Since you find yourself reading this, maybe it´s because you are already experiencing a painful clash between your inmost needs and the sociopathic environments and tendencies of a "sick culture" that crumbles; in other words, maybe you are amidst of what the psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski called "positive disintegration". In that case, don´t worry, that is a good sign.
The emergence of anxiety, nervous agitation, existential anguish, depression or even skin rashes and physical diseases are very often external symptoms of deep needs, and not just the consequence of living in a decadent world full of food poisons, pollution, poverty, economic crises, loss of jobs, cruelty, violence...
"The
term disintegration is used to refer to a broad range of processes,
from emotional disharmony to the complete fragmentation of the
personality structure, all of which are usually regarded as negative”
(Dabrowski 1964, p.5)
As strange as it might sound, inner conflicts can degenerate into utter madness and even suicidal tendencies, result of a "negative disintegration", or else lead to the creative and enriching processes of "positive disintegration", unleashing an accelerated transformation, something that can never take place mechanically, since it requires "effort".
“Crises are periods of increased insight into oneself, creativity and personality development” (Dabrowski 1964, p.18)
“Crises are periods of increased insight into oneself, creativity and personality development” (Dabrowski 1964, p.18)
“Experiences of shock, stress and trauma, may accelerate development in individuals with innate potential for development” (Dabrowski 1970 p.20)
“Crises, in our view, are brought about through thousands of different internal and external conflicts, resulting from collisions of the developing personality with negative elements of the inner and external milieu” (Dabrowski 1972, p.245)
Isn´t it true that the more light-awareness we access, the more darkness appears, both inside and around us? Even darkness feels attracted to light, as when insects gather around the light of the bulb.
Yet, one should not panic nor get discouraged. The problem does not reside in the forces of life that make us suffer, but in our attitude towards them.
Actually, every process of co-creation involves a "negative force" that must be "resisted" –not destroyed– with an "affirmative force" so that both can be "reconciled" in a broader domain.
Actually, every process of co-creation involves a "negative force" that must be "resisted" –not destroyed– with an "affirmative force" so that both can be "reconciled" in a broader domain.
It is precisely at the point of maximum tension, doubt and suffering that there is a huge chance to move deeper into a new level of unity and experience –a reconciliation–, always provided we understand the process and stay firm, without succumbing to confusion and weakness.
There is always a tendency to escape that "passing tension" with surrogates –the false lights, loves and peace of entertainment and pseudo-enlightenment– that drive humans away from the experience of true understanding, true happiness and creative values such as Truth, Beauty and Justice.
There is always a tendency to escape that "passing tension" with surrogates –the false lights, loves and peace of entertainment and pseudo-enlightenment– that drive humans away from the experience of true understanding, true happiness and creative values such as Truth, Beauty and Justice.
And every time there is "reconciliation of inner conflict", nothing remains on the same level as before; something grows, and one cannot doubt it is happening, for there is relief and insights that take away us from the destructive spiral of mechanical suffering.
New understanding, values and interests emerge in a new human being, making one experience those moments of "partial happiness" that open the window to glimpses of true bliss, which is just the beginning of what has no limits.
Once one sees and feels these new values, it´s unbearable to live in darkness again, as it happens to the prisoner in Plato´s allegory of the cave.
New understanding, values and interests emerge in a new human being, making one experience those moments of "partial happiness" that open the window to glimpses of true bliss, which is just the beginning of what has no limits.
Once one sees and feels these new values, it´s unbearable to live in darkness again, as it happens to the prisoner in Plato´s allegory of the cave.
On an individual level, this leads to the formation of what Dabrowski called "authentic personality", very much in line with what Gurdjieff described as development of the essence, "the true Self".
In esoteric Christianity this means embodying the Holy Trinity: Holy Affirming, Holy Denying and Holy Reconciling.
In esoteric Christianity this means embodying the Holy Trinity: Holy Affirming, Holy Denying and Holy Reconciling.
Likewise, ancient teachings –including Christianity– stressed the need of "spiritual death and rebirth in life", as hinted in the Sufi proverb: Die before you die.
And far for being a self-negation, this is a complete affirmation of our integral life experience and essence, for every true heart is unique, carrying a tiny bit of the Truth, a spark that must become a Flame, as the Persian poet Rumi said in his poems.
By understanding inner disintegration, one can feel more compassion, seeing what makes us and others bring darkness blindly.
And when one sees what needs to be done, this is followed by the urge to do it. So this also leads to the impulse towards perfection, which is true unconditional love –not animal love or emotional love, which always end in conflict.
When one stops living for whims and has the courage to "resist harmful inertias", transforming inner dumps into gardens, seeking for deeper understanding, one starts releasing creative influences around, becoming really human in the process.
“We are human inasmuch as we experience disharmony and dissatisfaction, inherent in the process of disintegration” (Dabrowski 1970, p.122)
Thus one can see how this positive disintegration or spiritual death is a literal transformation of darkness, not a supression or negation of it. Humans are nor here to kill symptoms –which is what modern medicine and psychiatry try to do by means of calming drugs, causing further damage.
Last but not least, such a transmutation is what turns us into "human vessels" that can receive enough Light from the Cosmos –now arriving in greater waves–, sow it into the planet and turn this beautiful blue globe into a true Eden, a Heaven on Earth. For this is one of the main purposes of human existence, as told in countless myths and legends of old.
The main source of unhappiness and darkness are ignorance and weakness before the Truth of what is happening. We choose.
Last but not least, such a transmutation is what turns us into "human vessels" that can receive enough Light from the Cosmos –now arriving in greater waves–, sow it into the planet and turn this beautiful blue globe into a true Eden, a Heaven on Earth. For this is one of the main purposes of human existence, as told in countless myths and legends of old.
The main source of unhappiness and darkness are ignorance and weakness before the Truth of what is happening. We choose.
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