On September 6th, 1970, I was on a TWA passenger jet which was hijacked by terrorists, (PFLP—The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), to an ancient desert lake bed in Jordan called Zarka, northeast of Amman some 60 minutes by car. I was held hostage on the plane which was eventually wired with explosives, for a week.
My band has been playing Clapton’s “The Core” lately. I’m not crazy about the tune and as a soloist I don’t exactly find myself on it yet, but the title inspires. Deep inside of me while on that plane, I knew all was well; that everything would be OK.
As a therapist, you have to stay a bit ahead of your clients, i.e., you must have some methodologies, ideologies, values, vision, techniques etc. to be able to offer people something. Many of us dive into spirituality in this sense. So when I knew all would be fine on the plane I believe I was tapping into the core, a place beyond the “me, me, me, story” as my spiritual teacher depicted it, a transcendent place, beyond experience, where all of existence lies in existential silence or nothingness and yet there is a quiet independent self there untouched by the outer world.
Nature is seeking harmony, balance, and it is constantly making corrections to achieve this. In my case there were major separations in the family but in a strange way the hijacking brought us back together. October 7th and the war in Israel seems to be addressing the great divides between her people as another example.
When you receive a sapling tree, it comes with supportive ties to protect it from being toppled by the wind. Agronomists have taught me to take these ties off eventually so that the tree will develop wide roots thanks to its confrontation with the wind and will become stronger instead of relying solely on the outside sources of stability.
The hijacking strengthened my roots and later I recognized that I was the core, unchangeable, untouched, and part of the love consciousness, or as Bob Marley sang it, “One Love; One Heart.” As a therapist, I cannot afford to not dwell in this place. I need to be in this for myself and others.
But you don’t need to be a therapist to recognize who you are at the core. It is not a luxury afforded only to us but rather it is the right of every person to recognize their true nature. It is limitless, as opposed to the body/mind organism which is a come and a go, like old torn clothes, converted to rags, or thrown away. But the soul gets recycled as in the Jewish and Hindu traditions.
Knowing this may take some of the sting out of all the horrific loss of late. Who you are is beyond the traumas and we can choose to tune into this core inside of ourself and take refuge there.
We regain our powers when we agree to connect to our true self and to a supportive community that is willing to grow from the pain together into a stronger and better place inside of us and outside as well.
Be a light unto ourself. We are free to help each other to do the work and to create the change that is needed, especially now in the inner and the outer world. As one that has been there, I’m here for you.
Aaron Roy Spungin Ph.D
psychotherapist, social worker
