Spiritual Narratives on Equality

Abstract

Personal therapy has not made the world a more equal place as many of us hoped it would in the 20th century. I argue here that we also need a spiritual narrative. Equality in many forms has been central to the aims of most radical progressive social movements. The intention is often also to be non-hierarchical in their organization, thinking and lifestyles. However, few have succeeded for long. Many psychotherapists such as Wilhelm Reich have studied this problem and suggested solutions such as dismantling psychological defences and living from the core of ourselves. But people often mistook the idea of ‘core’ as merely acting from our impulses, leading, for example, to the shadow sides of ‘60s ‘freedoms’. Perhaps the deepest core is actually where we attune to what Engels called the spirit in nature. Today the spiritual dimension is returning into the world of psychotherapy and politics from the surprising source of postmodernism. But exactly what kind of spirituality might be emerging to co-create with the new equality politics in shaping the 21st century? In this article inspired by the ideas of postmodernists such as Julia Kristeva and mystics such as Lao Tzu, I outline some ideas that may be important. One of these is the concept of ‘jouissance’, which is an embodied ecstatic joy. Fluidity, flow, rhythm, dance, nomadic wandering, alternation and eternal return may also be features of the new spirituality. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.