The formal definition of WHOLENESS:
All of; entire.
An unbroken or undamaged state; in one piece, no part missing, no part removed.
Healthy, a thing that is complete in itself.
The Yin/Yang symbol represents WHOLENESS. When we talk about integrating the Masculine and Feminine within ourselves and our culture, we are talking about WHOLENESS.
Theoretically we as humans are in a continual “process” of balance--seeking wholeness by incorporating both of the universal F/M energies.
WHOLENESS is the joining of the Mind /Body , Psyche /Soul parts of who we are. I find myself periodically checking in on the “balance” of those feminine and masculine energy parts within myself. Just talking with my co-writer yesterday, I was aware that she was doing the same, both consciously and unconsciously.
“I was so much in my head with all of this ‘tech’ stuff (M, mind/intellect) that I just stopped and went out and worked in the yard.” (F, body/earth).
This awareness often just comes naturally like that, but sometimes it is important to be consciously aware of the choices we make and where those choices put us on the energy balance continuum or ‘process’ that we are in. I have another example of this from my life that took place over a number of years….
For ten years I was focused primarily on Mind tasks while working towards a PhD. At the end of that process, I felt very “out of balance” and made the choice to go for massage training for a year. It was the way I got out of Mind and into Body which created a feeling of balance for me. I ended up in a very satisfying profession doing bodywork and at the same time taught Feminine Principle classes at a local community college. This created a life more balanced in using both the feminine and masculine principles.
Anyone else aware of similar experiences, large or small, of being aware of one’s process of balance and the resultant feelings of comfort or discomfort? Please share!
Author Marsha Sinetar, in her book, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics, feels that there is a pivotal moment for recognizing the process of wholeness in one’s personal growth journey. In addition, she believes you can “get there." Sinetar defines mystics as those who find completeness by “consciously integrating inner and outer reality.” Sinetar elaborates on this concept and compares the state of wholeness to Abraham Maslow’s state of self-actualization.
Just finding this book placed me in a startlingly mystical mode. I had been at a personal growth workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA and was feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘rattled’. This caused me to ask the question, “What is happening to me?” I was feeling a shift at a very cellular level.
I happened to be walking through a bookstore in Santa Cruz on my way home as I was asking that question and a book literally fell out at my feet! It was this book, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics, and it propelled me into a lifelong personal growth/ spiritual journey. It was the beginning of my realization that we as humans all have the capacity for being mystics!
I was about 35 at the time and I have to say that this was my first experience with conscious synchronicity. (How messages come through to us from the universe when we are particularly ‘tuned in.') I had come from that workshop in a vulnerable, open, tuned in place and the universe gave me an answer and a concrete name for myself--a mystic, although I consider myself to be a baby mystic vs being an advanced one. The important thing is that one can be an ordinary person and be a mystic in process! I highly recommend the book! I have since come to realize that these synchronicities are frequent occurrences. It’s just that we are not always aware. When I review my life, it has been filled with synchronicities that I was just not aware of at the time.
Anyone else had a synchronistic experience they wish to share?
I will share some of Sinetar’s salient thoughts as relates to wholeness.
She begins by introducing the concept of Self-Actualization which was first proposed by Abraham Maslow: “The state of psychological wholeness or completeness.” Sinetar posits that “wholeness or actualization is the human species’ most natural state, not its end point…. It is not a final or static destination at which a human being arrives, only to stop growing.”
My sense is that when we talk about "wake-up" calls or peak experiences, we are being given clues to our own wholeness process if we decide to "tune in."
This topic is full of possibilities for discussion and I hope that others will chime in!
To continue, Sinetar believes that actualized people exist more than we think and that these are “quite natural manifestations of healthy human development.” I find this to be a hopeful message! It seems that one can name oneself a mystic or become whole just by consciously learning and attending to one’s own personal development. This is a distinctly a feminine principle pursuit. The masculine principle pursuit is in the external world of jobs and accumulation of stuff. One can do both. The critical piece is being conscious of one’s choices. This will be a topic for the next post!
I wish to leave this blog topic with a quote from the poet, Mary Oliver: "This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness."
Be fully present, listen deeply and ask the kinds of questions that give other a chance to express more of his or her own truth, whatever it may be.
The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed - to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.
When we make the kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.
An interesting question to ask another person is “ What has become clear to you since last we met?” and then just listen….."