What is the philosophy of the Human Odyssey?
This is a summary of the philosophy upon which The Human Odyssey – A Map for the Journey and its seven Pathways is built. It includes an indication of the sources and antecedents of the work and notes that there is no requirement for belief in any particular religion, philosophical tenant or ideology.
The Foundation
Our starting point is the beneficence of Life. Although many people live in suffering that does not end, and all of us suffer some of the time, there is a network of supportive principles, laws, processes and methods, which can transform this suffering. Our task is to discover them, learn to live in harmony with them, choosing of our own will, to apply them day by day, in our own contexts, using our own discernment.
Our Focus
There are frameworks that apply to all stages of the spiritual journey, but our focus has been upon those that especially apply to those stages after the basics of life in the physical, emotional and mental domains have been acquired. After this first stage is complete, we become seekers for greater quality and depth, though often, we do not know where to look.
Synthesis and the Spiritual Path
The spiritual path is completely interwoven with ordinary life. As we realize and embody the links between these two domains, what was two, (matter and spirit), becomes one, (spirit in form). This process of synthesis is an important ingredient in the Realisation of the Oneness of all Life. When this Realisation is complete, we think, decide and act from a place of synthesis. We are no longer controlled by the conflict of the pairs of opposites. Rather, we embrace the dichotomies and transcend them, to produce eventually, that state of Oneness which is Divinity.
It is this state which is the destiny of all human beings. It unfolds in predictable stages.
Stage 1: Mutability
In the early stages of the evolutionary journey, we are flung from pillar to post as we experience the conflict of the many pairs of opposites that are intrinsic to material existence. Indeed, even at relatively more advanced points along the path, aspects of mutability continue to claim us from time to time.
Examples are: the desire for immediate satisfaction, weighed against the importance of longer term reward; a wish for freedom and a countervailing need for security; our aspiration to be individuals and at the same time to be an accepted part of a group.
Here, we cannot think about and act from any more than one pole at a time. The other pole does not exist for us, or we see it as a threat. This stage lasts for much longer that the other stages.
Stage 2: Integration
In the process of grappling with the swing of these poles, we become less content to live with the partial truths of a concrete, black and white reality. We begin to think of ‘this and that’, not ‘this or that’. We want access to the whole of our personality, and to the wholeness of life.
But this creates its own problems. We do not find it easy to live with the complexity and confusion of this search for a more complete point of view. In fact, many say that this is the most difficult stage of the journey into consciousness.
Eventually, we become able to hold the poles in proximity to one another and to live a more integrated life. But we remain exposed to the conflict of the poles, and it takes continuous effort to keep them balanced. We are still working with a partial reality.
Stage 3: Soul Influence
Here we begin to embrace another aspect of ourselves, our essential Self, or soul, thus opening to a world of true Quality. We do this by consistently choosing the highest quality options available to us, moment by moment. Eventually, this enables us to hold our attention fixed to a point of awareness that both transcends and resolves the conflicts of more and more of the pairs of opposites. For example, we become able to have both freedom and security, rather than one or the other.
Stage 4: The Destiny of Enlightenment
Over time, we increase our capacity to hold to and act from this place of higher order Quality, until all aspects of our lives are under the control of the soul and its Will-to-Good. This alters our receptive capacity sufficiently that we can be fully and continuously in a state of inspiration; of Divinity. We have entered into our inheritance; we have become a divine human being.
The life that follows, goes beyond the human journey to other realms.
While the concept and design for The Human Odyssey — A Map for the Journey is original, our understanding has been informed by many different traditions and the work of many individuals. A significant contribution has been that of the Tibetan monk, Djwhal Khul, who in partnership with Alice Bailey, wrote many works of esoteric science and philosophy. Their contribution and that of The Human Odyssey – A Map for the Journey, is within the tradition known as the ageless Wisdom teaching, which draws on the common and interweaving themes in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism, Islam, Judaism and Theosophy.
Other sources include: Jungian psychology, Roberto Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis, the Psychodrama theory and method of J.L Moreno, a wide range of Buddhist, Sufi, Hindu and Judeo-Christian teachings, the work of Rudolph Steiner, Victor Frankl, T. S. Eliot and many other poets, philosophers and esotericists.
NOTE : No Required Belief Systems
There is no requirement for belief in any religion, philosophy or ideology, or indeed for belief in anything which may be discussed in any aspect of our work. It is your individual and personal discernment as to the relevance and truth of the work that is the measure of its value to you. However, there does need to be enough common ground to make the work mutually enlivening and productive.
