The Spirit of the Master and 'Self-Blame/Criticism' - Process Work
In other articles, 'Why is it difficult to "not judge"? (Part 1/Part 2)', I explained various matters surrounding the term 'not judging,' which is used in a wide range of ways.
In particular, I explained that the desire (emotion) to 'blame oneself or others' comes from the personality structure of our deep consciousness.
Psychologically speaking, this is the story of what Freud called the 'super ego' and what Gestalt therapy calls the 'top dog'.
In many cases, this becomes an inward-directed aggression within us.
This time, on a similar theme, I would like to address the parts within us that blame ourselves, the parts that engage in 'self-blame,' the parts that 'criticize ourselves or others,' and the critical parts.
This, too, is something that belongs to the elements of the 'top dog' in Gestalt therapy.
Also, in another article'Arnold Mindell and the Dimension of Dreaming', inspired by the memorable obituary of Dr. Mindell (founder of Process Work), I wrote various things about the 'dimension of dreaming'.
This time, referring to the words of Dr. Max Schupbach, the number two in Process Work, I would like to explain the pluralistic workings of our minds and the dimension of dreaming.
Now, Dr. Schupbach, who used to visit Japan often in the past, looks quite thin in recent videos and has lost the appearance he had back then, but at that time, he had a somewhat wild atmosphere and was a very fascinating person with a trickster-like quality in a different sense from Dr. Mindell. There were rumors that he had broken a bone while working with prisoners in a prison, and he was the kind of person for whom such episodes did not feel out of place.
A certain word he said at a workshop over twenty years ago still remains within me and is remembered from time to time.
At that workshop, after doing a demonstration work with a participant, he touched upon the theme of the participant's 'critic' that had emerged during the work.
This was because the participant was suffering from their own 'critical' tendencies, which had appeared as a theme during the work.
It was a problem of 'criticizing and blaming oneself' or 'criticizing and blaming others'.
It was about a 'sharp' and stinging pain.
And after explaining this 'critic' problem, which is often a theme in therapy, Dr. Schupbach added that there is another side to it.
He said that there is a certain'sharpness'in Japanese culture.
That 'sharpness' isthe sharpness of the critic.
And he said that he feels the'spirit of mastery'behind that critic.
Therefore, it is not necessarily a bad thing.
Mastery means to master or become proficient in some art or skill.
It is a spirit that moves toward becoming a 'master'. It is an attitude like becoming a maestro.
Indeed, in Japan, there are many spirits and attitudes of 'mastering the way' and 'becoming a master,' as expressed in tea ceremony, archery, and other 'Do' (ways).
It is clear that this is related to the high degree of perfection in arts and the 'sharp' and honed senses found in Japanese culture.
There are many cases where a 'critical' attitude that is harsh on oneself becomes too perfectionistic and leads to exhaustion.
It often triggers a feeling that 'I am not enough' no matter how much I do, and it 'sharply' criticizes and stings me with pain.
However, on the other hand, that attitude is also connected somewhere to the desire (emotion) for perfection in things and mastering a way.
Like Zen or the various 'Do' (ways), it has become a movement that aims for the pinnacle of the spirit with the sharpness of a stinging critical spirit.
In one aspect of Japanese culture, there is certainly such a spirit of mastery.
Therefore, beyond the critical, stinging sharpness, one can see the 'spirit of the master/mastery'.
In a sense, the spirit of the master/mastery can be called the'dimension of dreaming'that lies behind the critical attitude.
At the level of 'consensual reality' that everyone understands, it may look like mere criticism, but at a deeper dimension, it can be said that there isthe dreaming of the master.
It can also be seen as a kind of 'archetypal' dimension of functioning.
Being archetypal is a Jungian concept, meaning it is a deep, universal, and fundamental pattern that is not recovered by the logic of this superficial daily ego.
It is something that works in a dimension different from our human superficial value standards.
In the superficial part of the ego, the part that is an emotion (desire) that sharply criticizes and torments oneself like a 'thorn in the flesh' can also be said to be an archetypal impulse to sharply master a way, aiming for ultimate perfection in the deep, universal realm.
In fact, people who have a tendency to criticize or blame themselves are often owners of very high-quality skills or high-quality output.
Reframing being critical in that way brings the multidimensional richness of dreaming into our sensibilities.
In short, it means not directing the aggression of the critic toward oneself, but directing it toward mastering a way.
Such psychological adjustment at a deep dimension is not something that can be managed by thinking with the head or by willpower; it is something that can only be transformed (liberated) by dealing with the deep dimension of the mind through therapy (experiential psychotherapy).
However, even so, remembering that there is a spirit of master/mastery (dreaming) at the root of the critical is something that enriches the world and images and moves feelings forward.
For those who are suffering from critical tendencies or the sharp pain of self-blame, I hope you will feel that such a 'spirit of mastery' and 'dreaming' exist behind those emotions (desires) and strive to explore the way and the heart.