Promoting a useful conversation

In therapy, psychologists often find that it is easier to understand people as having several different aspects, almost as if each of us has several sub-personalities. For ease of communication, sub-personalities are often called parts. We can be brave at times and fearful at other times; sometimes altruistic, but other times selfish; sometimes cautious and other times reckless. It's hard to understand people when we see them as a single completely homogeneous being.

People often experience trouble when their parts are in conflict or when one part dominates the other parts. The goal of therapy is not to scold or shush the domineering parts. Rather, the goal of therapy is to respect that each part has good intentions but may be pursuing a program that is no longer helpful. The goal of therapy is to integrate--not shame--all parts, even errant parts.

The conversation in the blog has the same goal: to honor and respect the values of each spiritual pathway. This blog will strive to avoid criticizing the negative aspects of specific spiritual pathways (there are many other avenues for criticism). Hopefully, this goal will enable each reader to select what is valuable for them from different paths.