Essence therapist Avikal talks about liberating oneself from the burden of the Mind.
In a recent interview published in Osho News, ‘Essence Work‘ Avikal explained about the part played by the Inner Judge, and how Essence Work provides profound insights on the path to freedom.
For more that ten years now I’ve been teaching how to change our relationship with the Inner Judge. Thousands of people have passed through my courses and one thing is clear: what we teach works. It works in transforming an infantile relationship with the Inner Judge – based on guilt, shame, aggression and manipulation – into a more adult one where the superego is just a survival tool to be used depending on the needs and the circumstances. Where, to use Osho’s words, consciousness takes the place of conscience.
But, does it work for everybody? No. And it works in different ways for different people.
‘Different strokes for different folks’
What then makes the difference? What makes the teaching and the understanding efficient for some and not for others? What makes it a dead weight for some people?
I have observed a very simple thing: there are those people who have transformed their understanding of the Inner Judge into a flame that burns with passion and guides their intelligence and life force; and there are others who use the spiritual teachings as a medal to put on their chest as a source of pride and solace. They know the words, they know the concepts, but they don’t practice the way.
A guiding light
Spirituality is not a bundle of insights and experiences to refer to when we feel lost or disconnected from life. It is the source of courage and innocence that helps us to jump without conditions, to revel wholeheartedly in whatever life offers us moment after moment. It is a light to guide us as we pass through and leave behind the traps of fear and hope.
Superego and the true path
You can recognize from afar who is encountering his superego. You can see it in the intensity of the attention he gives to the automatism of judgment. You can see in how quickly he recognizes and lets go of opinions and prejudices. You can see it in how clearly he perceives the symptoms of being attacked or attacking someone else. You can see it in how capable he is in not acting out reactivity. Above all, you can see it in the serenity and lightness that show up when the relativity of personal experience is realized.
Transformation
I teach how to transform the relationship with the Inner Judge not as an intellectual exercise or because it is ‘abstractly’ interesting or useful. I teach it because there is no true life while we remain enslaved by our past. And what else is the superego but the guardian of the status quo? The absolute enemy of transformation, of love pulsing with life force, of the mystery in which we are immersed?
The trap
The Inner Judge is wily, and full of tricks. What we get from the teaching and use ‘just’ for survival is a trick of the Inner Judge. Justifying our actions with our spiritual understanding is another trick of the Inner Judge. Assuming spiritual superiority is another trick of the Inner Judge. The bottom line is that ‘I know’ is the biggest trap that causes the soul to wither.
Boxes
Every time we feel satisfied that we have found a name for something, given it a definition, put it in a box … time after time … every time we blame the other or look for a savior we throw the precious richness of our humanness to the winds and our soul withers.
The way is the goal
Often I hear people say that this path is difficult. It is true that growing up involves commitment, attention and willpower and that at times it is difficult to find resources inside. It is also true that only that which arises from our intelligence, love and dedication gives us satisfaction. Nothing else but that. And you know it all too well.
It is also this temporary difficulty that gives us a great and growing sense of integrity and trust, and that makes us feel: “Yes, this is finally me!”
‘You are not alone’
In discovering our Authentic Self we are not alone. All around us there are people who have taken the fundamental step of placing themselves at the center of their own lives. This is not in the narcissistic way of the ego that believes and expects that everything revolves around itself. It is for those who, forged by the fire of the responsibility of their own evolution, have the courage to ask themselves over and over again: “What has all of this to do with me?” These are the ones who turn their attention within; they turn their awareness and their energy within, too, and in doing so stop looking outside for answers, reasons, justifications.
And only then they find true understanding and meaning, immediately, magically, in the Self that is Truth.
The statement ‘And the Truth will make You Free’ makes sense only if YOU know yourself as the embodiment of Truth, if the teaching is not just words and concepts but living practice of your attention and flowering of your passion. Then The Truth makes Us Free, as We are Truth, Freedom and Contentment.
This is our true Nature.
Article by Avikal
Further reading:
Interview with Avikal: Essence Work
Reviews of two of Avikal’s books: ‘Freedom to be Yourself’ and ‘Without a Mask’
Avikal is founder and director of the Integral Being Institute which is active in Europe, Asia and Australia. In his newest books published by O-Books – Freedom to be Yourself and Without a Mask – with the respective, revealing subtitles Mastering the inner judge and Discovering your authentic self – Avikal provides far-seeing insight into his world of training and personal development. Avikal lives in Sydney, Australia. www.integralbeing.com
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