"In an ideal psychological atmosphere, our parents and others are models of sane, healthy behavior. Spiritually, they help us form appropriate values and act with integrity. They imbue us with a sense of neighborliness toward others. They foster a beneficent worldview. We come to see ourselves as important participants in the vast evolutionary project of stewardship for this so often imperiled earth. We then feel called to be blissful saints. Thus, psychological development, a spiritual journey, and a saintly style can happen in us simultaneously."
"We grieve our hurts without needing to retaliate. We appreciate how our wounds help us open to our full self: "Through my own tough experience, I have grown in strength to face the slings and arrows of the world. I have grown in compassion for myself and for others who suffered as I did." The psychological work is grief about what was missing. The non-retaliation comes from spiritual awareness; the active compassion for others who suffer is saintliness."
Ideal parenting and social models promote sane behavior, appropriate values, integrity, neighborliness, and a beneficent worldview that fosters stewardship of the imperiled earth. Psychological development, spiritual growth, and a saintly orientation can occur together, producing grief work, non-retaliation, and active compassion. Childhood wounds—whether from neglect, lack of nurture, or abuse—become sources of strength and empathy when processed through grief and spiritual awareness. A higher power can provide fatherly, motherly, and sibling-like support that encourages familial care for others. The mature outcome is commitment to universal compassion and service to the world.
Read at Psychology Today
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