The Way of Transformation: Daily Life as Spiritual Practice

by Karlfried Graf Durckheim

The guiding theme of psychotherapist Karlfried Dürckheim’s work is that one can become “transparent to transcendence.” An early Western authority on Zen, he was one of the first to bring its methods to Europe. Incorporating Zen and depth psychology into his practice, Dürckheim was also one of the earliest transpersonal psychologists. His spiritual practice of combining Jung, Meister Eckhart, and Zazen proved to lead to moments of higher consciousness, which he described as “privileged moments.” In The Way of Transformation, one of his most concise and profound works, Dürckheim shows that once readers scrape away personal barriers and free the divine spark within, these radiant, life-altering occasions can occur at any time. His meditative approach to daily activities turns simple tasks such as making tea, posting a letter, or washing dishes into moments of new everyday life as a spiritual practice.

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy

Paperback

First published December 7, 2006

Reviews

[Lina Slavova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karlfried Graf von Dürckheim was a renowned German psychoanalyst and Zen master. He developed a therapy in which he combined notions of Christianity and Zen Buddhism, all for the purposes of assisting people in the process of their “self growth”.

I wanted to read some of his writings because Pamela L. Travers, in her sixties, was a patient at his Existential Psychological Training and Encounter Institute in Todtmos, Germany. Apparently, they had long conversations together but unfortunately for me and my obsession, there are no recordings of these sessions.

Anyhow, when I opened the book (used copy purchased on Amazon) I found out that Pamela L. Travers worked on the translation from German along with a translator named Ruth Lewinnek. It felt like Pamela was sending me a wink from beyond.

In this book Dürckheim explains his model of the Wheel of Transformation and how our ego consciousness gets in the way of our happiness by constantly depending for validation, recognition and meaning on the external world.

The book is spiritual and Dürckheim believed in a deeper essence trying to manifest itself through each human being and, that this essence emanates from what he called the Devine Being, which is a reality beyond our reality of time and space. Below is Dürckheim's Wheel of Transformation such as worded in the book and then a more comprehensive version of it as I tried to formulate it in more approachable terms.

Stage 1-- all that is contrary to essential being must be relinquished.

step 1: the practice of critical awareness
step 2: the letting go of all that stands in the way of new becoming

Stage 2-- that which has been relinquished must be dissolved in transcendent Being which absorbs, redeems and recreates us.

Step 3: union with transcendent Being
step 4: new becoming in accordance with the inner image which has arisen from transcendent Being

Stage 3-- the newly formed core which arises out of the Ground of Being must be recognized, accepted, allowed to grow and personal responsibility for it undertaken.

step 5: practising this new form on a daily basis through critical watchfulness which leads us back to step one of the process

Simplified wording

Stage 1-- all that is contrary to our inner nature must be released

step 1: the practice of critical self-awareness
step 2: the letting go of all our false beliefs, negative thought patterns and behaviours

Stage 2-- that which has been released must be dissolved in the truth of our inner nature.

Step 3: union with our true inner nature
step 4: new becoming in accordance with the inner image which has arisen from our inner nature

Stage 3-- the newly formed core which arises out of our inner nature must be recognized, accepted, allowed to grow and personal responsibility for it undertaken.

step 5: practising the new aspect of the self on a daily basis through critical self-awareness which leads us back to step one of the process.

I gave the book three stars because I did not enjoy the writing style and because there are no concrete examples from Dürckheim’s practice with his patients. But the good thing about it is that it gave me more food for writing on my blog themarypoppinseffect.com.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most important book I’ve ever read. I may very well go back to page 1 and start again. A life-changing, soul-affirming, core-challenging work that will remain close to hand from now on, as life opens up day by day.

[Alicia Shafer]

I thought this was a book about Christian spirituality and it ended up being a little more new age-y. Didn't finish.