Energetic Shivers in the Multiverse
The 'third way' of synthesis, transcending polarity in consciousness
I’ve always been struck by the endless possibilities within any given moment. I picture each step sending energetic shivers in every direction within the multiverse. With wordcraft it’s there too. As if each word, each writerly choice were the exercise of a pluripotent stem cell, a commitment to a particular direction which necessitates a collapse of all the other potentialities. Is this why longer vipassana meditation retreats can trigger such a reset? That when we sit still and simply embrace beingness hour after hour and day after day, that we get closer to that underlying unity at the core of all manifestation?
For truly, this “everything, all at once, everywhere” feeling can sometimes get in the way, in the form of mind-racing overwhelm and analysis paralysis. This was as much a part of my past era’s writer’s block, as was any self-limiting programming embedded into former versions of my consciousness. But just as a baby’s brain goes through synaptic pruning (wiping away culturally-specific aptitudes such as certain language vocalizations, sensory distinctions or even the ability to focus the eyes more sharply underwater; a use it or lose it proposition), I have found that the later I am in life, the more at peace I am with the process of choosing.
It’s the paradox, again. That everything matters, and nothing matters at the same time. So why not allow the blossoms to spring forth, that inexorable and majestic generative force that pushes out from the ether to become real in this world.
I think about how Ericksonian hypnotherapy commonly induces trance by drawing attention to “the spaces between.” The inverse space, the void around things, the pause between breath, words, thoughts. Interestingly, when I trained in Rorschach assessment, we were taught to see a focus on the white space around the ink blots as possibly indicative of psychopathology. I suppose if we are looking for deviance from the norm as the definition of disorder?
The art I am drawn to tends to inhabit a similar kind of liminal space within the mental landscape. Hearkens back to one of my favorite terms: the unknown unknowns. I believe that’s why psychedelic medicine is in vogue. Trying to get out of our own head. How do we, individually and collectively, catalyze a paradigm shift in consciousness?
There is a zoom in, zoom out to the process. Zooming into the current paradigm, we can see how we upward spiral around expansion: that zigzag pattern of three steps forward, two steps back. Negative emotions like shame can sometimes keep us stuck, while acceptance can free us to move upward.
Individually and en masse, I’ve lived long enough to see the pattern repeat. Societally, it’s not exactly regression, as some doomsayers would state. More like integration and pendulum swings (indeed, often over-corrections—like when you first learn to drive, pressing the pedals too hard and oversteering). Yet there are definite thresholds that need to be crossed; the momentum to overcome being stuck in the doldrums.
Zooming out to see beyond the current paradigm, we seem to inhabit a Hegelian mode of development: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. A 1-2-3 model. Thesis stage is the original mould we find ourselves in. At first, it is not questioned, it is the air we breathe. So it embodies obedience, establishment, authority outside ourselves, conformity and the like. Then the antithesis stage is the adolescence to thesis’ childhood. Antithesis is about rebellion, honoring one’s feelings, calling out the problems within the dogma of the first stage. And yet, these first and second stages—thesis and antithesis—remain two sides of the same coin of polarity. In one sense, they are the three steps forward, two steps back of the upward spiral. This is where step three, synthesis, comes in. Transcendence of polarity requires unity consciousness. The experiential knowledge that we are all one; fractals of one source consciousness, interconnected like cells in an organism; no true enemy, just reflections of the multidimensional self in all its light and shadow aspects.
The first phase: ignorance is bliss. The second phase: the shame that comes with growing awareness. So shame is a transitional phase, the “oh no, there’s bugs under the rug” moments. Many folks get stuck in this phase, trying to avoid or fight the shame. Too easily, one’s defense mechanism perceives shame and associated self-limiting beliefs (e.g., “I am not enough”) as existential threats, burying them in the subconscious. Instead, seeing shame and other negative intrusions as growing pains can be an extremely powerful reframe. Even the earliest stages of human development are hinted at by this model: the little Buddha state of the pre-verbal baby, who radiates being at one with the world (thesis); then the ego and stories comes online with language, the world fracturing into “me against the world” (antithesis). That’s why jadedness and cynicism are a stance of the early adult: a reaction to the naivete of children, the veneer of seasoned knowledge but without the empathy that comes from years of experiential suffering endemic to the human condition. Evolution beyond this point reclaims the childlike innocence, but with the hard-earned authentic wisdom of adulthood (synthesis). Our obsession with youth is one factor that has kept us in a sort of arrested development here.
Acceptance and metacognitive awareness, as one may intuit, are important keystones in transcending the polarity into the third way. Synthesis is alchemy, is a new paradigm that takes the best from the last two phases and leaves the rest behind. Perhaps not a coincidence that my Ericksonian trance training with Stephen Gilligan also focused on a “third way,” on reclaiming youthful joy while embracing adult boundaries and awareness, experiencing the both-and within these deepened endogenous states. I liken it to quantum superposition. As Dr Gilligan taught us, “You don’t have to choose (between seeming opposites). You are both are the same time, and so much more. Isn’t that nice to know?” Mere words on a page in this post, yet in the naturally altered brain wave states of trance, it is experienced as a visceral truth.
I know there are many paths, all leading toward the same thing here. Sharing from what I have learned and gone through, not to preach but to offer as seeds for your own insight. We each become metaphors for one another, learning through modeling or contrast, depending on the alignment. So, why fuse with the content? Why take the bait of polarity?
Lately for me, it is about slowing down to allow a deepening into my somatic self. A reconnection with my inner rhythms, rather than strict adherence to arbitrary external deadlines (that voice that says keep up with biweekly blogging, weekly updates to my fun fanfic series, monthly releases of spec fic shorts—though yes, I am still committed to my endeavors). We can do the same action, but from a place of delight, curiosity and value-fulfillment rather than fear, contraction and internal coercion. The illusion of the need to constantly go faster and faster. Versus the tortoise and the hair fable, as Dr. Gilligan liked to allude to in his Trance Camps. Or like the yogis would say, sitting still, we overtake those who are running (thanks to Alana Fairchild for that reminder).
Allowing this blog to feel like a personal journal for the moment, a sounding board for contemplations, a conversation with myself. Thanks for coming along for the ride.