The Crossing of a Threshold

In the previous post, I have discussed what is needed to embrace a new phase of life. An individual must be willing to give up old habits, patterns and conditioning in order to make space for new life. Not to be overlooked also is the importance of coming to define our personal rites of passage – a dedicated course of action subjecting us to the training of our mental, spiritual and emotional faculties – that would carry us on a journey of transfiguration.

What comes after? There is another concept that is equally fascinating, that is the crossing of a threshold, which successfully carries the individual from the realm of the ordinary world into a new zone of experience and magnified power.

Having travelled to the boundaries of ordinary limits, one comes face to face with the threshold guardian and is posed an inevitable test.

The test is dangerous, fear is magnified, one feels the threat of death. Likely, we have already failed this test many times – without recognising what it was. Having committed to our rites of passage where we have been training in the metaphorical gym of our lives for some time, the test of the threshold guardian threatens to break the established limits and boundaries of our personal experience, with the promise of liberation on the other side. In other words, if we manage to cross over, we do not default back to our ordinary lives, but receive a psychological rewiring and renewal. It marks a death and rebirth, a completion of a cycle, where an old you has passed and a new version has been manifest.

What does the individual need for the crossing of such a threshold? Joseph Campbell, in his book ‘The Hero With A Thousand Faces’, mentions that when old concepts, ideals and emotional patterns no longer fit, the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.

The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades.

Courage is a sword that readily battles fear, but often we do not feel ready enough to confront the challenge. We feel like we are lacking; we do not possess the internal weaponry. Campbell writes that:

though the terrors will recede before a genuine psychological readiness, the overbold adventurer beyond his depth may be shamelessly undone.

In other words, we are psychologically incompetent. What do we do then?

The twisted humor of life subjects us to its cruelty, and as a result we often might find ourselves somewhere else, in a different place, stage or situation that we did not ask for. What else could we do, when to advance forth is to face needless death? It appears that the powers that guard our space are not only fatherly and dangerous – urging us to do battle with the unknown – but also motherly and protective, ensuring that our passage is walkable, shielding us from demons which would ruthlessly rip us apart.

Detours

Hence, we ask ourselves a question: Are we psychologically equipped and physically capable to thrive in the experience that we are calling forth? If not, life forces us to make detours.

As a result, we might get a poorer substitute to what we truly want. We find ourselves in relationships that end bitterly, in places foreign in every way, in projects that fail and with people who break us down. We might feel punished, deprived, worthless.

The naked eye – severed from perspective – views this as punishment; what meaning could one possibly fathom in the depths of despair? Our souls are distraught.

We need to know this: Love is not only tender and forgiving, but acts upon us in a very fierce manner when we do not relinquish the intensity of that which we are asking for. Often, we are too blind to recognise that we are merely on a detour. The point of a detour is to break us down further, make us question, and impart digestible seeds of knowledge so that we would be psychologically ready for the crossing of the threshold.

Thus, would we choose to perceive the lessons contained within those darker episodes and phases of our lives? What do your past experiences have to teach you?

We desire to advance, surpass our limits and be liberated from our fears, so much that we might be caught up with the chase and the fantasy of crossing over to another zone of experience. Yet, what truly matters is the process behind it, the multiple detours we had to make, the experiences we have accumulated within them, and the countless times we have failed. They make us embrace our humanness, and the crossing of the threshold is not achieved by one who is gifted, but by one who is determined enough to develop competence and a courage that comes with it and shines forth.

Build momentum (or lose definition of yourself)

A man twice my age once told me that once you hit a certain age, energy inevitably runs out. Reality snaps at you, and there goes the drive, motivation and physical capacities you once had. When that time comes, all you have got to sustain your life and keep it going the way you want comes down to this one thing: momentum.

For the young go-getters who believe that ‘the sky is the limit’, this sobering grain of insight re-introduces one back to Earth and the harsh grounds of our fundamental humanness. We are not so ‘special’. We have limits.

Age, to the zestful and spirited young, is something that seems irrelevant, almost foreign in character and impossible to fathom. To a person in the early twenties, middle-age seems like a distant land, very out of reach.

Nevertheless it is a beautiful concept, an important one that has much to offer. Age constitutes experience, insights and memories that form and become parts of the individual – these fragments add up, and through them, self-definition happens. Through these fragments, one builds upon them and gains momentum, further cementing one’s dominant characteristics into his/her consciousness.

This is why an alcoholic finds it extremely hard to quit alcohol; the memories, habitual patterns and experiences surrounding alcoholism over the years have become deeply ingrained in him. It has become who he is, his identity.

In contrast, a successful middle-age businessman could undergo a rough patch, but he has years of experience under his belt, years of doing things “right”. Much like activating muscle memory, what is called upon to get him out of trouble is his experience. The successful businessman has known of himself to be disciplined, shrewd, decisive and capable of overcoming adversity. He possesses an internal character that distinguishes himself from the rest who do not have “what it takes”.

Clearly, momentum is not derived from a vacuum. It is built upon experience, which is internalised in a person’s character.

Building Momentum: Gathering the best fragments of you

We do not become the best versions of ourselves by default. We need to take the right actions and establish momentum.

Unfortunately, the ill and conditioned patterns we have learnt and incorporated into our lives have become attached to us like a drug; they essentially become “us”.

To unlearn them is possible, but it requires an art of discipline – to dig up and remove these layers of dirt bucket by bucket. These are essentially the flaws in our character, we need a hard look in the mirror and a resolve that they shall die to be replaced by positive virtues.

A lot of people have tried to find themselves by trying all sorts of different things. Not many of those things are useful. Some are momentary, brief, and serve only to elevate the ego, or to make one feel good. Not many endeavours last. After all, people default back to square one.

These are the times that call for deep soul searching.

What are the best fragments of you? What do you know you are capable of?

And what matters most?

The saving grace is that beneath the layers of dirt we have filled in our psyche – our mind, body and spirit – there is something that is of innate value, that shines effortlessly. Fragments of the best version of ourselves buried down below that we need to uncover, rediscover, and gather, and through them establish momentum to redirect our lives.

 

 

Rites of Passage: Growing Up into Adulthood (Manhood or Womanhood)

There is something sacred and divine about the journey of growing up into adulthood.

Here and there, there are striking incidences, trials and hardship, along with tangibly felt moments that provoke and inspire. Every now and then, the individual – whether a young teen or an older man – experiences subtle yet authoritative messages that are deeply personal.

Such moments could be easily lost and forgotten, but their subtle messages could otherwise serve as a doorway into another world. These messages, when heeded, potentially guide the individual on a journey to separate from the ‘unthinking masses’ and embody a distinct personal identity.

Thus in growing up, as with every other transition phase in life, we are called to make important decisions; responsibility befalls us as a curse and a gift. Whether or not we choose to encounter this sense of numinosity – i.e. the call of the sacred or what Joseph Campbell terms as the ‘call to adventure’ – would crucially define who we become.

Yet, what does it mean to encounter and pursue the ‘sacred’? This is intimately tied to the question we all inevitably ask growing up: What makes us a man or a woman?

Initiation, Mentorship and Ancient Wisdom

In ancient wisdom literature, one is initiated into adulthood by the elders of that society who are wiser, more mature and experienced. They would provide essential mentorship through initiating certain ceremonies – what are known as rites of passage – for the younger ones to pass through as they transit into adulthood.

For example, this could first involve a clean break from the parents, whereby the novice boy ventures into the wilderness, followed by a wound given by an older man, a scarring of some sort such as the knocking out of a tooth. Far from inflicting meaningless pain, these initiations carry deep meaning; the boy would forever associate his broken tooth with a living connection of some sort, such as a highly revered or respected hero or teacher of that community who has similarly lost a tooth. These ritualistic ceremonies are purely symbolic, but under the guidance of the wise, the messages and lessons they carry are heavily instilled upon the younger ones.

Of course, the situation is different today. The challenging ceremonies of the past requiring endurance and pain are commonly reduced to many mainstream religious ceremonies today, symbolic but nevertheless highly sanctioned and softened. Arguably, the mentorship we need for soul growth is severely lacking, and we are more confused than ever in a highly abundant and stimulating technological age.

Creating Our Own Rites of Passage

However, a teaching we could adopt from the ancient rites of passage is that in the key transition phases of an individual’s life, there are rituals, carefully designed and deemed necessary for the individual’s transition.

These rituals involve a process requiring a certain mental, emotional and physical toughness. Not everyone could be successfully ‘initiated’ into adulthood; only the ones who are ready would make that transition, bypassing a certain threshold where something in the psychology and character shifts.

Rituals done consistently and purposefully are associated with discipline.

Hence, we could create our own rites of passage by constantly – ritualistically – subjecting ourselves to the training of our mental, emotional and physical faculties, through a dedicated course of action that is personal to us and our growth.

A writer might find a very different set of rituals from an athlete who cultivates with weights, or a programmer, businessman, salesman or construction worker. A daughter from a dysfunctional family severely abused from a young age would find his/her path indeed very different from the average woman. The testosterone raging young man moves toward hope and progress, whereas the old man is discharged by death of ambition, and embraces a process of letting go and spiritual renewal.

The decision to undertake a particular chosen course of action lies upon the responsibility of the individual to decipher life’s messages and what his/her personal ‘call to adventure’ is. It is essentially greater than oneself and has all to do with the mysterious, invisible and sacred.

Through the committed undertaking of ritualistic practices, a transformation in the psyche is imminent. One eventually makes that transition into manhood or womanhood. The art of discipline instills into the individual a unique and spirited identity, and empowers one to become capable of meeting the intensity of life’s many trials and tribulations.

What is your call to adventure? What are your rites of passage?