This is very long. You might want to begin further down where I placed two stars. **
But, with my new glasses, I was hopeful. I also wanted to go there to soak up the environment that inspired Assagioli and get a sense after his life there in Firenze.
We were 46 people sitting around the room in an oval. We introduced ourselves and where we were from. People were there from North America, all over Europe, and other places as well.
We were then led in two groups - English and Italian speaker. In the English speaking group there was continual translation in to French as well.
As we began the tour, we stopped at a table with Assagioli's stamps, each choosing one, stamping it onto a paper, and pinning it to our shirts. I chose to just pick one up and stamp it. It was "Silenzio"!
We crossed the courtyard into the basement, and past some untouched archives which had been stored in the attic previously, but moved due to a leak in the roof.The project which brought us here is an ongoing restoration and organization of these files.
We left that building and entered Assagioli's garden. There were unripened grapes hanging, hydrangeas of different colors, a fruit tree or two, and other flora. This garden was bordered by a brick wall and on one side a steep hill rose beyond, covered with olive trees and Italian cypress scattered along the hill's rise.
We then returned to the main building, began the climb to the top floor. First we stopped at the library, noticed the foyer's intricately designed ceiling, and sat in another room with an original ceiling.
Once at the top, we had light refreshments and heard more about the history of Casa Assagioli.
Funny, the things you remember most. For me, it was the cat door cut from a bedroom door and a bit of a biography on the cat whose name was Freaky.
We descended to the original ground floor for lunch. I sat in the sun alone in the courtyard enjoying eggplant Parmesan and the most delightful zucchini and cheese salad. I had two chats with others out there under the Tuscan sun - about politics, astrology, and Florida travels.
** Finally, we got to spend time with the archives. I found "Social Psychosynthesis". It was a small group of files with hand written notes - some in English and some in Italian.
I was having difficulty reading the hand written scribbles because they were so light and the paper had aged. But, I was into the magic of encountering the archives of a man whose work so changed my life. I thought I read on one, "You belong!" I was delighted that those words came off the small piece of paper with such clarity. But, as I looked again, it read, "You belong to at least one group, or you should belong to one, even to many."
Assagioli would collect these small papers of notes and use them to write or prepare lectures. There were lots of references and some quotes. But, there was nothing new to me in this small file. This was an affirmation of the learning I had already accomplished about social psychosynthesis.
I took a good length of time to meditate in Assagioli's office, first on the floor by a window, then in a chair next to his desk. One of the designated assistants, there to help us locate archives, flitted by three or four times, distracting me, until I finally was in a deep meditative state, oblivious to anything or anybody around me.
I listened for a message which I had asked to receive as I entered this meditation. I received a message, loud and clear, "You have not yet reached the deep underlying contradiction to your community's ability to move ahead. Look for signs today." I felt entirely refreshed when I reentered the reality of the office.
I then entered the room that held Assagioli's esoteric research and was drawn to guided meditations which had been typed in English. Browsing through them, I was deeply addressed with awakening to their focus. They were all on becoming a life of service in the world. Yes, they had the esoteric qualities of imaging, the colors of the images having symbolic qualities. This was not new to me.
What deeply addressed me was that each was planned out to be experienced over several months. I noticed tears in my eyes. I was connecting at a very deep lived with my own life experience here - with my own history as a life of service in the world. I was elated and was really feeling that "I belong" which I first saw in Assagioli's notes on social psychosynthesis.
As I was connecting the two insight,that of belonging and that of service in the world, one of the assistants came by and intruded on my processing. She assumed I needed a break and hurriedly closed up the file correctly, a file to which I planned to return. She asked me where I got it from and if someone had assisted me in locating it. then, she took it back to that room, leaving me to take a break.
Needless to say, I had my first sign of the deeper underlying contradiction. I got up and took that break obediently.
When I came back down I asked another assistant if she would take a photo of me next to Assagioli's desk. She didn't feel comfortable with that and said so rather loudly, asking another assistant what she thought. The other assistant, the same one who assisted me in taking a break, was standing there shaking her head in the negative, with a somewhat "tsk-tsk" attitude about her.
I don't know why I asked her to take that photo. I already had one next to his desk. I took it as another sign of the underlying contradiction, decided I had what I came there for, left, walking back up the hill in tears, nevertheless.
Gleaning the meaning of the events of that day in Casa Assagioli have been productive, yet inconclusive.
One clear image I have of where we all need to work is to recover a strong foundation of unconditional positive regard in our collegial relationships. Social synthesis has, at its heart, a trust in the ability of each of us to see through the Mundane into the Divine purpose of our encounters and interrelationships. Each is responsible for interpreting truth - not projecting one's own characteristics, fears, or dogmas. There is a great diversity of perspective in the unity of a community. Assuming another's relationship to life is not someone else's responsibility.
I am sure I perused the files I need for future reference and am equally certain that I came away from the day with exactly what I needed. While some of it was humiliating - humiliation is good, too. It is a state of being where reality shines.
Every day has, within it, an opportunity for insight. My own intent to soak up the environment which inspired genius in Roberto Assagioli did not go unheeded during this day at Casa Assagioli.
In fact, each time I return in my remembering to this place, I leave with another insight. Some places are like that. This one is like that for me.
Where are places, which for you, stand as endless inspiration and insight?
In fact, each time I return in my remembering to this place, I leave with another insight. Some places are like that. This one is like that for me.
Where are places, which for you, stand as endless inspiration and insight?
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