Article: Sustaining Enlightened Activity in Difficult Times

By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.

Editors’ Note: This is a talk presented at the Depth Hypnosis Practitioners Annual Meeting at the Sacred Stream Center on January 22, 2017.

Summary: Advice for those who seek to become more conscious and to promote consciousness in a cultural setting where significant trends and norms discourage the development of awareness.

It takes courage to set out on the path toward consciousness in general and the path of Depth Hypnosis in particular. As a client, it takes courage and dedication to look deeply at the issues that create obstacles in your life. As a practitioner, it takes courage to step into the deep levels of integrity that are required to meet another person in the place where they are suffering.

It also takes courage to be in the world as a person seeking consciousness and fostering activities that encourage consciousness, especially when there is so much happening all around us that actively discourages the development of awareness and clarity. When there is an increase in activities that discourage the pursuit of wholeness and integration, as people of courage, we must redouble our dedication to these qualities. In order to do this, we have to strengthen our understanding of what courage is. The word courage comes from the Latin word cor which means heart. The first step in becoming as courageous as we can be in the world is to be willing to know everything that is in our own heart.

Of course, this work is important for each of us personally and the implications of work on the personal level are probably evident to you. However, the work is also important to do on a collective level. Understanding your individual strengths and deepening your courage to move with them in the world is important now more than ever. Although the underlying unity of all things is unchanged, there are forces at work today that challenge us to remember this unity, to hold onto it, and to provide a connection to it for those who may be caught in the winds of duality that are blowing all around us.

Although all things dissolve into this ultimate unity, the play of duality has much to teach us – not only about the processes and dynamics of duality, but also about the nature of unity itself. The way we meet the manifestations of duality determines our capacity to learn these lessons. We are provided with many opportunities to discover what is effective and what is ineffective with respect to moving in the field of duality without being tumbled by it.

The current political and social environment is so polarized, and it can be easy to succumb to hatred and fear. Therefore we must become even more adept at holding to the power of unity, even as we do our best to discern what the proper antidote to the presentations of duality that appear before us might be.

As Depth Hypnosis Practitioners, we are always doing this in sessions. We hold fiercely and loyally to the Higher Self of the person we are trying to assist, even as we wade into the client’s dualities of attachment and aversion. We are always seeking to release the grip of these dualities so the person can relax into the unity of the Higher Self and thus free themselves from the symptoms they have come for help with.

One of the many teachings that Depth Hypnosis provides its practitioners is the practice of moving skillfully within the dualities of the Depth Hypnosis session while never losing sight of the unity our client may have lost sight of. We can translate what we have learned in session to the larger arena as we take our place in holding down the power of unity, even as the forces of duality increase all around us. This is where courage comes in.

We have to resist being drawn into hate and fear in an effort to counteract them. It takes courage to face down our own negativity as a response to others’ negativity. It takes courage to confront others’ negativity when the required antidote may in fact be a fierce expression of resistance to it. We must remember that the antidote to any situation where duality is at play is unity – and we must develop our skill in knowing what the correct counter move is to any presenting duality is, in order to neutralize it and maintain the fabric of unity.

As we engage in this significant activity, we must remember those who are also striving to do this. It can be easy to lose awareness of the connection to light and power we all work so hard to cultivate. However, we must remember it and serve it, especially in the days ahead.