Liminality

I have been exploring liminality through winter and spring, focusing on my studies while I sat at the threshold between cultures and careers. The second year of the MSc was much more demanding than the first, both in academic and transformative scope. My integrative practice brought a desire to reconnect with my lineage, and I have been spending time in my native Spain deep in what could be considered a rite of self-exploration. Since arriving last Autumn, I feel reengaged with the vital dimension, the primordial Ground of life, where our roots and imaginal potential lie, but also with the force of my denied identity and the discomfort of the stored hurt of generations. The experience has been complex and extremely edifying. It has been a time of re-encounters, with myself, with spaces and people I had not seen for decades and with the land and the simple movement of life. It has also triggered a desire to serve in the context of education, a field I have also felt very connected with and, simultaneously, resist, since I feel it may over challenge my capacity for integral growth. As I continue to explore the dual dynamism between inner work (spiritual development) and outer work (vocational service) with a vision of a near future in education, I hope to develop my integrative process further. This has recently been greatly supported by working on embodiment, through expressive and movement practices, anchored around the theme of the seasons. Romero & Albareda's framework has inspired my own experience and academic work. It has also inspired the ritual circles I have been playing with, as part of my course proposal and as a potential We Space for transformational work with others. I hope to continue trying them out over the summer in Costa Rica with like-minded people, as I stay with Unity, a creative and spiritual community in San Jose.

My stay has an objective: to explore the context of my uncle's work. I want his experience to be part of my MSc dissertation as an example of what it means to be an agent of collective transformation. My uncle was a Spanish Dominican priest. He lived in Central America through the Nicaraguan Revolution until he died in 2019. He taught theology, worked in radio, published articles, and wrote poetry. He had the ability to guide people from different backgrounds and in any circumstances with humility and humour. Through the years, while I navigated the void that atheism leaves in one’s spiritual inclinations, he always reminded me that I did not need to be religious to be spiritual, apparently, even beyond death. A couple of years ago, during a spiritual crisis, I found an article he wrote a week before he died, which reminded me of his message to go beyond dogma and live through an engagement with the experiential core of religion. This inspired me to pursue the MSc, and as I continue my journey, more connected to my roots and the vital dimension, I want his wisdom to show me how inner work and service are dynamically connected.

“The word of God can be used to understand and transform our reality. To look within, recognise our strengths and our weaknesses and let the spirit clean our heart… be the strength that impels us to do good and spread joy: not the passing joy found in superficiality and materiality, but the lasting and profound kind of joy that can generate peace, hope, and trust.”  (Manuel Batalla, translated)

References

1. Ferrer, J. N., Romero, M. T., & Albareda, R. V. (2005). Integral transformative education: A participatory proposal. Journal of Transformative Education, 3(4), 306–330.

2. Patten, T. (2018). A new republic of the heart: An ethos for revolutionaries. North Atlantic Books.