Toward a Psychology of Awakening (eBook)

Fromthe Introduction to
PartOne: Integrating Psychology and Spirituality

Whatis the relationship between psychological and spiritual work, between personalgrowth and spiritual development? How can we work on becoming a mature,authentic person, while still recognizing that we are something that goesbeyond personhood altogether? These questions take us to the very heart of whatit means to be human.

Spiritualpractice involves exploring who and what we ultimately are—,our true, essentialnature, shared alike by all human beings. The direct, experiential realizationof true nature has been a particular specialty of the Eastern contemplativetraditions. Eastern teachings emphasize living from our deepest nature, turningthe mind around so that it can see into its very essence, rather thanconstantly facing outward, focusing on tasks and objects to grasp andmanipulate. Recognizing the essential nature of our awareness as an open,wakeful, luminous, and compassionate presence allows us to relate to our lifein a much richer and more powerful way. This realization is what allows us toliberate ourselves from the chains of past conditioning, known in the East askarma.

Fromthis perspective, since well-being, happiness, and freedom are intrinsic—,thatis, contained within our essential nature—,the most important task in life isto realize this true nature. While the illumined yogis and saints of the Eastrepresent some of the strongest testimony to the power of this vast,nonpersonal dimension of being, it is also fully accessible to anyone, East orWest.

Whilethe wisdom of the East has illuminated the ultimate nature of being—,beyond theworld, beyond the individual person, beyond human relationship, and beyondhuman history—,the wisdom of the West has taken a very different tack. TheWestern wisdom traditions teach that we are here not just to realize our divinenature but to embody that nature in human form. If the East has focused on thevertical, timeless dimension, the West has focused on the horizontal—,theindividual's life as it unfolds in time.

TheWest has also given birth to a revolutionary, intoxicating idea that has takenthe world by storm: the sanctity of the individual. Individuals are here notjust to fulfill traditional agendas handed down by family, society, andconventional religion, but to discover their unique gift and fully embody thatgift in their lives. This is the principle of individuation, which is not sucha priority in the East. The Western idea of the individual has also helpedliberate the capacity to ask questions and freely investigate the nature ofthings without allegiance to rigid orthodoxies, giving rise to the scientificmethod. This in turn has led to the development of Western psychology.

Westernpsychology focuses on the conditioned mind and illuminates it every bit asbrilliantly as the East illuminates unconditioned awareness. Western psychologyallows us to understand, for the first time, the individual psyche—,how itdevelops and becomes conflicted, and how it replays inner conflicts, defensivepatterns, and interpersonal dynamics from early childhood in adult life. Fromthis perspective, psychological healing comes about through understanding,clarifying, and working with these developmental dynamics.

Eastand West have thus spawned two distinct types of psychology, based on totallydifferent methods and pointing in totally different directions. Easterncontemplative psychology, based on meditative practice, presents teachingsabout how to achieve direct knowledge of the essential nature of reality, whichlies beyond the...