Our First Editorial: Gary Nixon, PhD

WELCOME to the first issue of Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology. This journal is grounded in the paradoxical consciousness of failure of seeking and efforting in the world of spirituality in all its forms.  From the journal’s conception, we understood  Paradoxica to be destined for  failurehood.  After all, awakening and academic writing seem perpetually at odds with one another. And yet, we believe out of this hopelessness that somehow, some way, something miraculous will emerge.

How can one succeed in creating an academic, peer-reviewed journal of nondual psychology with a special phenomenological focus on transformation? Tibetan Master Chogyam Trungpa spoke extensively of the fertile opportunity of absolute hopelessness and we at Paradoxica embrace this concept as the foundation for our journal. Despite the absolute hopelessness and potential personal failurehood of both seeking and communicating about nondual awakening, we are nevertheless open to the always-present magic that can emerge and dance through Paradoxica and its readers. Adyashanti, in one of his most intense discourses, pointed to awakening as based on personal failure, and we thought: Why not create a journal which encompasses the concept; an academic journal that points to the moon of awakened nondual being and that embraces an open acceptance of the failurehood of both seeking and the transmission process?

We might be attempting the impossible to introduce a peer-reviewed, academic journal that is, at the same time, very much focused on the wondrous opportunity of nondual psychology. We have hope the articles in Paradoxica will also prove helpful to those readers in the midst of a profound crisis of beingness.  Indeed, the title of this short editorial points to something very important for us: the profound awakening opportunity to behold the miracle of the sun rising in the evening.  An obvious example is how, at death’s doorway, an opportunity for paradoxical transformation exists in the moment, within the immediate “hell” of death, if clinging to the experience of the separate self can be surrendered and the attachment to manifest existence seen through. As the controversial yet profound, mystic Osho (1980) stated:

I have seen the sun rising in the evening, and since then I have been drunk with that which is. You can call it God, you can call it nirvana, you can call it any name -- it does not matter…The experience of the buddhas contradicts the experience of everyone else. It is not common; it is unique, it is extraordinary… it is wordless, it is wordlessness, it is utter silence. (p.5)

The awe-inspiring phenomenon of the sun rising in the evening of a person’s life is something worthy of a journal’s dedication. To find the light in the darkness; to experience the great death of the separate self existence; and to be reborn into eternity are all great events in the life of a sentient being.  We, the editors of Paradoxica, view the paradoxical embracement of nondual psychology as a glorious opportunity to explore and discuss this wondrous transformation.

To summarize, the mission of Paradoxica is to focus on the emerging discipline of nondual psychology.  For thousands of years the essence of the nondual approach has been at the heart of many spiritual pathways such as Zen, Vedanta, Sufism, various forms of Buddhism, Tantra, and Christian mysticism. It is now taking on a new face in the form of nondual psychology. As a journal, we are open to the narratives of the transformational process whether that takes place individually in lived experience; clinically in working with a therapist or group process; or in working with a teacher, guru, or guide. We also have great interest in the recent works of Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber who bring into question the whole concept of evolutionary enlightenment. Where do we go from here in terms of awakening and nondual being? Is there a need in some way to go beyond the current day dialogue about enlightenment?

We remind readers and prospective authors that, while both theoretical and phenomenological accounts will be accepted, our focus is always on actual transformation. Our interest is not intellectual speculation or conceptualizing masturbation. Paradoxica shall be a living, breathing, invigorating journal of the awakening process and beyond. And so, with a shudder, here we go! We embrace this moment as “just this.” We strike the gong that emanates with the sound of eternity, and offer this first edition to you, the reader. Please embrace this invitation to read the articles; to submit your own pieces; and to let us know what you think in our emerging feedback section (launching with our second edition).  Let the boundless energy of Paradoxica be yours in this moment with us.

References

Osho (1980). The sun rises in the evening. Poona, India: Osho International Foundation.