1. Addressing contemporary challenges in life, health, and business: Psychosynthesis as a path for the future
We live in an exceptionally complex reality that confronts us not only with numerous personal challenges but also with overlapping global issues, including those related to climate change. As individuals, we face growing threats not only to our lives but also to our health in its broadest sense - physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
People live under constant stress and relentless pressure, striving to meet the demands of everyday life. This affects not only individuals themselves but also their families and future generations. The faster our lives become, the more difficult it is to maintain balance. Chronic stress disrupts the body's metabolic processes, leading to physiological imbalance and, ultimately, disease.
Because of our contemporary way of living, the prevalence of chronic diseases - including cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, respiratory, and degenerative disorders - continues to rise, reaching epidemic proportions. Environmental pollution affecting the air, water, soil, and food supply only aggravates the situation.
Crises are intensifying across virtually every sphere of society - politics, the economy, education, and healthcare.
Healthcare, which in reality has largely become care for illness rather than care for health, focuses primarily on eliminating symptoms instead of addressing their underlying causes. Standardized procedures often overlook the individual person, whose unique life history may contain both the origins of illness and the keys to recovery.
People are becoming increasingly anxious and overwhelmed, yet what they truly need is harmony - a chance to slow down, regain inner calm, and restore balance between their professional and personal lives.
Under the pressure of modern work demands, many of us have become little more than machines performing repetitive tasks. As a result, we gradually lose not only our interest in our work but also our sense of purpose and the awareness of where our efforts may ultimately lead. This may either open a path toward genuine fulfillment through serving others or leave us with frustration over an unrealized life.
Psychosynthesis offers valuable support in addressing these challenges of the modern world. It is a psychology with a soul - a psychology of self-awareness, self-realization, and the lifelong actualization of human potential.
I was exceptionally fortunate to encounter psychosynthesis in Poland. At least initially, I did not have to search for it - it found me almost by chance. Someone else withdrew from a developmental training program designed for business managers, and I took that person's place in a nine-month course. My only formal requirement was to write course reports; everything else became a profound personal experience.
This was Managerial and Organizational Psychosynthesis, developed by John Cullen, Professor at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. His wife was of Polish origin, and it was important to him that psychosynthesis should reach Poland. That is exactly what happened - it appeared on my life path.
Through the course, and later through years of personal practice, I learned to "manage myself." John believed that before we can lead others, we must first learn to lead ourselves.
For me, this approach was exactly what I needed, especially because my deepest desire was to regain my health. Since early childhood, traumatic experiences - my father had been a political prisoner - had left lasting consequences. For many years, physicians treated me pharmacologically, attempting to suppress symptoms without addressing their underlying causes.
Through psychosynthesis, I discovered within myself a model of health, as well as a broader understanding of my relationships with other people and with the world.
From that moment, health became my highest priority. I devoted myself to health promotion and to developing a Model of Health Education, believing that effective education could reduce the need for later therapy. Treatment, after all, was already the domain of physicians and psychotherapists.
Psychosynthesis revealed to me its remarkable applicability across many areas of life. It could be used in parenting and education to help children discover their talents, strengthen self-esteem, develop self-knowledge, and cultivate lifelong self-education. It could also enrich higher education by supporting personal fulfillment throughout life and, above all, contribute to the emergence of a new holistic paradigm in science.
Psychosynthesis awakened my creativity. As a result, I have written fifty-five books and more than seventy scientific and professional articles.
Yet what fascinated me most were two interconnected paths: first, the journey toward healing based on an inner model of health rooted in the Personal Self and the Spiritual Self (Higher Self); and second, the preparation of the "leaders of tomorrow" by helping each individual discover hidden talents and untapped potential.
Discovering one's unique gifts for the world allows a person to respond to what might be called the "call of the soul" and to serve others through those gifts. In this way, our lives become aligned with our personal history, our talents, and the direction in which we are meant to grow, while simultaneously contributing to a better future for others and for generations to come.
Recognizing and developing our talents is one of the strongest motivations for solving both personal problems - such as a lack of meaning in life - and collective challenges, including those threatening the future of our planet.
My professional and personal journey - from pharmacy, through scientific research in medicine, doctoral studies in immunology, and specialization in clinical diagnostics - gradually formed a coherent whole. The traumatic experiences of my childhood were transformed into a lifelong process of healing, inspiring me to develop educational programs devoted to health education in the family, at school, and throughout society, as well as programs promoting self-education and self-understanding.
Working within the framework of psychosynthesis, I came to understand health not merely as physical well-being but also as psychological and spiritual well-being. Managerial psychosynthesis further taught me the importance of self-management and self-discipline. I therefore incorporated the spiritual dimension into treatment, prevention, health promotion, and ultimately into self-realization - the work of my life and what I have loved doing most.
This was also the vision of Professor Julian Aleksandrowicz, who, together with the poet Harry Duda, published On the Threshold of Tomorrow's Medicine in 1988. All these dimensions were equally important to him. Having previously studied from his hematology textbook, I gradually came to understand that health is far more than merely the absence of disease.
Several years ago I created a distance-learning course for the "leaders of tomorrow." At the same time, drawing upon many years in academic science, I developed the concept of the Science of Tomorrow - a holistic paradigm intended to support the creation of a University of Self and Life Sciences.
This vision is fully consistent with psychosynthesis, which begins with the personal Self and expands outward like concentric circles created by a stone dropped into water, bringing increasing order and harmony both within ourselves and in the surrounding world. Ultimately, it points toward the Highest Psychosynthesis described by Dr. Roberto Assagioli, the founder of psychosynthesis, and toward the universal order described alike by Nobel laureates, mystics, and the great religious traditions of the world.
2. Discovering my true Self: My journey to fulfilment through psychosynthesis
I was approaching my fiftieth birthday when I realized that the life I had been living and the things I had devoted myself to no longer brought me fulfillment. Everything I was experiencing seemed to open ever wider and deeper inner landscapes. Until then, I had believed I was satisfied with my life - with my husband, my children, and the scientific career that I genuinely loved. Yet deep inside I felt an emptiness that I could no longer ignore.
Everything I had carefully built over the years suddenly seemed to collapse. My sense of identity disappeared, together with the meaning of everything I had done until then. I experienced professional burnout and fell into depression.
Then, quite unexpectedly, chance intervened.
Someone withdrew from a management development programme at the Center for Creative Leadership, and I took her place. The programme, called The American School of Development, consisted of nine monthly modules, each lasting five days.
Among all the lecturers, John Cullen made the deepest impression on me from the very first session. Two statements have remained with me ever since:
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you lose sight of the shore."
"You cannot lead others until you have learned to lead yourself."
Those words expressed exactly what I had been searching for throughout my life - a way of understanding myself that embraced the whole person rather than only one aspect of life.
Before discovering psychosynthesis, I had no idea that it was possible to change the way I lived. I was serious, constantly focused on responsibilities, on myself and on those around me, but above all I was sad.
My childhood had taught me to hide - to keep everything inside. The traumatic experiences connected with my father made silence feel safer than openness. Rather than speaking about what had happened, I learned to conceal it. My childhood had been marked by violence, a lack of love, rejection, physical illness, and years of medical treatment aimed at one symptom after another, affecting both my mother and me.
When I entered John's classes, I discovered an entirely new way of looking at life.
Disidentification and the work of the will became fields of daily exploration and transformation. I discovered that I could change my thoughts, my emotions, my beliefs - and much more besides. One psychosynthesis exercise in particular, the Ideal Model, revealed to me an image of my "new self" across many dimensions of both personal and professional life.
Later, Vivian King - another lecturer at the Centre, who eventually became my psychosynthesis teacher and the creator of the Inner Theatre technique - introduced us to an extraordinary method for understanding and integrating ourselves.
By then I already knew that my own "basement" needed a thorough cleaning before I could discover a different present and create a better future.
During workshops I was almost always the first volunteer, becoming the group's "guinea pig." It was far from easy. Tears, the emptiness left by my father, painful memories, and years of suppressed emotions all resurfaced.
Then came a succession of meaningful synchronicities - people, events, and books that somehow found their way into my life precisely when I needed them. Only then did I become consciously aware of my intuition and begin trusting it.
A few years later, after diagnosing myself with fibromyalgia and deciding not to follow the proposed pharmacological treatment because I was already familiar with its adverse effects, I began the real work of searching for the underlying causes of my health problems.
Soon afterwards came what I call the experience of the "wedge" - a turning point that shifted my life from external control to inner control.
For the first time, I discovered the space of genuine self-mastery.
I had finally found my own inner center - the integrating center that had been missing throughout so much of my life.
Yet perhaps the most important discovery of all was my little girl - the child subpersonality within me.
She needed my care.
I had to visit her repeatedly, attend to the needs that had never been met, and offer her the love she had never received.
Through my contact with the Author of my Inner Play and its Director - the equivalents of the Higher Self and the personal Self within the Inner Theatre - I began receiving guidance along my path. I asked questions and carefully wrote down the answers.
Those insights later became an essential part of my self-development guides, books, educational programmes, and even university teaching.
Over the following months and years, I immersed myself first in personal psychosynthesis and later in its transpersonal dimension.
Gradually, psychosynthesis became much more than a psychological method.
It became my philosophy of life.
Everything seemed to turn upside down before gradually finding a new and healthier order. As I explored and reorganized my past, I also awakened an extraordinary creativity within myself.
It was this inner little girl - the subpersonality endowed with creativity - who enabled me to write books at an astonishing pace, sometimes completing an entire manuscript in only two weeks.
That creative energy eventually gave birth to more than fifty books, dozens of presentations at scientific conferences in philosophy, psychology, psychosomatic medicine, and ecology, as well as numerous academic publications.
At the heart of this creative expression was my search for the origins of the health problems that had accompanied me for so many years, together with the diagnoses I received along the way.
I gradually came to understand that my fragile health was deeply connected with my childhood experiences.
Psychosynthesis became the means through which I uncovered those connections and found my own path toward healing.
Without psychosynthesis, I would never have become the person I eventually discovered within myself.
The person I am today is, in many ways, the work of psychosynthesis.
The clients who later came to me simply confirmed what I had already been discovering through my own inner work. My personal journey became a source of help for others, many of whom were also living with autoimmune diseases.
As I matured, I experienced an ever-deepening sense of connection between Earth and Heaven, between my childhood and my present life, and between who I was and where I was meant to go.
My inner work revealed not only the depth of existence but also the researcher within me - the careful observer and meticulous reporter who was willing to explore every detail in search of answers to the questions that had accompanied me throughout my life: Why did I become ill? What lies beneath disease? What is life trying to teach us?
Everything I discovered in what I came to call the School of Life became the foundation for my subsequent books, my reflections on the origins of illness and suffering, and my guides to self-education and coaching.
In this way I gradually discovered both the meaning of my own existence and a deeper understanding of educational and social problems, their consequences, and the solutions that had always been waiting within me to be recognized and expressed.
I spent thirty years exploring psychosynthesis and rebuilding myself.
I came to describe this period as a new birth - the emergence of the person I had always been.
Looking back, my entire journey resembles the patient polishing of a diamond.
Through psychosynthesis every part of my life gradually became integrated. My scientific search for the causes of autoimmune diseases merged naturally with my search for the deeper meaning of traumatic experiences.
Above all, I discovered what lay beneath them: a profound calling to create an educational model for the future - one that would help people avoid needing therapy years later.
This became my mission and the passion that continues to inspire my work.
My scientific background in medicine - as an immunologist and clinical diagnostician - found its deeper meaning within psychosynthesis.
In a sense, I became not only an immunologist of the body but also an immunologist of the soul.
Everything gradually came together into a coherent whole: my personal life, my professional path, my past experiences, my present work, and, above all, the purpose and meaning of my existence.
Over the years I learned to lead myself.
I discovered new oceans.
Most importantly, I discovered myself and the meaning of my life.
My books and articles became the natural fruits of that journey, but even more importantly, they expressed the inner truth that has guided me ever since.
Psychosynthesis freed me from many limitations. It not only supported my gradual healing but also enabled me to explore the deeper sources of human problems and to search for solutions - not only for myself but also for society as a whole, particularly in the field of education.
In this way I gradually developed my own model of education, beginning with the family, extending through preschool and school education, and ultimately leading toward my vision of an Integrated University of Education.
3. Guidance, the absence of guidance or something in between?
As a scientist with a passion for discovery, I have always been drawn to research that allows me to explore the mysteries of human existence.
For many years, I worked in medicine, analyzing biological samples and drawing logical conclusions from laboratory findings. My work was based on observation, evidence, and careful interpretation.
My inner world, however, operates quite differently.
There I wait for something to emerge from within me. I do not begin with assumptions or expectations. Instead, I remain attentive, open, and receptive, allowing whatever arises to reveal itself - often in ways that surprise me.
This has become my way of working with every inner experience. I wait for the answer to come from within, and only afterwards do I search for language capable of expressing what I have experienced. Such experiences are deeply personal and often difficult to describe.
Today I find myself asking another question.
Am I being guided by an unidentified part of myself?
Or am I the one directing what emerges?
The question fascinates me because it echoes the ancient philosophical dilemma: Which came first - the chicken or the egg?
Does some guiding mechanism exist independently of my conscious awareness, whether originating from within or beyond me? Do I activate it myself, and once activated, does it begin operating independently of my conscious control?
Before going any further, I find myself asking an even more fundamental question:
What do I actually mean when I say "I am"?
Does this "I" refer to something I consciously control, or does it point toward something larger that quietly guides me?
My experience of the Self began only after discovering psychosynthesis, when I was fifty years old.
Before then I had very little awareness of myself. I lived in constant haste, trying to meet the demands of both my professional and family life. It was only through psychosynthesis that I consciously experienced intuition for the first time.
One particular event has remained with me ever since because it profoundly shaped the way I understand myself.
One evening, after returning home from work, I was washing the dishes after dinner. As often happened in those days, I became deeply absorbed in an inner state of awareness.
My teenage children had noticed this many times before and would tell me that although I appeared to be physically present with them, somehow I also seemed absent.
It was a curious experience.
I continued washing the dishes, yet my attention was no longer focused on what I was doing. Instead, I found myself immersed in an inner reality that felt every bit as tangible as the physical one.
Suddenly I felt discomfort around my diaphragm.
At first it resembled pressure rather than pain, but it rapidly intensified. I lay down because breathing became increasingly difficult.
With every passing moment the pain grew stronger.
It felt as though an invisible membrane dividing my body into an upper and a lower part was being torn apart across the level of my diaphragm.
The pain was overwhelming, and I began to panic, unsure how I should respond.
Then something unexpected happened.
As I turned inward, I experienced a profound sense of calm.
I realized that I should simply remain present, observe, and above all, not be afraid. Deep within, I knew that although the experience was intense, it did not threaten my life.
About twenty minutes later the pain disappeared completely.
I was left with the extraordinary feeling that I had become more deeply connected with myself than ever before.
At the same time, I experienced an overwhelming sense of safety, as though I had returned to an inner state of unity.
Initially I had no idea what had happened.
Only much later did I recognize that the experience resembled childbirth - not in a biological sense, but as an inner birth taking place at the level of my diaphragm.
It felt as though an elastic band that had tightly encircled my waist for years had suddenly been released, allowing something within me to flow freely for the first time.
I came to call that moment my New Birth.
Through that experience I felt that I had been born again - not physically, but as my authentic Self.
My material existence and the dimension beyond the material seemed to become united.
During that same period I began to understand much more deeply the significance of my life experiences, especially my traumatic childhood and the path my life had taken ever since.
Looking back, I gradually realized that I had been guided all along.
On the one hand, I felt able to trust this process - or perhaps this inner guiding force - and to surrender peacefully to the current carrying me forward.
At times, however, there were periods of stagnation, uncertainty, confusion, and lack of clarity.
Whenever that happened, I turned inward once again, searching for signs and direction.
I often imagined myself as a small boat carried along by the current of a river.
Most of the time the current was enough.
But whenever I began to lose my direction, I needed oars - or a rudder - and sometimes even a map or a compass to help me remain on course.
From that time onward, I rarely felt truly lost.
I had come to understand where I had come from, who I was becoming, and where my life was leading me.
Today, I believe that everything within us is interconnected.
I experience myself as a spiritual being living through a human body.
And I know that I am still on that journey.
It has now continued for more than thirty years.
4. Singing the song of my soul
Since psychosynthesis entered my life, everything has taken on a new meaning.
Over the years, the process of psychosynthesis helped me realize that my lifelong commitment to order was far more than a modus vivendi learned in my family home.
As a child, living in a small apartment meant that everything had to remain orderly at all times. Gradually, this way of living became an integral part of my adult personality. For many years, I believed that order was simply a universal principle of life.
As psychosynthesis gradually revealed the inner structure of my psychological world and its integrative purpose, I was able to assemble the scattered pieces of my life into a coherent whole. I came to accept where I had come from, who I was, and where my life was leading me.
This inner work brought a tangible transformation of my traumatic childhood. My life acquired a new sense of lightness, meaning, and direction.
It was nothing short of revolutionary.
Through psychosynthesis I became aware of what I came to call the "basement" of my existence. More importantly, I came to understand what my psychosynthesis teacher, Vivian King, meant when she spoke about our "unfinished plays."
Only then was I able to move on to the next stage of integrating my life by completing what had remained unfinished.
And that is exactly what I did.
I gradually learned not to project my own suffering onto other people, because doing so only kept me trapped in the role of a victim.
Life then revealed a deeper dimension.
The spiritual aspect of my existence became an inseparable part of who I am, bringing body and soul into a more harmonious relationship, with the soul becoming my inner guide.
I began to recognize the continuity linking my past, my present, and the future that was gradually unfolding before me.
From that moment on, my life no longer felt like a series of disconnected and random events.
Instead, it became a conscious journey guided by its spiritual dimension.
Through psychosynthesis I entered a world of possibilities and discovered a potential within myself that had been patiently waiting to emerge.
Imagination, intuition, and creativity all became essential elements of that unfolding process, continually expanding my awareness of both myself and the world around me.
Although I hold a doctorate in immunology, I gradually discovered within myself another identity:
a scientist of the soul.
Sharing my own experiences of awakening with others became a profound source of joy and eventually evolved into what I consider the work of my life.
Today my work consists of accompanying people as they discover the unique landscape of their own souls, helping them integrate the many experiences that have shaped their lives into a meaningful whole.
My soul continues to sing whenever I am able to serve others.
Few experiences compare with witnessing my clients gradually blossom until, at last, all the scattered pieces of their lives come together into a coherent picture.
Every time this happens, I am reminded of my own journey.
The subtle dimension of human spiritual existence has also begun to find expression within modern thought, including quantum physics, as described by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall.
Both authors write about the suffering that arises when we lose contact with our deeper capacity for growth. It is then that what has often been called the dark night of the soul may appear, accompanied by the painful search for the way back to one's authentic identity.
Danah Zohar's image of "singing the song of your soul" resonates deeply with Roberto Assagioli's words:
"Throughout all your mortal work, let your soul sing unto God."
Both express the profound truth that the most meaningful path in life is the one that allows us to live in harmony with our deepest nature.
In one of my own books I wrote:
"Do not live thoughtlessly or without your soul. Life has meaning, and it has been entrusted to you so that you may discover it and fulfil the purpose you brought with you when you came into this world - to live for others by sharing the gifts you have been given."
The words of Henry Van Dyke offer another beautiful reminder:
"Use the talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."
I am also reminded of one of Eileen Caddy's meditations, written by the co-founder of the Findhorn Foundation:
"When you are in the right place, fulfilling your unique role, there is no conflict, and My plan can unfold in true perfection."
Although these voices come from different traditions, they all point in the same direction.
They encourage us to follow the deeply hidden truth within ourselves - the truth that ultimately brings freedom.
As we read in the Bible:
"The truth will set you free."
May we all find the courage to discover that truth and to live in accordance with it.
5. Imagination in the service of self-realization
From early childhood, one of the mental functions we use most naturally is imagination. Children are inherently creative. They live in a world of fantasy and imagination, expressing it in ways that are uniquely their own. Yet adults often dismiss or even ridicule this natural capacity.
Parents frequently tell children to "come back down to earth" instead of "having their heads in the clouds." Such a lack of encouragement - first at home and later at school, where opportunities for original expression are often replaced by predetermined interpretations of what an author "really meant" - gradually teaches children to fear speaking up and expressing themselves.
Instead of nurturing a child's creative imagination, this approach slowly suppresses it.
As adults, fear often takes over the imagination, leading us to create negative scenarios about ourselves and those we love, especially our children.
Yet imagination is one of the psyche's most creative capacities. It enables us to envision a future shaped by our deepest potential.
To serve us well, imagination needs to be reclaimed and consciously directed by our authentic Self. When approached from our inner centre, it becomes a powerful resource that can be applied in many different ways.
One of its most important purposes is self-realization.
Self-realization begins with the psychosynthesis of one's own life - the process of integrating the different parts of ourselves into a coherent whole by understanding where we have come from, who we are, and where we are going.
Such integration allows us to recognize the purpose our life experiences have served and helps us create a life guided by meaning.
Imagination plays an essential role in this process.
Since discovering psychosynthesis more than thirty years ago, I have consciously relied on imagination on many occasions.
Many years ago, when I decided to sell my apartment, I used imagination to create a vivid picture of what I truly wanted: where I wished to live, what kind of surroundings would support me, and what I wanted my new home to feel like.
For me, the past, present, and future formed one continuous line.
As I received different offers, I mentally placed myself into each possible home, imagining not only the physical space but also how I would feel living there.
This simple exercise allowed me to eliminate many options almost immediately because I sensed that they were not truly right for me.
Gradually, I created a clear inner image of my ideal home.
Eventually I received an offer that came remarkably close to everything I had imagined.
It was also located near the home of my son and his family, allowing me to combine practical considerations with my personal wishes.
I was almost ready to sign the contract.
Yet something inside me suggested that I should pause.
I still felt that I was waiting for some form of confirmation - a sign.
That very day I visited the developer's office.
He unexpectedly asked whether I would like to see another apartment.
I agreed.
We took the elevator to another floor.
It was winter.
Looking through the windows, I could see rows of nearby and distant trees whose bare branches stood out clearly against the sky.
The moment I entered the apartment, something immediately caught my attention.
On the nearest tree, several dark triangular openings between the branches looked almost like a pair of eyes.
It was simply the natural shape of the branches, yet those empty spaces seemed to speak directly to me:
"This is the place."
For me, it was the confirmation I had been waiting for.
It was a completely new apartment that had never been lived in - a place where I could create my own space from the very beginning.
Without hesitation, I made my decision.
My imagination had already created an inner picture of the life I wanted to live.
The moment I entered that apartment, I felt at home.
Over the past fifteen years, I have written nearly forty books there.
The tree outside my window has since become my tree.
Experiences like this have strengthened my conviction that imagination can help us recognize what truly resonates with our deepest aspirations and support us in creating a life that reflects our unique purpose and passion.
7. Incarnation as the soul's path to wholeness
For me, incarnation has at least two distinct meanings. One is the experience of successive incarnations, revealed through encounters marked by déja vu and karmic relationships in this lifetime. The other is the incarnation of the soul within this particular life. It is this second meaning that I explore in this chapter.
More than thirty years ago, my encounter with Psychosynthesis - a psychology with soul - became the beginning of a profound journey of transformation, an expansion of consciousness, and ultimately an understanding of the purpose of my existence. Until then, I had worked as a medical scientist, focusing on the measurable parameters and symptoms of disease. I was not yet aware that these symptoms reflected processes unfolding at a deeper level of the soul. Under the guidance of my teachers, John Cullen and Vivian King, I first learned to manage myself as a person and then gradually reached the spiritual dimension of existence, where I came to understand the soul's embodiment in the human body as a means of fulfilling its life purpose.
Having suffered from chronic illness since childhood and having undergone predominantly symptom-oriented medical treatment, I eventually realized that its limited effectiveness stemmed from medicine's exclusive focus on the physical and biological dimensions of human existence while largely overlooking the spiritual one. In this sense, my path into medicine originated in the failure of the treatment I myself had received, and this ultimately became the reason I left the profession after almost twenty-five years. Medicine taught me to "dig deeper" - all the way to the level of the soul. That became the most important lesson I would continue to explore in the years that followed.
Because of traumatic experiences that occurred before my birth, through my mother's trauma, and during the period immediately after I was born, as well as my encounter with Psychosynthesis shortly before my fiftieth birthday, I began learning life's deeper lessons relatively late. Until then, many painful experiences, including those in adulthood, continued to repeat themselves until I finally understood their meaning and released the traumas that had given rise to them.
During those years I was also learning what I came to call the resilience of the soul. Although my original profession was that of an immunologist concerned with the body's resilience, my work gradually expanded into developing what I called a "model of education for the future" - an approach intended to reduce the future need for therapy not only for children and adults but also for the Earth itself. My participation in numerous conferences and workshops entitled Soul in Education, organized by the Findhorn Foundation in northern Scotland, played a significant role in shaping this broader vision. As a result, my concept of education for health and sustainable development evolved around two complementary pillars: Psychosynthesis and the vision of the Findhorn Foundation.
Over the years I uncovered and gradually understood the childhood traumas associated with my mother, my father, and also with religion. The latter originated when I was ten years old. One day, after entering the classroom, a priest asked me about my faith. When I replied that I belonged to a different denomination, he exclaimed before the entire class that I would end up wandering in hell. Throughout the lesson he described that place in vivid detail, using me as an example.
From that moment onward, I learned to be cautious about revealing my spiritual beliefs to people holding such views. This became another personal taboo. The first concerned my father, who became a political prisoner when I was two years old; the second arose from my experience with a representative of the clergy. Both themes - the story of my father and the encounter with the priest - returned three times during my life until I was finally able to release the destructive emotional energy associated with them.
My lifelong investigation into chronic illness eventually led me to focus on its underlying causes. For many years I have presented this work at scientific conferences, published articles in academic journals, and written dozens of books. Through this process I also freed myself from many of my own health problems.
Among the methods that proved especially valuable in understanding the roots of illness were keeping a reflective journal, exercises for strengthening the will, and Psychosynthesis visualization techniques such as The Blooming Rose and The Caterpillar's Transformation into a Butterfly. These practices enabled me to discover what lay beneath the surface of my symptoms while also becoming aware of what I came to recognize as the soul's calling.
Slowly but steadily, I awakened from the "little self" to the personal self and, ultimately, to the level of the Higher Self - the integration of personality and soul, and thus the realization of the soul's purpose.
This period of my life proved exceptionally fruitful. It offered me opportunities to participate in many international conferences, including Soul in Education, while also deepening my awareness of what I came to understand as the Higher Self of humanity. At the same time, it prepared me to transform my model of education for the future into a vision intended to serve the evolution of humankind as a whole.
8. Systems thinking as the foundation of psychosynthesis - "the Great Synthesis"
Contemporary reality reveals that only a relatively small number of the Earth's inhabitants are deeply concerned about the fate of our world and the multitude of crises affecting virtually every aspect of life. Almost every day, they become increasingly aware of the depth of these challenges, which reach to the very essence of humanity - to its soul.
From a medical perspective, one could say that humanity has subjected its own living organism (Anima Mundi) to an all-encompassing process of self-destruction that has continued for many decades, if not centuries. Like gangrene, this process has progressively damaged individual cells and organs, leading to a systematic process of self-destruction, both from within and from without.
It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm of the human being as a machine initiated - first in the minds and hearts of people, and subsequently in the external world - a process that has ultimately threatened both humanity and the planet itself.
For centuries, science and education developed within this paradigm gradually lost sight of the ancient injunction, "Know thyself." In doing so, they devalued that which connects human beings with themselves, with one another, and with the Earth. Emphasis was placed almost exclusively on logical reasoning, empirical facts, and material gain, leading to the progressive devaluation of both humanity and nature, while the Earth came to be regarded primarily as an object of exploitation. Professor Henryk Skolimowski, an ecological philosopher, argued through his concept of the participatory mind that the human being should serve as the planet's custodian rather than its exploiter.
In addressing an issue so fundamental not only to the future of our world but also to the future of science itself, I cannot omit my own journey, through which I came to recognize the necessity of systems thinking. The source of this realization was Psychosynthesis. From that point onward, systems thinking became the central focus of both my professional work and my lifelong passion.
Life itself is the source of our experience. It continually reveals what we do as individuals and as societies, and how our actions affect both ourselves and the larger communities of which we are a part. Ken Wilber wrote that the only thing we can truly know in life is experience itself. I have found this insight to be profoundly true.
My own path led from medicine to Psychosynthesis and eventually expanded into the philosophy of science, which underlies all scientific disciplines. Through many years of exploring Psychosynthesis as a lived personal experience, I found myself participating in numerous movements seeking fundamental change across diverse fields of knowledge. Gradually, this work evolved into the conceptual foundations of what would later become my Model of Education for the Future - an approach intended to redirect the sciences toward the human being, the quality of human development, and the natural environment.
My encounter with managerial and organizational Psychosynthesis in the mid-1990s taught me that before attempting to lead others, one must first learn to lead oneself. It also impressed upon me the necessity of "leaving the shore in order to discover new oceans." These were the words of my teacher, John Cullen. They helped me understand that the search for inner harmony is the psychological equivalent of medical homeostasis. From the very beginning, this understanding enabled me to discover both my personal and my transpersonal centre. Standing, as it were, within this ancient "golden centre," I was able to perceive the whole system - beginning with myself, extending to the human organism as a whole, and ultimately opening into the realm of the Great Synthesis.
The circumstances of my life encouraged this broad, systemic perspective by gradually bringing together everything I was experiencing. The first milestone was my participation in the 1996 conference Psychosynthesis for the Next Millennium in San Diego, where I attended workshops led by David Platts. The following year, through David and my stay at Poggio del Fuoco, one of the Italian centres of Psychosynthesis, I found my way to the Findhorn Foundation, which at that time was already celebrating fifty years as an ecological community.
The Findhorn Foundation became for me a living example of "human love in action" in service of the Earth and the protection of the natural environment. There I witnessed inner harmony as the foundation for creating harmony in the outer world - from parenting, education, and healthcare to business with soul, all grounded in care for both people and the planet.
My next important encounter was with Professor Henryk Skolimowski. I joined the ecological philosophy movement in Poland and soon afterwards began studying at Schumacher College. There I recognized more clearly the shape of the new science and the new education whose vision had been growing within me ever since I first encountered Psychosynthesis in 1995. It was there that I came to see both the world and myself as interdependent living systems.
My repeated visits to the Archivio in Florence further strengthened this vision of the Great Synthesis between humanity and the world. Everything I have described thus far, together with my encounter with the "living" words of the founder of Psychosynthesis, became the beginning of what would gradually evolve into my Model of Education for the Future. Over many years I developed this model through numerous scientific publications spanning a variety of disciplines.
At its core, the Model of Education for the Future introduces what I call "education about oneself" - an educational process that begins with harmonizing the personality of the individual and gradually extends toward planetary consciousness.
At that stage it existed primarily as a vision emerging naturally from the events of my life. Within this holistic perception of the world, beginning with the human being and the search for inner harmony, lay the foundations of the model inspired in me by Psychosynthesis and rooted in the ancient injunction, "Know thyself." It represents the first step toward creating "living systems" built from the ground up - from individual human beings to communities and, ultimately, to humanity as a whole.
The Findhorn Foundation offers a living example of such a system. Each member of the community strives to live in harmony with themselves while contributing to the sustainable development of the planet, taking no more from the environment than they give in return.
Every human being, through an expanding and deepening awareness that embraces ever wider dimensions of reality, has the potential to become part of the participatory mind. As people recognize and resolve their own inner challenges, they gradually become able to perceive similar patterns on a broader scale - in society, the environment, and the world itself. In this way, they become capable of contributing to solutions for the complex challenges facing humanity on a global level.
Over the following years, life continued to present me with many opportunities through participation in numerous scientific conferences devoted to holistic education, integrative medicine, and systems psychology. Although each of these conferences approached the subject from a different perspective, they all emphasized the need to develop holistic models. Within my own vision of the Model of Education for the Future, I recognized this as a significant step in the right direction.
Many scholars working in these fields began incorporating meditation and visualization techniques into both their own professional practice and the education of their students, whether in teaching, personal development, or the management of pain. These methods were most often derived from Eastern traditions, including yoga and Zen. To me, these developments reflected an evolutionary process leading toward the synthesis of these diverse approaches at a higher level of organization.
I saw this as the gradual emergence of a new holistic paradigm for science as a whole and, consequently, for its individual disciplines and for education at every level of formal schooling. This living system, created through the contributions of many people, gradually became a model of synthesis and synergy. Such a model requires wise individuals not only to develop new theories but, above all, to unite the efforts of people from different disciplines, creating synergies that can be translated into practical models and implemented in society. Every person contributes something unique simply by existing at a particular moment and place in the world, bringing not only personal experience but also the heritage of family, society, history, and culture.
Psychosynthesis is not merely a system that emerged from the experience of its founder or of those who have developed and practiced it. Above all, it is a philosophy of life. This living philosophy grows through lived experience and unites people and their actions into a coherent whole directed toward the common good. From the perspective of the functioning of the human brain, it encourages the integration of the synthesizing capacities of the right hemisphere rather than relying exclusively on the logical functions traditionally associated with the left.
My many years of scientific work gradually convinced me that personal experience acquires its deepest meaning when it is placed in the service of others. In 2001, through the Education for the Future Association, which I had founded in 1997, I organized the First Scientific Conference entitled Where Are You Heading, Humanity? - The Model of Education for the Future.
The conference was inspired by words first expressed at another conference held in Chicago in 1953:
"Education must respond to the needs of the human spirit. It should accompany people in developing a satisfying personal philosophy and a meaningful sense of values."
Another source of inspiration was the song Strange Is This World by Czesław Niemen, whose message accompanied the spirit of the conference. He sang about a strange world where there is still so much evil, and where people despise one another. Nevertheless, the time has come to destroy the hatred that lies within us.
What made this conference unique was its focus on the Model of Education for the Future. The papers, contributed primarily by scholars representing a wide range of disciplines, were circulated to all participants several weeks before the conference, allowing the meeting itself to focus on dialogue rather than formal presentations. The proceedings were subsequently published in a volume containing the conference papers together with a record of the discussions and their conclusions.
9. From systems thinking to the Great Synthesis: Gregory Bateson through the lens of psychosynthesis
In 2016, I was invited by a group of philosophers to participate in the First Scientific Conference, The Humanistic Challenges of the Ecology of Mind: Finding Gregory Bateson's Place in Polish Scholarship, attended by his daughter, Nora Bateson. The conference resulted in a substantial edited volume in which my twenty-page chapter, A Psychosynthesis Approach to Development as a Process of Integration and Transcending Biology: Gregory Bateson and His Mind and Nature, was published.
In this chapter, I explored the value that Gregory Bateson's thought brings to our contemporary understanding of the world. My intention was to integrate his systems thinking into the framework of Psychosynthesis, viewing it as a path toward the progressive expansion of consciousness through successive syntheses.
Bateson perceived evolution as a process unfolding both in nature and in the human being, and he anticipated the possibility of an integrated way of knowing grounded in individual evolution. Yet, despite recognizing the necessity of synthesis - a function associated with the right hemisphere of the brain - he continued to rely primarily on logic and analytical thinking, traditionally associated with the left hemisphere. Throughout his work, he sought to understand the nature of the relationships linking the living and the non-living worlds.
What Bateson never fully articulated, however, was the spiritual nature of both the Universe and the human being, although in his later writings he seemed increasingly close to opening the door to that dimension. He deliberately avoided using such language. One senses an inner tension between two opposing tendencies: the impulse to move beyond conventional scientific thinking and the reluctance to cross that final threshold.
Although Bateson seemed to long for setting sail into wider waters - a longing that can be felt throughout his writings - he hesitated to lose sight of the shore. Around the same period, Professor Henryk Skolimowski took precisely that step, openly articulating the spiritual dimension of both the world and the human being.
Bateson clearly recognized the logical limitations of the scientific paradigm of his time, particularly its separation of humanity from nature. Yet what remains genuinely visionary in his work is his recognition of the Universe as a living reality, pointing toward a holistic understanding of nature that extends beyond a purely materialistic worldview and opens the possibility of its spiritual dimension.
At this point, we naturally arrive at the philosophy of science and the role it should fulfill. The philosophy of science should be dedicated to life itself and continually verified through lived experience. This understanding is consistent with the perspectives of Henryk Skolimowski and Józef Górecki, as well as with my understanding of the essence of Psychosynthesis and its deeper message.
The philosophy of science should express the universal dimension of human nature. Following John Archibald Wheeler, we are called to participate in a participatory universe. We are invited to realize our upward striving by manifesting the potential that lies within us, ascending toward the recognition of the Universal Will, thereby assisting both ourselves and Life itself in its ongoing process of becoming. As participants in the participatory mind, we simultaneously become participants in the dynamic evolution of the Cosmos.
This upward movement allows the spiritual dimension of both the human being and the Universe to emerge. It transcends biology and reveals the hidden possibilities of becoming, opening the way to new insights and higher states of consciousness. In this continual process of self-creation, we gradually return to our unity with the Cosmos. In Bateson's sense, mind and nature become one reality, mutually permeating one another. In the words of Henryk Skolimowski and Józef Górecki, "we create a symphony in which the musicians, the composer, and the listeners constitute an integral whole."
More than thirty years after Bateson, we can already speak of a broader vision - one that explicitly embraces transcendence as the process of upward growth anticipated by Bateson himself and by many other pioneers of the emerging scientific paradigm. In Bateson's time, however, this vision remained largely within the framework of psychophysical monism.
When his daughter once asked him, "What is this book about?", Bateson left the question unanswered. Perhaps that was for the best. By doing so, he left future readers a space for reflection and for the creation of a philosophy of science appropriate to a new era - a philosophy capable of embracing the wholeness of nature, the human being, and all dimensions of Life. This is the task before today's scholars: those whose roots lie in materialist science and those exploring the science of the spirit. Together, they are called to build the bridge that will integrate these two worlds.
