Zen Gestalt

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 20:57

ZEN-GESTALT

The essence of the concept Zen in Buddhism is

in mystical "contemplation"

inner and outer worlds of the beholder

in order to achieve enlightenment

[Internet].

One day a Zen Gestaltist decided to visit summer intensive … He chose the longest route, the most unknown trainers to him, packed up his simple belongings, took his staff and went to where the sun rises. His path was long, and on the way he met many people.

The Zen Gestaltist preferred not to speak, but to listen, so he received a friendly welcome wherever he stopped to have a snack or spend the night. Ordinary people generously scattered the wisdom of this world before him, like a dandelion their light parachute seeds. The journey was pleasant, but the Zen Gestaltist, a physicist by his first education, was beginning to feel a little anxious. He remembered the second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy increases in a closed system. Of course, he and the surrounding space were not a completely closed system, but somehow all the roadmaps were very benign and calm, his drivers were somehow very friendly and free of charge, sellers of chemical sausage and synthetic cheese friendly offered him to take part in free promotions and taste their products.

And finally he came to the intensive - and everything was blissful there. The Zen Gestalt could not understand what was going on. And, listening to the first lecture of the oldest and most respected gestaltist-anarchist, he continued to wonder how well everything was going, and waited for the forces of chaos to break through.

And then something began to happen that he did not expect at all. The group, where therapists showed each other their work, brought together people from all over the world. But whoever of them worked, the leaders of the group curled their lips and said: "This is not a gestalt!" And the works were beautiful, and the participants cried with gratitude on each other's chests, but the coaches became gloomier, more and more harsh and cruel words in supervision they spoke to therapists.

And after the third day of such work, the Zen-gestaltist could not stand it and went to the chief gestaltist-anarchist. It was difficult to find him - he was hiding from people and, smiling, spoke in koans that no one understood. But he was a stubborn follower of Zen-gestalt, and he sat on the porch until midnight, waiting for the respected teacher. And when he appeared - wearing a skullcap, surrounded by young giggling gestaltists - a Zen Gestaltist stood up, bowed and said: “O Great! I want to talk with you!"

And a flock of laughing young maidens scattered, like leaves in a gust of wind, and they were left together. And the Zen Gestaltist began to ask:

-Say, O Great! You stood at the origins of the gestalt movement! Your hair has turned gray from hard work. Your Dolce & Gabbana sweatshirt is saturated with tears that have received insight from the touch of your depth and wisdom. Your Prada moccasins have trampled many hidden roads. And you have always promoted ideas that are consonant with Zen - that chaos cannot be stopped, that you need to contemplate, and not interpret, that you need to be "here-and-now" … But your disciples are multiplying, and they are trying to organize the disordered, to comb everyone with the same brush, cut under a single army beaver … And there is no life next to them, because they strangle everything alive and light, which is not like their "gestalt", and fight with all other areas of psychotherapy. How did this happen?

The great gestaltist anarchist coughed. Then he was silent. Then he said:

-Well, yes … Somehow it is so …

And, cheered up, the young Zen Gestaltist continued:

- It took me a long time to get here. In my life I have met different gestaltists. These are both Gestalt analysts and Gestalt constellators. There is cognitive and emotional gestalt. There is a systemic and individual gestalt. They all rest peacefully on three pillars - phenomenology, field theory and dialogue. But on this intensive I see only prohibitions, assessments and discontent on the part of the coaches. They have renounced the principles of humanism, do not accept gestalt experiments, are not interested in what the group thinks, and are fixed only on emotions. How is it, O Great One?

The great one was silent and quietly said:

- Yes, you have come close to the secret in the gestalt. For everything is important and nothing is more important. Feelings, thoughts, body, and actions - what came out “here-and-now” from the background became a figure. But the speaker does not know, the knower does not speak. Over the past 20 years, thousands of new gestaltists have appeared in the world, and each of them learned his gestalt from his master. And they forgot that gestalt is a holistic, or as it is fashionable to say, holistic approach, and each promotes the part that he lacks in himself. The insensitive talk about feelings, the irresponsible - about responsibility, inhuman - about humanity … They forgot about the principle of nonduality and divide the world into black and white, which causes a lot of anger among all non-gestaltists. And the more non-Gestaltists struggle with Gestalt, the more they comprehend its essence and become Gestaltists …

The Zen Gestaltist pondered.

-So, it turns out that the coaches do it on purpose?

“Of course not,” the Great One reassured him. But they achieve their goal. People have strong feelings, they start to protest and think. And one of the tasks - awareness - is achieved much faster than if you just talk about it. So you came to me because you felt irritated and realized your reactions. And there is one point - where someone knows how to do it right. You have been at this point. There is another - where no one knows how to do it right. You have stayed at this point too.

-O! And now I can look at both of these points from the third, O Great! After all, this is the principle of working with polarities, cried the Zen Gestaltist.

- Yes. But the most important thing is that you started thinking and noticed that it doesn't matter what you believe in and what you do. The world of psychotherapy is one. As well as the world in general. And the boundaries are in our head, and no one knows exactly what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. And someday each of us will complete his main gestalt, - said the Great Gestalt-anarchist and, with a friendly nod, went to his house. And after him a flock of young and beautiful gestaltists flew into the house, and in a second the light came on and a happy laugh was heard.

And the Zen Gestaltist smiled, felt the breath of a light breeze on his skin, noticed the moths circling by the lantern, felt a sudden surge of happiness and hunger … And slowly contemplating his inner and outer world around him, he went to his house.