TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE CELESTINE PROPHECY

The novel, THE CELESTINE PROPHECY, by James Redfield (N.Y.: Warner Books, 1993), is a book many of your clients who are interested in new age spirituality and transpersonal psychology are likely to have read. If they have not read it, it is a potential bibliotheraputic homework assignment that you might want to make to such a client.

In many ways, the most important fact about this book is that it is not very well written. Secondly, all of the "great" insights that it reveals are really rather well known. In short, a not very talented writer took a bunch of new age spiritual ideas and wove them into a story. What is fascinating is that this became a best seller! Why so? I would contend that it became a best seller despite the fact that it is not well written and doesn't provide any new ideas because it does a decent job of presenting those ideas as a coherent whole in a format that is fun to read due to the excitement and mystery woven into what would otherwise be a polemical dissertation.

The author of the Celestine Prophecy has a prologue to his book in which he states that: "...life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting---an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified...once we...understand what is happening, how to engage this allusive process and maximize its occurrence in our lives, human society will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of life---one that realizes the best of our tradition---and creates a culture that has been the goal of history all along." Many of us want this to happen and this is the primary allure of this novel.

The story is based on a manuscript written in 600 B.C. in the Aramaic language, the same language in which much of the Old Testament was written, but, the manuscript is supposedly written by the Mayans in Peru where no peoples have ever been known to use the Aramaic language. The manuscript has nine, maybe ten insights. At the start of the novel, the first eight have been discovered and the ninth has yet to be discovered. A powerful Catholic church leader along with the government is trying to suppress the manuscript and the story is about the effort to find the ninth insight before the government finds and destroys it.

1. "The First Insight occurs when we become conscious of the COINCIDENCES in our lives...The First Insight is a reconsideration of the inherent mystery that surrounds our individual lives on this planet...mysterious coincidences" (pp. 6-7). This will create a transformation because of "...the number of individuals having this awareness all at the same time" (p. 8).

2. "The Second Insight...puts our current awareness into a longer historical perspective...at the close of the second millennium---that's now---we will be able to see that entire period of history as a whole, and we will identify a particular preoccupation that developed during the later half of this millennium, in what has been called the Modern Age. Our awareness of the coincidences today represents a kind of awakening from this preoccupation...We totally lost ourselves in creating a secular security, an economic security, to replace the spiritual one we had lost. The question of why we were alive, of what was actually going on here spiritually, was slowly pushed aside and repressed altogether...We've forgotten that we still don't know what we're surviving for" (pp. 21, 26).

3. "The Third Insight...says we humans will learn to perceive what was formerly an invisible type of energy...The whole of Einstein's life's work was to show that what we perceive as hard matter is mostly empty space with a pattern of energy running through it...quantum physics has shown...that when we look at these patterns of energy at smaller and smaller levels, startling results can be seen. Experiments have revealed that when you break apart small aspects of this energy, what we call elementary particles, and try to observe how they operate, the act of observation itself alters the results---as if these elementary particles are influenced by what the experimenter expects" (pp. 40, 42). With the Third Insight you are able to "...see an energy field hovering about everything" (p. 44).

4. "The Fourth Insight...said that eventually humans would see the universe as comprised of one dynamic energy, an energy that can sustain us and respond to our expectations. Yet we would also see that we have been disconnected from the larger source of this energy, that we have cut ourselves off and so have felt weak and insecure and lacking...In the face of this deficit, we humans have always sought to increase our personal energy in the only manner we have known: by seeking to psychologically steal it from others---an unconscious competition that underlies all human conflict in the world" (pp. 65-6).

"...violence comes from the urge humans feel to control and dominate one another...when an individual walks up to another person and engages in a conversation...one of two things can happen. That individual can come away feeling strong or feeling weak, depending on what occurs in the interaction...we humans always seem to take a manipulative posture. No matter what the particulars of the situation, or the subject matter, we prepare ourselves to say whatever we must in order to prevail in the conversation. each of us seeks to find some way to control and thus to remain on top in the encounter. If we are successful, if our viewpoint prevails, then rather than feel weak, we receive a psychological boost" (pp. 70-1).

"Understanding the Fourth Insight...is a matter of seeing the human world as a vast competition for energy and thus for power. Yet, once humans understand their struggle...we (will) immediately begin to transcend this conflict. We would begin to break free from the competition over mere human energy...because we would finally be able to receive our energy from another source" (pp.89-90).

5. The Fifth Insight---receiving energy. "Food is the first way of gaining energy (especially when you eat deliberately)...this kind of deliberate appreciation of food was the real purpose behind the normal religious custom of being thankful, with the result being a high energy absorption of the food...After personal energy is increased in this way, you become more sensitive to energy in all things...and then you learn to take this energy into yourself without eating...(to do this)...you have to be open, to connect, to use your sense of appreciation" (pp. 110-111).

"When you appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of things...you receive energy. When you get to a level where you feel love, then you can send the energy back just by willing it so" (p. 113).

"You do not make yourself love...you allow love to enter you" (p. 112).

"The role of love has been misunderstood for a long time. Love is not something we should do to be good or to make the world a better place out of some abstract moral responsibility, or because we should give up our hedonism. Connecting with energy feels like excitement, then euphoria, and then love. Finding enough energy to maintain that state of love certainly helps the world, but it most directly helps us. It is the most hedonistic thing we can do" (p. 116).

SUMMARY

"Think of how the Insights fall into sequence...The First Insight occurs when we take the coincidences seriously. These coincidences make us feel there is something more, something spiritual, operating underneath everything we do. The Second Insight institutes our awareness as something real. We can see that we have been preoccupied with material survival, with focusing on controlling our situation in the universe for security, and we know our openness now represents a kind of waking up to what is really going on. The Third Insight begins a new view of life. It defines the physical universe as one of pure energy, an energy that somehow responds to how we think. And the Fourth exposes the human tendency to steal energy from other humans by controlling them, taking over their minds, a crime in which we engage because we so often feel depleted of energy, and cut off. This shortage of energy can be remedied, of course, when we connect with the higher source. The universe can provide all we need if we can only open up to it. That is the revelation of the Fifth Insight...we must learn to consciously fill up with energy because this energy brings on the coincidences, and the coincidences help us actualize the new level on a permanent basis...We fill up, grow, fill up and grow again. That is how we as humans continue the evolution of the universe to a higher and higher vibration" (pp. 119-120).

6. The Sixth Insight: "We must face up to our particular way of controlling others. Remember, the Fourth Insight reveals that humans have always felt short of energy and have sought to control each other to acquire the energy that flows between people. The Firth then shows us that an alternative source exists, but we can't really stay connected with this source until we come to grips with the particular method that, we, as individuals, use in our controlling, and stop doing it---because whenever we fall back into this habit, we get disconnected from the source. Getting rid of this habit isn't easy because it's always unconscious at first. The key to letting it go is to bring it fully into consciousness, and we do that by seeing that our particular style of controlling others is one we learned in childhood to get attention, to get the energy moving our way, and we're stuck there" (p. 123). The Sixth Insight identifies basic control dramas that people learn in their childhood and continue to act out throughout their lives unless they break the habit. The types are: intimidator, interrogator, aloof, and poor me. What you need to do is "...look past the energy competition that existed in your family and search for the real reason you were there...You're looking for the meaning (your parents have) for you, the reason you were born to (your mother), what you were there to learn. Every human being, whether they are conscious of it or not illustrates with their lives how he or she thinks a human being is supposed to live. You must try to discover what (your parents) taught you and at the same time what about (their lives) could have been done better. What you would have changed about your (parents) is part of what you yourself are working on" (pp. 136-7).

"To discover your real self, you must admit that the real you began in a position between their truths. That's why you were born there: to take a higher perspective on what they stood for. Your path is about discovering a truth that is a higher synthesis of what these two people believed...If you view your life as one story, from birth to right now, you'll be able to see how you have been working on this question all along" (pp.138-9).

"Each of us must look at the significant turns in our lives and reinterpret them in light of our evolutionary question" (p. 144).

"We all have a spiritual purpose, a mission, that we have been pursuing without being fully aware of it, and once we bring it completely into consciousness, our lives can take off" (p. 146).

7. The Seventh Insight: Engaging the Flow. "The first thing I do is to focus on the environment around me...Then I try to remember how everything looks when I'm being filled with energy. I do this by recalling the presence everything displays, the unique beauty and shape of everything, especially plants, and the way colors seem to glow and appear brighter...Then I try to experience that feeling of closeness, the feeling that no matter how far away something is, that I can touch it, connect with it. And then I breathe it in...taking deep, conscious breaths, holding each about five seconds before exhaling...When we visualize that each breath pulls energy into us and fills us like a balloon, we actually become more energized and feel much lighter and more buoyant...After I breathe in the energy, I check to see if I have the right emotion...LOVE...It is a background emotion that exists when one is connected to the energy available in the universe, which, of course, is the energy of God" (pp. 152-3).

Part of the Seventh Insight also tells us to pay attention to our dreams. "...dreams come to tell us something about our lives that we are missing..." (p. 166). "...not only dreams guide us. Also thoughts or daydreams guide us...They show us a scene, a happening, and this is an indication that this event might happen. If we pay attention then we can be ready for this turn in our lives...The Seventh Insight says that we all have many more such thoughts than we realize. To recognize them we must take an observer position. When a thought comes, we must ask why? Why did this particular thought come now? How does it relate to my life questions? Taking this observer position helps us release our need to control everything. It places us in the flow of evolution...The Seventh Insight says that fear images should be halted as soon as they come. Then another image, one with a good outcome, should be willed through the mind" (pp. 168-9).

"The Seventh Insight says that the challenge is to find the silver lining in every event, no matter how negative" (p. 178).

8. "The Eighth Insight warns against...your growth being stopped...It happens when you become addicted to another person" (p. 179). "The idea of an addiction, as used in the manuscript, explains why power struggles arise in romantic relationships...When love first happens, the two individuals are giving each other energy unconsciously and both people feel buoyant and elated...Unfortunately, once they expect this feeling to come from the other person, they cut themselves off from the energy in the universe and begin to rely even more on the energy from each other---only now there doesn't seem to be enough and so they stop giving each other energy and fall back into their dramas in an attempt to control each other and force the other's energy their way. At this point the relationship degenerates into the usual power struggle...The reason we can become addicted to someone of the opposite sex is that we've yet to access this opposite sex energy ourselves" (pp. 191-2).

In terms of children, what does the 8th Insight tell us? "We should view them as they really are, as end points in evolution that lead us forward. But in order to learn to evolve they need our energy on a constant basis, unconditionally. The worst thing that can be done to children is to drain their energy while correcting them...you should never take responsibility for more children than you can give attention to...If there are too many children for the number of adults, then the adults become overwhelmed and unable to give enough energy. The children begin to compete with each other for the adult's time...humans...should not bring children into the world unless there is at least one adult committed to focus full attention, all of the time, on each child...All the energy does not have to come from the parents alone. In fact, it is better if it does not. But whoever cares for the children must provide this one on one attention" (pp. 184-5).

"Whenever people cross our paths, there is always a message for us. Chance encounters do not exist...If we have a conversation with someone who crosses our path and we do not see a message pertaining to our current questions, it does not mean there was no message. It only means we missed it for some reason...The Manuscript predicts that once humans grasp this reality, our interaction will slow down and become more purposeful and deliberate" (p. 200).

"When we appreciate the shape and demeanor of a person, really focus on them until their shape and features begin to stand out and to have more presence, we can then send them energy, lifting them up. Of course, the first step is to keep our own energy high, then we can start the flow of energy coming into us, through us, and into the other person. The more we appreciated their wholeness, their inner beauty, the more the energy flows into them, and naturally, the more that flows into us...The more we can love and appreciate others, the more energy flows into us...Real projection of energy has no attachment or intention" (p. 201).

"What do we do if the person we are speaking with is already operating in a control drama and trying to pull us into it? How do we cut through that?...The Manuscript says if we do not assume the matching drama, then the person's own drama will fall apart" (p.202).

"The Manuscript says that covert manipulations for energy can't exist if you bring them into consciousness by pointing them out" (p. 205).

9. The Ninth Insight: The Emerging Culture. "This way of consciously relating, in which everyone attempts to bring out the best in others rather than to have power over them, is a posture the entire human race will eventually adopt. Think of how everyone's energy level and pace of evolution will increase at that point!" (p.219).

"The Ninth depicts a human world where everyone has slowed down and become more alert, ever vigilant for the next meaningful encounter that comes along" (p. 223).

SUMMARY

"I was alert to the mysterious way my life evolved, as revealed by the First Insight. I knew that the whole culture was sensing this mystery again as well, and we were in the process of constructing a new world view, as pointed out by the Second. The Third and Fourth had showed me that the universe was in reality a vast system of energy and that human conflict was a shortage of and a manipulation for this energy. The Firth Insight revealed that we could end this conflict by receiving an inpouring of this energy from a higher source. For me, this ability had almost become habit. The Sixth, that we could clear our old repeated dramas, and find our true selves, was also permanently etched in my mind. And the Seventh had set in motion the evolution of these true selves: through question, intuition of what to do, and answer. Staying in this magic flow was truly the secret of happiness. And the Eighth, knowing how to relate in a new way to others, bringing out in them the very best, was the key to keeping the mystery operating and the answers coming. All the Insights had integrated into a consciousness that felt like a heightened sense of alertness and expectation" (p. 229-230).

Don't just reject the above concepts from the Celestine Prophecy because they are simplistic. Instead, reach into them, explore them, see how they can be adapted to your life and the lives of those you are trying to help. As with all of life, this book, like everyone you meet, provides you with an opportunity to learn.

They truly are celestial or heavenly ideas!

If you feel that they violate your religious beliefs, I hope that you will rethink that position. As the book says: "Isn't the story of the New Testament the story of a group of people being filled with some kind of energy that transformed them? Didn't Jesus, himself, say that what he did, we could do also, and more? We've never really taken that idea seriously, not until now. We're only now grasping what Jesus was talking about, where he was leading us. The manuscript clarifies what he meant! How to do it!" (p.236).