Reality is One

Roberto Assagioli writes his psychosynthesis into a tradition of evolutionary bio-psycho-spiritual monism.

By Kenneth Sørensen, MA, Psychosynthesis and Psychotherapist

This compilation of quotes aims to demonstrate that Assagioli was consciously writing Psychosynthesis into a tradition of monism — and to clarify precisely what kind of monism that was.

It is not the flat, materialistic monism that dominates contemporary academic psychology, where the human being is reduced to biology, hormones, and brain activity. Nor is it the idealistic monism of Advaita Vedanta, where physical reality is dismissed as illusion and only pure transcendent consciousness is real. Assagioli’s position is closer to what we find in the eastern mystics Vivekananda and Aurobindo, or in the Neo-Platonic conception of the One: a vision of reality as fundamentally unified, yet richly differentiated in its expression.

The quotations gathered here reveal a consistent underlying thesis across his published books, essays, and interviews: a unitary conception of existence in which one life, one spirit, and one energy manifest through multiple levels of density and vibration. We could describe this as spiritual monism with pluralistic manifestation.

Taken together, these texts build a coherent picture of what I call Assagioli’s evolutionary bio-psycho-spiritual monism — a hierarchical, panentheistic understanding of unity whose practical centre is a psychoenergetic vision of the human being. His own most concise formulation of this vision can be stated as follows:

Reality is one energy expressing itself through multiple levels of density and vibration, each with its own laws; and the human being is a living field of these energies, capable of directing, harmonizing, and transforming them through the will.

The clearest statement of this position comes from an interview Assagioli gave to Renzo Giacomini (Psychodynamics and Planes of Reality, 18.01.1972):

Assagioli: “I have a unified conception of reality and consider energy to be essentially one. Within this essential and substantial unity, there are distinctions — not separations or conflicts, but distinctions — which could be called, in a not strictly accurate way but for the sake of clarity, “different levels of reality.” Each level of reality has corresponding laws, functions, and mechanisms. “

“…there is no division between spirit and matter. It can be said that matter is spirit at its most condensed degree, and spirit is matter at its highest degree of subtlety. This is a very important point, a basic point: there is this substantial continuum, but within it there are also differentiations.”

The different levels of reality that Assagioli points to in the above are elaborated on in his book Transpersonal Development (2007: 84), and I have presented them in a document called The Great Chain of Being:

“There are a series of inner worlds, each with its own special characteristics, and within each of them there are higher levels and lower levels. Thus in the first of these, the world of passions and feelings, there is a great distance, a marked disparity of level, between blind passion and the highest feelings. Then there is the world of intelligence, or the mind. Here too are different levels: the level of the concrete analytical mind, and the level of higher, philosophical reason (nous). There is also the world of the imagination, a lower variety and a higher variety, the world of intuition, the world of the will, and higher still, those indescribable worlds which can only be referred to by the term ‘worlds of transcendence’.”

So, let me summarise the above:

Reality is One,
Spirit and Matter are two aspects of the same continuum of energy.
Spirit manifests through levels of reality, the great chain of being, where a diversity of distinctions becomes manifest in nature, resulting in dualities, polarities, and conflicts; however, abiding in the same (veiled) unifying reality.

To add the last piece of information to Assagioli’s evolutionary bio-psycho-spiritual monism, let me quote him from his book Psychosynthesis (1965), where he adds evolution to his overarching philosophy:

“From a still wider and more comprehensive point of view, universal life itself appears to us as a struggle between multiplicity and unity-a labor and an aspiration towards union. We seem to sense that-whether we conceive it as a divine Being or as cosmic energy – the Spirit working upon and within all creation is shaping it into order, harmony, and beauty, uniting all beings (some willing but the majority as yet blind and rebellious) with each other through links of love, achieving-slowly and silently, but powerfully and irresistibly – the Supreme Synthesis. “

With this foundation established, the following compilation of quotes can be read as a sustained body of evidence for this vision. It is a living document, which I will continue to expand as new relevant material from Assagioli’s writings comes to light.

Published Books

Psychosynthesis (1965)

“At the same time there wells up a realization that life is one, and an outpouring of love flows through the awakening individual towards his fellow beings and the whole of creation.”
— Psychosynthesis, p. 46

“Psychosynthesis may also be considered as the individual expression of a wider principle, of a general law of inter-individual and cosmic synthesis. Indeed, the isolated individual does not exist; every person has intimate relationships with other individuals which make them all interdependent. Moreover, each and all are included in and part of the spiritual super-individual Reality.”
— Psychosynthesis, p. 31

“Thus one can anticipate, and have an increasing foretaste of, the state of consciousness of the Self-realized individual. It is a state of consciousness characterized by joy, serenity, inner security, a sense of calm power, clear understanding, and radiant love. In its highest aspects, it is the realization of essential Being, of communion and identification with the Universal Life.”
— Psychosynthesis, p. 53

Transpersonal Development (2007)

“Intuition is a flash of illumination on a particular aspect or manifestation of Reality. Enlightenment, on the other hand, is broader and longer-lasting. It is a vision that shows the essential nature and synthetic unity of all Reality, or of significant aspects of that Reality.”
— Transpersonal Development, 2007, p. 66

“Spiritual humour is a paradoxical combination of an attitude of serene and detached observation, the feeling of the oneness of life and a deep sympathy for and compassion with others.”
— Transpersonal Development, 2007, p.282

“This type of enlightenment may be regarded as a revelation of the divine immanence, and as a revelation of the unity of Universal Life expressed in myriad forms. The most effective description is the one contained in the Bhagavad Gita, which refers to it as the ‘revelation of the Universal Form’.”
— Transpersonal Development, 2007, p. 66

“Let us endeavour to understand and recognize that isolation is an illusion. At all times we are participants in the universal Life, in the presence of and in union with the Supreme Being.”
— Transpersonal Development, 2007, p. 166

“Dis-identification: realization of the true Self (Vedanta). Realization of the unity of the individual spirit with the Universal Spirit. ”
— Transpersonal Development, 2007, p. 290

Published Essays & Interviews

“Life is essentially, inextricably ONE. … All material things and all the forces of nature are different appearances and modalities of a single, all-pervading energy.”
— Unity in Diversity, kennethsorensen.dk

‘All is One’ is a deep metaphysical truth at that level, but unfortunately many people bring down that wonderful reality to human levels, or other levels in manifestation where it simply does not operate. All is One in essence, in Being; but in becoming, in manifestation, in that process of life, there are countless many.”
— Talks on the Self, kennethsorensen.dk

“We are at every moment part of universal Life, in the presence of and in union with the Supreme. … The more you know, the less you fear. But true spiritual knowledge is intimate and direct intuition; it is enlightenment, identification with Truth and Life, which are essentially one Reality.”
— Two Lectures on Fear, kennethsorensen.dk

“The balance and synthesis between transcendence and immanence, as two aspects of the One Reality, have been recognised and proclaimed by a number of great intuitives—Philosophers, mystics and poets— throughout the ages.

This conception—which, in contradistinction to pantheism, has been called a panentheism (that, is, “ all in God ”) —is the basic teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna’s well-known words illustrate this:

“ Having pervaded this whole universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain.”

In the West, it has been voiced in Neoplatonic philosophy:

“ The One is eternally with His manifestation, which eternally proceeds from Him.”

“ God is not external to anyone, but is present within all things, though they are ignorant that He is so.” (Plotinus)”
— What is Reality, kennethsorensen.dk

“If we look at beautiful things … we can remember and even be brought into contact with its Source … its essence in the one Reality.”
— The Seven Ways for Spiritual Realization, kennethsorensen.dk

“When we consistently consider ourselves and others as being really Souls … the essential unity of all Souls in the One life, in God…”
— Loving Understanding, kennethsorensen.dk

“Yet … as one ascends, contacts as well as communions and fusions increase, until one reaches the supreme Oneness, the Root in which all beings are unified.”
— Pain and Mystical Substitution, kennethsorensen.dk

“A second approach to Reality is through the perception of analogies… based on the essential unity of all aspects of Reality, from the smallest to the largest.”
— How to Recognise the Will of the Self, kennethsorensen.dk

“It is true that pure spirit, or more precisely the absolute, the NON-manifest, is without attributes in its essence; therefore, among other things, it is above good and evil. But with the first quiver of cosmic manifestation, the eternal One became Two; that is, polarity appeared, the infinite series of opposites, and among them are good and evil. Now, who can truly say that they themselves are pure spirit, and therefore superior to good and evil? Everyone sees the enormity and foolishness of such presumption.

Quite different are the teachings that all the ancient schools of the East and West agree upon, which tend to develop true and pure spirituality. They tell us that every passion and every selfish desire are, for those who want to ascend, like a ball of lead tied to a foot, a state of slavery to lower forces and entities.

They teach us that every passion, every manifestation of selfishness, even the most subtle and hidden, is by its very nature separative. Spiritual development consists precisely in the gradual and successive overcoming of all separateness, in the harmonization of the various antithetical elements into a higher synthesis, as a necessary preparation for conscious union with the universal Principle, for the distinct and complete realization of unity on all planes and in all aspects.”

— The Purification of the Soul, kennethsorensen.dk

“Realize who you really are, what is hidden in your being, and the reason for your life. Within you is the Light that can enlighten you. Seek it in your heart, in the innermost and deepest Center of your life, and then you will know that there dwells an eternal and immortal Deity, which is ultimately yourself, and at the same time infinitely wiser and more powerful than you are now. You are a Child, a manifestation of this Life Principle which you can find in your heart and to which you can give any name you like, partaking of its Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence. The purpose of your present existence is the expression of these infinite possibilities that are latent in your deepest being.”

“We may believe in the illusion that we are separated from the Principle of Life, and from the people, beings and things around us. But this is not so. In reality each one of us is one with this One Principle and indivisible with all beings, people, and things that exist and can exist. If life presents itself as a struggle it is simply in order for us learn the Law of Love, which is the only almighty and invincible Force. Each of us must therefore seek to understand, resonate with sympathy, and learn to love all those around us, even those who seem unworthy, who regard themselves as “enemies.” Then the mask that hides their true, intimate nature under a deceptive appearance will fall away.”

“Know that all that is manifest comes from the Unmanifest, which is its Infinite and Inexhaustible Source, and it materializes in your life according to what you recognize in your consciousness. Never believe yourself alone or isolated. The Omnipotence of the Life Principle that dwells in you is always with you and never departs, provided only that you place absolute, exclusive and unlimited trust in it. Only fear and uncertainty make you vulnerable.”

— The Decalogue of Wisdom, kennethsorensen.dk

“Now we direct all our interest, all our attention upwards, towards the world of REALITY, LIGHT, PEACE, JOY, LOVE and POWER where our souls live, those who are in Spirit and Truth: particles of the One Life, sparks of the Divine Flame. As souls, we reaffirm the intimate union between us, and with all the other souls, in the bosom of the ONLY LIFE, in HIM in whom “we move we live and have our being”.
In the name of this ONE LIFE we invoke the healing power of Christ and of all the other good Forces and Beings who help humanity, so that we may be healed in mind, heart and body.”

—Meditation For Individual and Collective Health, kennethsorensen.dk

“We can visualize the glory and the bliss of individual attainment and picture the splendor of the spiritual man, the liberated soul, the conqueror of the three worlds of human endeavor, participating consciously in the knowledge, the power and the
bliss of the one Life.”

— Spiritual Development and Nervous Diseases, kennethsorensen.dk

“Spirit by its very nature is above all dualism, all conflict; it is Unity. Where It is present and at work, It renews, coordinates, harmonizes, unifies. Let us therefore rely with faith on the action of the Spirit; let us open the doors of our souls to It — let us aspire to unite, to merge with It as much as possible, so as to
consciously and effectively become what we are in essence: that is, one Being, one Life. Thus we will move from multiplicity, from dispersion, from the wearisome travail of conflicting forces, to peace, to inner harmony, to fruitful cooperation of all
our energies, to victorious and joyful psychosynthesis.”

— Spiritual Psychosynthesis, kennethsorensen.dk

“The essential unity of all Souls in the one life, in God, does not exclude differences of quality among Souls, besides many differences existing in their personality appearances. Therefore, we must make a serious study of these different qualities, as manifested by the different human types. This study should become
more and more a part of the new psychology. We should endeavor to understand the true nature, the underlying function and purpose, the specific problems, virtues, and vices of each type.”

— Loving Understanding, kennethsorensen.dk

DYNAMIC JOY. “Decisively entering into the current of Life, which is a continuous flow. Let us be clear: which life? It is not at all a matter of passively letting oneself drift or lazily allowing oneself to be pushed by the slow current of evolution. It is a matter of a dhering to the One Life, the Total Life, the Divine Life. The Life that permeates and transcends all forms, all particular manifestations and individualizations. This Life renews, regenerates, eliminates contrasts, conflicts, and oppositions, which are all artificial and illusory from the point of view of the Spirit, of Reality.
This great Life harmonizes everything, integrates everything into a higher synthesis, connects everything, and merges everything.”

— Static Happiness and Dynamic Joy, (Doc. #23419 Assagioli Archive – Florence)

For further information on this subject, see the following documents:

What is Reality

Unity in Diversity

Roberto Assagioli on Panentheism

The Balancing and Synthesis of the Opposites

The individual self and the Universal Self share the same essence

In this section, I will compile quotes from Roberto Assagioli that support his belief that the individual self, or the soul, shares the same essence as the Universal Self or God. This question is essential for clarifying which kind of monism he subscribes to.

“There is an essential identity between the individual and the universal. But it is not a realized fact in consciousness. Let me clarify this with an analogy. If a drop of water had a consciousness and expanded it to the sea and the ocean, it would say, “1 am of the same nature and essence as all the water on the globe. They are all hydrogen and oxygen.” But it would be preposterous if the drop considered itself to be the ocean. There are some extreme theories especially in the East that emphasize this identity. Well, at the level of essences they are true. But it is a mistake to relate these theories to other levels of reality and personal functioning. Such phrases as, “I am Brahman, I am The One”, need to be clearly qualified. They may express a metaphysical ontological truth, but the personal self certainly has not reached that level of expansion of consciousness. It”s a difference of development. Like the drop of water, though being of the same essence, it has not developed the universal consciousness of the ocean.”

Height Psychology and the Self: An Interview with Roberto Assagioli , Conducted by Beverly Besmer, Source: Interpersonal Development. 4: 215-225 (1973/4)

“What characterizes true, healthy spiritual development in its pure form is a sense of the unity of life, and a sense of the relationship between individual spirit and the universal Spirit. It is overcoming what has been called ‘the heresy of separation’. Spirit is unity and universality. Once this is realized, one will have a new attitude of dependency and obedience towards the Divine Being, very different from the attitude of primitive people. No longer is it a separate, external dependence and obedience, but now it is something within, obedience to the God within, to the Spirit inside us. It is a response of our personality to the deep Spirit, which it recognizes as itself, as its true essence. This spiritual attitude has been clearly expressed in the Christian statement ‘Thy will be done.’ This attitude must be correctly understood, however. It should not be regarded as dualist, implying a sad, passive resignation, but as unitarian in the sense of the joyful compliance and identification of one’s personal will with the Universal Will. Above all else, this unity gives us a sense of security, joy, bliss, and peace.”

Transpersonal Development, 2007, p. 267

Meditation for Collective Health, meditation by Roberto Assagioli

“To go back to my example, at the end of the first World War, I was the director of a Neurological Center in Holland, connected with the psychiatric hospital there; and I found an inmate who was a very lovable individual, but who thought he was God. He said he was God and in contact with angelic hosts, and so on, but in every other respect he was normal, so normal that he had been entrusted with the keys of the pharmacy. He never failed in any way and nothing happened except the stealing of a little sugar for some of the other inmates – a harmless thing. He had been a professional photographer, but one day he had said he was God; and, of course, it got him into trouble. Other psychiatrists said, “Well, that is paranoia!”

However, I think this idea of God is the vulgarization of the idea of the Self, a realization coming to an immature and completely unprepared mind; metaphysically, of course, he is God, but he took it at its face value and thought that the potential was the actual. That is a most extreme example, but there are intermediate stages of the inflation of the ego in the inner revelation of sublimity and so on.”

Valmy Conference, Roberto Assagioli

“ …the realization of the Transpersonal Will, the expression of the Transpersonal Self, is so intensely joyous that it can be called blissful. Here we have the joy of the harmonious union between the personal and the Transpersonal Will; the joy of the harmony between one’s Transpersonal Will and those of others; and, highest and foremost, the bliss of the identification with the Universal Will.

The mystics of all times and places have realized and expressed the joy and bliss which are inherent in the union of the individual will with the Universal Will. Underhill says: “The enhanced will, made over to the interests of the Transcendent, receives new worlds to conquer, new strengths to match its exalted destiny. But the heart too here enters on a new order, begins to live upon high levels of joy: that is, the sea of delight, the stream of divine influences.”

This consummation is vividly expressed in the Sanskrit saying SatChitAnanda: “The blissful awareness of Reality.” And finally in the triumphant affirmation: Aham evam param Brahman: “I indeed am the Supreme Brahman.” The Act of Will, Roberto Assagioli

“During states of cosmic consciousness, the notion of one’s own limited, separate, and ordinary personality is lost, but the consciousness of living, the sense of one’s own identity, is not lost at all; on the contrary, one feels that one is living with and in universal Life and, at a higher level, that one is universal Life itself.” The American “New Thought, Roberto Assagioli

From the personal center to the Spiritual Center.
Rising from the human level to higher levels until we reach the conscious discovery of our own Soul, your Spiritual Self. Recognize that we are made “in the image and likeness of God,” Centers of life and spiritual consciousness, immortal Beings, “sparks of the Divine Flame.” It is a wonderful discovery that produces an internal reversal, a “conversion.” It is truly a “new birth” into a higher sphere of reality.

From the individual Spiritual Self to the Universal Self.
Recognition of the unity of Souls in the Over-Soul, in the One Spirit, God. Realization of the Unity of Life, Identification with the Supreme, with the Whole. Current Orientations and Tasks, Roberto Assagioli

« Back to Glossary Index