Most of us play our parts in life unconsciously, and therefore we play them badly. Assagioli on playing roles in life as the pivotal technique of psychosynthesis, and on acting each part fully without ever forgetting you are not the character
By Roberto Assagioli
Excerpted from Filo Conduttore – Research Notebook of the Rome Center, No. 7, Year Four
Source: psicoenergetica.com
Original title: Nel Teatro del Mondo [1]
Translated and edited with notes by Jan Kuniholm
Editorial Note
The abstract and contextual subtitle in this online edition have been added by the editor, Kenneth Sørensen, to support readability, navigation, and archival consistency. The original wording has not been altered. As Jan Kuniholm’s footnotes indicate, the article is a curated thematic compilation drawing on several Assagioli sources, including Transpersonal Development, “Life as a Game and Stage Performance” (Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, 1973), and other essays.
Abstract
In this short essay, Roberto Assagioli describes the conscious playing of one’s roles as the pivotal technique of the art of living. The work is to act each part fully without identifying with the character. He draws on the ancient image of life as divine play, distinguishes drama from tragedy, and points to the inner Self that watches the performance from beyond time and space.
Generally in life we “let ourselves live;” whereas living is an art and should be the greatest of the fine arts. Mostly we play our parts unconsciously, without realizing it, and therefore we play them badly!
To act a part or role in life, in fact several ones, constitutes a psychosynthetic technique of fundamental importance. It can indeed be considered as the pivotal technique of the art of living, with which all the others are connected and on which, in a certain sense, they are dependent. [2] A psychosynthetic attitude is to regard life in the world as a performance in which everyone plays his or her part. This is to be played to the best of one’s ability, but without completely identifying with the character one is impersonating.
It is based on an ancient and widespread concept: cosmic manifestation itself has been regarded as a play, a divine dance. One of the most profound and ingenious Indian conceptions is that of Shiva’s cosmic dance: first it is the image of his rhythmic game as part of the whole movement of the Cosmos; secondly the purpose of this dance is to free the countless human souls from the slavery of illusion; and thirdly the place where this dance is performed, the Center of the Universe, is within our hearts. [3]
It is useful to remember that the whole manifestation can be regarded as a performance, in the theatrical sense of the word. If we take this attitude we get rid of the deadly seriousness with which we are prone to take ourselves, others and events. In theatrical terms it is the difference between the tragic and the dramatic. [4]
Life is dramatic — it is serious in a sense — but not, it is tragic. “Tragedy” has a negative connotation, of failure, that drama does not have. [5]
The Scene:
. . . there are open and concealed struggles on all sides, alongside the repercussions of war and the threat of conflict in the future. There are struggles between nations, races, classes and parties, and this is no less the case when we consider the inner conflicts, agitation and storms within the human heart itself, which can take many forms: emotional, moral and religious crises, dissatisfaction with ourselves and with others, rebellion against society, the family, life and against God. [6]
. . . from this broader, more profound perspective, the [aspect of our time] is seen in a very different light. We become aware that the release of the earthly forces . . . gives rise to countless acts of valor and courage, both individual and collective, self-sacrifice, solidarity and altruism. [7]
The Script:
The entire evolutionary process takes place in the “Cosmic Theater” of time and space, and in our participation in that grand evolutionary plane where we are necessarily within time and space. But let us remember that while we play our small part in the theater of life, there is something in us — the true Self — that transcends time and space. Its conscious realization is a distant goal, but we can visualize it and direct our magnetic needle toward it because it is within us.[8]
One could find in this one of the meanings of the parable of the Prodigal Son.[9] The personal self is the Prodigal Son who has descended into the world of matter and, after making all the mistakes of which he was capable — in the double sense of erring and going astray — he feels a longing for his father’s house, seeks it and finally finds it… [10]
The Inner Prompter:
There is a kind of inspiration that has a cognitive and enlightening character, an “inner voice” that solves problems, points out tasks, both internal for the refinement and elevation of the soul, and external, for beneficial action. [11]
The Spiritual Perspective:
It is useful to begin by broadening our inner horizon as much as possible by turning our thoughts to the consideration of the infinite and the eternal.
This broadening of perspective will help us to re-establish true proportions, to see the relative insignificance of so many contingent things by which we usually allow ourselves to be disturbed and agitated.[12]
[1] Excerpted from “Filo Conduttore – Research Notebook of the Rome Center” No. 7 – Year Four. —Note in Original Document. Source: www.psicoenergetica.com. Editor’s interpolations are in [brackets]. —Ed.
[2] from “Life as a Game and Stage Performance,” Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, 1973. —Ed.
[3] from Transpersonal Development, Inner Way Productions, 2007, p. 177.Shiva is one of the principal deities in Hinduism, the others being Brahma and Vishnu. Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. —Ed.
[4] from an essay titled “Wisdom,” source unknown. —Ed.
[5] Ibid.
[6] from Transpersonal Development, op.cit. p. 270. —Ed.
[7] from Transpersonal Development, op.cit. p. 190. —Ed.
[8] from “The Plan,” source unknown. —Ed.
[9] “The Prodigal Son” is one of the parables of Jesus, related in Luke 15:11-32.—Ed.
[10] from an essay titled “Il mistero dell’io” [The Mystery of the I”]. source unknown. —Ed.
[11] from “The Way of Enlightenment,” source unknown. —Ed..
[12] from an essay titled “Wisdom,” source unknown. —Ed.
