21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T W E N T Y - O N E L E V E L S

manifests as a fairness in our dealings with the world. Equality is the starting point for both justice and freedom. As justice and freedom are brought about, we celebrate with others in joy. This is our compassion, this is fulfilment of desire. The emphasis on pleasure, celebration and joy and their strong links to compassion, equality, freedom and justice might be regarded with suspicion by some. It is not the usual moral tone! Alexander Lowen stresses the need for a balance:

‘Talking of love, but disassociating it from its relation to pleasure is moralising. Morality has never solved the emotional difficulties of man. On the other hand, stressing the importance of pleasure in disregard of the basic need of people for some security, stability and order in their lives is irresponsible. This can only lead to chaos and misery. The human condition needs a creative approach to its opposing needs. We must recognise that the more pleasure one has, the more one’s ability to love. We must know that in offering our love, we increase our pleasure.’

Alexander Lowen — Pleasure (my emphases).

This link between compassion for oneself and compassion for others is a deep and important one:

‘By dropping or letting go of worlds of subjects/objects, we sink into a consciousness of interdependence and indeed of transparency. Our experiences of transparency and synchronicity are experiences of no-thing-ness, and vice versa. As we allow this truth to penetrate us more and more deeply we begin to realise the truth of compassion: to relieve

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