May Gerald G.: Psihologija volje - uvod u kontemplativnu psihologiju

Gerald G. May: The Psychology of the Will - An Introduction to Contemplative Psychology The modern world is taking a dangerous risk in thinking that human beings can master their ultimate destiny solely by force of will. Although human will has an important role in creating a better world, I think we undoubtedly exaggerate its importance. As a society, we are convinced that if we study enough, strengthen our will and work hard, we will succeed in achieving a sense of peace and fulfillment, for ourselves and for others. But the real state of the world and our feelings refutes this. Something else is needed: some source of inspiration, a storehouse of strength and wisdom beyond those provided by our personal will. We need something that can balance our willfulness with willingness, something that can soften our harshness with love. I think it is possible to find it in the spirit domain. But in modern life it is not easy to combine spirit and will. Their relationship is fragile and subject to distortions. The basic problem of reconciling the will and the spirit lies in the general refusal of the will to renounce its ambitions for absolute power. The will is constantly trying to achieve the impossible - to master the spirit - and this is where our confusion begins. The will would somehow have to sacrifice its ambition to rule and accept its rightful place as a dynamic manifestation of the spirit, full of love. In that possibility lies a vision of great beauty, a vision that I will try to describe in the following pages. Gerald G. May (1940-2005) American psychiatrist and writer; he worked as a military and civilian doctor in military bases and clinics. He is the author of a series of studies (Simply Sane: Stop Fixing Yourself and Start Really Living; Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: Psychiatric Dimensions of Spiritual Direction; Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions; The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth etc.) in which he deals with psychology from the perspective of different spiritual traditions and contemplative practices. the role of the psychotherapist in the treatment of addiction, interpreting altered states of consciousness and mystical experiences, and finding points of contact between psychology, theology and philosophy. Willingness and arbitrariness are impossible to explain in a few words, because they are very subtle traits that often overlap and are very easily confused with each other. But to begin with, we can say that willingness implies giving up one's own separateness, that is, entering and immersing oneself in the deepest processes of life itself. It is about the realization that man is already part of some supreme cosmic process and about the commitment to participate in that process. In contrast, arbitrariness is the separation of oneself from the fundamental essence of life in order to master, direct, control or otherwise manipulate existence. More simply, willingness says "yes" to the mystery of living in every moment. Self-will says "no" or perhaps more often: "yes, but...".     It is obvious that we cannot say "yes" to everything we encounter; many concrete things and situations in life are very destructive and we must resist them. But volition and arbitrariness do not refer to concrete things and situations. They reflect our fundamental attitude towards the miracle of life itself. Willingness notices this miracle and bows down to it with reverence. Arbitrariness forgets it, ignores it or, in the worst case, tries to destroy it. That's why volition can sometimes seem very active and intrusive, even aggressive. And arbitrariness can appear under the guise of passivity.