The Psychological Staircase

 Imagine your inner world as if it were a fancy hotel.

In this hotel, most of the action is happening on one of three levels:

i.   The Basement

ii.  The Lobby

iii. The Roof

Each level provides an entirely different experience of the hotel for those who spend their time there. Different thought patterns, mindsets, and perspectives cluster around each one.

Higher levels provide access to higher, more permanent "states" of emotional experience and wellbeing. There is a "psychological staircase" that connects all these levels within us and can be followed up from the basement, all the way to the roof.

We begin our ascent from the lowest level.

i.   The Basement

Most unknowingly live in the basement. I certainly used to.

Stumbling around in the dark, shadow boxing your own projections, and thinking this is just the nature of the world.

But many of the great traditions recognized this & so sought to open doorways for people to climb up out of the basement. This work was later expanded upon and developed into the foundations of modern-day psychology by people like Freud & Jung.

It requires you first clean up the basement, turn on the lights, and start reclaiming missing pieces of yourself that you forgot were left lying around in the dark.

With the right know-how and practice, anybody can do it. 

When you’ve finally put together the pieces of your authentic self, you can begin the ascent upstairs.

ii.   The Lobby

The stairway opens up to a beautiful, spacious lobby with the sun shining in & happy faces moving all about. 

In the lobby, the next stage of work begins. 

You stop worrying about the coming & going of everyone, and learn to start living fully in the magic of the present moment. Your guides may range from Frtiz Perls to Eckhart Tolle to Steven Hayes and beyond.

Here it’s crucial you get out of your head. The music & dance of the lobby invite you into a full body experience that grounds you firmly in the now.

But eventually, you come across another door that opens up to still higher levels. And as fun as the party in the lobby is, you feel pulled to keep going higher.

iii. The Roof

Soon, you’ll be traversing up to the roof on the top floor.

With no more walls obstructing your view, you can feel a cool breeze on your face, and see far and wide into the distance.

The people here are radiating just as much joy as those down in the lobby, but it somehow seems subtler, deeper, and more all-encompassing. 

Here you start connecting with your higher purpose, understanding the lessons of the collective unconscious, and start to experience transcendence of the personal self as you ignite a direct connection with humanity as a whole. 

Jung & Maslow will be your initial guides, and may hand you over to people like Roberto Assagioli, Huston Smith, or Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

From here, nothing is impossible.

The journey from the basement to the roof is a path that can be walked by anybody, and each level offers access to higher, more permanent “states” of emotional experience & wellbeing.

Moving up just one level has the power to totally transform your experience of life.

In reality, you will often find yourself moving up and down between levels. Sometimes you may need to tune up the furnace in the basement or meet some friends in the lobby.

But once you open the door to higher levels & get a taste of them, the door will stay open forever. 

I am not asking you to take my word for it. I only ask you to start making the climb & see for yourself.