Ken Wilber, in his foreword to the book ‘Putting on the Mind of Christ’ by Jim Marion, explains that the Christian path of consciousness development has only recently been clear to see.
To quote 1 Corinthians 13:11-12:
“When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we left our childish ways behind. Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror …”
We have required, not only a clear outline of the stages of spiritual development – which have been beautifully described by the great Christian saints and sages, but also a clear outline of the psychological stages of development – and this has only been agreed upon by the great developmental psychologists for a few decades.
When I left Christianity for Psychology and Eastern Spirituality in my mid 20’s, I was referring to our tradition as ‘primitive psychology’. Jim Marion’s brilliant logic argues that the Christian spiritual tradition complements and completes the work of the psychologists – I now agree, hence I’m back!!
I think the fact that our tradition draws heavily on mythology is a strength rather than a weakness.
We follow by far the most well known of the many reformers of Judaism. Stirred in with myths of triune saviour gods – we have a potent, universally recognizable character, symbol, pattern, or theme that recurs across cultures and time periods, representing fundamental human experiences and behaviours. This is the definition of an Archetype.
Carl Jung – the greatest journalist of human consciousness – saw Jesus as a symbol of the Self, a representation of the archetype of wholeness and individuation, and a figure who embodies the potential for human spiritual growth and integration.
Eric Neumann, one of Jung’s many illustrious students, in his book ‘The Origins and History of Consciousness’, explains that the individual ego consciousness had to pass through the same archetypal stages which determined the evolution of humanity’s consciousness – the individual must follow the path that humanity has trod.
Central to the Jungian view is the notion that the relationship between the ego and the unconscious decides the fate, not only of the individual, but of humanity.
Consciousness, ego, and personality, we are told, are partly built up by acts of introjection – contents that were experienced as ‘outside’ are taken ‘inside’. Such external things can be concepts and persons – they can also be contents of the psychic world within.
This process is captured in narrative form by mythic stories in which, for example, dismemberment of a dragon is describing not merely the analysis of the unconscious, but its assimilation in a pivotal period of development – whenever a re-orientation or rebirth is required for forward and upward momentum. Likewise, the ‘liberation of a captive’ can be a mapping of the process whereby tension is released, resources freed up, and blocks are cleared for the developmental process.
This ‘Hero’s Journey’, which shows up in all the various clothing of times and cultures, is represented here. The Calling is step 2 on the diagram, and is irresistible, not necessarily dramatic. Taking up these opportunities or invitations is attractive because they ‘pop up’ as manifestations of our next progressive challenge or evolution – our own unique inner curriculum.
Jeff Brown, in Grounded Spirituality, is referring to these ‘callings’ when he describes ‘arriving at one plateau of awakening, and then moving on to the next, as our longing for growth overcomes unhealthy fear-based stagnation’. Human incarnation, says Brown, is about authenticity and growing toward wholeness. He suggests that we sometimes need to work another path, in order to build the developmental girders to sustain our truer path – a ‘detour with a purpose’. Sometimes we need to do some seemingly mundane things in the world to build the egoic and economic foundation to support what we really came here to do. Many of us need to go through a circuitous route, weaving our way from the outer ridges, working our way into the centre – and even when we arrive there, the centre itself is not necessarily stationary. Life is ever morphing, expressing itself in ever new colours, flavours and facets. Once we walk on our sacred purpose it is often self-generating, opening doorway after doorway of new possibility.
To find one’s sacred purpose is a great achievement in a world that doesn’t give priority to authentic path. Befriend your confusion, says Brown, invite it, surrender to it, and embrace it. Allow yourself to fully own it. Be with the unknowing, and invite all of your different parts to speak. Don’t attach to any specific voice at first. Just let them rise into awareness and move through you. Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th century sufi poet, describes our psyche as a guesthouse:
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Jalaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
The quest for sacred purpose is inherently explorative and intrinsically fluid, morphing into more and more clarity as one layer of artifice after another falls away, in the face of that which shines with the light of truth:
“The Great Integrity is unboundable like a flood.
It cannot be manipulated this way or that way.
It is the very wellspring of life, always outpouring, never commanding.
Although the source of every need, it is never demanding. It does its work silently and unpretentiously.
All return to the Great Integrity as our liberating universal home.
By never seeking greatness, greatness permeates in deed.”
Tao Te Ching
So often mis-characterized as lostness, there’s a kind of immersion in the not-knowing that is actually quite focused and productive, in excavating and identifying our path.
A calling, says Jeff Brown, is any path of doing or being – you can be called to a career path, a way of being, a relationship, an act of service, stillness, a lifestyle, a creative project, any pathway of possibility at all. A call can come through in any way, shape or form – a hint, dream, vision, sensation, knowing, longing, feeling – a little tug, an inner war, a melody in the distance – any whisper that calls you home.
Callings are anything that we are strongly and magnetically pulled to, anything that has the energy of expansion and expression at the heart of it. A calling that is rooted in sacred purpose has a life-force to it! It’s irresistible, and stands the test of time. It will feel alive in you – like there’s a fire in your soul. When you imagine yourself doing it, or being it, it will be as if you are entering the moment in an entirely different way – fully present in ‘the zone’ or Flow. It’s as if we are coming home to ourselves after years of wandering. This doesn’t mean that it will feel exhilarating – it may well be quiet and tender – but always alive!
As with all elements of sacred purpose, our callings are like gifts waiting to be unwrapped. When we unwrap them, when we ‘actualize’ them, we feel more peace, and we step into a more expanded version of ourselves. When we really land our spirituality here in this world, we get to experience the growth opportunities the world provides for those who are ready – so much opportunity in the nitty-gritty friction of form.
How can we live a complete life if we limit our movements to clearly marked trails?
How can we find our path if we can’t surrender to the experience of lostness?
At some point surrendering to our confusion is no longer enough. We have to also adventure outward into life in an effort to ‘authenticate’ that which calls us. Once we excavate something that calls us, ‘authenticating’ is the process of scoping-out those pathways that have called. You may choose to explore something you feel actively curious about. You might study something entirely unlike anything you have studied before – or something you feel afraid of. A certain relationship, an activity such as public speaking, a form of physical exertion, or a particular way of being. Something completely out of the ordinary. We might go on a vision quest, or experience body-psychotherapy to unpeel the callings that are camouflaged by our physical armouring. Perhaps you would make friends with people who are radically different from yourself, or perhaps you would delve straight into something you have a knee-jerk aversion to – to uncover what lies behind it? – you may be surprised!
What these experiments have in common is a quest for information as to who we are, and why we are here.
Eva Pierakkos, in The Pathwork, says that; ‘Life issues a call; it makes a demand on every living individual. Most people do not sense this call. Only as you become aware of your illusions can you simultaneously become more aware of the truth within yourself, and therefore in life. Consequently, you will understand in each moment what the call of life wants to convey to you. How do you respond to it? The Pathwork describes the call of life as a dynamic movement, sometimes felt as a flowing or ‘streaming’. This stream of life manifests differently to each individual. It is at once universal and intensely personal. It is universal in the sense that it aims exclusively at awakening the real self. It goes about this in a totally unsentimental way – disregarding personal attachments, social considerations, and any other peripheral values, including personal pain or pleasure. If awakening the real self requires what temporarily seems like destruction, this destruction will turn out to be the groundwork of the real inner life, the preparation needed to awaken the inner centre. Universal is the need for transformation of one’s character to permit the life stream to flow freely. HOW the ego blocks the real self is a personal question. The Pathwork pulls no punches, stating that the actual, rather than theoretical, activation of the real self with its vibrating life, limitless abundance, infinite possibilities for good, and its supreme wisdom and joy – happens to the exact degree that we dare take a look at the temporary truth of ourselves. This means feeling what we feel, having the courage to transform ourselves into a better human being for no other reason than a desire to contribute to life, rather than to make an impression and grasp for approval. It is pivotal, says Pierakkos, to experience those areas where we still hide from ourselves because these are the main barriers separating us from the life stream. This work (Jung calls it ‘shadow work’) confronts us with our lower self – the part of us that says NO to life and constructive living, the selfish drives and manipulative games for which religious institutions provide perfect cover – as enquiry after enquiry has uncovered – to the point where many people have thrown spirituality out with the bath water.
When activating the real-self, we find it IS possible to give of ourselves wholeheartedly, to love, to be unselfish, to be humble, to relinquish the egocentricity of the frightened child within, to allow others to be free no matter what this means for us.
When checking out an apparent calling we can ask:
- What does my body say about this path?
- Does it vibrate with the sensations of truth?
- Does it ache with a longing?
- Do we actually really WANT to be a ‘finder’, or are we more comfortable staying as a ‘seeker’? (Spiritual Bypass)
Many of us seek that which we will flee if we find it. We seek, we search, and then finally we find a calling or a relationship that is a perfect reflection of our yearning … and then we turn away and go back to seeking, almost as though the light of our true-path was too bright for us – too real for us.
In accepting a calling, we may need to adjust the way we live, or accept that our calling is not necessarily our primary income stream. Many aren’t. Those who can’t make an adequate living at their callings to them as part time jobs, or as labours of love. All that matters is that we are DOING IT.
We can’t avoid our callings for ever. Essential lessons cannot be avoided. When we turn away from our lessons the universe jumps into action – this is the nature of karmic gravity, says Jeff Brown. We are brought back to our path until we fully walk it. Often, we don’t know our next step on the journey – it requires we follow our inner guidance one faithful step at a time – sometimes we need to clear some gnarled trees that bock our path.
Honouring Vision
Teach us to begin by caring deeply, and let that caring stretch out over the horizon in hawks’ wings.
Show us how to take that step over the edge into the unknown – to remember that risk brings learning, even through our mistakes.
Steep us in the waters of trust, so our toes will not be afraid to touch the mysterious future.
Remind us that we are responsible for what comes next – that the past is a good educator, but not always a reliable compass.
Help us prioritise our health, the health of others, and the planet.
Help us organise and assemble and share our ideas with one another.
Help us find ways to clear the obstacles that congest the pathways you’re trying to reach us through.
Show us how to apply our caring nature to the world so it’s a better place for people – a place where we love to live.
Help us do our part to create that world here and now, help us envision it, without idealism and pretence.
Give us the strength and tenacity to endure, show up at the town hall meetings, and do the inner house keeping that allows us to make a difference for someone struggling the way we once did.
Let us move into the next phase with confidence.
Ground us, lift us up. Ready us for what’s to come by putting our feet on the good path.
Help us to see with long vision before we set out. Remember the great, great grandchildren who are coming. Keep the air and water clean and spare them our shadows by doing our healing work now and walking our good walk.
Pixie Lighthorse
References
Marion Jim, Putting on the Mind of Christ – the inner work of Christian spirituality. Hampton Roads Publishing Company Inc., 2000.
Brown Jeff, Grounded Spirituality. Enrealment Press, 2018.
Neumann Erich, The Origins and History of Consciousness. Bollingen Foundation Inc., 1954.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching – Translated by Ralph Alan Dale. Watkins Media Ltd, 2016.
Pixie Lighthorse, Prayers of Honoring. Lighthorse Publishing, 2016.