The Ego and The Dynamic Ground
The Ego and the Dynamic Ground provides a valuable overview of the stages of the spiritual life. While there are valid disagreements between Washburn’s “spiral” developmental model and Ken Wilber’s “linear” developmental model, the value of Washburn’s insights for a spiritual seeker is unquestionable.
Washburn walks us through the major psychological crises of life, including the Oedipus/Electra complex, the anxiety of adolescence, the establishment of the ego’s identity project and finally the “mid-life” crisis and the potential resolution of this crisis. Washburn’s clear, penetrating portrayal of these stages will resonate with anyone who has lived long enough to experience them. The spiritual context in which he situates these crises will help the seeker tremendously, for the most common experience at every stage is that “I am all alone.” None of us is alone when it comes to facing the meaninglessness of life and our own non-existence. Thousands have gone before us and shared their experiences. What separates us is our willingness to confront these painful aspects of life head-on.
To cite examples, Washburn brilliantly portrays the fears of adolescence, when the ego first develops the capacity for deep introspection. As we have all experienced, the problem with deep introspection (when we attempt to identify “who,” “what,” or “where” we are) is that there is no clear answer. The ego therefore confronts for the first time the twin pains of nothingness and guilt. The adolescent identity crisis is and must be resolved by unceasing internal dialogue and the selection of an identity project. In other words, our failure to define ourselves leads us to spend the next stage of our life “becoming” something which will make us “real.” This stage cannot be avoided and must be lived out to the fullest possible extent.
The identity project is then played out when we achieve the goals of our identity project, becoming the mother, father, lawyer, athlete, winner, or loser we originally set out to be. Yet we are still not satisfied! Mid-life crisis sets in when we finally realize that life is passing us by, we have accomplished our goals and dreams, yet they have failed to provide the ultimate satisfaction we started looking for in adolescence.
Washburn is at his best when he shows how the anxiety of mid-life can open the door for true spiritual experience, and how that path is common across religious and spiritual traditions. The seeker must persevere through a nightmare of trials and tribulations, but salvation awaits him on the other side of the Dark Night.
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