It is the potential of every person to grow into a whole human being. The great challenge of a human life is to discover all that is within the human heart.

The Bridge of Authenticity

My work bridges personal therapy and inner work with spiritual growth.

Personal exploration is qualitatively different from spiritual development: the former requires self-absorption, the latter requires self surrender. In the first we discover ourselves, in the second we liberate ourselves.

The difference has confused many seekers. To my knowledge no one has clearly explained how these two processes are really one single connected process.

We can pass from one to the other through the bridge of authenticity, a bridge that we cross when we experience personal transformation.

In personal work we change, but authenticity is only reached through transformation. This is the ultimate goal of personal inner work. On the spiritual level our attainment is surrendered in service to our divine nature.

The Modern Mystic Path

Today the secrets are known, so there is no mystery about the modern mystic path. But merely knowing the secret does not reflect our need to live it and to follow the path. The essential secret is that we are consciousness and consciousness is eternal. Freedom from separation and attachments involves living into this secret until it becomes our central reality… beyond fear and desire.

My life-long search has been to realize this freedom. My enduring work with others has been to share what I have found openly and accessibly, to guide others on the inner journey, and to enable and empower them to awaken to consciousness and realize their true nature.

The Three Levels of Awakening

There are three levels of awakening—personal, authentic and spiritual. I call these three levels:

1. The Process of Self-Discovery

2. The Transformation into Authenticity

3. The Source of Consciousness

They form the foundation of my work.

1.      The Process of Self-Discovery

Our small sense of self, which we experience as character, is a reflection of our deeper self. But when we become attached to the small self we deny ourselves freedom. We partly do this through clinging to the small sense of self and living in a prison of emotional and behavioral patterns which effectively have us going round in circles without any memory that we have repeated life experiences which are dictated by our conditioning. To conceal this from ourselves we use our character as a defense. Our character has to be brought consistently to awareness until it becomes transparent to us and we understand it for what it is, live with it in a positive way and become empowered to make new choices. This is the work of personal therapy and the aim is to resolve the unfinished business of our early life experiences.

2.      The Transformation into Authenticity

When we have recognized and shed our attachment to our small sense of self, we are faced with the fact that, since we are not our character, we don’t really know who we are. There follows a great adventure in authenticity. We confront our fears and desires in a radical way and ask, “If I am not willing to be who I really am, then what is the meaning of my life?” Thus we cross a threshold of truth and sincerity to fundamental change. No longer are we driven by the compulsions of our habitual emotional and behavioral drives and living in a prison of our own making. We become genuine, real and our relationships to life and to others are transformed by this new understanding. This is the work of depth psychotherapy and the aim is to become self-responsible and authentic.

3.      The Source of Consciousness

The true Self is the state of perfect freedom in which we transcend the human conditions of fear and desire. We reach a deep understanding of the body-mind and soul as incarnate spirit and practice living out of emptiness and not-knowing. This is how we learn to truly be, beyond separation and attachment. It is the state of non-ordinary ordinariness, wisdom and unity. It is experienced by many temporarily but it requires great courage and determination to remain in it.

This is the work of psycho-spiritual psychotherapy and the aim is to live in the present moment beyond memory of the past or fear of the future, centered in the spiritual realms beyond the personal, being entirely natural and living from our true nature.

BLOG entry #104

This article by Richard Harvey was originally published at http://www.therapyandspirituality.com/articles/  and it is part of an ongoing retrospective series of blogs. ‘The Inner Journey to Human Awakening: The Great Challenge of A Human Life’ was first published in 2011.