The Transpersonal Ego

It’s not The Centre of The Cosmos :

It orbits.

“At age forty-five or fifty, when you have raised your children and become accomplished in your work, suddenly you fall into a hole. The more sensitive and intelligent you are, the deeper the hole might be. A guide in the form of Virgil may come and list all the things in your life that have gone wrong. These are the nine levels of Hell. Your guide, your intelligence, will dis-illusion you. “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” is a classical beginning to what Jung called the “ individuation process,” or the spiritualization of a man. If I could rewrite that sign, it would say, “Give up all expectations and presently held concepts.”

 

The job of your intelligence is to catalog Hell for you, to tell you all the things that don’t work. If your integrity is sufficient, if you go forward, Beatrice will come in the form of a radiant vision of hope and the feminine to take you the rest of the way and gently deposit you in Heaven. This will be one of the most profound experiences of your life.

Modern men and women have forgotten how to take this journey. Even with the best of motives — trying to find that vision of life that will nourish us and give meaning to the progression of our days on earth — we do crazy things. We let our marriage go to pieces and marry someone else, hoping to find the visionary feminine in her. We would do well to learn from Dante. Most important is to remember that Virgil, the one who helps us discern what is Wrong, and Beatrice, the heavenly guide, are both interior figures and that this is an interior journey. It has its exterior dimension. If you are an artist, a poet, a healer, a teacher, or a mystic, you will produce outer, tangible results of your journey. But the journey is essentially inner. This is the most important thing to learn.

You will never find a Beatrice to marry, because she is in your imagination, your art, and your prayers. When you seek her in an interior way, she will come in an instant. But you must be humble enough to ask your feminine side for these rare qualities of tenderness and beauty, receptivity and love. Without doing so, it can be difficult to become truly whole. Even if you experience her as a real woman who has entered your life, the grace that has descended upon you is your inner awakening, catalyzed by this wonderful experience. 

It is not The Other. It is in YOU.”

 

Excerpt from: 

"Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection" 

by Arnie Kotler.

Arthur :

 Are you counselor to the King, or to my sister? 

Merlin :

At your service, sir. 

Arthur :

Then answer me this : 

For years peace has reigned in the land. 

Crops grow in abundance, 

there's no want. 

Every one of my subjects enjoys 

his portion of happiness and justice. 

Tell me, Merlin, have we defeated Evil? 

It seems we have. 

Merlin :

Good and Evil —

There never is One without The Other. 

Arthur :

Where hides Evil, then, 

in my kingdom? 

Merlin :

Always... 

...where you never expect it. 

Always. 

I know where. Where, Sir Gawain? I cannot say. You must speak your heart. You sit at the Round Table. Where is this evil? He's our best and bravest. Why then is he never here? Without Lancelot this Table is nothing. Is there anyone here who doesn't think him a god? And now to be driven from us by a woman's desire. In the idleness that comes with peace, I see that gossip has bred its own evil. I will forgive your... ...hasty words. Come. Drink from Lancelot's cup and partake of his goodness. You dare accuse the Queen, Gawain? I do! I protest my innocence. Were I not king, I would make you pay with your life for what you've said. -Will you not champion me? -I cannot. I'm your king, and I must be your judge in this. Lancelot must do it. He also stands accused. I decree... ...that at sunrise two days from now... ...the champions will meet, and the truth shall be known. For by the law of God... ...no knight who is false can win in combat... ...with one who is true. You are the people I love best in the world. -Then why can't you defend me? -The law! My laws must bind everyone, high and low, or they're not laws at all. -You are my husband. -I must be king first. Before husband? If need be. Before love? Lord, we are innocent... ...but not in our hearts. To hold her once in my arms, I would sacrifice everything: Honor. Truth. My sacred trust. God... ...save me from myself, purge me of this love... ...so that I can defend her. I fight against myself.