A short compilation of quotes on radiation by Roberto Assagioli:
“Each of us necessarily and inevitably radiates what he is.” Roberto Assagioli
“Energies radiate outwards from the personality as if from a great source of light; luminous rays shine out and pervade the atmosphere. This irradiation occurs spontaneously – I would almost say inevitably – and this explains the effect the mere presence of a person who has had transpersonal experiences has on those with whom he or she comes into contact.”
“However, there is also deliberate irradiation – the conscious action of sending out energies and beneficent waves. This is a form we might call psycho-spiritual telepathy, consisting not only of transmitting specific ideas but primarily of a general channelling of goodwill or blessing. This was, and still is, used in the religious field, but it can be used anywhere, whatever one’s philosophical or religious convictions.
Recent studies in telepathy and telekinesis have given a specific basis for this type of activity.” (Transpersonal Development, p. 47-48, 2007)
“A person who is able to be a living centre of peace in today’s word, and who is able to radiate that peace powerfully, ceaselessly, will be in a position to give needy humanity the benefit it lacks most and is in greatest need of.” (Transpersonal Development, p. 270, 2007)
“Radiation and Blessing
The value of the age-old service of Blessing needs to be reaffirmed. It is a conscious and deliberate use of radiation and is one of the greatest contributions we can make to the well-being of our fellow men.
Blessing is therefore a service which is based on the laws that govern energy and radiation, and to bless effectively we should have some understanding of radiation, its nature and its laws.
In general terms, radiation is an outward projection of energy from some originating source. It is a subject which is today being increasingly studied by scientists, and the extensive explorations in this field now being undertaken by, for example, the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California, are an indication of its growing importance as the New Age science emerges.
As a result of these investigations, we may expect to learn a great deal more about this ancient means of distributing beneficence. In the meantime, let us remember that radiation is magnetic, and similarly that Blessing is an act which blesses those who give as well as those who receive. When we seek to bless, we place ourselves in a divine circulatory flow of benediction.
What Is Radiation?
Active, or conscious, human radiation finds a close analogy in the projection of radio or television waves from a transmitting station. It can be put into operation in two ways:
- In all directions, with no specific aim or target as in broadcasting, and addressed to ” all it may concern,” to all who may be able and willing to receive the message or impression. In order to be effective this type of radiation demands a considerable degree of inner power, a high spiritual “voltage.”
- Specific Radiation directed towards a definite target.
This is analogous to those etheric waves which are projected in only one direction. This method does not demand so high a “voltage,” because the effect is increased by the focussing of the energy, much as the heat of the sun’s rays can be sufficiently amplified by concentration through a lens to kindle a fire.
What We Can Radiate
By means of mental and spiritual telepathy we can radiate ideas: either pure abstract ideas, or ideas formulated into thoughtforms. We can also radiate qualities, aspects, attributes, such as Love, Light, Joy, Strength, Will. These two forms of radiation can be combined, that is, we can radiate ideas or thoughtforms conditioned or vitalised by spiritual qualities.
Each of us necessarily and inevitably radiates what he is.
It is time that we realised this and became aware of the opportunity it offers and the responsibility it entails, so that we may consciously utilise this power to the full and use it only in constructive and helpful ways. Radiation can be considered a form of telepathy; it is a way of “impressing,” and it has both general and specific aspects. It expresses what we really are, which, in both a higher and a lower sense, is much more than we are aware of.
Emerson wrote in his essay on Social Aims: “Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. One may disguise the tone of the voice, but the radiation of the heart cannot be falsified.”
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“Radiation and Magnetic Attraction and their Redemptive Effect
Radiation and magnetism appear at first to be contradictory. Radiance, however, evokes magnetism, it effect is magnetic and the recipient of radiation is attracted towards the radiating centre or source. A clear example of this is the response of a plant to sunlight; the sun radiates light to the plant, which is attracted and reaches up towards the sun. The radiation of the sun is thus magnetic.
The same is true of the light of the Soul or Self playing upon the personality; the Soul radiates its light and the right reaction of the personality is a yearning towards this source of light; it is its response to the magnetic attractor of the Soul. But the personality does not always react in this positive way; sometimes it is not aware of or repels the Soul’s influence.
Magnetic attraction also takes place in inter-persona relationships; if a person radiates light and love toward: other human beings, they are attracted. The normal effect of radiation, therefore, is attraction-magnetism it attracts towards the source of radiation.
Spiritual Radiation
Spiritual Radiation is a redemptive process, producing what might be called almost a “chemical change” in the substance of humanity and of the planet. Each of us is contributing to it all the time, and the group contribution – the radiation of groups gathered for specific purposes is a growing factor in life on earth today.
As we progress, we become increasingly radiatory and magnetic and we have to respond to those who are attracted by this magnetism. It is inspiring to realise that each step we take upward changes, heightens and intensifies our spiritual emanation.
The conscious projection of thoughts and the active radiatory work of blessing are specific types of radiation. To be effective, this radiation must flow from the soul-infused personality – at least soul-infused to a certain extent.
A blessing or benediction might be regarded as “a transfer of spiritual energy.” This illuminates the concept of radiation. When someone with spiritual power blesses another, and the blessing is not formal or perfunctory, it is a transmission of energy, a form of radiation. …
When radiation has a spiritual quality, when it emanates from a man who has achieved a high point of Self-realisation, its effects are potent. A modern psychologist, A. H. Maslow of Brandeis University, has recognised the reality of such radiation and has describe it as follows:
” … in self-actualising, creativeness is ’emitted,’ like radioactivity, and hits all of life, regardless of problems, just as a cheerful person’ emits’ cheerfulness without purpose or design or even consciousness. It is emitted like sunshine; it spreads all over the place; it make things grow (which are growable).”
(Creativity in Self-Actualising People, p. 12,)
Keyserling has stated the same truth in a strong way ” … the mere existence of a saint is a blessing -the mere existence of a hero gives strength and courage; the mere existence of a great believer creates faith; and that of one who greatly trusts generates confidence. More over, it is the silent effortless radiance of deep being: which ensures the most powerful action at a distance. This has proved itself true thousands of times, in space as well as in time.”
(Hermann Keyserling From Suffering to Fulfilment, p. 90.)
From the angle of human evolution, it might be stated that only when the soul aspect is dominant does the response apparatus (the form nature of man) fulfil its destiny, and only then does true radiation and the pure shining forth of light become possible.
The creative faculty works by means of radiation and magnetism. These bring to its possessor the material for creation and a magnetic capacity which arranges in due form and beauty that which radiation has evoked. Creativity is a consequence of a particular state of mind and a specific state of being; it signifies a point in evolution wherein the person is definitely “radioactive.”
Radiation and magnetism are an expression of the energetic or dynamic aspect of love, and our attempts to realise spiritual love may be helped by the recognition that it is a magnetic energy.
Each of us can and should be a “centre of radiation,” affecting other centres and lives and in this way fulfilling our part in the redemption of the planet. We each have our sphere of radiation; it is our area of responsibility, and within that sphere-which is larger than we think-we can serve in an effective way the Purpose of Divinity. (Read more in: The Science of Service and Blessing)
“Close psychological communion with individuals or groups who have realized, or are striving to realize, the same aim. As there are chemical catalysts, so there are “human catalysts,” whose influence, radiation, and the “atmosphere” they create, greatly facilitate psychological transformations.” (Transmutation and Sublimation of Sexual Energies, by Roberto Assagioli)
“The Self has no quality yet at the same time it is the synthesis of all qualities, in the sense that all qualities are contained in it and harmoniously integrated. Both darkness and white light can be said to have no colour, yet white light contains all colours, and the right proportions. And the radiation of the Self can be experienced as blackness or as pure intense white light at different times. This has been reported by many mystics, the most famous of all being St. John of the Cross who used the term “Dark Night of the Soul” to describe the state that precedes, and leads to the experience of the Self. Other mystics have talked about the cosmic “voice of the silence” or “music of the spheres” which can be heard when all normal sounds cease, yet contains all sounds.” (The Superconscious and the Self)
“The confusion, the natural inevitable confusion at first between transpersonal experiences, peak experiences, and the Self is very well illustrated by astronomy. We say currently that we see the sun. But we don’t see the sun! We see the light emanated by the sun. It’s something completely different. We don’t see the sun. We don’t know what the sun is behind the shining curtain of radiation, and the astronomers have lately realized that, and somebody gives – I don’t remember who right now, but it’s not important. If we look across the lake to the lights and lamps on the other shore, we naturally say we see the lamps. But we see nothing of the kind – the lamps are invisible – we see the light emanated by those bulbs, but we don’t see the bulbs. So also at this level we never directly see the core, the source there, immovable, just radiating and shining. What you can see are the radiations that come from that. So all becoming is a radiation from Being.” (Talks on the Self)
“Q. You said there can’t be a synthesis of elements without a synthesizing centre. This seems to be so central to our them and to psychosynthesis. Could you please develop this a little more?
- Well of course there cannot be anything without a nucleus, a core. There cannot be an atom without a core. There cannot be any living organism without a central life with keeping the life organized for the purpose of permanence and growth. So you have to say there is always inevitably a core, and what I have done is only to apply specifically to psychosynthesis of the human being, both at the personal and the transpersonal. There could not be any order, any harmony, and real life of a personality without a synthesizing centre.
But the personality is not yet synthesized. It is a constant, dramatic interplay between subsidiary centres of sub-personalities, or drives, or all kinds of contents of the personality, and the synthesizing centre which has such a hard time. But it is there, and however partial and unsatisfactory to a certain point in the so-called normal individual, it is a co-ordinating, bringing together element. Therefore psychosynthesis, first, second and third, is the working from the centre. That centre you see is synthesizing not in itself. I repeat it is a static, pure being but it acts. This is a paradox, also another central point to realize and then enough for today. The Self radiates. Aristotle called it in that fine paradox the “Immovable mover.” It is immovable but sets in motion everything else. I suggest that you meditate upon the immovable mover, and our centre the sun, that unknown mysterious entity sends enormous radiation throughout our whole solar system and beyond. Also, a jewel is static, but sparkles.” …
- In your discussion of the confusion between transcendental experiences, peak experiences, and the Self, you gave us illustrations of the light from the sun and the lights emanating from the bulbs across the lake. In these illustrations, we see only two of the above aspects. Would you clarify these points for us, please?
- I don’t quite see, but I’ll sum up the matter. I mean, we never see the core, the centre, only emanations from it. We don’t know even what the core of the Self is, but the radiation. So the same, we never see the bulb or the spiral in the bulb across the lake. We only see the light. I think there’s nothing more to say than that. The basic differences between the core and the radiation from the core are the essence of the Self – being – and its rays and radiations. All our transpersonal experiences are experiences of radiations, qualities, energies of the Self but not of the Self itself. Is that clear?”
“Then it is important for me to go with my flow; listen to my inner voice?”
“Let me be sure that you understand, because it is important that you not be too passive.” Seeing my face filled with the incredulity of ever being considered passive, he laughed and said, “No danger of you being too passive? Well, participate in the universe and the rhythm. There is a basic difference between the flow of manifestation, the great working out of the cosmic plan, and the Transcendent . The Transcendent doesn’t flow – the core, the inner jewel, the real center-does not flow, it radiates.
“For instance, considering only the solar system which is a small thing, the sun is at the center and radiates on all the planets. It is the planets which move in orbit circles around the sun. For them, the sun is static. Of course, the sun is moving and rushing in the wider universe, but within the context of the solar system, the sun can be considered a center of radiation and the planets moving around. And so it is the same with the – with the Self.
“That is a fact,” and his voice rose in that way he had, “our Self is life and the personality is in the flow. The qualities of the personality should go with the flow, but not the Self. The great thing, difficult but possible, is to live at the same time in the eternal and in the temporal.”
“The self radiates?” I wrote on my pad. Before answering, he leaned over and tapping the word self with his finger, he said, “Capital ‘S,’ please.” Then, “Of course, the Self radiates. It radiates downward to the personality, horizontally to other living beings, and vertically to the One Self. That will be one of the themes of your meditation. Recognizing it does give you a few basic concepts.” (Conversation with Roberto Assagioli)
“Then, another day we will speak of radiation. As you have sent love to your son, you know that you can radiate and that is an action of spiritual service and also disposes of the excess of energies in the personality. I think that you can be a very effective radiator.” (Conversation with Roberto Assagioli)
“As we have seen, man’s basic existential experience, when disidentified from all the various psychological elements, is the conscious “Being”—is being a living self. This is an aspect of the Universal SELF or Being, The experiential realization of this relationship has successive degrees which have been pictured on page 127.
In diagram one, the radiation of the “star” symbolizing the Transpersonal Self is directed almost completely within the periphery or area of the individual psyche, indicating that the attention of the SELF is directed chiefly toward the personal self, or “I,” and its activity is bent on influencing the whole man by radiation from and through the superconscious level.
In the second diagram the attention and activity of the SELF are shown as evenly distributed between the downward direction toward the personality, and the upward direction toward the transcendent Reality. In this condition, achieved in and through many stages of expanded awareness, the subject has some realization of his participation in a universal state of Being, while preserving at the same time a vivid, even sharpened, sense of individual identity, of being fully “himself.”
The radiation of the star in the third diagram indicates the highest states of transcendence, in which the sense of individual identity is dimmed and may even seem temporarily lost. These are the states variously called sanadhi, prajna, salon, ecstasies, cosmic consciousness, etc. (The Act of Will, p. 125-127)
“Highly gifted people who show special abilities, sometimes from their earliest years, are now beginning to be recognized and appreciated,
but still to a limited, unsatisfactory extent. They are still misunderstood, and there is a reluctance to appreciate them fully – and even hostility. There are various reasons for this, but I cannot go into them now. Yet there are two important reasons compelling us to take note of the highly gifted. The first is that they represent the most precious human element, which we might compare to uranium among metals in that both are able to release powerful irradiations.” (Transpersonal Development, p. 73, 2007)
“So ingrained is the extroverted, materialistic mentality of our civilization that even those who call themselves spiritual do not even appreciate or understand this special form of human activity. Within the Churches themselves the contemplative life has attracted fewer and fewer followers in modern times, yet there is convincing evidence of the effectiveness of the spiritual forces radiated by superior souls in whom the fire of contemplation burns brightly. Such evidence may escape the eye of the superficial observer or of those with preconceived ideas, but it is quite clear when considered carefully and impartially. The countless supporting testimonies to this power that we find in the history of different civilizations cannot be ignored.
The radiating effect of silent prayer, the many extraordinary healings, the conversions that have taken place over great distances, the influence of a person deep in prayer as perceived by those to whom that prayer was consciously directed, and sometimes the feeling that the persons were actually present, are rejected out of hand on the basis of doctrinaire preconceptions or stamped with the sentence of impossibility.
It is even less valid to do this now when the material sciences, with their most recent discoveries, are rapidly changing our understanding of the universe, providing valid evidence in support of spiritual concepts. The facts of telepathy, telekinesis and ideoplasty, which some scientists have now confidently established, show that psychical forces can act outside of the confines of the physical body, having a direct effect on matter at a distance and causing it to vibrate or change its form. Now that it has been shown that such powers exist, who has the right to predetermine new limits? What arguments can people use to deny the effectiveness of the spiritual acts performed by contemplatives and mystics?
This effect is also confirmed in other ways. Every day we come up against instances of mental activity being more powerful than muscular effort alone in changing the external world. The temporary mental effort required to invent a machine and direct its construction provides us with a means of saving vast amounts of muscular energy – it can even enable us to produce effects no amount of muscular effort could achieve. There is much factual evidence for recognizing a similar relationship between mental energy and spiritual energy, and for supposing that the latter is just as superior to the former as the former is to physical force. For these and other reasons one might wish to put forward, I believe we need no longer doubt the effectiveness of direct spiritual radiation, but should instead come to the point of recognizing that its power is immeasurable. This is a real revelation, and one that opens up limitless possibilities for the hidden powers for good within the human soul, revealing the ways in which divine action itself is expressed, and it gives us a view of life and of the world which is very different from the prevailing view. This view has not yet gained general acceptance and the contemplative life is rarely paid any serious attention, even by people who consider themselves to be spiritual. Fortunately, we are not without those who still proclaim the value and excellence of the hidden action of the contemplatives.
The powerful spiritual radiation of these contemplatives is the purest and highest form of action, the form that comes closest to the modus operandi of God Himself, in other words it is the apotheosis of Mary. But precisely because it is such a high, almost superhuman calling, it is an exceptional activity, one that transcends the capacity of ordinary people. It is therefore an activity to which only those with a vacation for it should devote themselves, those who feel they have all the necessary inner resources for fully expressing it. Everyone else ‘needs to make another journey’. For their consolation – now that we have recognized the essential value and superiority of Mary – we can also give due credit to Martha, a Martha who has heeded Jesus’ admonition, a Martha who has been reconciled to Mary and then humbly and willingly continues her useful work. (Transpersonal Development, p. 237-238, 2007)
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