Editor's last word:

Dr. Frankl states that some of his colleagues feel that the other philosophies of psychiatry, such as the Freudian and the Adlerian, when they are effective, reflect principles of Logotherapy. That is, unless a patient's neurosis is aided by an appeal to meaning and purpose, there will be no lasting relief.

Viewed in this light, a statement once made by Magda B. Arnold is justified: "Every therapy must in some way, no matter how restricted, also be logotherapy."

I thought of this expansive aspect of Frankl's work recently as I surveyed the "Dark Realms" page, the "mandated solitude and introspection." Traditional religion thinks in terms of punishment and retribution, with little thought given to personal change and education; indeed, Despotic Ecclesia would have it that, upon transition to the next worlds, change is impossible and that one's character and disposition, at the moment of death, are forever set in stone and unalterable. As usual, Big Religion finds itself on the wrong side of destiny.

But why should any of this be so? Why should an entire world, a dark world, be set aside for unthinking ones to virtually force them into a mental posture of introspection? Is this not extremely telling in terms of how God and the Guides view us and our constitutional make-up?

As we collect the various strands of evidence, it begins to become clear that meaning and purpose, and our requirement to access these, form the very air we must breathe. We human beings are just not happy unless our actions speak to some greater vision. There is so much richness built into the sacred soul - to a degree, as Father Benson loves to assert, "with no discoverable upper limit" - that, unless we walk a road of developing ourselves, of "unpacking" the hidden depths of being and its illimitable reaches, we can and will find no rest for ourselves. Speaking to our divine heritage, we cannot escape the sacred mandate to become fully human.

Dr. Frankl formalized this innate compulsion toward finding meaning and purpose in his Logotherapy. For our part, we would be wise to understand that the architectonic structure of the soul, which impels us in the direction of self-development, of fulfilling our destiny of having been "made in the image," must be satisfied if we are to find our happiness in life.

This happiness will relate to Twin Soul romance, as well. The Wedding Song speaks of these ordained two "traveling on" together, through life and eternity. Embedded within this celestial directive, they will find, each for the other, a source of affinity extending well beyond pleasant outward forms; each for the other, becomes meaning and purpose personified. Little wonder then, entangled in sacred destiny, they cannot bear to be apart. 

let me state this another way

Image yourself living in Summerland, a hundred or a thousand years from now. You’ve now grown well accustomed to living the ideal life in a perfect environment. But, at some future time, will we ask the question, “Is this all there is?” When perfect scenery and perfect setting become commonplace, will we someday find ourselves jaded by this surfeit of “everything just right”?

As I study the afterlife literature, I am convinced that those who have not solved this problem eventually fall into destructive modes of thinking and attempt – though it’s not possible – to reincarnate or to “advance” to “higher” levels where, they believe, they will be able to shed their sense of “spoiled self” by losing their identities in a vast ocean of “spiritual cosmic oneness.” This dark dystopian view of the future, thankfully, is a myth, but many dysfunctional people on the other side work toward this nirvana of the identity-less existence. See further discussion in "the 500 tape-recorded messages from the other side" article.

We need to understand why and how this existential crisis could happen – and this, in a “perfect” environment. It’s a result of not finding the inner riches of the true self. And it is this quest, the accessing of Frankl's “super-meaning” and Tolle's “inner purpose,” an emphasis on “being” more than “doing” concerning the meaning of life, that we must consider.

"Having a purpose" in life is necessary for mental health, as Frankl and other doctors inform us. And so how shall we create meaning for ourselves in a future time when all needs are answered in a perfect world?

The answer is, we find our truest purpose by becoming what God meant us to become; we do this by going within, mining the depths of the soul. We find our purpose and fulfill our destiny by becoming more like God. This is our primary purpose, now and a million years hence. Discovering the inner riches of the true self is not a one-time event, over and done with. It’s an eternal quest, a “traveling on,” as The Wedding Song puts it, that knows no end.

Editor’s note: One must discover the purpose for one’s life before peace of mind is won. But, what happens when that life, in a sense, becomes a veritable joint-life, the lofty status of sacred “One Person,” in the realization of Twin Soul love?

There is a myth of marriage which asserts that two human beings, male and female, will find their completion by coming together in relationship. Well, on one level of existence, this is correct, but only at the periphery of life. It is not correct at the deepest level of being. We discussed this paradox in the “Prometheus” book. The task and purpose of every human being is to find one’s innate wholeness and completeness within the sacred soul; the soul which was made perfect “in the image of God.” In so doing, one finds one’s true strength in realization that one is linked to and part of God. As such, in this self-actualizing process, in a sense, by the time one arrives at this self-perception of being able to stand alone, of not needing another to affirm one’s value, then, at this point of self-sufficiency, paradoxically, one is now ready to enter sacred, eternal romantic relationship.

This phenomenon of authentic marriage constitutes a very special subset of the requirement to find one’s life-purpose. A poet has informed us that, without one’s true love, we will not find sufficient reason to “stay alive for”; this is another paradox for the "perfect soul," as, without her, all existence fades into a pervasive meaninglessness. Twins, aware of each other but living apart, soon discover the sharp-edged reality of this statement. Together they will explore the depths of this mystery for the unending future, relative to who and what they are to each other.

How could it be otherwise for those "made in the image"? Does not the sacred couple mirror the ultimate reality, the apex of being, of Mother-Father God?

both ‘whole’ and ‘part’, individually assertive yet of something larger

Editor’s note: The concept that we, as human beings, souls, made in the image, are perfect, in need of nothing at core essence, and yet requiring something more, leads us to the term “holon.” It’s a Greek word meaning “whole and part.”

“The term was coined by Arthur Koestler in The Ghost in the Machine (1967). In Koestler's formulations, a holon is something that has integrity and identity while simultaneously being a part of a larger system; it is a subsystem of a greater system… The notion of a holon emerges from the observation that everything in nature is both a whole and a part. This is true of atoms, which are whole in themselves, but also parts of molecules; molecules, which can be both whole and part of cells; and cells, which are both autonomous units and parts of organisms. It is also true for human beings, who have an independent life [but] are part of social systems. Every holon is willing to express two contradictory tendencies: to express itself, and to disappear into something greater.” (quotations from Wikipedia)