Weeding out White Supremacy, A Therapist’s Perspective
Last weekend, while I was facilitating an Intensive and participants were exploring the profound ineffable territory of empty consciousness and healing, Nazis were demonstrating in Charlottesville.
While a hearty group gathered in the hills of East Tennessee to push past their own illusions and limited ideas of separation, a man plowed into a crowd with a lethal weapon, killing one and wounding others.
In a quiet cool room on a hot August day, with focus and determination, healing arts professionals carved out time to probe the edges of their understanding and experience of unified consciousness with questions like ‘who am I? and ‘what is life?’
Meanwhile, a president remained silent in the face of atrocities that are unfolding under his watch. When he did finally speak, I wished for his silence.
Contemplations of empty consciousness led many participants to a gnostic intensive. They gained a felt sense understanding that everything arises from and returns to empty unified consciousness. One participant said, “I feel that I ‘get it’ more fully that I am endless being, … and the creator/consciousness and dis-creator of my world.” People had profound experiences.
Then they went home to the news. In the aftermath of the weekend, the president has bolstered the ideology of white supremacy. As committed as I am to sharing the power of AAIT to untangle ourselves from the bonds of our wounds and help our clients do the same, our collective wounds are screaming.
I won’t keep quiet. If you follow me on social media, you likely know that ☺. Spiritual, personal and psychological evolution is NOT mutually exclusive with collective evolution. Our times demand that we evolve. Aside from active political work, there is inner work to do. We ALL have work to do.
Monday morning after Charlottesville, I had a meeting with my assistant, “I can’t believe this is happening,” I moaned. Then I looked into her beautiful young face and simultaneously felt a recognition of my own privilege. We both acknowledged the tragedy of “of course we can believe this is happening.” In addition to leaving that meeting with the confidence that this young woman will take care of everything I’ve asked AND more, I recognized the subtle influence of my own covert white supremacy.
Last weekend, while I was facilitating an Intensive and participants were exploring the profound ineffable territory of empty consciousness and healing, Nazis were demonstrating in Charlottesville.
While a hearty group gathered in the hills of East Tennessee to push past their own illusions and limited ideas of separation, a man plowed into a crowd with a lethal weapon, killing one and wounding others.
In a quiet cool room on a hot August day, with focus and determination, healing arts professionals carved out time to probe the edges of their understanding and experience of unified consciousness with questions like ‘who am I? and ‘what is life?’
Meanwhile, a president remained silent in the face of atrocities that are unfolding under his watch. When he did finally speak, I wished for his silence.
Contemplations of empty consciousness led many participants to a gnostic intensive. They gained a felt sense understanding that everything arises from and returns to empty unified consciousness. One participant said, “I feel that I ‘get it’ more fully that I am endless being, … and the creator/consciousness and dis-creator of my world.” People had profound experiences.
Then they went home to the news. In the aftermath of the weekend, the president has bolstered the ideology of white supremacy. As committed as I am to sharing the power of AAIT to untangle ourselves from the bonds of our wounds and help our clients do the same, our collective wounds are screaming.
I won’t keep quiet. If you follow me on social media, you likely know that ☺. Spiritual, personal and psychological evolution is NOT mutually exclusive with collective evolution. Our times demand that we evolve. Aside from active political work, there is inner work to do. We ALL have work to do.
Monday morning after Charlottesville, I had a meeting with my assistant, “I can’t believe this is happening,” I moaned. Then I looked into her beautiful young face and simultaneously felt a recognition of my own privilege. We both acknowledged the tragedy of “of course we can believe this is happening.” In addition to leaving that meeting with the confidence that this young woman will take care of everything I’ve asked AND more, I recognized the subtle influence of my own covert white supremacy.
Our calling to serve others DEMANDS that we raise the bar of our own self-awareness. We can stay in our privileged positions of outrage or turn the channel with a shrug, “I don’t do politics,” or mumble any of the other myriad reasons for not looking. Alternatively, we can join the legions reaching towards higher understanding.
This means looking within. It means learning to recognize and INTEGRATE the shadows of insidious covert white supremacy playing in our ignorance and avoidance. It means taking a REAL stand within yourself for ALL of us.
For those of you who know Deep PEAT 4, study this infographic. Do you see yourself? Do you see your friends and family? What fears and furies are keeping you bound to such limited understanding and behavior? Root them out, integrate them with your home practice. For those who don’t know this process, how do you root out shadow tendencies? Do you have a reliable means?
The shadow hides in our irritation, criticism, and blame of another. Another place it hides is in our jumping to justifications. When we find ourselves irritated, critical or blaming of another, one of the first questions to ask is “What specifically is bothering me about that person?” Then, “How am I a little like that?”
In the same way, look at this infographic, ask yourself, “How do I engage in covert white supremacy?” Then ask again. And again. And again. Until finally one day, we WAKE up to the truth of our unified consciousness. In the meantime, there is work to do.
We are in this together.