Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.
September 23, 2010
Student: Is full participation in the dance between the Absolute and the relative the same as the intersection between Spirit and psychology?
Michael: Id say so, if we can look at our definition of the Absolute as being beyond the boundaries of the mind and the relative as being the actual boundaries themselves. So your psychology can be seen as the movement of your mind. As such, psychology is your ego’s study of itself. The spiritual path, on the other hand, offers any of us interested in doing the work an ever deepening perspective from which we can cultivate a radically different view of our own experiences. That view definitely invites a dance.
Student: But this deeper view doesnt necessarily put us in the clouds, so to speak. It seems this deeper unfolding of the Absolute changes my approach to whatever arises in my psychology. Like when I find myself getting self-conscious or embarrassed, Im starting to see that I am fully human. Then when consciousness shines its light on the self-consciousness or embarrassment, these experiences can be seen as if they are smoke, seen through, temporary.
Michael: Beautiful. Feels like a big relief, doesnt it?
Student: Huge. But Im seeing that this is the dance. And part of full integration, the process of full, open participation means always being open to new dance steps. Does this make sense?
Michael: Yes. Shall we dance?