It’s easy to forget in tough times or when we’re going through something annoying or painful that, “where you stumble is where your treasure lies.”  That’s the way Joseph Campbell sums up mythology’s answer to life’s dilemmas.  For Campbell, one of the great unsung spiritual heroes of the 20^th Century, mythology speaks to a spiritual journey that each of us is on.  It’s an inward journey and one that is made by everyone on the planet, be they Muslim or Buddhist, Christian or Jew.  For Campbell it is the real journey to be made, not living up to the tenants of a faith, a shallow rendition of the real deal.

Campbell even goes so far (or maybe not) to assert that the real magic of the Bible is to read it as mythology rather than literal historical fact.  By reading the Bible as myth we have stories that act as guideposts to the inward journey.

One of the myths Campbell likes to reference is the story of the Knights of the Round Table and their search for the Holy Grail (no, not the Monty Python version).  The knights are challenged to seek the grail and upon agreeing to the quest, each knight, “entered the forest where he chose where it was darkest and there was no way or path.”  Campbell makes a point of noting that we each have a dark forest, but we choose the entry point and how to make our way out.  This is the spiritual journey, making our way out of the dark forest.

“Wo!  Hold on there Mr. Campbell.  I didn’t choose these messes I’ve been in.  They just happened to me,”  I can hear many saying.

That’s where it gets weird, doesn’t it?  The idea that we choose our Waterloos is very deep, but think about it for a moment.  Imagine that God set up the universe so that we had the unconscious ability to put ourselves in situations, that when worked through would give us the strength we were lacking.  Each sticky situation is an opportunity to ask for help and make our way through the forest.  Of course the illusion is that the forest is too much for us.  And many events, broken relationships, failed careers, addictions, we’re sure are going to sink us.  Then self-pity can creep in and become a warm cabin in the woods.  But according to Campbell fear can be only temporary:

“Where it seems to be most challenging is where the greatest invitation lies to find deeper or greater power in ourselves.  Where power to respond succeeds, there comes a new amplification of life and consciousness.”

As I look at the history of my own personal myth, I was sure I was sunk many times and yet ironically the sinkings (sic) all had something I needed to lose to get further down the path:  an arrogance, a false ego pursuit, a superman dream, a control grab . . . so far Campbell has been right about finding a deeper power.

So pay attention yea knights and damsels, today may hold a clue to getting out of the forest.

There’s been a buzz in the mental health community for a while now over Cesar Millan.  Cesar has a show on the National Geographic Channel called THE DOG WHISPERER (Friday nights).  He opens every show with the mantra, “I rehabilitate dogs, I train people.”  He then proceeds to help dog owners with their dogs.  But unlike any dog trainer I’ve ever seen, he goes after the “weak” psychology of the owner as a means of correcting the dog’s behavior problem.  The owner needs to be calm assertive so the dog can be calm submissive.

There’s no question in my mind that Cesar is the Jesus of the dog world – the way he controls and exorcises the “demons” every week blows my mind.  But I’m also finding that his methodology goes way beyond the dog kingdom.  It’s a way to treat human behavior problems – especially addiction and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Dogs need a few things to be healthy (notice how similar these are to humans).  They need someone in charge – Cesar calls this a “pack leader.”  Then they need to start every day with three components, in order:  Exercise, Discipline and Affection.  Once accomplished, the dog’s ready to settle into a calm submissive state.  Recovering addicts aren’t much different (myself included).  Exercise brings about endorphins and levels out the body chemistry.  Discipline shakes the mind out of magical thinking and the laziness of the ego.  And then affection comes last when it’s more appropriate.

The trouble Cesar has with most dog owners he encounters is that they are weak or lazy or both.  They’re afraid to be assertive and they just want their affection (without exercise or discipline) to make everything better.  It reminds me a lot of my old days as a fundamentalist Christian and why it was so weak and powerless to stop addiction.  The notion that God’s love was going to make everything better was so devoid of the emotional exercise and discipline of going back and finding how my upbringing shaped my being.  It was Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell that gave me the workout I needed to get beyond my sheltered childhood.  The path of heeding my unconscious (Jung) and uncovering my own myth (Campbell) keeps paying dividends as long as I’m willing to do the work.

I’m still surprised though when I watch THE DOG WHISPERER.  Such a unique combination of skills and intuitions.  I think he’s just moved into my top 3 people I’d most like to have dinner with.