Threshold Transcendence: The Tipping Point of Transformation
Finding Wisdom in the Space Between What Was and What Is Becoming
There are times when we find ourselves standing at a threshold. The familiar world is behind us, and the yet-to-be is just out of reach. I see thresholds as invitations, asking us to embrace the space between what has been and what is becoming. I remind myself that equilibrium is never permanent, only a passage. The shift comes whether or not we are ready, and yet if we pause and listen, it offers a way to meet transition with grace.
When we are not willing to move forward, we block ourselves from exploring the potential arising from within. We cling to the comfort of the known, even when something new is quietly pressing at the edges of our awareness. But as we soften, as we allow ourselves to simply linger in the doorway rather than rush through it, the threshold itself becomes the teacher. There is wisdom in the pause, in the willingness to wait and trust what is emerging.
Joseph Campbell, in describing the Hero’s Journey, spoke of the threshold guardians, those figures or forces that seem to stand in the way of forward movement. They are not merely obstacles, but teachers, testing our readiness to step into the unknown. Campbell reminds us that “the crossing of the threshold is the first step into the sacred,” and the guardians, whether fear, doubt, or circumstance, serve to deepen our courage and sharpen our intent.
Thresholds are not only outer events—like a move, a new role, or a relationship change, they also live within us. They appear in the subtle shifts of our inner landscape: a thought that loosens its hold, an old story that dissolves, or a new vision quietly arising. These inner passages are easy to overlook, yet when we pause to honor them, they become moments of quiet transformation.
So when you find yourself at such a threshold, I invite you to move forward however not to rush past it. Notice what is fading, what is arriving, and where you feel the delicate balance of both. Let the doorway be enough. Let the pause itself be the practice. Because in these threshold moments, the seed of transformation is already alive within us.
“Thresholds are invitations, asking us to embrace the space between what has been and what is becoming.”
The name “CUYA” carries with it both history and vision. Rooted in our origins as the Cuyamungue Institute, it now also serves as an acronym — C.U.Y.A. — a guiding symbol that unites our mission:
C — Consciousness: The field of shared awareness that arises in Collective Presence, where the “We” awakens beyond the “I” – moving from the “Me to the We.”
U — Unity: Our alignment with the Cycles of Nature and the rhythms of the cosmos, reminding us that we are woven into a greater fabric of reality. This sense of unity reminds us that our awareness is the shared consciousness that connects all living beings.
Y — Your Awakening: The inner journey of Embodiment and Wisdom, where through direct experience the body remembers. At the CUYA Institute, this awakening is nurtured through Ritual Body Postures and ecstatic trance, where the body itself becomes the doorway to wisdom, presence, and transformation.
A — Ancestral Wisdom: Roots. Our connection to Sacred Lineage, honoring those who walked before us and rooting us in belonging and continuity. Our founder, anthropologist Felicitas D. Goodman looked to some of the oldest, most authentic ancestral records we have — the world’s collection of early and indigenous art — and decoded selected artifacts as embodied “ritual instructions.”
Together, the Four Pathways of C.U.Y.A. — Consciousness, Unity, Your Awakening, and Ancestral Wisdom — form a single tapestry of practice. They remind us that awakening is not an abstract idea but something we live: through the body in Your Awakening, through nature’s cycles in Unity, through community in shared Consciousness, and through the guidance of Ancestral Wisdom.