Signs of The Unseen
A very insightful passage from an equally insightful little essay by David Jon Peckinpaugh.
...The danger inherent in relying upon any one person to define and determine 'Integralism' should be obvious to anyone who has cared to heed the relevance of the Freudian Weltanschauung. Simply put, we are ripe with unconsciousness. Some more. Some less so. Some are unconscious in certain realms, dimensions, aspects and dharmas than are others. For example, I may not be as conscious of the 'emotional sheath/body' as another is. Similarly, they may not be as conscious of the 'vital sheath/body' as I am. And because our unconsciousness is unconscious, it stands to reason that we are each rendered blind, deaf and dumb to that which we are… well, uhm… not at all conscious in relation to.
This is why when someone points out to us that which we are unconscious of we will tend to dismiss them as mis-taken. We just don't see it! We are not conscious of that which is un-conscious. Period. So we tend to be dismissive of others who may see in us what we are not able to see in ourselves....This is pointing exactly at what I see as a core aspect of my (evolving) integral practice: to recognize and acknowledge my own blind spots. We all have them. As is becoming my mantra now, the question is not if but how.
The trick is to keep an eye out for signs of our blind spots, and one of the more consistent signs I have found for myself is reactivity and dismissal of other's actions and/or views.
Is there a sense that I have something to protect? Then it is pretty likely that a blindspot has been poked at.
Do I try to put others down? Do I blame others? Do I see something in others that I don't see in myself? Is there a tint of self-righteousness? All of these are clear signs.
Any approach to working with projections is helpful here, and for me right now the Byron Katie inquiries cuts right through it - allowing for recognition and integration at my human level and for finding myself as that beyond, cutting right through to the nondual.
And if I didn't quite get to it the first time, if something was left out, then life is there to gently and persistently show me again. Life is my most intimate advisor in this.
Through its language of suffering and reactivity, life unfailingly shows me my hangups, my blind spots, areas not fully brought into awareness.
Labels: projections