Dimensions of Human Development

Wow - this has been an amazing thread.

This is something I've thought a lot about and have changed my opinion on probably a dozen times. As a psychologist, I really do think about this stuff just about every day.

But here is the general evolution of how I think about the connection between spirituality and psychology in the wake of my own stuff:

Right after 4th path - no connection. Awakening is utterly impersonal and individual conditioning (psychology) keeps on doing its thing, albeit with much more awareness of it.

6 months after - beginning to doubt my initial assumption. Noticing these automatic upwellings of compassion and sympathetic joy that are having a greater and greater impact on my relationships. My patients are beginning to comment that they are feeling more cared for and understood... something about "me" is changing...

One year post 4th - It's impersonal - no it's not - yes it is - no it's not... my wife is saying that she notices that I'm an overall "nicer" person, and that she sees that I'm no longer bothered by things... hmmm... feels like my overall perspective on what is important has shifted dramatically when I step back and really look at it. Habits of mind, reactivity, behavioral habits, etc that caused suffering for me and others seem to have faded out gradually in the past year. With less suffering, I seem to be more psychologically "mature".

Most recent shift, Kenneth's 6th stage - huge relief and falling away of even more psychological habits, particularly psychological reactivity. No more automatic embarrassment, self-consciousness, envy, irritation, etc. These are still present but have lost traction to really make me fall into a mood or do anything. Patients begin commenting again that they feel really connected and understood. However, I notice a few paradoxical instances of being insensitive to others.

What has been confusing about all of this is that it is utterly clear to me that the insights, the really profound ones, that have occurred in the "spiritual" dimension of my life are not really about "me". They are about the way things are, not about the way this bundle of stories called "Ron" is. However, even though the insights can truly be utterly impersonal in their nature, their overall impact is dramatic on "me."

This can be missed because it happens gradually over time and is pretty damn subtle. I'm fortunate in that my ability to be compassionate and put myself aside is literally tested all the time, so I could track the changes in real-time a bit more than most folks likely can.

Things are still evolving. Paradoxically, the insights are even more impersonal these days in that they are deconstructing the sense of free will and "I"-ness very deeply, yet they seem to be having a greater impact on my social-emotional functioning.

Does it unfold like this for everyone? Probably not. Some people's conditioning is pretty damn strong and they are likely to be grumpy, dopey, etc (pick your favorite dwarf) even when they are deeply awake. But I suspect that most people do experience a lot of change in their psychological functioning as a result of spiritual awakening.

Thank you, Ron.

"Some people's conditioning is pretty damn strong and they are likely to be grumpy, dopey, etc (pick your favorite dwarf) even when they are deeply awake."

I would think that the more awake someone is, the less conditioned (grumpy) they would be - that is, conditioning is disembled by awaking. The more conditioning that is operative, the less awake. Grumpiness though may the last to go.

Welcome, celeryhead. I think you're fairly new here, right?

New as a poster, yes. Been reading the forum for a long time though.

Glad you've chimed in.

In my experience psychological patterns continue, but my experience of those patters continues to change. So where as a couple of years ago a thought might arise which would turn into a story line involving any number of thoughts, which I would then feel compelled to follow, now it seems to arise (often just as a physical sensation with the beginning of a thought) and then melt quickly. In that sense it is quite different, but having been an anxious person for many years I am very aware that these subtle movements of the body would have previously turned into anxiety. It is like the process repeatedly begins in the way it always did, but it never goes anyewhere. Interestingly, at certain times in my practice following a big shift I noticed that old patterns seemed to intensify in reaction to the opening. My opinion about the stuff we talk about here has changed a lot of times, but I've always felt pretty strongly that these stages of realization we talk about are just landmarks with an infinite degree of variation dependent upon numeroust factors like the ones listed in the oringinal post. I've seen in my own past practice that when I am thinking there's a deficit in one area, I focus on that and in the process neglect some others. Given this, the only solution I see is to come home to this body, this moment, this warmth in the chest, where all of these imperfections are resolved. Awakening is great, but I still want someones hand to hold when I'm dying.