercise.

Some Questions for Reflection

How would you assess your own current state of will vis a vis the qualities of the will Assagioli presents?

Which quality of your will was especially present/absent this week in relationship to your project?

Did you try any of the exercises to strengthen your will?. If so what did you learn?

Why does RA encourage us to "work in silence"? Is this easy or difficult for you?

The Act of Will Book Study - Now Underway - Chapters One and Two

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:09:00 +0000

The assigned reading for this first week is Appendix Four, and Chapters One and Two of The Act of Will. Appendix Four's title is "Historical Survey." In these few pages, Roberto Assagioli summarizes "briefly some of the more significant views of those who have dealt with the subject of the will." Beginning with Patanjali, moving through theologians and philosophers such as Augustine, Duns Scotus and Leibniz, Assagioli points out that they held the will as being essential to human being and action. He goes on to discuss some psychologists' conceptions of the will, asserting that many psychologists have not been clear about what the will consists in, whether it is conscious or unconscious, or originates in one or another psychological function. And some have denied the existence of the will altogether, in favor of asserting a philosophy of determinism. In the work of humanistic, existential and transpersonal psychologists, Assagioli finds greater acceptance of the importance of the will, some interest in research within a broader and "more refined" scientific method, and an openness to the idea that the will can also relate to a transpersonal dimension of experience.

Chapter One situates The Act of Will in contemporary culture. Assagioli describes the strained quality of much of life in these times, its frantic pace, and the multiplicity of demands and responsibilities faced by contemporary humans. He states that disparity has been increasing between these external demands and the degree of internal strength and resilience to meet them. This creates more disturbance, discouragement and frustration. He describes two ways of meeting this situation. One is by simplifying external life to the extent possible, and the other is by strengthening the "inner powers". There are limits to the ability to simplify. Strengthening the inner powers is essential and in this, the will is foundational. "There are two reasons for this: the first is the will's central position in man's personality ... his very self. The second lies in the will's function in deciding what is to be done, in applying all the necessary means for its realization and in persisting in the task in the face of all obstacles and difficulties." The chapter ends with the same thought that ends Appendix Four, "Therefore I believe that the right procedure is to postpone all intellectual discussions and theories on the subject, and begin by discovering the reality and the nature of the will through its direct existential experience."

I am struck by how well Assagioli was able to see the then-contemporary culture in which he lived. If anything, the concerns he expressed about the tension, the exhausting demands, responsibilities and pace of life, have only been magnified 30 years later. Now as never before, ability to focus, to attend and to sort through the magnitude of what we face is eroded by a deluge of fragments of information, images and sensory overload. Now more than ever humans need to cultivate the capacities of will as a dynamic regulating, integrating dimension of the self.

Chapter Two begins the description of what is an existential experience of the will. It occurs in three phases, Assagioli says: recognizing that the will exists; realizing that I have a will; and discovering that I am a will. He describes some ways that discovery of the will can come about. He discusses resistances to experiential exploration and development of the will. These are related to misunderstanding of the nature of the will, human inertia, and unwillingness to exert the effort or pay the price to develop the capacities of will. However, with some effort, a person can begin to understand that she or he has a will that is intimately tied to his or her own self. Unlike an earlier phase in which consciousness is identified with the contents of consciousness, when a process of self-identification is engaged, self-consciousness strengthens, and consciousness is no longer identified with its contents.

As one begins to understand that there is a very close relationship between the personal self (the 'I') and the will, one becomes aware of the need to understand just what that relationship is. One wants to know how to increase and consolidate the existential experience of 'I' and will. Assagioli presents the famous "star diagram" to explicate the set of relationships among personal self, will, and psychological functions. "Through the will, the I acts on the other psychological functions, regulating and directing them." Then he goes on to assert that there is a Transpersonal Self and a Transpersonal Will, which "is a function of the Transpersonal Self." He presents the well-known "egg diagram" to show these relationships. More on this in a later chapter.

Next, Assagioli describes the aspects or facets of the will, and states that each can be trained. These aspects are: the strong will, the skillful will, the good will, and the Transpersonal will. He briefly describes each of these, noting that each has a relationship with the others. Together they can balance, modulate and enhance each other. The chapter ends with remarks on the Transpersonal Will, which is the "will of the Transpersonal Self." Assagioli points to the "field of relationship within each individual between the will of the personal self or I, and the will of the Transpersonal Self." That field of relationship "leads to a growing interplay between, and ultimately to the fusion of, the personal and transpersonal selves, and in turn to their relationship with ultimate reality, the Universal Self, which embodies and demonstrates the Universal, Transcendent Will." Note the direct and vertical line from I and personal will, to Transpersonal Self and Transpersonal Will, to Universal Self and Universal Will.

It will become clear that through training the will in its various aspects, qualities and phases, we can grow in our awareness of personal self, transpersonal (higher) Self, and unity with Universal Self.

Reading Schedule for The Act of Will Book Study

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:09:00 +0000

The Act of Will by Roberto Assagioli

Reading Schedule

Week 1 Appendix Four, and chapters 1 & 2

Week 2 chapters 3 & 4

Week 3 chapters 5 & 6

Week 4 chapters 7 & 8

Week 5 chapters 9 & 10

Week 6 chapters 11 & 12

Week 7 chapters 13 & 14

Week 8 chapters 15 & 16

Week 9 chapter 17, The Will Project, and Appendix One

Week 10 Appendix Two, Appendix Three, and Appendix Five

Week 11 Sum-Up and Evaluation Week

Real-Life Application

In addition to reading and discussing the book, each participant is strongly encouraged to choose a project of some kind (no matter how large or small) that will serve as a real life application of what is learned in their reading and reflection. The real life application should be something that matters to you and will take some discernment, decision-making and planning to carry out. It should exercise aspects of the will such as strong will, skillful will and good will.

Telephone Conference calls begin January 24th. If you are interested in being a participant, please email carla@centerforawakening.org or carlapeterson (at) clearwire (dot) net.

New Book Study! Assagioli's The Act of Will

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:28:00 +0000

The beginning of the year, when so many of us make New Year's resolutions, is a very good time to read The Act of Will. Most people have had the experience of making resolutions and then not carrying them out. Then we complain about not having enough will power. If you have had this happen in your life, perhaps you would like to engage in the upcoming "Book Study Plus."

We will read Roberto Assagioli's The Act of Will, over a period of 10 weeks, followed by an 11th week of summing up and evaluation. We will discuss the book, dialog about it, and also choose and carry out a "real-life application" of what we learned (that's the 'Plus'). Book Study Plus begins on January 24, 2012. Weekly conference calls allow discussion of both the book and the real-life applications. On at least a weekly basis, this blog will summarize and pose questions on the readings and participants' personal experiences of applying them. Comments by participants will be encouraged.

If you would like to join Book Study Plus, there's still time. Email carlapeterson (at) clearwire.net. (Note that you will have to enter the email address a bit differently than it is written here. My attempt to cut down on spam).

Part Four - Appendix Material

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:24:00 +0000

The Psychosynthesis book study ends this week. Our assignment for this time was to read through the several items that form Part Four - The Appendix. Some of the materials are quite straightforward, while others are really complex and technical. For example, two of the articles include discussions of psychological research in projective testing or imagery for diagnosis and treatment. The first, "Initiated Symbol Projection" describes use of "twelve motives" (motifs) such as walking through a meadow, up a mountain, visiting a house, visualizing a person of the same sex (who is often a person who has "a personality the subjects believe they should or could develop"), visualizing a pool of water in a swamp, etc. The purpose of using these various symbols is to ascertain more about the personality of the patient, as well as to indicate in what areas the person needs assistance to grow, to achieve a psychosynthesis.

The second of these two article is "Meditative Techniques in Psychotherapy." This article was written by Dr. Wolfgang Kretschmer of the Tubingen University Psychiatric Clinic and first published in 1951. It focuses on the use of deep relaxation and imagery to elicit deep unconscious symbolic material, bring it to consciousness and to transformation. It ends with this paragraph:

Meditation has a good chance of eventually becoming one of the leading therapeutic techniques. All the newer systems with which the writer is familiar look for a development in this direction. But whether this development takes place depends completely on a deep-going reformulation of psychotherapeutic training and the practice of psychotherapy. It is of the greatest importance that psychotherapists continue to study meditation. We can only hope that meditation will continue to develop into a systematic technique which can aid men towards their goal of developing their highest psychic potentialities.

Since this was written imagery and visualization have become ubiquitous in psychotherapy. There are training programs specifically in the use of imagery, guided imagery, guided imagery with music, and so forth. Meditation of all kinds is extremely popular. It is offered by teachers at many different levels, psychotherapists, spiritual leaders of many faiths, yoga practitioners, and medical personnel. Meditation is being taught in jails, prisons, hospitals, schools, and churches. This is something to celebrate.

At the same time, we still need for psychotherapists themselves to practice meditation. And there is also need for ongoing research into the effects of meditation, not just research from the "outside" of the mind, as happens when the brain of meditators is imaged by very high-tech machines, but also from the "inside" as advanced meditators share their inner experience. May we, humanity, develop our highest psychic and spiritual potentialities and see what happens next!

Chapter 8: Transmutation and Sublimation of Sexual Energies

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:08:00 +0000

In this chapter Assagioli attempts to counsel people on how to manage sexual energy in a way that is healthy, pro-social and wholly human, i.e., considers that sexual energy is tied to the whole human being, not just the physical. He examines the then-current situation of sexual behavior or morals, noting that generational tensions were being played out, that religious prohibitions and attitudes were declining and that sexual liberation did not eliminate sexual problems, but, in some areas may have increased them.

Because of the Freudian insights about sexual repression creating neurotic patterns, Assagioli does not recommend going back to repression of the sexual drive. Nor, however, does he advocate "free love," that leads to other problems. Instead he counsels that drives, the energies within/behind drives, can be transmuted and sublimated. The energies can be harnessed for other good purposes and used (and the energies thus absorbed) for those purposes. He states that sexual energies can be transmuted in two directions, the vertical and the horizontal. If they are directed towards the vertical, the spiritual, they may emerge as mystical sense of union with the Beloved. If they are directed towards the horizontal they may be taken up through substituting other sensual pleasures such as food, enjoyment of nature or appreciation of beauty. Another example of the horizontal direction of transmutation of sexual energies is channeling them into other forms of love, such as "comradeship and friendship" which may finally "radiate as brotherly love upon all human beings and upon all living creatures." And, the third kind of transmutation is into creative activities. Here Assagioli gives the example of Richard Wagner and his sublimation of unfulfilled love into the opera, "Tristan and Isolde".

In the last section of the chapter, Assagioli offers some practical psychological methods for effecting a process of transmutation and sublimation. Several of the methods involve right use of will, direction of intent, and devoting energy to creative work. He also recommends using symbols, particularly heroic or ideal images of manhood or womanhood, or the symbol of the lotus, or symbolic movement, or symbols that occur in dream images.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 01:22:00 +0000

We've had a couple of rousing telephone discussions recently even in the midst of the holidays pulling at our attention. In these discussions we've covered techniques of imaginative evocation of interpersonal relationship and music as a source of disease and of healing. It is clear from our conversations that we as a group tends towards hope and optimism, towards concern with healing in our own lives and in our interactions with others. We collectively focus on Light and Love moving through us and throughout the world.

May all of us, those who participate in this book study, and those who may come across this blog, have a New Year characterized by hope, optimism, healing and radiance. May all both receive and radiate Light and Love in 2011!

Chapter 7: Music as a Cause of Disease and as a Healing Agent

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:06:00 +0000

"We trust that the magic of sound, scientifically applied, will contribute in ever greater measure to the relief of human suffering, to a higher development and a richer integration of the human personality, to the harmonious synthesis of all human "notes," of all "group chords and melodies" - until there will be the great symphony of the One Humanity." (Roberto Assagioli)

To begin this chapter Roberto Assagioli gives historical examples of the therapeutic use of music, as presented in anthropological research, literary works, philosophical writings and medicine. He then goes on to detail the elements of music: rhythm, tone, melody, harmony, and timbre.

Assagioli first examines the negative effects of music, stating that music can be very artistic, aesthetically expressive, but still harmful. He says that harmfulness can arise because of the particular listener, how a piece is situated in a program, how long that program is, and so forth. He also clearly identifies music that "arouses the instincts and appeals to the lower passions" as likely to produce "injurious effects," as is music that is melancholy and depressing. Further, he finds too much dissonance and irregular rhythms to be not only a product and reflection of the modern stress and strain, but also psychologically damaging. He implies that such music is "an aural drug" and that it may lead to "a nation of neurotics which even the skill of the psychiatrist may be hard pressed to cure." In addition, he discusses the effects of performing music on musicians, and the need for them to avail themselves of rest, relaxation and "all the available means of psychotherapy." Music in films is examined as well. Assagioli notes that the influence of music can be stronger when the consciousness is more focused on the visual. The music is taken into the unconscious mind and can affect the person profoundly in body and psyche.

Next, Assagioli addresses the positive effects of music. He writes, "Music can indeed be a powerful healing agent." Not least, music can effect a condition of relaxation and restfulness that is difficult for modern people to achieve on their own. He notes that a major university was using music to reduce tension in people who were being prepared for surgery.

Music can also free emotions in those who have repressed emotionality, and it can lighten the moods of those who are bitter and worried. It can give joy - which is good for both body and soul. He mentions, as well, that music can enhance memory. In relation to psychological healing, music can have an almost psychoanalytic function. Music "can help in repressions and resistances and bring into the field of waking consciousness many drives, emotions and complexes which were creating difficulties in the unconscious."

Yet, there is also a psychosynthetic role for music as well. Here, Assagioli identifies three kinds of psychosynthesis: spiritual psychosynthesis; inter-individual psychosynthesis and cosmic psychosynthesis. He goes on to describe these and to make some recommendations about the types of music that can facilitate each kind of psychosynthesis.

Spiritual psychosynthesis is facilitated by music that appeals to the religious dimension, "lifting us above the level of everyday consciousness ... into the higher realms where light, love and joy ever reign." Examples of the kind of music he recommends include Gregorian chant, Palestrina, J.S. Bach, Handel, Cesar Franck, Wagner, and Scriabin.

Inter-individual psychosynthesis, the harmonious connection in groups of individuals, is aided by "music which expresses collective emotions and aspirations." Some examples are national anthems, workers songs and choruses from some operas. I might add that school songs, well-loved folk songs and marches and fanfares can also knit people together. Assagioli says that "The highest and most effective musical expression of the psychosynthesis of humanity is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ... ."

Cosmic psychosynthesis involves the individual's understanding and acceptance of the laws underlying cosmic order and his or her participation in it. Music brings effective healing when it starts with the whole, according to Assagioli, quoting Pontvik. Accordingly, music brings into harmony and balance tensions that symbolize archetypal forces. Certain music, particularly that of J.S. Bach, evokes religious symbols, according to Pontvik.

The discussion of music therapy that follows provides a number of rules to be observed in conducting music therapy. These rules range from the rather simple to the more complex. The simple rules prescribe that the therapist give patients information; help them relax; don't overwhelm them; use repetition, but not too much; be careful of the loudness of the music; and have time to relax afterwards. The more complex instructions require more knowledge and discernment on the part of the therapist. These include making a careful choice of music, adapting it to the social/cultural situation of the patient; selecting music that counteracts the difficult state - but maybe choosing music that expresses some of the same mood with which the patient is struggling. Assagioli acknowledges that it is difficult to know the "subjective effect" of any given piece of music, since how the person responds depends on many factors, not all of which the therapist can know.

After listing the rules, Assagioli address some more specific situations, including finding out how patients have responded to music in the past by having them fill out a questionnaire; using music as an adjunct to anesthesia; using music to influence people's interactions with each other; having patients perform music to help in their healing; and using music in hospitals and prisons.

Three sections are appended to the chapter. The first is the Questionnaire on Musical Therapy. The second is a suggestion for musical therapy for obsessive ideas, which would require that the therapist be skilled in musical composition, as it involves using two pieces of music, and then putting them together in way that bridges and alternates the two. The third is the poem, "The Bird of Paradise," written by Francesco Chiesa after hearing a violin recital.

Since the time this book was written, music therapy has developed tremendously. Music is regularly used in most of the ways outlined by Assagioli here. It is also used with guided imagery for emotional healing, in energy healing for chakra healing and strengthening, in work with dementia patients to aid their memory and mood, and in medical settings, including surgical operating rooms and recovery rooms. Music therapy is offered in many settings, including prisons and jails, medical facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and schools. Music is used in shamanic journeying, in chanting to induce meditative states, and to achieve states of spiritual ecstasy, especially if combined with dance.

Chapter 6: Technique of Imaginative Evocation of Interpersonal Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (Carla Peterson at Soul Focus) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:46:00 +0000

In this chapter Roberto Assagioli discusses how a therapist can help a patient/client "achieve the right inner attitude towards other people and to successfully perform intended actions involving others." He sees this happening in two stages. The first stage involves eliminating that which hinders the patient from holding that right attitude, and the second stage "is a gradual training in developing facility in outer interpersonal relations." The first stage involves catharsis of emotional blocks and increased understanding of negative emotions. The second stage involves imagining the right attitude in a specific relationship and creating a kind of internal model of how that relationship can be warm, loving and harmonious.

In another section of this chapter, Assagioli addresses the attitude of the therapist, stating that interpersonal relationships can be facilitated by the way in which the therapist regards the patient. Referencing the work of Henri Baruk, he says his own approach "consists in the attitude of addressing oneself to the better part of the patient, together with (a) spirit of confidence, of trust in and appreciation of the patient." In a further explication, Assagioli states that one needs to view the patient not only as having the "unaffected" aspect of moral conscience, but also the Self. He emphasizes that the role of the Self is not only moral, but also spiritual. He further explains that the conscience "that issues from the spiritual Self is quite different (than the harsh super-ego that Freud identified). It is a wise, loving type of moral conscience; it is not harsh, and follows to some extent the principle so well expressed in the words of the Christ: "Love thy neighbor as thyself.""

In the very last section of the chapter there is a general commentary on all the techniques discussed in this and earlier chapters. Assagioli points out that techniques should be used with patients in a way that takes their particular situation into consideration, and each patient should be regarded as uniquely themselves, rather than "as a member of a class." Finally, he gives some thoughts about research, stating that he feels "that research can be more profitably directed towards the intensive study and treatment of a comparatively small number of cases - resulting in detailed and thoroughly discussed case histories - than towards a more general treatment of the large number of cases needed for statistical purposes."