Conversations with Christine
Conversations with Christine, Chapter 12: This/And
Photo by Eleanore Fiore on Unsplash
After a bathroom break, Christine applied a heavy layer of sunscreen and spent time rummaging through our basket of hats to shade her pale Alaskan skin. Once she was all situated, we headed to the front door.
“A favorite walk of mine will take us by the courthouse and down to the waterfront,” I said as we stepped outside. The wooden screen door slammed behind us.
I turned around and called to Brett, “We will be home in a couple hours.”
“I remember researching at one time if Jung and Gurdjieff were in alignment with each other on their beliefs,” I began as we crossed Lawrence Street. “They both were doing profound personal work during the early 1900s. I don’t remember completely, but I didn’t get the impression that they saw eye to eye on things.”
“I actually think that they might have been more aligned than you think,” Christine stated as I waved to one of our neighbors. “I remember reading some of the work by Dr. Maurice Nicoll, a British psychiatrist and neurologist. He wrote extensively about the ‘both/and’ approach that you mentioned earlier.
“I think all humans throughout history have played a part in the evolution of consciousness. Each unique voice added a piece to the harmony of the ensemble.”
“I agree with that. I didn’t mean to imply that both of these great men didn’t have important roles in the evolution of consciousness,” I said as I ran my hand through my neighbor’s lavender plants while keeping an eye out for the bees. “I’m just not seeing yet how they dovetailed together. In all fairness, if the universe is pure consciousness—Brahman, The Godhead or the unified field, like the ancients believed—then how can we be separate from God? How can we be severed from something that is in everything? Wasn’t Gurdjieff right in his belief that thinking we were separate was an illusion? Maya or madness?”
“Maybe this is the tension of opposites,” Christine said after a bit of thought.
“Opposites? Like in the trinities that we were discussing on the beach?” I asked.
“Maybe. I’m not sure,” Christine responded very slowly. “But if we know that these trinities of opposites exist, and they are an essential part of life, then maybe we have that paradox of creator and destroyer going on between Jung and Gurdjieff.”
Christine continued, “Dr. Maurice Nicoll lived this tension. He was a Jungian analyst and a student of Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way teachings. Maybe he found that Jung honored his Western Christian lineage, anchoring his worldview in the sacred stories of ancient mythology—like the story of Adam and Eve. Gurdjieff, acting as the opposing force, brought in the Eastern philosophy and esoteric practices to introduce the friction, or the shock of the third force. It’s what Jung would call the transcendent function. Both men working in tandem to provide the ultimate remembrance of who we truly are. What I do like is how Jung gave us a roadmap to help us understand our suffering.”
I stopped at the crosswalk by the Co-Op to push the button, silently thanking the oncoming drivers as they slowed to a halt.
As we stepped off the curb, Christine continued, “By understanding the wounding from our early childhood experiences and how the persona—our false self—forms, we have something to unpack and work with. Just having someone say, ‘No, you’ve got it wrong. We never were separate’ doesn’t really give us the tools to start the journey of healing.”
“Exactly. But Gurdjieff’s point is also valid,” I responded. “We can stay wallowing in this pain and suffering. People get deeply attached to their woundings. I think Caroline Myss called it ‘woundology.’”
“Yes,” Christine responded thoughtfully. “Understanding your own wounds is important, but understanding that everyone is wounded is essential. If we can get into the minds and imagine the lives our parents lived, and their parents before them, it provides a whole different level of empathy and compassion. I have found myself guilty of staying focused on just my own wounding, failing to open my heart to the forgiveness that is necessary.”
We walked together in silence for a while. We had finally reached the section of our walk that opened up to the wide expanse of the water. Small diamonds of light danced on the surface of the waves that were gently lapping the beach.
“Man!” I breathed with great appreciation, taking it all in. “Even after all these years, I still never get tired of this beauty.”
Conversations with Christine Series
Becky has been exploring creativity, spirituality, and the patterns that shape us through her ongoing series, Conversations with Christine. The series imagines two sisters in deep conversation about life’s larger questions, who we are, what shapes us, and why we are here.
Chapter 1: Archetypes, Symbols and Talismans ·
Chapter 2: Defining the Ego ·
Chapter 3: Woundings ·
Chapter 4: Vices and Virtues ·
Chapter 5: The Spiritual Practice of Journaling ·
Chapter 6: Redefining God ·
Chapter 7: Trinities
Chapter 8: Reconnecting
Chapter 9: Evolution of Consciousness
Chapter 10: Understanding the Persona
Chapter 11: We Are Whole
Chapter 12: This/And
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