« My commitment is to help men and women to free themselves from their inner prison»
By Richard Schaub and Bonney Gulino Schaub (*)
By 1928, Assagioli had founded the Institute of Psychosynthesis in Rome. After 1936, his work became increasingly difficult, both because of increasing anti-Semitism and because of his humanitarian work. This led to hostility from the fascist government. In 1940 he was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for a month.
He was released through the influence of influential friends, but the police continued to spy on him. He continued to be active in his work and in 1943 he was again persecuted and forced to flee to distant mountain regions. Practically speaking, he had to flee twice from the Nazis who had blown up the family home.
While he was in prison, Assagioli wrote a lot of notes that he called «freedom in prison». He was wary of having to publish them because he felt that his suffering was so small compared to what others experienced during World War II. His friends encouraged him to publish, but he died before he could finish the project.
The notes were made available to authors at the Psychosynthesis Institute, Assagioli’s archive in Florence, Italy. We thank the employees for their kindness to us.
The notes begin with anecdotes from the police interrogation in connection with the arrest. According to the description, it seems that Assagioli was in a good mood during the interrogation.
«In police custody……through the quick reading of the accusations…. I replied and behaved like a pure idiot».
When asked to describe his work, he spoke at length. He described the interrogator as a polite and patient man, but when Assagioli had finished explaining himself, the interrogator shouted: «You are a pacifist».
While the interrogator tries to find the right charge, Assagioli responds with his own understanding of pacifism: «Everyone has an ideal and image of what peace means. No one wants war just for the sake of war. And as a psychiatrist, I do not believe that peace can be created through systematic and violent opposition to war, by fighting against war. So I am consistently not a pacifist in the true sense of the word. I am convinced that war is a fundamental psychological problem».
He comments that he hopes his students can be: «Examples of peace in their family and work». It seems as if the interrogator has understood and asks: «Explain which learning method you use on your students and who is your boss?».
Assagioli then thought: «this is my moment of dignity» But to the interrogator he said: «I am very tired in the head and do not remember». Assagioli then remembers a promise he made to himself as a 12-year-old: «Always be centered in yourself».
Assagioli then says: «I was determined not to talk, no matter what pressure I was exposed to, and the interrogator probably noticed this».
Just then, Assagioli was moved to another room, handcuffed and placed in a prison cell.
He comments: «The handcuffs told me everything I needed to know about my destiny, it felt like a breath and a spasm in my solar plexus, but it was an instinctive reaction, fundamentally based on the uncertainty and newness of my situation. It only lasted a few seconds. I suddenly woke up – a calm and firm sense of dignity filled my consciousness».
At this time, Assagioli is in solitary confinement. His notes tell little about the prison in general. His notes are characterized by the fact that he begins to explore various mystical states of consciousness; «The blessing of being in prison gave me – the discovery of independence regardless of the circumstances, the discovery of inner freedom. We must of course recognize the freedom from fear, need, etc. but it is important to emphasize this inner freedom where everything else becomes insufficient. My commitment is to help men and women free themselves from their inner prison».
The notes continue; «A sense of unboundness, no separation from everything that is, a fusion with the whole. An outgoing energy, but not towards an object or person – a fusion in all directions, as if it were an expanding sphere». A sense of love and the ability to focus on radiance (the universal love) towards an object or person and at the same time sense its quality; a compassionate love towards the inmates of my prison and towards all inmates and those admitted to hospitals; tender love to my family, brotherly love to my friends; admiring love, the wise and especially towards Christ, the perfect embodiment. But all these perfect states of love will always be part of the whole, with reality, with life. A fantastic amalgamation – only different experiences of wonder».
Although he was an active Jew throughout his life, Assagioli’s notes are full of admiration for Jesus, Buddha and other worldly teachers.
After the previously quoted paragraph, the notes show that a new uncertain phase is beginning. A phase that many mystics refer to; «The essential reality is far above the mental perceptions. It is not possible to express it, it must be lived….Joy experienced through life, the quality in reality….The realization of the self, which rests and stands in itself….the selfless Self…. The three attitudes of the supreme pardox; No self (Buddhist), merged with God (Mystic), the realization of the true Self (Vedanta)».
Assagioli then drastically shifts the focus to a less mystical consciousness in the notes. He forgets to answer when one of the prison guards asks what food he wants, so he gets none. He writes in his notes; «I have never had any particular interest or attachment to food. While I was a student, I used to eat my main meal in less than 20 minutes and often had the same menu for several months. But these examples from me are not to be recommended because they show my unboundness».
Then the notes start to become professional and clinical. He describes the method of meditation while in isolation; «Method 1, Physical relaxation, rhythmic breathing; 2 Emotional silence, affirmation; 3A quiet mind; 4 Achieve higher consciousness, emanation – deep conviction of the reality and effectiveness of psycho-spiritual emanation of compassionate love, love for inmates, emanation to the world…. The endeavor to try in a scientific way to show the effect of mental and emotional waves and what power these and the body have…. Revolutionaryly important… Man as a psycho-spiritual power creature that sends out and receives».
He concludes his prison notes with his lifelong and essential insight: «I understood that I was free to choose my attitude towards a situation, to choose how I should evaluate it, to exploit it in one way or another. I could rebel. I could be passive, vegetative. Or I could participate in the unpleasant self-torment and assume the role of martyr. Or I could use the situation in a humorous way, take it as a vacation, or I could use it as a psychological experiment on myself. Or finally, I could make it a spiritual retreat – finally away from the world. There was no doubt in my mind – it was my choice».
In a 1974 interview with Assagioli for Psychology Today, Sam Keen comments; «Dear God, he makes us responsible for our own identity». While Assagioli was in deep meditation in prison, he discovered that consciousness imprisons and frees itself, again and again, and he hoped that his work could help in this liberation.
(*) Bonney Golino Schaub, MS, RN and Richard Schaub, PH.D, CO directors of the New York Psychosynthesis Institute, are psychotherapists and consult internationally on the psychospiritual approach to development.
Translated by Krestine Pettersen, with permission from Richard Schaub.
