I borrowed nine titles from the library. I've begun reading with Anna Campbell's A Rake's Midnight Kiss. So far it's easy light reading and good story telling.
Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work
- Thread starter Laura
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dennis
Jedi Council Member
Just finished Mary Balogh The Arrangement. The comments above about knowledge and being prompted me to go back and read the Ra material section on Balancing.
42.2 Questioner: I will just read it very rapidly the question, then.
I am going to make a statement and ask you to comment on its degree of accuracy. I am assuming that the balanced entity would not be swayed either towards positive or negative emotions by any situation which he might confront. By remaining unemotional in any situation, the balanced entity may clearly discern the appropriate and necessary responses in harmony with the Law of One for each situation.
Most entities on our planet find themselves unconsciously caught up into every emotional situation which they come in contact with according to their own unique biases and because of these biases are unable to see clearly teach/learning opportunities and appropriate response in each emotional situation and must therefore, through a process of much trial and error and enduring of resulting pain repeat such situations many many times until they become consciously aware of the need to balance their energy centers and thusly their responses and behaviors. Once a person becomes consciously aware of the need to balance their energy centers and responses the next step is to allow the appropriately positive or negative responses to emotional situations to flow smoothly through their being without retaining any of the emotional coloration after it has been consciously observed and allowed to flow through the being. And I am assuming that this ability to consciously observe the positively or negatively charged energy flowing through the being may be augmented by practice of the balancing exercises you have given us with the result in balance being achieved for the entity which would allow him to remain unemotional and undistorted in regards to the Law of One in any situation much like the objective viewer of the television movie.
Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. This is an incorrect application of the balancing which we have discussed. The exercise of first experiencing feelings and then consciously discovering their antitheses within the being has as its objective not the smooth flow of feelings both positive and negative while remaining unswayed but rather the objective of becoming unswayed. This is a simpler result and takes much practice, shall we say.
The catalyst of experience works in order for the learn/teachings of this density to occur. However, if there is seen in the being a response, even if it is simply observed, the entity is still using the catalyst for learn/teaching. The end result is that the catalyst is no longer needed. Thus this density is no longer needed. This is not indifference or objectivity but a finely tuned compassion and love which sees all things as love. This seeing elicits no response due to catalytic reactions. Thus the entity is now able to become co-Creator of experiential occurrences. This is the truer balance.
I've just finished four books in the Mackenzie series by Jennifer Ashley and I've just started on book no. 5. My reading is a bit slow since I went back to the project a month ago, so I'm managing about one book a week. I understand better why it's a good idea to read the whole series, even with half of the series read you get a better insight into the events, traumas and emotions which influence the behaviour and internal dialogues of the main characters, the MacKenzie brothers. And the remarkable women, also wounded, who helped the brothers to overcome their traumatic childhood at the hands of a tyrant. To this point in reading the series I've been emotionally moved by the special relationship between two of the brothers in particular, Ian and Hart, and the bond between them.
I'll keep reading this series and hopefully start with Mary Balogh before too long.Hart has so much responsibility for his brothers from a young age, but he looked after Ian more than anyone. He struggles to understand Ian's inner mind and his behaviour but following a shocking event which almost costs him his life he has time to understand he no longer needs to be in control of everything and can let go. It's quite a reversal by the end of book 4 that it is the most vulnerable of the Mackenzies, Ian, who saves Hart in several ways. Not just physically but also guiding him to the key action that Hart must take to fully give himself to Eleanor, that is, 'Tell her everything'. I was definitely struck by those three words and how much it took for Hart to come to a state of mind for that level of honesty and vulnerability. Ian is a very intriguing character, the one that supposedly struggles to fit into society is the one who better understands with his logical mind what humans need to do to get along in that same society. A man who only speaks when it is necessary, acts decisively when it's necessary and willing to sacrifice himself out of love for the one brother who did more than most to protect him.
I've also got a better understanding of the physical intimacy in the novels, that is the role sex plays in healing the mind of psychological and physical traumas, this is particularly true of Ian and Cameron, one who couldn't stand physical touch and the other who couldn't share a bed. In the end they were able to let go and trust because of the love of Beth and Ainsley. It's these moments of intimacy which resonate the most with me, the point where a physical act of possession becomes making love beyond the physical.
I really liked your spoiler discussion of Ian and Hart. Ian is, indeed, a most intriguing character and he plays an important role in the whole series, though sometimes just a short one.
And yes, it really makes a difference to read in order, to see the life events unfolding as they do. That's true in other series. One is shortchanged a bit by not reading in order!
Candice
Jedi Master
I thought I’d share some realizations as they are fresh in my mind. Others have already commented on similar realizations previously in the thread but at the time I didn’t really grok them.
These characters are behaving as mirrors for us. It’s almost like they’re an extension of our network. Just like when individuals on the forum share in say the swamp section of the forum, we are learning from the characters internal swamp.
For me how I experience this is the internal considering of the characters. The more I read, the more I’m confronted with my own internal considering in ways I was never aware of. I’m aware of my traumas and have always struggled with why I can’t seem to let them go. Now I realize that the programs originating with that trauma morphed into internal considering, like tentacles. Those tentacles became indistinguishable from who I thought I was. So even though I was aware of the source of the issues, the trauma, I could not see the tentacles. But with this project I’m forced to observe these characters internal considering in so many forms that it has made me aware of my own.
In truth I’m quite aghast at my internal landscape and how “swampy” it is. Reading these books, in the quantity and regularly one after another is forcing one to observe the self. An exercise I thought I understood before but had not truly.
I have a question. What is the difference between internal considering and the predators mind? They seem very similar to me.
These characters are behaving as mirrors for us. It’s almost like they’re an extension of our network. Just like when individuals on the forum share in say the swamp section of the forum, we are learning from the characters internal swamp.
For me how I experience this is the internal considering of the characters. The more I read, the more I’m confronted with my own internal considering in ways I was never aware of. I’m aware of my traumas and have always struggled with why I can’t seem to let them go. Now I realize that the programs originating with that trauma morphed into internal considering, like tentacles. Those tentacles became indistinguishable from who I thought I was. So even though I was aware of the source of the issues, the trauma, I could not see the tentacles. But with this project I’m forced to observe these characters internal considering in so many forms that it has made me aware of my own.
In truth I’m quite aghast at my internal landscape and how “swampy” it is. Reading these books, in the quantity and regularly one after another is forcing one to observe the self. An exercise I thought I understood before but had not truly.
I have a question. What is the difference between internal considering and the predators mind? They seem very similar to me.
Adaryn
The Living Force
As a lot of those stories take place during or after the Napoleonic Wars, and on the 5th May 2021, France (despite an attempt by the woke crowd to cancel him and bannish him from History books) will celebrate the bicentenary of Napo's death, here's a brief article about this quite complex historical figure:
You can find some first-hand descriptions of the man here. A couple of them:
Napoleon: flawed hero or power-mad tyrant?
On 5 May 1821, one of the most iconic figures in world history died while in bitter exile on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose from obscure soldier to new Caesar, remains a uniquely controversial figure to this day. Should we think of him as a flawed but essentially heroic visionary who changed Europe for the better? Or was he simply a military dictator, whose cult of personality and lust for power set a template for the likes of Hitler? ()
The problem is that nothing with Napoleon is simple, and almost every aspect of his personality is a maddening paradox. He was a military genius who led disastrous campaigns. And he was a liberal progressive who reinstated slavery in the French colonies. And take the French Revolution, which came just before Napoleon’s rise to power. As historian Professor Chris Clark ponders, 'His relationship with the French Revolution is deeply ambivalent. Did he stabilize it or shut it down? He seems to have done both.'
A NATION WHICH HAD BOLDLY BROUGHT DOWN THE MONARCHY HAD TO WATCH AS NAPOLEON CROWNED HIMSELF EMPEROR...
On the one hand, Napoleon did bring order to a nation that had been drenched in blood in the years after the Revolution. The French people had endured the crackdown known as the 'Reign of Terror', which saw so many marched to the guillotine, as well as political instability, corruption, riots and general violence. Napoleon’s iron will managed to calm the chaos. But he also rubbished some of the core principles of the Revolution. A nation which had boldly brought down the monarchy had to watch as Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, with more power and pageantry than Louis XVI ever had. He also installed his relatives as royals across Europe, creating a new aristocracy. In the words of French politician and author Lionel Jospin, 'He guaranteed some principles of the Revolution and at the same time, changed its course, finished it and betrayed it.'
He also had a feared henchman in the form of Joseph Fouché, who ran a secret police network which instilled dread in the population. Napoleon’s spies were everywhere, stifling political opposition. Dozens of newspapers were suppressed or shut down. Books had to be submitted for approval to the Commission of Revision, which sounds like something straight out of George Orwell. Some would argue Hitler and Stalin followed this playbook perfectly.
But here come the contradictions. Napoleon also championed education for all, founding a network of schools. He championed the rights of the Jews. In the territories conquered by Napoleon, laws which kept Jews cooped up in ghettos were abolished. 'I will never accept any proposals that will obligate the Jewish people to leave France,' he once said, 'because to me the Jews are the same as any other citizen in our country.'
He also, crucially, developed the Napoleonic Code, a set of laws which replaced the messy, outdated feudal laws that had been used before. The Napoleonic Code clearly laid out civil laws and due processes, establishing a society based on merit and hard work, rather than privilege. It was rolled out far beyond France, and indisputably helped to modernise Europe. While it certainly had its flaws – women were ignored by its reforms, and were essentially regarded as the property of men – the Napoleonic Code is often brandished as the key evidence for Napoleon’s progressive credentials. In the words of historian Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon the Great, 'the ideas that underpin our modern world… were championed [by] Napoleon'.
What about Napoleon’s battlefield exploits? If anything earns comparisons with Hitler, it’s Bonaparte’s apparent appetite for conquest. His forces tore down republics across Europe, and plundered works of art, much like the Nazis would later do. A rampant imperialist, Napoleon gleefully grabbed some of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance, and allegedly boasted, 'the whole of Rome is in Paris.'
Yet, defenders of Napoleon will say his reputation as a war monger is largely due to British propaganda at the time. They’ll point out that the Napoleonic Wars, far from being Napoleon’s fault, were just a continuation of previous conflicts that arose thanks to the French Revolution. Napoleon, according to this analysis, inherited a messy situation, and his only real crime was to be very good at defeating enemies on the battlefield.
[Added: History has it that Napoleon was an expansionist military conqueror who invaded other countries because he wanted to extend his control but this is not entirely accurate. Many of his wars were defensive, with a coalition of European powers attempting to bring down the “upstart” Napoleon.]
He was, by any measure, a genius of war. Even his nemesis the Duke of Wellington, when asked who the greatest general of his time was, replied: 'In this age, in past ages, in any age, Napoleon.'
And, while Napoleon’s Russian campaign has been held up as a fatal folly which killed so many of his men, this blunder – epic as it was – should not be compared to Hitler’s wars of evil aggression. Most historians will agree that comparing the two men is horribly flattering to Hitler – a man fuelled by visceral, genocidal hate – and demeaning to Napoleon, who was a product of Enlightenment thinking and left a legacy that in many ways improved Europe.
The arguments over Napoleon’s status will continue – and that in itself is a testament to the power of one of the most complex figures ever to straddle the world’s stage.
You can find some first-hand descriptions of the man here. A couple of them:
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Je viens de terminer "Le Pardon" Tome 2 de la série "Les Amants de Londres" de Lorraine Heath
J'ai ressenti beaucoup de malaise et de chagrin à la lecture de ce livre.
Je vais commencer "La Dette" Tome 3 de la même série du même auteur.
I just finished "The Pardon" Volume 2 of the "London Lovers" series by Lorraine Heath.
I felt a lot of discomfort and sorrow while reading this book.
I will start "The Debt" Volume 3 of the same series by the same author.
J'ai ressenti beaucoup de malaise et de chagrin à la lecture de ce livre.
Je vais commencer "La Dette" Tome 3 de la même série du même auteur.
I just finished "The Pardon" Volume 2 of the "London Lovers" series by Lorraine Heath.
I felt a lot of discomfort and sorrow while reading this book.
I will start "The Debt" Volume 3 of the same series by the same author.
Exactly the sort of observations I've been looking to see in the participants; you articulated it beautifully.
As to your final question, I think that Internal Considering and The Predator's Mind are the same thing.
A very complex figure indeed. Like most individuals, he had good and not-so-good qualities, both which would be magnified owing to the power he wielded. There is supposed to be quite a good video on Napoleon, think it's just called Napoleon. According to the video, his mother was highly influential and a driving force behind his ascent to power. Imho, he was definitely a genius.
I have just finished the Bedwyn Saga by Mary Balogh, it's the series with all the Slightly (Married, Wicked, Scandalous, Tempted, Sinful and Dangerous), and I truly enjoyed it.
it's a very moving series of stories, all taking place in the span of 3 years and in it you meed the six Bedwyn brothers. I plan on writing a longer post about the series as a whole, but I found myself enjoying the world that was created for this series, the way they all navigated their own transformation and the truly inspiring amount of concepts, sometimes truly esoteric, that are contained within.
Mary Balogh, managed to create a truly remarkable amount of characters that you really connect with, all the stories are very moving, and the entire series connects rather beautifully at the end.
I will miss the Bedwyns. Now on to the horsemen Trilogy!
it's a very moving series of stories, all taking place in the span of 3 years and in it you meed the six Bedwyn brothers. I plan on writing a longer post about the series as a whole, but I found myself enjoying the world that was created for this series, the way they all navigated their own transformation and the truly inspiring amount of concepts, sometimes truly esoteric, that are contained within.
Mary Balogh, managed to create a truly remarkable amount of characters that you really connect with, all the stories are very moving, and the entire series connects rather beautifully at the end.
I will miss the Bedwyns. Now on to the horsemen Trilogy!
Candice
Jedi Master
Thank you Laura for this reply and answer to my question. It sets me on a whole new line of thinking and really helps me to better understand some concepts used on the forum.
So to my understanding we are a machine. Developmental trauma triggers mechanical “programs” within the machine. These programs manifest as the little I’s. The true self or “I” takes a back seat and the little I’s or programs take on a life of their own and drive the machine.
This predators mind is then something that is external to the machine, as in its origin is 4D STS. It’s also internal due to the tinkering with our DNA in the past. It’s essentially a parasite of the mind utilizing the programs of the machine to appear to integrate with the self. This is where the internal considering comes in.
Is this what is meant by we are “food for the moon”? The parasite is feeding off of our negative emotions which arise due to the programs and internal considering.
Is this why we need to observe those negative emotions and keep them below the neck? In doing so, we block the parasite from its food source and if we know what we’re doing we can potentially also transmute those emotions into something that benefits our true self. Or is it that the heat of the transmutation sears that “parasite”? Making the internal landscape unpalatable. Though, I see pitfalls in this line of thinking. One could believe that one has slain the beast and wishful thinking sets in that one is fully cleansed. However those were just some of the tentacles and not the core. Which is why it may take many lifetimes to accomplish this.
I know that probably none of this is new to long term members of the forum and those doing the Work. I’m new to a lot of this and I’m trying to keep up with the different terminology used here. I’m aware I have so many gaps in my knowledge or awareness. So much reading still to do. I thought it best to share where my thinking is at and ask if it’s on the right path.
It was in reading this post by Laura that prompted these realizations of mine. I will share it here for any other newbies such as myself who may also benefit from this post in conjunction with this reading project.
I'm just finishing book four of the 'Dark Angel' series. There's four more books in the series to go but I'm going to change it up for a short series with Madeline Hunter then I'll come back to Balogh. I have books one and four for Hunter. I just need two and three.
Yeah, I had an idea earlier but was short on time to post about it. I was thinking that Internal Considering and the Predator's Mind are two different concepts describing the same thing. One thing I do now differently than maybe I did in the past, I don't try to take them as literal as I did, these concepts. If you can see the underlying reality that the concepts point to, you don't need to spend much time on the concept. Having said that, practicing external consideration is always a worthy endeavor.
Yeah, I had an idea earlier but was short on time to post about it. I was thinking that Internal Considering and the Predator's Mind are two different concepts describing the same thing. One thing I do now differently than maybe I did in the past, I don't try to take them as literal as I did, these concepts. If you can see the underlying reality that the concepts point to, you don't need to spend much time on the concept. Having said that, practicing external consideration is always a worthy endeavor.
Candice
Jedi Master
Yes, I too was observing it to be the same phenomenon. I asked the question because I wasn’t sure. There were certain facets of it I was minimally aware of before, which I put down as programs. Then with this reading project I started to become aware of more facets. I just wasn’t sure what exactly the “thing” is and if I was getting terminology mixed up. When I’m internally observing, I’m not using this terminology, it’s only in reference to how to explain what I’m observing to the forum. Internally I observe it as a tentacly, slippery swamp creature or parasite. It’s also rather silly, well the internal considering is incredibly silly. It’s only when I write it out, do I go “geez that’s ridiculous”. So I’m going to try to journal my observations, I’ve tried this in the past but got side tracked.
Charade
Jedi Master
Gosh, this is an engrossing endeavor. I had the opportunity to speak to a friend about this romance novel experiment. She is someone who has read at least 100 romance books or series because she enjoys them. She shared an interesting observation. When she was younger and first married, she was more curt and short with people particularly in the work environment. She worked as a stylist and than as a manager for hair and beauty salons. She developed RA which she seems to have under control with very expensive medication but that disease I am sure has been a huge factor in her daily personal life.
When she told me she used to behave so differently towards people, I was truly shocked. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone with whom I am acquainted that is more kind and compassionate than her. A very friendly, outgoing personality that takes an interest in how those around her are doing. Very eager to share. Yes, I have seen her lose her temper, or have very distressing family issues to deal with that knocked her out of balance. But she was surprised to consider that the stories she had read may have played a part in positive emotional change.
She had read some of the authors listed as recommended. She was well acquainted with the Regency novels. It was also interesting that recently she had been reading more currently written romance/fantasy themed series. She was aware that her mood could be effected by certain books that made her irritable and not patient in her reactions. She said she was more frequently just not finishing those types of books when she noticed this was the case.
I am only 2 1/2 books into the romance scenario. I am enjoying Julia Quinn’s “The Duke and I”. My friend above did not recommend the Netflix series as it had taken great liberties with the story.
I am aware of the ‘shocks’ in daily life being increasingly more evident and emotionally troubling. I want to be better but am still at a point that I don’t know how to actually behave with more kindness and concern from the heart. I am impatient with myself and aspects of life that I am not handling with grace or even discipline. I’ll keep hoeing my row. There is probably a lot of experiences from the past where I deliberately made very poor decisions and acted very selfishly. I suppose these need conscious transmutation and self forgiveness in some way. ( My parents actually called me Selfisha and my sister Terribella, names for Cinderella’s step sisters, when we were little).
I see in my current book, ‘The Duke and I’, that the male protagonist, Simon, is bound and determined to hang onto worthless ideas of revenge against an unloving father who rejected him his whole life. In spite of the fact that he has overcome all the faults that his father held against him. Negative childhood imprinted experiences/programmming are hard to overcome. It gives a focused lens on why we keep ourselves from happiness, within our grasp with a change of attitude or perspective. Can it be by simply accepting that none are perfect, life is not perfect, and that we can still love and be loved instead of hanging onto old wrongs as the only reflection of ourselves? Giving ourselves permission to have another chance? Self forgiveness?
Without a vision of the goodness that one seeks, it would be near impossible to change for the better. Without it the shocks just hurt.
When she told me she used to behave so differently towards people, I was truly shocked. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone with whom I am acquainted that is more kind and compassionate than her. A very friendly, outgoing personality that takes an interest in how those around her are doing. Very eager to share. Yes, I have seen her lose her temper, or have very distressing family issues to deal with that knocked her out of balance. But she was surprised to consider that the stories she had read may have played a part in positive emotional change.
She had read some of the authors listed as recommended. She was well acquainted with the Regency novels. It was also interesting that recently she had been reading more currently written romance/fantasy themed series. She was aware that her mood could be effected by certain books that made her irritable and not patient in her reactions. She said she was more frequently just not finishing those types of books when she noticed this was the case.
I am only 2 1/2 books into the romance scenario. I am enjoying Julia Quinn’s “The Duke and I”. My friend above did not recommend the Netflix series as it had taken great liberties with the story.
I am aware of the ‘shocks’ in daily life being increasingly more evident and emotionally troubling. I want to be better but am still at a point that I don’t know how to actually behave with more kindness and concern from the heart. I am impatient with myself and aspects of life that I am not handling with grace or even discipline. I’ll keep hoeing my row. There is probably a lot of experiences from the past where I deliberately made very poor decisions and acted very selfishly. I suppose these need conscious transmutation and self forgiveness in some way. ( My parents actually called me Selfisha and my sister Terribella, names for Cinderella’s step sisters, when we were little).
I see in my current book, ‘The Duke and I’, that the male protagonist, Simon, is bound and determined to hang onto worthless ideas of revenge against an unloving father who rejected him his whole life. In spite of the fact that he has overcome all the faults that his father held against him. Negative childhood imprinted experiences/programmming are hard to overcome. It gives a focused lens on why we keep ourselves from happiness, within our grasp with a change of attitude or perspective. Can it be by simply accepting that none are perfect, life is not perfect, and that we can still love and be loved instead of hanging onto old wrongs as the only reflection of ourselves? Giving ourselves permission to have another chance? Self forgiveness?
Without a vision of the goodness that one seeks, it would be near impossible to change for the better. Without it the shocks just hurt.
I think you did a good job exposing the predator mind's actions and behavior Candice.
As Joe mentioned earlier on this thread those of us who are reading the romance novels may be able to SEE much more deeply what is being delivered through the stories thanks to the hard work done here by Laura, by our community in general and thanks to the constant assistance of the C's.
It's indeed an opportunity to observe yourself more closely, to observe and understand better other people around you, to understand better our journey through this density and eventually to grow our being thus closing one more chapter of our soul existence and begin a new chapter of our existence in an upper density perhaps.
While reading the novels I've started to really realize how broken and vulnerable most of us are, thus easily manipulated by the predator mind, thus wreaking havoc upon ourselves and upon others and how hard it is to overcome your shortcomings, weaknesses thus building an inner force strong enough to not let the predator rule your life. This project can help one to progress considerably if he/she's willing and ready for such an adventure.
I remember reading in one of C's sessions where Laura asked something about if there is a faster way to progress spiritually and the C's said that there aren't shortcuts though there are situations and ways when one may be able to speed up his spiritual progression...
Just some thoughts.
I don’t think it’s silly. I have had times when my involvement in a messy situation (i.e interactions with a particular person) is so strong it feels like it has become a thing and I literally feed it like an addiction that I am attached to. It actually looks like it has form and when I see it it is a slippery creature with lots of tentacles, sucking greedily the energy from me and the person involved. Horror of all horrors when I realise I had a part in creating this thing. Anyway I chop off its tentacles and let the light dissolve it. I rethink how I’m going to behave AND feel/approach in a positive loving way.
I haven’t created one of these monsters for a while, thank goodness. I even had a dream once where one of my own ‘destructive me monsters’ tried to strangle me. I woke up fighting for breath and woke my husband up with my choking noises.
