SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY
by Jacquelyn Small, Eupsychia Institute
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At certain points along their journey, people begin to crave a larger context. And, for many, now is one of those times. They long to be in the supportive and joyful company of others who are seekers like themselves. I believe there are so many people looking for this kind of community that a new culture is beginning to take form: the seeds of a new communal life have been planted. And just in time. For as I've said, without the context and validation community provides, we cannot safely transform. One of the first signs you're becoming a soul-infused personality is that you begin to long for and sense you are part of a larger family of spiritual adventurers, even if you haven't found them yet. And when you actually do meet these fellow travelers, you'll feel a deep sense of familiarity and aliveness; you'll fall "in Love." This is an expanded kind of Love, beyond codependencethe possessiveness and exclusive nature of "special relationships." There is a sense of shared purpose and there's room to love a whole lot of people all at once. You are part of a "soul group." [excerpt from AWAKENING IN TIME, pg. 249-250] Although these communities are highly transformational and spiritual in nature, they do not promote worshipping "gurus" or revered teachers. For this would be a violation of the spiritual function of individual empowerment, a primary goal in all groupwork. Moreover, there is no sense of cultism and elitism. These are free-floating groups; people from all walks of life enter and leave by choice. They are drawn in through attraction, not promotion or coercion of any kind. And they learn from each other as they share their life stories, feelings, visions and dreams. Together, they learn to release dysfunctional ways and dis-identify from old identities, while awakening to a new and healthier sense of Self." [excerpt from AWAKENING IN TIME, pg. 251] [The purpose of transformational groupwork] is to provide an enhanced therapeutic milieu of people to safely undergo ego death/rebirth sequences. In my first book, BECOMING NATURALLY THERAPEUTIC" I sensed this need was emerging when I said people were going to require "a safe place to come and express their feelings of painfeelings of anger or grief they may have driven them to drink, to take drugs, or to act out in other harmful ways at some point in their lives. This safe place is a cleared-out human heart." Transformational groupwork sets up such a place ŠNew, transformational groupwork, like a hothouse, brings with it an enhanced energy field where accelerated transformations take place. And it offers support and validation for these experiences, which might otherwise be spiritual emergencies. Together, the participants commit to continue doing inner work, as well as study, meditation, and other spiritual practices, when they return to their everyday lives. |
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