INNER WISDOM
Within the Internal World of everyone is a profound, compassionate Inner Wisdom. This Wisdom, which is experienced in a wide variety of ways, comes out of the Center. It is essentially a metaphor for the global consciousness and intuitive knowing that seem to be the defining characteristics of the Center. Its sole purpose is to facilitate the realization of a life in which an individual’s True Self is given maximum opportunity for expression.
Encounters with Inner Wisdom sometimes come through dreams. More often, Wisdom is met and worked with through sessions of internal work. These experiences tend to present many layers of symbolic meaning. They are similar to dreams but more coherent and intentional than most dreams. One will usually find each experience to be a rich source of continuing insights for many days. Moreover, unlike what happens in most dreams, the individual is fully aware of what is going on and is able to choose whether or not to cooperate with the process.
Inner Wisdom is usually a very reliable source of strength and support for anyone willing to face her own truth, but it will never give comfort at the expense of truth. It will invariably demand the death of egocentricity.
When one seriously begins the journey into wholeness, Inner Wisdom is an indispensable ally. No outside authority is smart enough, intuitive enough, or experienced enough to understand the internal processes of another person’s mind. Gurus, therapists, and spiritual directors who do not somehow acknowledge the ultimate authority of the seeker’s own Wisdom will inevitably end up limiting, rather than expanding, the person’s life. Likewise, the Ego itself is too limited by its external orientation and its dependence on verbal, analytical thinking to accurately discern subtle internal processes.
Most of the time, Inner Wisdom is experienced as a distinct form within the Internal World. It may present itself as pure light or occasionally as an animal, as in the case of shamans’ animal guides. It may take the form of Christ, an angel, the Holy Spirit, or a highly respected deceased member of one’s family. It may be a young adult or a very old, wise being. Most frequently it will be experienced as the Wise Old Man.
Inner Wisdom will often be masculine, but it occasionally presents in a feminine form or as a person’s Divine Child. Sometimes Wisdom will change form during the course of therapy. Generally it will wear a robe, a long, flowing dress, or a hooded monk’s habit. In many instances, Wisdom will be faceless during the first few encounters. It seems that it hesitates to disclose itself fully until the Ego has demonstrated a genuine commitment to the journey to wholeness.
Inner Wisdom carries itself with an air of calmness and an attitude of profound acceptance. It does not seem to need anything from the Ego. There is no way to control Wisdom. When such a maneuver is tried, Wisdom will frequently walk away, disappear, or perhaps even laugh at the silly presumption of the Ego.
Although it seems to be impervious to human attempts at control, Inner Wisdom is able to influence an individual readily, usually in a kind and subtle fashion. Wisdom can be relied upon to tell the truth (with some infrequent exceptions). It can be very blunt. It may not impart a truth one cares to hear, but what is learned from Wisdom is reliable and is revealed for one’s own good.
Very often Inner Wisdom will catch a person by surprise. The insights given tend to have a paradoxical quality that may seem to violate common sense. In one instance, a woman spent her life wearing a very rigid mask, but she was convinced that what she displayed to the world was real. She was always smiling, always apparently happy and helpful, but behind this front she felt empty and depressed. In her initial encounter with Wisdom, it revealed itself to her in a very loving way and said, “You know I will love you, whether you are being real or whether you continue being phony.” She did not want to hear that she was being phony and proceeded to beat on her Wisdom. Her assumption regarding herself was that she was a well-balanced, spiritually mature person. Others also acknowledged and rewarded her for being so loving and good. Wisdom’s comment contradicted all of this. She became quite distressed and then enraged at Wisdom’s presumption.
In other instances, individuals share the cultural assumption that healing or salvation must be earned through self-discipline and control. They are often shocked and puzzled when Wisdom encourages them to relax and do nothing except be open to the healing and gifts that want to flow through them.
The most common way Inner Wisdom communicates with a person is through the dreamlike, meditative experiences I call internal journeys. Frequently during these experiences, Wisdom will refuse to use words altogether. Those whose Wisdom will talk to them usually find that it uses few words, addresses the issue at hand succinctly, and then gives responsibility for response back to the individual.
When Inner Wisdom speaks, it is difficult to ignore. A comment by Wisdom frequently moves the person to see her life and herself differently. Usually she will not be able to forget what Wisdom says, and will feel a strong inclination to do as suggested. Wisdom will never force anyone to do anything. It will only present the facts and make its recommendations.
Sometimes what is said appears platitudinous. For example, a woman complained that her husband was cold and indifferent to her, frequently coming home late. Inner Wisdom said to her, “Have you thought about hugging him before he goes to work and when he gets home again?” In a sense the advice was so obvious it seemed almost silly, but she took it and important changes began happening in the relationship with her husband.
If one successfully ignores Inner Wisdom for too long, it will cease to be accessible to the Ego. In most cases, the absence of a formerly present wisdom figure is either an indication that the person is putting up walls or that her Wisdom feels that she is not taking the input seriously. When ignored too often, Wisdom will not be available until there has been a change in the person’s way of thinking. Sometimes it will draw back, allowing the person to suffer until she is ready to become more open and more humble.
When encountered openly, the experiences Inner Wisdom presents are incredible. It would take a team of creative writers days to come up with scenarios that could match those that are comparable to an experience presented by Wisdom. Wisdom usually takes the Ego into profound, extraordinary experiences in which the experience itself teaches multiple lessons. Usually everything in the experience has been carefully designed and integrated so that meaning is folded into meaning. The person can think about the experience for several days and continually gain insights from it. Even weeks later, awarenesses gained from it may surface.
Experiences that are precipitated by Inner Wisdom often far transcend the following example in their subtlety, drama, and impact, although this one was very meaningful to the client. The client felt unloved, alienated, and very separated from God or any other source of nurturance. This woman’s Wisdom took her to a crystal mountain that radiated from within. As she walked up the mountain, she felt great warmth and sensed the presence of the Divine. Looking into the crystal mountain she saw a variety of gears and cogs, big wheels and little wheels, levers, and other moving parts. Everything moved in its own precise way; all parts contributed to the functioning of the whole. Seeing all these multi-colored parts within the divine mountain, she became aware that she was in God’s presence, welcomed and loved by Him. The message was obvious, but very powerful: God had made Himself transparent to her. She was one of the little cogs and a part of the greater whole, all of it working together smoothly.
Like some dreams, Internal Journeys carry important messages, involve much profound symbolism, and one way or another offer probing commentaries on one’s life. Unlike dreams, an important value of Internal Journeys is that the Ego remains conscious and free to choose how to respond at every point along the way. These experiences are not imposed upon the subject.
Occasionally, a dream or apparent Wisdom experience will be directly opposed to the client’s welfare and growth. These experiences are very rare, but they do happen. The major difference between these experiences and those that emanate from a person’s Center is that a genuine wisdom experience always respects the person’s autonomy and increases her self-awareness. False wisdom figures diminish a person’s sense of competence and attempt to control the Ego. Moreover, any impulse or direction that fosters a sense of self-importance or arrogance does not come from a true wisdom figure. The true Inner Wisdom will always encourage the individual toward humility, love, consideration of self and others, and becoming a clear representation of God’s love in the world.
In therapy, as I guide and teach it, Inner Wisdom is a very important aspect of an individual’s growth. Wisdom, more than the therapist, is the key to healing. The therapist needs to have the good sense to stand back, respect the client’s Wisdom, and work with it. When this is done, the person’s external and internal support systems will work in harmony. This leads to more rapid and rewarding therapy than I have ever encountered with any other method.
Unfortunately, I have had experiences in which an antagonistic, polarized aspect of the psyche presented itself as a wisdom figure. Also, a person’s Ego will occasionally control the faculty of imagination to give itself a wisdom figure that will validate the Ego’s intentions or desires. Sometimes these are hard to discern, but usually they are obvious.
If I as a therapist begin to question the validity of a wisdom figure or its teachings, I state my concerns as tactfully as possible. I then invite any response the wisdom figure would care to make. Depending upon the response, both I and the wisdom figure may be enlightened through the dialogue or I may judge that relying on this part is not in the client’s interest. In the later case, I may simply guide the Internal Work in a direction that avoids further use of the wisdom figure, or I may encourage the client to request from her Center another, more profound expression of Wisdom. The Center will always present transforming truth and insights through dreams and guided imagery even if the more explicit manifestation of this guidance is unavailable in the form of a wisdom figure.
Genuine wisdom figures always challenge egocentric patterns. Consistently, they invite the Ego to face and resolve painful or threatening issues from which it has long been hiding. Even these genuine wisdom figures can make mistakes. Their errors are most frequent when they make judgments about external people or life circumstances, although they tend to be surprisingly accurate even in these matters.
Regarding internal realities, wisdom figures are far more reliable. In fact, they are so reliable that after seeing the teachings of a wisdom figure proven right again and again, it is normal to suspend judgment and simply acquiesce to whatever it presents. This can be a major mistake. Even regarding the Internal World, wisdom figures can be mistaken. For this reason, the Ego must never relinquish its gift of logical analysis. Even if the wisdom figure has been right in every instance until now, it could always be that this is the time it will be wrong. To blindly follow its direction could lead to harm.
The Ego is meant to be an active partner in the living out of an individual’s potential, but it is not meant to set the course of life. That should be done by the Center and its expressions such as Inner Wisdom. However, the Ego’s gifts must be actively used or that which comes from the Center can quickly become clouded by superstition or religiosity. Consistent clear use of logic and a well thought out ethical system are essential protections for anyone who would take Internal Work seriously. Usually, if there is a conflict between logic or ethics and what Wisdom teaches, Wisdom will be proven right, but until then the person must follow her own best judgment.
It is easy to assume that wisdom figures are only an expression of imagination or suggestion. After all, the initial encounter with Inner Wisdom usually arises out of an experience of guided imagery. It is, therefore, mediated through imagination in response to suggestion. This feels like a rather shaky foundation on which to ground what I am recommending becomes one’s ultimate personal authority.
In more primitive times, when people took for granted the existence of spirit beings or angels, an experience of Inner Wisdom or the Great Mother would naturally be invested with special authority. A small part of our culture still retains such an attitude. The interest in channeling and the beliefs of certain fundamentalist groups underscore the persistence of this worldview. Most therapists, including myself, and the majority of their clients seriously doubt that such spiritual entities either exist or communicate with us. How then can we trust the experience of Inner Wisdom? As I mentioned early in this book, most aspects of the Internal World that I emphasize are reflective of the internal structure of people suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), now called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Often, persons suffering from DID will have an inner teacher, or internal self helper (ISH), that is greatly helpful in the therapy. However, it is a major act of faith to assume that their reality applies to less fragmented individuals. A current text for doing therapy with multiples, The Treatment of Multiple Personality, makes no reference at all to the concept of an ISH or Wisdom. The unspoken assumption in the book is that therapy is a process directed almost solely by the therapist. A more recent and thorough text on the subject, Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder, directly addresses the utilization of the ISH in MPD therapy, and how very helpful it can be.
My way of dealing with these difficulties is very pragmatic. Despite any reservations I or anyone else might have, wisdom figures produce extraordinary results. This is a simple, undeniable fact. What they teach and the manner in which they teach are incomparably powerful. Whether they come to the Ego’s awareness through suggestion, dreams, or visions, wisdom figures all follow the same patterns. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that they are a universal phenomenon, and the use of suggestion (i.e., guided imagery) is simply an efficient way to draw the Ego’s attention to a preexisting presence.
Because their vehicle of expression is imagination, it is important to consider the nature of imagination. The imaginative process is easily discounted. “It was just her imagination,” or “You’re only imagining that.” Imagination tends to connote a sense of something being unreal or untrue.
What must be kept in mind is the fact that imagination is a mental tool that is only as good as the person using it. In the hands of an egocentric or frightened Ego, the products of imagination will be distorted and often self-serving. The same imagination, when used by Wisdom to express itself, will reveal profound truths and challenge the Ego in powerful ways. Imagination is the most clear-cut, effective tool the Internal World has for self-expression. Without it, one’s sense of self would be much impoverished.
All the gifts of the Internal World have a single, common goal: that the person’s Ego effectively gives them to the External World. This demands a strong Ego with good, precise, analytical gifts and a clear ethical structure to guide its choices. An Ego that has aggressively used these competencies throughout the unfolding of inner healing and the development of self-awareness will be well prepared when the time comes for expressing itself in the External World.
In spirituality, psychotherapy, and personal growth in general, the question of authority is always central. “How can I know what is right for me? Of all the competing teachers and experts, how am I to know which is the right one?” Clearly, education or training in the fields of psychology or religion is not sufficient because those who do have the education and training still end up disagreeing with each other, often vociferously.
There is no end of people, professional or lay, who are more than willing to explain others to themselves. Eventually I have come to realize that none of them can know another person, except in broad outlines. Human beings are all far too unique and complex to be truly known. Even someone who knows an individual very well, by having lived or worked with her for a long time, can only really know that which she manifests in the External World. If that individual makes conclusive judgments about the other based on her behavior, it is as if he were presuming to describe the underwater portion of an iceberg after observing only the tip.
Accepting the authority of the external observer or expert will lock the individual into a self-definition that at best only describes her ego level patterns. Such a definition can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is not merely limiting, it is a deadly serious mutilation of the spirit. An Ego that accepts any definition or description as being finally authoritative is condemned to stagnation, and will soon lose connection with the True Self.
Even such a simple assessment as describing a person’s motivation in a particular context will inevitably be too narrow and limiting. Very few behaviors have a single motivation. Most have one or two primary motivations and several other secondary motivations. Only an internal observer can know these subtleties, as well as the deep internal structure of a person’s psyche. In other words, Inner Wisdom is the only legitimate authority we have.
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