"The nondual approach to therapy…is based on the healing capacity of the unconditioned mind. The common element in nondual approaches to therapy is to focus
on awakening an experience of the unconditioned mind for the therapist and client,
and the ongoing cultivation of this experience."
Peter Fenner (from “Nonduality and Therapy” in The Sacred Mirror)
"Psychotherapy informed by a nondual perspective [is] grounded in the realization, drawn from the nondual wisdom traditions, that the true source of all healing and the lasting resolution of all conflicts and apparent problems lies in the recognition of our nondual nature…. In the realization that this apparently separate self has no substantial reality, problems spontaneously lose their hold, since they’re inevitably based on a mind-created scenario rooted in separation."
Stephan Bodian (from “Deconstructing the Self” in The Sacred Mirror)
"In its deconstructive approach, nondual therapy resembles other depth psychotherapies…. But instead of challenging and disclosing the client’s “self and world construct system”
(James Bugental’s term), only to replace it with a more “authentic” construct, nondual therapy gradually – and gently, since there’s no agenda, just a natural orientation toward the truth – deconstructs this system entirely."
Stephan Bodian
"We are no longer problem solvers facing problem holders.
Instead, we are Being meeting itself in one of its infinite and intriguing disguises."
John J. Prendergast (from the Introduction to The Sacred Mirror)
Billy's Definition of Nondual Psychotherapy
The goal of nondual therapy is to discover who we are without our stories
and to expand our capacity to embody True Nature
- Welcoming, Spacious Awareness -
in every aspect of our lives.
Nondual therapy is rooted in the assumption that our perception of “problems”
is itself the problem (which really isn't a problem).
The self-improvement project is a subtle form of self-directed aggression.
Who we are does not need improving.
By de-constructing our “self and world construct system” (James Bugental's term)
we are able to uncover underlying, unchanging equanimity, or Presence,
and strengthen our capacity to embody Awareness in our day-to-day existence.
This therapeutic process occurs in a certain type of relationship -
a “holy encounter” in which what is awake in the therapist
meets what is awake in the client
- thus healing the client's (and therapist's)
perception of self, other and world.
Identify a stressful belief and then meditatively answer these four questions:
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it's true?
How do you react when you believe the thought?
Who would you be without the thought?
And remember to turn the thought around and find three genuine examples of each turnaround.
...... from centerforawakenedliving.com
A pure nondual approach to therapy does not have any particular "methods." The realization is that there is nothing we need to do to be our true selves. There is no where we need to go to become who we already are. There is no distance to travel. All of this is very true in an "absolute" sense and is often referred to as "the direct path."
However, in the "relative" world many individuals are "caught up" in their stories and the belief in a separate self. They believe that their "problems" are very real. Fortunately for these people, there are "methods" available that act as pointers to and catalysts for the realization of true nature. These methods can be used as long as they work. If they start to get in the way of direct realization, they will need to be discarded. Individuals who use such methods are said to be following "the progressive path."
There are two methods -- The Work of Byron Katie and Integrative Restoration (iRest) -- that actually use our conditioned existence to facilitate waking up from conditioned existence. Practitioners of these methods directly face their thoughts, beliefs, untamed emotions and limiting patterns of conditioning. With an attitude of open curiosity and gentle inquiry, they investigate these conditioned patterns and gradually dis-identify from them. Eventually, the progressive path is seen to be nothing other than the direct path. Any "thing," when rightly understood and approached with an attitude of welcoming, is a catalyst for awakening.
.........from Centerforawakenedliving.com
No comments:
Post a Comment