Deep Socratic Dialogue Practice for Self-Realization Author

David D. Cicia, Ed.D., creator of DEPTH Dialogue

    Please note well that although I claim grand things for DEPTH Dialogue, this does not refer to me. It refers to Socrates's Dialectic, which I believe was a real practice at one time and not just a philosophical theory. The source of all the insights, for the depth and breadth of the practice, and for the general themes of the practice are all in Plato's Dialogues.

    All that I claim for myself is that I rediscovered a way to make the inner dynamics of this work, after thousands of years of that knowledge being lost, and that it works just as Socrates and Plato said it does, to produce full, dynamic, creative self-realization. The grandness of the Dialectic (DEPTH Dialogue) comes from the original sources. I just hope that I have been true enough to the deep inner spirit of those sources that this ancient practical Wisdom can again become as powerful a force for the good in the modern world as it once was in the ancient world.

    My background is that I have been researching and developing DEPTH Dialogue continually since 1970, and received a degree of Doctor of Education (Ed.D) for this work in 1987 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I am also a graduate of St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD. (the “great books” college that uses a Socratic method of learning.) I have also studied and practiced numerous forms of psychological and body-mind disciplines, and have taught meditation, focusing and writing from experience.

    The greater part of DEPTH Dialogue, however, comes not from my studies but from my personal inner experiential and intuitive research. The development of this practice has been as much a deep personal transformation for me as it has been a research project. I have lived through every aspect of the DEPTH Dialogue process myself and feel that this qualifies me to practice and teach it more than anything else. DEPTH Dialogue is not an intellectual game or a superficial pop psychology growth method, but a deeply personal transformational process. Having gone through that process is the best qualification for passing it on to others.

   Was it me or was it Socrates who created the actual practice of DEPTH Dialogue that I present here? I can't really take credit for it, since it is derived from my reading into the Socratic Dialogues of Plato, and is beholding to what is in those Dialogues. But, on the other hand, I can't say that it was Socrates, since it is a result of my own intuitive experiential reading into the inner dynamics of what was presented by Plato, and not "straight from the horse's mouth" (as they say.)

In any case, I started this journey in 1966 when I was in college reading Plato's Dialogues. Upon first reading the Dialogues I had the distinct thought that what he called the Dialectic was, indeed, a practice and not just a concept. In fact, I thought, Dialectic is not just an abstract philosophical practice but just what Socrates said it was - a direct means to the transcendent, ecstatic creative life he was telling people about (especially see Plato's Symposium.)

Upon graduation in 1970 I embarked on a search which has lasted much, much longer than I had ever dreamed, to find out how to actually do the Dialectic (what I am calling DEPTH Dialogue.) It is not surprising now that I look back on it that it took so long because the actual method is only hinted at in the Dialogues, perhaps being exemplified by the drama-like action more than being explained.

    And one thing I knew, mostly because of the affinity of my own experience with the seemingly mystical descriptions of the goal of Dialectic given in the Dialogues, was that the method was not some kind of dry philosophical exercise or intellectual sparring. In other words, it is not what has come to be known as "Socratic Method." It is not just questions and answers, not manipulation of an opponent's mind, not simply a leading of the student into a discovery learning experience. My intuition at the time, which has continued and even strengthened, is that DEPTH Dialogue is a deep, subtle, powerful tool for personal transcendence and transformation, covering every aspect and all levels of our lives.

In 1987 I came to a sort of milestone in my search. At that point I pulled together all I knew about DEPTH Dialogue into a doctoral dissertation, which got me a doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The title was The Practice of Freedom. By that time I had a coherent vision of what it would be, even had a prototype model for the practice. And this is what I presented. However, as they say, the model "didn't fly." Although the vision was mostly correct (in my opinion - and, hey, they gave me a piece of paper to hang on the wall for it) the form of the practical method did not fit the substance of the vision. There was still alot more searching and work to do.

     The practice that I present here came into full being on October 15, 2003. That is when I completed the first detailed manual of the practice, including its elements, its technique and the art of doing it. This makes deep inner Socratic dialogue a fully articulated practice for the first time since ancient times. It also makes it teachable to anyone who wants to learn to do it. (If you want to learn to do it, go to the section on Training.)

    DEPTH Dialogue is (again, in my opinion) now a very good match of substance and form. What this means is that when you practice DEPTH Dialogue, on either end of the dialogue, you are entering into the goal of Dialectic by just doing that. In other words, practicing DEPTH Dialogue is itself a way of flowing with the upsurge of the deeper, transcendent Life Intelligence that the philosopher loves and reveres as Wisdom herself. It is not a static or mechanical exercise. It is a profound movement that carries your whole being beyond your old, socially molded and conditioned ("imprisoned') self. All you have to do is give in to it, surrender. That's not so difficult, since you are becoming a lover of Life, and DEPTH Dialogue is making love to Life.

I am grateful to those who have helped me along the way. In all these years, however, I have never found anyone to help me with the deep inner Socratic dialogue. This has been a solo journey into entirely new and uncharted waters. It seems to me that, if this ever really existed - and Plato says it did in his time and tries to illustrate and exemplify it in his Dialogues - it has been lost to the world since at least the destruction of Plato's Academy around 500 A.D., if not sooner than that by force of cultural and mental entropy.

    Who knows? But it has been my personal goal to find the real thing and to bring it back to life. What you have here is the result - and, of course, it is a work in progress, always. Hopefully now it will be a work in progress in dialogue with other lovers of Life who are attracted to this.

    I live near the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, the closest place to paradise short of leaving the world and living on a deserted island in the south Pacific. Most of the time not doing too much of anything but taking in the waves. As a matter of fact, much of DEPTH Dialogue came to me as waves of perceptions and insights as if out of the ocean while sitting alone on the shore.