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Middlepath: The Goal of Enlightment© Dick Rauscher - May, 2003Middlepath is a state of mind, not a place. It can only be achieved when the ego has been emptied of all beliefs, all opinions, all certainties, all sense of duality thinking, and all concepts or categories of “otherness”. As one gets closer to a middlepath consciousness of one’s self-identity, the experience of happiness will increase and the experience of depression will diminish. The best way to begin to understand middlepath is to picture two black and white primitive ego’s in a heated argument as to who is right on a particular issue. Black and white thinking is an early developmental stage of childhood where the world is broken down or split into all good or all bad, and all right and all wrong. Each primitive ego struggles to convince the other primitive ego that their view is the correct view. It will not be long before the discussion will turn into an argument, and if continued, will probably lead to conflict or violence. Two young children fighting on a playground comes to mind. Unless these two young ego’s grow and mature, the human bodies that carry them will grow into adulthood but these “adults” will be children in adult bodies. The conflict and violence that immature, primitive ego’s can create in an adult body is virtually unlimited. Virtually all of the conflict and suffering we see in the world today is caused by adults using immature, primitive, black and white thinking. Now let’s picture these two primitive egos becoming a bit more open to the other persons point of view. What has happened? Well, first, each person’s ego has now entertained the “possibility” that the other person’s ego might be a little bit “right”. In a metaphoric sense they have each taken a small step towards each other. They are no longer defending their understanding of the issue as “THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH”. They have moved from pure black and white thinking, to a slightly grayer point of view. They have become less “reactive” and are not experiencing each other as much a “personal” threat. The other is no longer experienced as “the enemy” who is trying to tell the primitive ego that it is “absolutely” wrong. They are now beginning to listen a little more closely to what each other has to say. The noise level is beginning to drop. They are beginning to accept the possibility that there might be a bit of “ truth” in what the other person is saying. They have moved from absolute certainty to a place of “not-knowing-for-certain”. The potential for conflict and violence between them has lessened. They are beginning to experience each other as a “person” who simply “thinks differently” about the subject they are discussing. These two primitive egos have begun to mature. They are moving toward a middlepath consciousness. A place where truth is found in both points of view. A place of silence and listening. A place of openness and not-knowing. A place where the beliefs and absolute certainties of the primitive ego have been let go, or emptied. A place where there is less conflict and violence. A place where each person feels safer, heard, understood, and valued. A place of increased diversity. And most importantly of all, a place where duality thinking has given way to concepts of systemic-interdependence and unity. A spiritual place where the unity of all things is experienced, and both persons experience themselves and each other as brother and sister; children of the Creator. If the ego in each person in our mental scenario continues to mature, they will eventually experience the unity of the middlepath; a spirituality of silence and non-violence where there is no “otherness”; a place of radical and infinite diversity. When a person has achieved emptiness of ego or middlepath consciousness, they do not do compassion, they become compassion. How we view ourselves, and how we view the world is a mental journey that begins with the primitive, black and white ego of childhood, and moves toward a middlepath consciousness called enlightenment. Thus, all growth in self awareness, all growth in self-consciousness is movement toward the a middlepath consciousness or a middlepath spirituality. Without growth in self-consciousness or self-awareness, spiritual growth is not possible. The journey toward a middlepath consciousness, is the future of human evolution. (For a more detailed discussion on the maturation of
the primitive ego see my article on the web site called Spiritual
Growth: The Primitive
Ego Grows Up.) April has brought the long awaited daffodils and crocus to the Northeast. We have had snow on the ground since last November. This past winter reminds me of the winters I experienced as a child. It was not uncommon for snow storms in the good old days of my youth to be way over my head. My wife of course is quick to remind me that I was probably only two feet tall at the time. Never the less, those were the “good old days” when snow storms were life altering events! I cranked over the engine on the lawn mower this weekend, but the battery died before it roared to life. I still have a month to get it running before the grass begins it’s annual race to grow faster than I can mow it. Besides, I’m enjoying just walking the gardens with my coffee watching the plants pushing up through the leaves and mulch. So far it looks like most of my old friends survived the cold winter. Even the fish in the farm pond are beginning to swim; pretty lazy yet, but they are moving. The first newsletter was received quite well. Several of you replied with feedback and helpful comments. I was able to respond to all those who emailed me. I am assuming that for some of you, the newsletter will be read simply for general information. For those of you who are genuinely interested in actively exploring the integration of spirituality and human development I look forward to your comments and feedback each month. I will continue to respond to your email in as timely a manner as possible. The issue raised by many of you who responded by email concerned the subject of “middlepath”. You asked, what is middlepath and could I unpack that concept more in future issues of the newsletter. Since “ middlepath consciousness” and “middlepath spirituality” is so central to the work we do here at Stonyhill, I am going to focus on middlepath in this month’s feature article. I would also suggest you check out ARTICLE LINK on the Stonyhill web site for more information on middlepath. GOALS OF THE STONYHILL NEWSLETTER Rushing from task to task, responsibility to
responsibility is inherently destructive to spiritual growth. To
grow spiritually we must increase the silence in our lives. Silence
flows into our lives when we simplify our lives and slow down. Simplicity
does not mean selling our possessions and living the life of the
aesthetic. It simply means learning to focus on one thing at a time,
developing the skill of carefully listening to others and not interrupting
them, and taking large blocks of time to simply sit and be in the
moment. We are being integrated into one interactive,
inter-feeling body by the same force of evolution that drew atom
to atom and cell to cell. Every tendency in us toward greater wholeness,
unity, and connectedness is reinforced by nature’s tendency
toward holism. Integration is inherent in the process of evolution. The mystics, and now the quantum physicists,
are stating that there is no other-ness in the universe, only unity,
and unity is simply any pair of opposites. In other words to walk
the middle path of unity and avoid other-ness we need to carefully
define the extreme black and white ideas and beliefs of any issue.
If we embrace the ideas or beliefs on only one side of the issue,
and ignore the ideas and beliefs on other side, the mystics warn
us that we will create pain, suffering and violence. They remind
us that since all things are created by God, there is truth in all
things. Thus to have Truth on any issue requires that we embrace
the ideas and beliefs found on both sides of any issue. This is called,
learning to walk the middle path. It is important to note that compassion,
peace, happiness, and love are found only on the middle path. There is no solitude without silence.
True, silence is sometimes the absence of speech---but it is always
the act of listening. 8)-Your privacy is important to us. We will NEVER sell or share our mailing list with anyone.
The Stonyhill Newsletter / Blog and the videos related to each Newsletter are designed to teach the insights and everyday wisdom contained in Primitive Ego Psychology. For more technical, in-depth articles on Primitive Ego Psychology and Primitive Ego Theory go to the Stonyhill website at www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm |
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