ARNOLD MINDELL’S CONTRIBUTION TO INFINITY
THEORY
All your dreams manifest as body experiences which
eventually turn into symptoms if you don’t work on them very much.
Arnold Mindell
I want to refer to the contribution of Arnold Mindell and his
process-oriented psychotherapy mainly through his work in Dreaming While Awake .
Every time you ignore sentient, that is, generally
unrecognized dreamlike perceptions, something inside you goes into a mild form of shock because you have overlooked the spirit
of life, your greatest potential power.
Arnold Mindell
Mindell defines Dreaming as the energy behind everything, the
life force of all living beings, the power of trees and plants, and the power of motors, business, and financial centers.
Dreaming is the origin of all of our experiences, including our sense of meaning and our deepest beliefs. Mindell’s
term ‘Dreaming" is similar to what I have called "Infinite Imagination." Oppression of others is equivalent to the suppression
of our dreaming nature. Dreaming is the expression of the highest divinity. Everyday reality usually suppresses our dreaming
and imagination so much that we, in essence, turn against and harm our souls.
It is important to remember that behind any apparently
outer or superficial difficulty is a powerful Dreaming trying to reveal itself.
Arnold Mindell
Mindell says that we have a "little you" and a "Big You", the
little you being our everyday consensual reality self and the Big You being our Dreaming self.
From the viewpoint of the little you, life is good
or bad. From the viewpoint of the
Big You…every day is perfect.
Arnold Mindell
No matter whether you are feeling well or sick, exhausted or
anxious, depressed or angry, focus on your feelings and go to the root or essence of that experience. Instead of pushing aside
and rejecting your symptom, put your full attention on it and go into its depths, where you will experience the lost power
of your Dreaming Self or Infinite Imagination.
When there is no more separation between "this"
and "that"…one can see the infinite in all things. Right is infinite; wrong is also infinite.
Chuang Tsu
Mindell says that when you are lucid, you and even your enemy
are not just friends, you are both different and wonderful aspects of the same reality that has forgotten itself. Symptoms
are part of our overall development and awareness process. We can experience symptoms either as self-annihilating or as an
invitation to step out of time. Symptoms are not only hellish, but they are powerful signals that big dreams are trying to
happen to you.
If I lack awareness of the shy part of myself,
I may dream you up to represent that part, to balance my one-sidedness, and you may dream me up to represent the bold part
of you. Then we start experiencing one another as dream figures, as opposites within ourselves.
Arnold Mindell
Mindell’s view of addictions is similar to that of Infinity
Theory. He says that everyone has addictive tendencies which are designed to support either the ordinary self or the secret
self, and that these tendencies disturb both our health and our relationships. He recommends naming that tendency and finding
out the state of mind that we hope it will access, and trying to enter into that state of mind without the particular addictive
activity, so that you can go to the root of the meaning of the addictive symptom. Finally, instead of saying "It’s all
God" as in Infinity Theory, Mindell says "It’s all You," which in essence is the same kind of infinite awareness
