Integral Meditation – Chapter 8

The Creative River of Life: Your Way to Beauty, Transformation and Harmony

The creative river of life has been important to me for many years. As the river that channels harmony, lightness, beauty and grace, this river embodies precisely the energies I need to balance my particular typology. As mentioned, my personality combines the qualities of the dedicated type (6) in my personality and emotional life and the dynamic type (1) in the mental and physical functions. This rather extreme combination means I am a strong, dedicated, goal-orientated personality, who tends to be isolated, rigid, serious and inflexible. Without the joy and lightness that the creative river of life can bring to our social interactions, my ability to express myself was limited. Happily, though, the creative river of life provided the medicine and complimentary energies I needed to balance my personality. We can integrate its qualities in different ways. Meditation is of course the primary method, but it also helps to develop close relationships with people who embody this energy. I’ve done both, and fortunately my approach has been successful. In this chapter I would like to share my experiences.

People in spiritual communities often become stuck in idealistic, ascetic ways of life. This makes it difficult to live creatively and benefit others. The creative river combines the sensitive and intelligent rivers of life; the psychological function associated with it is the imagination. The aim of the creative river is to bring beauty to life. Spirit-in-Action wants to manifest, and because the One is sublime beauty, its beauty is reflected in creation. We see the beauty of nature expressed in the plant kingdom, and as humanity we must in our own way express beauty.

The Soul is beauty. It contains what is good, true and beautiful. I realised this some years ago during many meditations on beauty. In my experience, beauty is love’s messenger, opening and uplifting whatever it touches. In this openness, love can unite whatever is separated. As Plato tells us, there are different kinds of beauty and each can awaken different types of love.

During meditation, I had at this time a powerful realisation: I saw myself as a life artist. Bringing beauty into my life became an important motivation for me. This meant fostering beautiful qualities in my own personality and appreciating these qualities in others. I think beauty became particularly important to me because in my teens I struggled with severe acne that disfigured my face. It was perhaps a karmic lesson, teaching me how to appreciate beauty. It has helped me to transform aspects of my nature, to soften an ascetic negative attitude towards beauty that I had held for too long.

The personality is both the temple and the mask of the Soul. Ideally, the personality should express the essence of who we truly are. Through meditation and self-transformation work, the inner artist beautifies his inner temple. We can reach for beauty by looking after our bodies or by wearing clothes that suit us, but we can also nurture beautiful inner qualities by thinking harmonious and positive thoughts. One difficult area that I will look at especially is the beauty we may find hidden within the darker side of our natures.

The creative river unites the new and the old. It is the river of change and transformation, of clashes and conflicts between what was, what is and what may be: past, present and future flow together. This law of change is universal and takes place in our own lives. We must adjust our reactions and behaviour constantly. This requires openness, flexibility and a playful, detached attitude towards life. Nothing lasts forever, so why not go with the flow? For the sake of beauty we choose to die daily by letting go of the old. Something within us is so large and beautiful that we have no choice but to surrender to it. Such an attitude creates lightness and spontaneity. It helps us to be in the moment, at life’s epicentre, where we feel the tremors of the new. A sense of greatness is also connected to this river, embracing and expressing the rich and vast diversity of life. Every shade of beauty is an indispensable aspect of light and colour that is a part of the whole. This is also the river of suffering because achieving harmony and balance for the sake of beauty often demands that we reach into the depths and into darkness.

When we meditate on this river the psychological function of the imagination facilitates the arising of creative energy, and imagination itself is further developed. Imagination, of course, is associated with superstition, naivety and unreality, notions such as Santa Claus and other childish ideas. But like all psychological functions, our imagination is as mature as our level of consciousness. It is important to distinguish imagination from fantasy.

Imagination is a powerful creative force. Many spiritual traditions use visualisations as part of their contemplative practices. Advertisers know the psychological effect that images have, especially when shown repeatedly. Energy follows thought, but it also follows images. This brings us to the topic of Creative Meditation.

Creative Meditation is based on visualisation and draws on the energy of the creative river. My practice with the sun in the heart is an example of this form of meditation. Through visualisation we form images in the psyche that carry the energies attributed to them. It is one of the most important tools that our inner life artist can use to decorate the temple of our personality. This practice is necessary for the Soul to manifest as through it a new personality can be slowly formed in which a higher consciousness can express itself.

Visualisation is particularly important during certain stages of this meditation. One is the pre-contemplative stage when meditating on a specific topic. Metaphorically, this is similar to hiking up to a mountain top to sit in silence – the aim is to still our thoughts, feelings and sensations so they might be harmonised and made receptive to the Soul’s inspiration. There are many ways to do this, but the essential elements of this process are balance and harmonisation.

For most meditations I follow these stages: centring, ascension, meditation and anchoring. These stages ensure that we meditate from our highest level of consciousness. We begin by raising our awareness to the superconscious realm, for which we can utilise the image of hiking up a mountain. This incidentally helps communication between the brain, our emotions, our mind, the conscious observer (or self) and the Soul. Visualisations help develop this communication, and gradually our conscious connection with the Soul is strengthened.

Centring

Here we quieten the body, the emotions and the mind so they might be harmonised with the Soul; we can then adopt a conscious position as the observer. Here is an example of a creative approach to make use of before the actual work starts.

I start by visualising a sun in my heart that emanates an acceptance of all being, and anchor myself there. This provides standing power and lets me rest in the loving centre of being. I then visualise a golden stream of energy ascending from the heart and circling my neck and throat. This stabilises the mind, the area which controls concrete thinking. I now visualise this energy moving up to my brow, where the integration of the energies of the personality and Soul takes place. I focus on a point in front of my forehead, seeing it as a bright white-gold light. Then mentally I say: “I integrate my three bodies and make them available to the service of the Soul.” I say this with authority. I finish by focusing in the centre of my brain, saying: “I am the conscious soul incarnate.” Then I open my mind to a global awareness, feeling the same consciousness alive in all incarnated Souls. This conscious identification with the World Soul unites me with other awakened ones. It is a very powerful experience. My personality is brought into harmony with the alert observer. I’m on the mountaintop, at the tip of my consciousness pyramid.

This is just one example of a centring visualisation. There are different types and it is important to find one that suits you.

Ascension

Here we create a channel between the incarnated Soul and the higher Soul’s field of inspiration. I visualise a white-gold light streaming from the centre of my brain up to a brilliant light above it. Then I open to the Soul’s wisdom and inspiration. I can send the stream of light into the cosmic being connecting me to a brilliant star-like radiance. This ascension brings a sense of meaning and harmony, connected to my spiritual purpose. It gives strength and a sense of greatness.

Centring and ascension can take no more than five minutes – less if you are experienced. (Sometimes I omit ascension if a particular meditation does not require it. Awareness Meditation do not require an ascent because our primary objective is to let go of all forms and identify with pure consciousness.)

Meditation

This is the central stage. We have already selected a theme to focus on. We can meditate on anything we like, but it is a good idea to meditate on a quality in our personality that needs to be strengthened. This links our integral meditation with the creativity we want in our life. This motivates us to practice meditation and subsequently develops our ability to manifest the Soul. Developing the qualities of the creative river also helps us to meet the challenges in our personality.

If we visualise a brilliant white lotus in the heart centre, emanating peace and harmony to all living beings, a mental lotus will develop transmitting peace and harmony from the superconscious. We create a vessel into which higher energies can descend. Experienced meditators who know the impact of a long-term visualisation practice will recognise this vessel: returning here is like visiting a house you have built and where all the created energies are at your disposal.

Through visualisation a channel to the energies of the superconscious is slowly formed. In our everyday lives we will soon notice a flow created by these energies, and the subpersonalities that resist peace will also surface in order to be transformed – this is a natural consequence of the meditation; hence this river is also the path of “harmony through conflict”.

Anchoring

This is an important stage. It ensures that our energies do not accumulate, clogging our system, but are channelled into the world. Accumulations constipate our energy centres, which can lead to headaches, burning sensations, fatigue, irritability and restlessness. We therefore finish our meditation by making this energy available to everyone. We do this by saying OM out loud three times. With each OM we visualise energy flowing out into the world, to the people we know. The Soul wants to bring light to the world, and this work initiates a powerful purifying stream of light that uplifts and strengthens the social world in which we manifest. Intoning OM deepens the energies on which we mentally focus.

Creative Meditation develops our fantasy and imagination. The imagination is both an organ of vision and a creative tool. With the organ of vision we look into the inner world and see its immensity. We could become clairvoyant; we can see auras, spirits on the astral plane, and other inner beings. However, we must be careful on this path. The imagination brings us into contact with whatever we tune into or imagine. We must be able to distinguish between objective inner realities and our own subjective imaginings. A good example is angels, or devas as they are called in the East. The reality of angels is attested to by many enlightened people, but they do not necessarily look like their popular representations. These familiar images are created by fantasy and will be kept alive as long people invest in them with their thoughts and feelings. When they no longer capture our imagination, we withdraw this life energy and they will fade away. Real angels have their own life energy, development and place in evolution.

A New Relationship between Soul, self and Subpersonalities

Let’s look again at working with subpersonalities. This is what Lucille Cedercrans calls Soul Therapy and Gordon Davidson Joyful Evolution. Earlier, I described how subpersonalities are created and their role in our lives. Here we will look at the transformations that are possible when we engage in subpersonality work. This technique is the closest we come to shadow work – one of the five life practices of integral meditation – and it is the most effective I know. Our personality contains different psychic selfimages that we have acquired throughout our life. These subpersonalities are like real living beings, with their own internal representable images, ideas and histories, that we keep alive when we repeat the specific roles and behavioural patterns they represent.

There are four categories of subpersonalities:

1. Age-related: Images of ourselves from each life stage

.2. Relationship-related: Representing our major life relationships.

3. Archetypical: Talents and energies organised around an archetypal role, for example, the hero, clown, critic, and so on.

4. Past life personalities: Dominating self-images we have brought with us from the past into our current incarnation that form the karmic material we need to work with.

Subpersonalities evolve through challenges and new situations. We are forced to adopt new roles and new ways of being, and through this our subpersonalities come into being and evolve. Often a conflict between external demands and our struggle to meet these demands triggers a change in our ways of being, in our subpersonalities – this was the case for me when becoming a father forced me to change.

Subpersonalities from our earlier life can influence the present and future, the three dimensions of time through which the self must navigate. Here and now we have the chance to connect the past with the present and so shape the future. The creative river runs deep in this work; ultimately it will bring about a balance of opposites.

However, I am not suggesting we have no choice but to live through one crisis after another, projecting our subpersonalities onto those around us. Once we realise the reality of subpersonalities, we can withdraw our projections. We can stop acting out our inner conflicts in the outer world. We see that the outer world serves as a kind of mirror, reflecting our subpersonalities. We become more interested in changing our own reactions and subpersonalities than in changing other people. We focus on the beam in our eye, rather than the speck out of our brother’s or sister’s eye. We can learn to look at life as a stage on which we all play important roles. Over time we can develop a repertoire of inner roles that in their own way contribute to humanity’s great drama, the realisation of Spirit-in-Action. This work of integrating the Soul, the self and the subpersonalities is best expressed through metaphors, and we chose the metaphors that best describe life’s various situations. In my work I use the following:

• The Scriptwriter, Director and Actors
• The Captain, the Mate and the Sailors
• The Board, the CEO and Staff
• The Composer, Conductor and Musicians

The Soul is the inspiring force; it sees the big picture and can communicate its meaning and purpose. This is the role of the Scriptwriter, Captain, Board and Composer.

The self is the guiding force. It organises, facilitates and coordinates work among the subpersonalities. This is role of the Director, Officer, CEO and Conductor.

The subpersonalities, with their many talents and skills, implement the work. This is the role of the Actors, Sailors, Staff and Musicians.

In reality, for many people this co-operation is practically non-existent because their connection to Soul has not been developed so their inner house is not in order. With an un-integrated personality, subpersonalities run free. Our inner house is divided. The needs of different subpersonalities conflict and waste energy, or they get locked into rigid patterns. Or subpersonalities may not have the skills to carry out the plans that the Captain requires. Whatever the reason, we will be frustrated in trying to realise our needs and dreams.

The creative river of life can help in other ways. If we have a negative relationship with the basic unconscious, the energies of the creative and sensitive rivers can change this. The sensitive river helps us to develop an empathetic understanding of the unique role of the basic unconscious. And through the creative river we can learn to appreciate the darker sides of our nature and see that they hold hidden treasures that can rise to the surface.

We must realise that the basic unconscious is not an enemy that must be defeated or repressed. We know that some spiritual traditions urge us to deny our basic drives in order to transcend them. But to me this seems more about avoiding life, rather than developing it. The new spirituality wants to bring heaven to earth. This means we must befriend the basic unconscious which houses the energies we need to realise the Soul’s vision. What we need is a practice that will enable the Soul, the self and the subpersonalities to collaborate.

The relationship between the Soul, the self and the subpersonalities is relevant to a particular level of development, namely for those who are not yet advanced, fully realised Souls, which would of course mean most of us.¹

Soul Therapy: A Joyous Transformative Practice

Most work with the basic unconscious involves pain and drama. We know from experience that we develop slowly through painful, emotional catharsis. I have worked in psychotherapy for many years, using many different approaches, and until recently I shared that view. But then it changed.

In 2011, I discovered a new method, and I have been practising it ever since, first with Gordon Davidson as a guide and later with others. It is without doubt the most effective method I have come across. It has proved its usefulness throughout hundreds of hours of therapeutic sessions so remarkably that I have come to consider it revolutionary. Tests on students and clients have produced incredible results. I have also made it part of my meditation and invariably it has had a good effect.

The method is easy and joyful and with it our problems dissolve. My claims might trigger alarm bells with my fellow therapists: surely this is too good to be true?! Let me say first that I am not proposing a miracle cure that can resolve deep trauma in a few sessions. Nor does my method suit everyone.

My method entails being able to disidentify from whatever problem you are facing. I encourage the client to develop an ability to visualise and adopt the role of the observer. It is a spiritual approach to psychotherapy that helps the client to connect with their Soul. If these conditions are met, the method can have a significant effect.

As mentioned, Gordon Davidson calls this work Joyful Evolution; for Lucille Cedercrans it is Soul Therapy and in my own work we call it SoulFlow. The method presented here is inspired by Davidson’s work, and I warmly recommend his book Joyful Evolution. I have though made a few changes to his approach. I prefer Cedercrans’ term Soul Therapy – and I draw upon the ideas that can be found in her books and in her Wisdom Training, but also on the developments my colleague Søren Hauge and I has created. Soul Therapy is an apt term because in practice the Soul is doing the work with the basic unconscious, with the self operating as the observer. Yet, as the work is full of joy, Joyful Evolution is also a good term.

Most psychotherapists may see this method as classical visualisation work, involving subpersonalities like the inner child, the critic, the single parent, and so on. Yet there are key points where this method differs from those I have tried or am aware of, and I speak of these below.

1. We begin with a brief meditation connecting the client’s heart, head and Soul with the world mother in the middle of the earth, where she serves as the feminine pole. This erects a strong vertical axis of healing energy. We then invoke the Soul’s healing powers. This pillar of power provides enough energy and consciousness to carry out the transformation. A trained guide is helpful here, and I would suggest that only experienced meditators should attempt this exercise alone. This deliberate, methodical development of healing power is not often seen in psychotherapy.

2. Next we connect the healing energies, which are centred in the heart, with the client’s basic unconscious by sending a wave of love and light to the solar plexus. Here we include the unconscious as an equal partner in the process, making the Soul, the self and the basic unconscious ready to co-operate. (Including the basic unconscious as an equal partner, and seeing subpersonalities as living beings instead of impersonal and remote, is also a new practice.)

3. Therapeutic work with the subpersonalities is essential: we engage all the subpersonalities with unconditional love and offer to work with them. We trust their Soul potential no matter how destructive and dark they seem to be. This approach is based on the belief that everything in the unconscious has the potential for light. In order to meet their needs subpersonalities may develop strategies that turn destructive. This must change. When the deeper needs of a subpersonality are identified and met, it will be transformed and adopt a new, positive function.

An attitude of love and appreciation towards our subpersonalities is unusual. We see that the destructive strategies of our inner persecutors are based on ignorance, and that through the love and wisdom of the Soul they can be transformed. In the unconscious, subpersonalities are often driven by the need for survival, security and self-esteem. When we recognise the value of these needs, the subpersonalities will understand their role in our lives, and co-operation between “top and bottom” becomes easier. You may not ask your inner child questions about the cosmos – this is the Soul’s domain – but the inner child’s innate joy and spontaneity may help you develop good relationships, which the Soul needs to manifest its vision. This brings me to the next point, an important one.

4. In Soul Therapy, when subpersonalities are met with love and appreciation, their identity and self-image changes. A subpersonality is a living being, stuck in a repeating loop of behaviour learned in the past, recreating old situations and moods. When they realise how they came into being, their true nature and the role they play in one’s present life, an awakening occurs in the subpersonality. A subpersonality that was captured in the past can now become a player in the present. They discover that:

a. They are a loved and valued living part of the client’s inner universe. The client communicates this to the subpersonality (or subpersonalities, if, for example, they are working with a “family” of them).

b. They are stuck in a past time. They must realise that the client is an adult living in the present. This may come as a surprise to many subpersonalities, rather like the Japanese soldier found in the jungle long after World War II had ended but living as if the war was still raging. When a subpersonality realises that the present offers many new opportunities, it is motivated to release its identification with the past. Subpersonalities live in a universe where everything imagined is real, so we can promise them anything as long as it is consistent with our values. Once identified with the new imaginary reality they start to create a corresponding psychological atmosphere: we become what we think in our hearts.

c. They are told that they share the Soul of the client, which means they also share the same light in the heart. Knowing this can be transformative. Not all subpersonalities co-operate initially. You can meet their resistance with the radical message that all their essential needs will be met. This is an offer no subpersonality can resist because they are often in pain. Other subpersonalities may interfere with the work. We must then first work with the controlling subpersonality before we can get to the essence. Sometimes the resistance can be so powerful that we need a skilled guide to maintain a loving perspective, and to point out the disadvantages of maintaining the status quo.

d. Parental subpersonalities are told they are not the true outer parent, but a copy who has served as a role model. Now they should stop identifying with the biological parent and instead become an inner archetypal parent. This means that the inner parent has the same potential to develop as the client. When the inner parent realises it can become completely different from the outer parent, a transformation take place, changing how the client thinks about their inner parent and how the inner parent thinks about herself. These parental figures come in different forms developed at different ages. We should try to work with as many “versions” as we can find. These inner parents can be transformed into a nurturing archetypal parent that gives strength and support to all parts of the personality. Again, this approach to our inner parents strikes me as new and innovative.

e. When a subpersonality has agreed to co-operate, we tell it that it will be integrated into the heart centre. The heart centre is a key psychological point where the superconscious and basic unconscious are unified. This integration happens when the subpersonality escapes its time warp and enters the present.

When this is understood by the subpersonality a triangle of light and love can be created between the Soul, the self and each subpersonality. This triangle consists of the sun over the head, the sun in the heart centre, and the sun in the subpersonality’s heart. Within this triangle we visualise light and invoke the Soul’s healing powers. A wave of energy flows through each point of the triangle. We let the light do its work. The client must stay with the visualisation and not try to force the flow. In this way the subpersonality can be transformed; we can observe it being drawn into the heart where it finds its new reality.

When a subpersonality enters a new reality, we must be able to detect it and ground it. Subpersonalities create specific inner worlds based on their needs; some will be coloured by love, others by light. We should respect the subpersonality’s natural development in its new reality and give it everything it needs to develop. We tell it about its unique function and its place in a team of other subpersonalities, with the client as manager and the Soul as visionary. We then ask the client to talk to the subpersonality about the gifts it brings to the team. Finally, we tell the subpersonality it can ask for the client’s attention, if additional needs arise. Then we guide the client out of the visualisation. The entire session takes place with eyes closed, preferably in an upright position.

If the transformation is successful, a little follow up work will be needed. Sometimes it helps to return to the transformed subpersonality and observe the inner process. We can include all of this work in the meditation, but usually it’s best to leave the healing to the wisdom of the unconscious. Encouraging the client to write about this Soul process can also help to anchor the experience in the unconscious; I personally have befitted from this.

These are the essential elements of Soul Therapy. The process will vary depending on the individual. Painful emotions are released, but gently, and clients often experience joy throughout the process. A lightness arises, suggesting something has changed, and problems troubling the client gradually disappear. The subpersonality’s perception of its identity and situation changes. The client’s relationship to the subpersonality also changes and the two begin to co-operate. The whole process is guided by the creative river and its need to create harmony, balance and co-operation. It unites past (subpersonality) with the present (self) and the future (the Soul’s life purpose and meaning).

An example from my own life may give you an idea of how it works.

From Isolation to Joyful Co-operation

In recent years I’ve worked hard to overcome my tendency to isolation and an overly serious approach to life. I wanted to relate to the world joyfully and spontaneously, qualities that the creative river and Soul Therapy can develop. During these years, I have grown enormously: friends say they can see new sides to my personality, different from my usual dynamic and dedicated nature; others, course participants and clients, say much the same.

I am more relaxed and can socialise more spontaneously. A new freedom and joy have come into my life. This may not sound exciting for those who are already easy going, but for me it’s a revolution. Whereas I could have peak experiences in meditation, could easily focus, practice discipline and understand the meaning of spiritual literature, my tendency towards isolation was limiting my life. Now I am living my life more creatively, which is what matters most.

I discovered my tendency to isolation had deep roots. Working through many past lives, I was able to bring different subpersonalities into a warm inner community. Through Soul Therapy I developed an ashram in my heart, an inner world permeated with love, wisdom and meaning. This ashram gives the subpersonalities a unique place in the whole: there are temples with contemplating gurus, beautiful women, universities, colleges, and playgrounds for my inner children; there’s a theatre ensemble that my inner mother loves to watch, a leadership academy where my dynamic subpersonalities can meet and discuss their plans; and there’s a central hall where everyone gathers to meditate and receive inspiration from the Soul and the spiritual beings that guide the ashram. This sounds like a fantasy world – and it is – but I prefer this fantasy, which reflects my values, to the fantasies that my subpersonalities believed in response to things that happened many years ago and are no longer happening. As Proverbs 23:7 tells us: “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

I bring my many inner children to this ashram. They are afraid of being rejected, and hate the boredom that comes when social connections lack life. I have been allergic to small talk, which in the past triggers in me rage, boredom and loneliness. I react less powerfully now, and see that small talk sometimes can function as a bridge to deeper connectivity.

These young subpersonalities are not sure who they are. Their confusion stems from the shame I associate with my sensitive nature. This has led to problems with self-esteem. When my teenage subpersonalities realised that sensitivity was attractive to women, I went through an emotional transformation and became comfortable with my masculinity. For one’s true self to go unrecognised is painful, and leads to much inner uncertainty. Until I went through this transformation, the softer side of my character went unacknowledged.

Let me describe how meeting a subpersonality happens in practice. Here I work through the grief I felt because of the loss of intimacy in my life. This account is based on notes taken immediately after a soul therapy session.

We first build up power and send love to the subpersonalities that are in mourning. I focus on the heaviness in my solar plexus, the pain and sense of deprivation. I ask “Who suffers?” and a picture of myself as a 15-year-old teenager appears. He is lying on the floor in the basement of my childhood home, completely broken. He says he doesn’t want to hear any “sacred bullshit”, which suggests the spiritual character of his suffering. We accept him unreservedly and agree that his feelings of love and loss are entirely appropriate. He is upset because he lacks a woman’s love. It is clear that he is not aware of his positive qualities as a young man. He believes he will never be loved by a beautiful woman. He is inhibited and lonely. He can’t seem to reach the women he desires. A wall separates him from them. We start to talk about his good qualities, and why past girlfriends loved him. Could it have been because of his kindness and good heart? Can one really be loved for their goodness, he asks? We answer “yes” and it makes him happy. His sense of being un-lovable begins to fade.

I ask what he wants most of all. He says a girlfriend, and to make love to a beautiful woman. Through a loving, sexual intimacy he believes he will feel whole. This seems a good time to tell him that he is a subpersonality, that he is trapped in a past time and that many opportunities are available to him now if he enters the heart centre. He understands that he is stuck in time and says he would like to go to Copenhagen. The prospect of leaving his small town to head for the capital excites him. He thinks it is a great idea and says he would be happy to enter the heart centre if his chances for having sex are better in Copenhagen. We assure him they are.

We invoke the golden energy of the Soul. As this hits his heart, he becomes part of its love-wisdom. He grows firm and strong, becoming a 17-year-old on the threshold of adulthood. I see him spontaneously on a beach, as I have with other subpersonalities. He is a beautiful, strong, young man greeted by delightful girls playing volleyball. Self-confidence, joy and exuberance colour this meeting. Entering the ashram, he meets an older man, a mentor, who will help him to mature. His task in this new reality is to grow into a strong, wise and caring man who can contribute to a meaningful life. As the session ends, I feel joy, and am optimistic about my future love life.

Whenever my teenage subpersonality re-experienced pain, I repeat the process described above and my inner space widened. In this way I was gradually able to remain positive for longer stretches.

We can describe this process as bringing together the loving, wise intervention of the self and the good will of the basic unconscious, bringing the basic unconscious into closer co-operation with the Soul. In this way, the past is harmonised with the present in order to meet the future positively.

Creative Meditation is a powerful tool that develops our personality so it can express the Soul. It is useful for all personality types, even those who find it difficult to visualise for whom the focus can be on feeling the images. Creative Meditation is helpful for those who need to strengthen their will because it helps us to develop qualities that help us in our daily life. Creative types will naturally be attracted to this meditation, but we should be mindful not to leave our present reality behind and enter a fantasy world – and this applies to all types. I have met many people who have lost touch with reality and the fact that everything must be manifested on the physical plane. A creative imagination can make real changes in the world; it can also be a form of escapism.

Dynamic, mental, analytical and practical types can benefit from this meditation too. They tend to be dry and single minded, but this meditation can bring colour and vitality into their inner lives. As with all things, it is good to know the positive and negative qualities of this river, something that is important to remember as we now look at the scientific river and the development of the diamond light.