We are born into cultures and thus inherit the meaning of what it is to be a human being. But who says this is true human being?
I remember an experience of a time when I contracted poison oak at a music festival. I couldn't sleep due to the itching and the medical tent was not open until the next morning. Consequently, I stayed awake all night practicing Qigong to keep myself distracted. At dawn I climbed to the top of a large outcropping of rock to watch the sun rise. There were small depressions in the rock where the Native Americans had ground acorns.
I was clothed in shorts, sandals and a long-sleeved shirt. It occurred to me that other people might be feeling cold, since the few that were walking around at that time of the morning were in heavy jackets and boots. Yet, I felt perfectly comfortable. (Looking back, the Qigong probably played a significant difference in my metabolic level).
As I watched the sunrise, I became aware of myself as a human animal. The mental chatter was silent. I was just another critter.
It seems to me that civilized life can amount to an enormous distraction from this kind of experience.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Bringing Duality and Oneness Into Accord
It is easy for the dualistic mind to invent constructs to justify its various positions. The acid test is to see whether those constructs contradict holistic thought.
On the level of interaction, this question occurs as "you AND me" vs "you OR me." On the level of brain function, we can look to see whether something (such as a piece of music, for instance) satisfies us intellectually as well as emotionally.
We can also look to see whether something is out of balance. Labels exist for individuals who fall on either side of the center line. "Emotionally Unavailable" vs "Drama Queen" are two that come to mind.
While we're at it, we can examine the notions preponderance and deficiency. Many Westerners misunderstand Yin and Yang as feminine and masculine principles and think about them as extremes on a continuum...but they are not. If we instead think of Yin and Yang as aspects present in all things at the simplest level corresponding to "capacity to contain moisture" vs "capacity to dispel moisture" we might obtain a closer translation. We can also see that rather than being positions on a continuum, Yin and Yang can be present in varying amounts:
Weak Yin / Weak Yang
Weak Yin / Strong Yang
Strong Yin / Weak Yang
Strong Yin / Strong Yang
To apply this thinking to dualistic thinking in general, we can see that we can start to regard perceived polarities as capacities instead.
On the level of interaction, this question occurs as "you AND me" vs "you OR me." On the level of brain function, we can look to see whether something (such as a piece of music, for instance) satisfies us intellectually as well as emotionally.
We can also look to see whether something is out of balance. Labels exist for individuals who fall on either side of the center line. "Emotionally Unavailable" vs "Drama Queen" are two that come to mind.
While we're at it, we can examine the notions preponderance and deficiency. Many Westerners misunderstand Yin and Yang as feminine and masculine principles and think about them as extremes on a continuum...but they are not. If we instead think of Yin and Yang as aspects present in all things at the simplest level corresponding to "capacity to contain moisture" vs "capacity to dispel moisture" we might obtain a closer translation. We can also see that rather than being positions on a continuum, Yin and Yang can be present in varying amounts:
Weak Yin / Weak Yang
Weak Yin / Strong Yang
Strong Yin / Weak Yang
Strong Yin / Strong Yang
To apply this thinking to dualistic thinking in general, we can see that we can start to regard perceived polarities as capacities instead.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Greater Unknown Self
The Zen tradition has a classic series of paintings known as the Oxherding Pictures, sometimes referred to as steps to enlightenment. In these pictures, a small boy searches for and then proceeds to tame an Ox much larger than he is. For purposes of this discussion, the little boy is who we think we are, while the Ox is who we are regardless of who we think we are.
For example, although I might think I am environmentalist because I live in the country in a cabin, I might discover that my wood stove hurts the environment both in terms of the wood it requires and the greenhouse gasses it creates.
This can also show up in interpersonal relationships. I might feel as if I have not been heard and feel the need to "stand up for myself" and express my point of view more strongly. From the standpoint of my feelings, I am re-enacting a scene from my youth. If I were to look from the point of view of someone else, I might see a grown man over-reacting and possibly stifling the expression of others.
The point is that we can tend to get caught up thinking in terms of our own objectives and lose sight of the greater consequences of our actions. The perceived need to look after our own survival consistently pulls us away from universal consciousness into a narrower point of view. Consequently we view ourselves as being much smaller than we actually are.
For example, although I might think I am environmentalist because I live in the country in a cabin, I might discover that my wood stove hurts the environment both in terms of the wood it requires and the greenhouse gasses it creates.
This can also show up in interpersonal relationships. I might feel as if I have not been heard and feel the need to "stand up for myself" and express my point of view more strongly. From the standpoint of my feelings, I am re-enacting a scene from my youth. If I were to look from the point of view of someone else, I might see a grown man over-reacting and possibly stifling the expression of others.
The point is that we can tend to get caught up thinking in terms of our own objectives and lose sight of the greater consequences of our actions. The perceived need to look after our own survival consistently pulls us away from universal consciousness into a narrower point of view. Consequently we view ourselves as being much smaller than we actually are.
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Source of Resistance
It is possible to take the view that the stories of our lives are what's left over after we have avoided whatever we feel we need to avoid.
Probably the most obvious examples can happen in the educational process. If I experience difficulty with a particular subject such as Algebra or French, I might avoid studying it and severely limit my ability to obtain a college degree, thus limiting my career options. Some might say it would be a matter of applying myself to which I would respond, "against what resistance?"
The same limitations as a consequence of avoidance can show up in relationships as well. If being in the presence of a particular person reminds me of past heartbreak, I might avoid them and never discover that they are not at all like the person they remind me of. In essence, my relationships wind up being governed by the avoidance of sensations which remind me of past hurts.
In both of these examples, what I am avoiding is body sensations. It seems not to matter that the avoidance is based on what appear to be mental processes. Once a thought or memory triggers a particular kind of uncomfortable body sensation, the associated endeavor could just as well be a lost cause. I appear to be powerless when certain body sensations occur.
If I wanted to have more say in the course of my life, it would make sense to learn how to deal with my body sensations.
Probably the most obvious examples can happen in the educational process. If I experience difficulty with a particular subject such as Algebra or French, I might avoid studying it and severely limit my ability to obtain a college degree, thus limiting my career options. Some might say it would be a matter of applying myself to which I would respond, "against what resistance?"
The same limitations as a consequence of avoidance can show up in relationships as well. If being in the presence of a particular person reminds me of past heartbreak, I might avoid them and never discover that they are not at all like the person they remind me of. In essence, my relationships wind up being governed by the avoidance of sensations which remind me of past hurts.
In both of these examples, what I am avoiding is body sensations. It seems not to matter that the avoidance is based on what appear to be mental processes. Once a thought or memory triggers a particular kind of uncomfortable body sensation, the associated endeavor could just as well be a lost cause. I appear to be powerless when certain body sensations occur.
If I wanted to have more say in the course of my life, it would make sense to learn how to deal with my body sensations.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Who Do You Think You Are?
Indulge me for a moment, please...
Imagine you are beside a stream of water flowing smoothly. If you were to dip your finger into the water and hold it stationary, you would see a V-shaped wake form around your finger, somewhat like the wake a boat leaves as it moves through the water. The difference is that it is the stream that is moving and so even though the water that is within the wave is changing all the time, the wave itself is stationary in relation to your finger. This is known as a "standing wave."
When we examine the question "Who am I?" we often look for the differences that set us apart from the crowd. We might tend to define ourselves in terms of distinguishing what we are from what we are not. The difficulty is that given our complexities, in many cases we are simply more of one thing than another; what I call a 60/40 generalization. For example: If I say, "I am a Taoist," even though I might also espouse the beliefs of a Buddhist, a Christian, a Moslem and a host of other spiritual traditions, I will tend to identify with the primary label for convenience.
As a practical matter, who we think we are often works out to what we resist. If my kid brother is a loudmouth and I don't like it, I might tend to consider myself to be reserved. Here's where the standing wave comes in: When I resist something and define myself as "not that," I have identified myself by virtue of what I am resisting, just as a standing wave is created by virtue of a finger's resistance to flow. The particulars may change, but the pattern remains.
The picture becomes even more interesting when we consider that such self-assessments run the risk of being fictitious. If I were to expand my social milieu, I might discover that a certain crowd thinks of me as "another one of those loudmouth kids" in spite of my self-assessment as being reserved. Curiously, I might discover that I am indeed quite similar to my kid brother but hadn't noticed since I had been deceiving myself by concentrating on the differences rather than the similarities.
Ultimately it makes sense to re-examine who we think we are in an attempt to discover what we omitted from our self-assessments. After some thought, I have found the following to be a fruitful question for inquiry:
What if most of my challenges are a result of false self-assessments based on what I am resisting?
and
To the degree that the above is true, what is causing my resistance?
Imagine you are beside a stream of water flowing smoothly. If you were to dip your finger into the water and hold it stationary, you would see a V-shaped wake form around your finger, somewhat like the wake a boat leaves as it moves through the water. The difference is that it is the stream that is moving and so even though the water that is within the wave is changing all the time, the wave itself is stationary in relation to your finger. This is known as a "standing wave."
When we examine the question "Who am I?" we often look for the differences that set us apart from the crowd. We might tend to define ourselves in terms of distinguishing what we are from what we are not. The difficulty is that given our complexities, in many cases we are simply more of one thing than another; what I call a 60/40 generalization. For example: If I say, "I am a Taoist," even though I might also espouse the beliefs of a Buddhist, a Christian, a Moslem and a host of other spiritual traditions, I will tend to identify with the primary label for convenience.
As a practical matter, who we think we are often works out to what we resist. If my kid brother is a loudmouth and I don't like it, I might tend to consider myself to be reserved. Here's where the standing wave comes in: When I resist something and define myself as "not that," I have identified myself by virtue of what I am resisting, just as a standing wave is created by virtue of a finger's resistance to flow. The particulars may change, but the pattern remains.
The picture becomes even more interesting when we consider that such self-assessments run the risk of being fictitious. If I were to expand my social milieu, I might discover that a certain crowd thinks of me as "another one of those loudmouth kids" in spite of my self-assessment as being reserved. Curiously, I might discover that I am indeed quite similar to my kid brother but hadn't noticed since I had been deceiving myself by concentrating on the differences rather than the similarities.
Ultimately it makes sense to re-examine who we think we are in an attempt to discover what we omitted from our self-assessments. After some thought, I have found the following to be a fruitful question for inquiry:
What if most of my challenges are a result of false self-assessments based on what I am resisting?
and
To the degree that the above is true, what is causing my resistance?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Universe of Opposites vs The Whole Universe
When we examine our experience, we can choose to view it through the lens of dichotomy or the lens of universality. The lens of dichotomy yields pairs of opposites, while the lens of universality yields unifying principles. Here are a few examples:
| Opposites | Unifying Principles |
| is/isn't | uncertain potential |
| does/doesn't | can do |
| now/then | eternal timelesness |
| subjective/objective | global awareness |
| evident/obscure | mysterious wonder |
| self/other | universality |
| me/you | commonality |
| us/them | inclusion |
| friend/enemy | humanity |
| mind/body | organism |
| right/left | ambidextrous integration |
| divine/mundane | animistic awareness |
| god/man | blessedness |
First Post
So...Why did I call this, Mastering The Self rather than Mastering Myself or Mastering Yourself?
Simple. Viewed from right-brain consciousness, there is only one self to master. Here's what Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had to say about it:
Simple. Viewed from right-brain consciousness, there is only one self to master. Here's what Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had to say about it:
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