Psychosynthesis & Days of Awe
“We are good, we are flawed, an imperfect breath of god.”
Hogle Wildlife Sanctuary, Brattleboro VT
Every autumn, there is a ten day period at the start of the Jewish New Year known as the “Days of Awe.” This is a period of self reflection and renewal, a time to look in the rear view mirror at this past year and acknowledge where we may have missed the mark or behaved in ways that we regret. We also look ahead and resolve to make amends, to set things right with ourselves and our relationships with other people. The central themes during the Days of Awe are atonement and “return” (or teshuvah), which includes a number of elements: to take responsibility for our actions, awaken to our highest potential, and engage in the repair of our world.
What does psychosynthesis have to do with any of this, you might ask? Dr. Roberto Assagioli, an early pioneer in transpersonal psychology and founder of psychosynthesis, once said “we must learn to live as souls on earth.” Assagioli was encouraging people here to rise up beyond the everyday personal realm — what Ken Wilbur called “house-car-job” concerns — and connect with the spiritual aspects of life. He envisioned a superconscious or transpersonal dimension that includes a sense of joy, creativity, inspiration, love, and beauty, to name a few of its qualities. Assagioli developed psychosynthesis in part as a bridge between ordinary and extraordinary realms, between the personality and the soul, so that we might learn to move more fluidly between the mundane world and that which we hold most precious, sacred, even holy.
On Yom Kippur, the culmination of the Days of Awe, I fasted and designed for myself a spiritual retreat to see if I might cultivate more of a connection with my own soul. For me, that meant getting out in nature so I set out for the Hogle Trail, a hidden treasure of a wildlife sanctuary tucked away just a few minutes from downtown Brattleboro, where a short path follows along the eastern edge of the Retreat meadows and West River. I sat for a good long while by the water with my dog, Triple T, and gradually the peaceful setting began to work its magic on me.
The ordinary sights and sounds of the wetland filled me with a quiet sense of wonder and gratitude. The fall foliage, trees swaying in the soft breeze, the geese honking and drying out their wings. As my gaze moved across the landscape, seeing birds take flight, soft puffy clouds drifting across a blue sky, everything seemed more vivid and alive than usual. Here was a glimpse of the extraordinary realm right beneath the veil, and just taking all that in I wanted to say, “wow, god, nice job!” This spontaneous impulse to praise the creator surprised me somewhat, since I am not a particularly religious person (though I am familiar with the Jewish habit of speaking, and arguing, directly with the divine). I guess I was just acknowledging the fact that something greater and more powerful than we are gave rise to all this magnificence.
As Triple T and I headed back along the trail, I got to wondering something else, how this very same world which holds so much beauty also includes so much pain and suffering. Why is it that we so often neglect to take care of ourselves, each other and the planet? I left the Hogle sanctuary with the understanding that we human beings are a work in progress. Maybe we should all get one of those yellow hardhats you see on a building site and wear a little button that says “Under Construction.”
The Days of Awe invite us to consider the year ahead and how we might improve not only ourselves but contribute to the world around us. We hold the question, “what is life asking of me right now?” This is precisely the work of psychosynthesis and self development as well, to summon a response to our circumstances and activate the will in service of a greater good.
My answer to this question in these particular and challenging times is that we are being asked to breathe together, to be more present, to find trustworthy processes and relationships with each other, and to collectively cultivate the power of imagination. Breathe, in order to slow down and deal with our difficulties. Presence, to connect more deeply with ourselves and each other. Trust, to rebuild what is broken. Imagination, to find ways of living and being together that are more creative, loving, and life affirming.
I am particularly drawn to the power of imagination these days: as we envision, so we become. Or as Assagioli asserted in his psychological laws, every image has a motor element, meaning that images evoke and set in motion corresponding forms and actions that express our highest ideals. For the year ahead, or perhaps just one day at a time, may we all imagine our names inscribed in the “Book of Life” as we pursue these ideals. And as my sister noted during the Days of Awe, not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually. May we be more fully alive on all these levels.
The Jewish Studio Project in Berkeley, CA held a service last month via Zoom, and there was one line from a song that stayed with me during this year’s ten days of reflection and renewal: “we are good, we are flawed, we are an imperfect breath of god.” And I would add, let’s not let that stop us but take it as a call to duty. There’s still much work to be done to make things right with the breath that remains, for as long as we are here.