Work on 'Self-Love' by 'active reasoning'

[obyvatel]

And the whole context of 'The Prayer of the Soul' is in the Remembrance of "Divine Cosmic Mind", which means "Self-Remembering" to my understanding.

I am not seeing a direct connection between the Prayer Of The Soul and self-remembering. Self-remembering as I understand it is being aware of one's self with 3 centers -with sensation, feeling and thoughts. It may be possible to "self-remember" without acknowledging a higher self/ divine cosmic mind. Self remembering supplies the first volitional shock which results in the continuation of the 3 octaves of nutrition producing finer energies in our organism - it is a requisite step towards becoming Man 4 in the 4th Way and thus would lead to perhaps the same state as asked for in the Prayer Of the Soul. Though not relevant to this topic, it is interesting to note that according to G quoted in ISOTM, the first volitional shock given by self-remembering is bypassed in the way of fakir and way of monk where the second volitional shock (related to transmutation of emotions) is developed first. Here is the quote:
ISOTM pg 193

Alchemists who spoke of this transmutation began directly with it. They knew nothing, or at least they said nothing, about the nature of the first volitional 'shock.' It is upon this, however, that the whole thing depends. The second volitional 'shock' and transmutation become physically possible only after long practice on the first volitional 'shock,' which consists in self-remembering, and in observing the impressions received. On the way of the monk and on the way of the fakir work on the second 'shock' begins before work on the first 'shock,' but as mi 12 is created only as a result of the first 'shock,' work, in the absence of other material, has of necessity to be concentrated on si 12, and it very often gives quite wrong results. Right development on the fourth way must begin with the first volitional 'shock' and then pass on to the second 'shock' at mi 12.

Coming back to the topic, as far as I understand it, the Prayer Of the Soul is a somewhat different in the sense that it actively asks for Grace. An objective surrender to the divine cosmic mind as opposed to being ruled by the predator's mind invokes the flow of Grace which would perhaps result in a connection to be forged with the higher emotional and higher intellectual centers.

Cleanse my heart
That I may know and love
the Holiness of True Existence

seems to be about cleansing the lower emotional center (my heart) to facilitate connection with the higher emotional and higher intellectual centers leading to objective Love and Knowledge.

Though I am not seeing a direct connection between self-remembering as taught by G and the Prayer Of the Soul, it has been a personal experience of working with the Prayer Of the Soul and the EE breathing program that the desire to self-remember has been strengthened by this process. My current thinking is that since the Prayer Of the Soul is so broad in scope and asks for assistance in the way which is likely to be tailored towards individual needs, the prior efforts towards self-remembering for those who tried may be strengthened by POTS and EE. I wonder if somebody unfamiliar with the idea of self-remembering would start EE and POTS, whether there would be an increase in self-remembering as per G's definition of it. Any thoughts?

 

[Renaissance]

I am not seeing a direct connection between the Prayer Of The Soul and self-remembering. Self-remembering as I understand it is being aware of one's self with 3 centers -with sensation, feeling and thoughts. It may be possible to "self-remember" without acknowledging a higher self/ divine cosmic mind. Self remembering supplies the first volitional shock which results in the continuation of the 3 octaves of nutrition producing finer energies in our organism - it is a requisite step towards becoming Man 4 in the 4th Way and thus would lead to perhaps the same state as asked for in the Prayer Of the Soul.

Perhaps this might help in making the connection:

What also have I not done, what resources have I not exhausted in my determination to reach a state where the functioning of my psyche in my usual waking state would flow in accordance with the previous instructions of my active consciousness, but all in vain!

In my past life, being forever merciless to my natural weaknesses, and almost all the time jealously keeping watch over myself, I could attain almost anything within the limits of man's possibilities, and in some fields attained even to such a degree of power as not one man, perhaps not even in any past epoch, had ever attained.
For instance, the development of the power of my thoughts had been brought to such a level that by only a few hours of self-preparation I could from a distance of tens of miles kill a yak; or, in twenty-four hours, could accumulate life forces of such compactness that I could in five minutes put to sleep an elephant.

At the same time, in spite of all my desires and endeavors, I could not succeed in "remembering myself in the process of my general common life with others so as to be able to manifest myself, not according to my nature but according to the previous instructions of my "collected consciousness."

Everything, without exception, all sound logic as well as all historical data, reveal and affirm that God represents absolute goodness; He is all-loving and all-forgiving. He is the just pacifier of all that exists.

At the same time why should He, being as He is, send away from Himself one of His nearest, by Him animated, beloved sons, only for the "way of pride" proper to any young and still incompletely formed individual, and bestow upon him a force equal but opposite to His own? . . . I refer to the "Devil."

This idea illuminated the condition of my inner world like the sun, and rendered it obvious that in the great world for the possibility of harmonious construction there was inevitably required some kind of continuous perpetuation of the reminding factor.

For this reason our Maker Himself, in the name of all that He had created, was compelled to place one of His beloved sons in such an, in the objective sense, invidious situation.

Therefore I also have now for my small inner world to create out of myself, from some factor beloved by me, an alike unending source.

There arises now a question like this:

What is there contained in my general presence which, if I should remove it from myself, would
always in my various general states be reminding me of itself?

Thinking and thinking, I came to the conclusion that if I should intentionally stop utilizing the exceptional power in my possession which had been developed by me consciously in my common life with people, then there must be forced out of me such a reminding source.

Namely, the power based upon strength in the field of "hanbledzoin," or, as it would be called by others, the power of telepathy and hypnotism.

Thanks mainly to this my inherency, developed in me by myself, I, in the process of general life, especially for the last two years, had been spoiled and depraved to the core, so that most likely this would remain for all my life.
And so, if consciously I would deprive myself of this grace of my inherency, then undoubtedly always and in everything its absence would be felt.

I take an oath to remember never to make use of this inherency of mine and thereby to deprive myself from satisfying most of my vices. In the process of living together with others, this beloved inherency will always be a reminder for me....

It all ended thus, that I decided to take an oath before my own essence, in a state of mind known to me, never again to make use of this property of mine.

I must also mention that, when I took the oath not to apply in life this inherency of mine, I made a reservation that my oath should not concern the application of it for scientific purposes.

For instance, I was very much interested then, and even now my interest has not entirely vanished, in increasing the visibility of distant cosmic centers many thousand times through the use of a medium, and in the cure of cancer by the power of suggestion.

 

[gotogo]

And the whole context of 'The Prayer of the Soul' is in the Remembrance of "Divine Cosmic Mind", which means "Self-Remembering" to my understanding.

I am not seeing a direct connection between the Prayer Of The Soul and self-remembering. Self-remembering as I understand it is being aware of one's self with 3 centers -with sensation, feeling and thoughts.

Hello obyvatel,
I understand where you come from. :)

Practically, if you wish, when you try to remember yourself you can also try to remember "Divine Cosmic Mind" in any 'particular' context of daily life. While walking on the road, sitting in front of the computer like NOW. And just BE with the remembrance of "Divine Cosmic Mind" and examine what will happen to your 'attentions' - 'awareness'? No expectation but just 'feel' (or/and BE in) the concept so to speak and simply observe the whole thing... (Sorry, I don't know how to explain it well... )


The closest reference I have is from:
[quote author=Rodney Collin - Theory of Celestial Influence p237]
As we have seen, no phenomenon is produced by two forces: every phenomenon and every real result requires three forces. The practice of self-remembering or division of attention is connected with the attempt to produce a certain phenomenon, the birth of consciousness in oneself. And when this begins to happen, attention recognises with relief and joy not two but three factors - one's own organism, the subject of experiment; the situation to which this organism is exposed in the moment; and something permanent which stands on a higher level than both and which alone can resolve the relation between the two.

What is this third factor which must be remembered? Each person must find it for himself, and his own form of it -his school, his teacher, his purpose, the principles he has learned, the Sun, some higher power in the universe, God. He must remember that himself and his situation both stand in the presence of higher powers, are both bathed in celestial influence. Fascinated, he is wholly absorbed in the tree he notices: with divided attention, he sees both the tree and himself looking at it: remembering, he is aware of tree, himself, and of the Sun shining impartially upon both.
[/quote]

(The picture attached may give hints also!)

Often the 'gap' between trying to remember myself and 'Self-Remembering' itself (the 3rd state of consciousness) is this third factor. And understanding of "Divine Cosmic Mind" can be exactly that factor. At least that is how I experience it. And that is how I connected them.

 

[gotogo]

I found yesterday in other thread where anart is quoting Ark (here).
I thought the quote was relating to this topic too so I will quote it here as well. :)

[quote author=Ark]
So, I suggest, forget all your "I should", and replace it by "I ALWAYS WANTED...". It may take
a while for you to specify what it is that you "always wanted", but, on the other hand, perhaps you
know it right away.

FORGET "I should", forget it all. Replace it by "I LOVE TO DO ...." and skip completely the TIME issue.

If you need five lifes to accomplish what you WANT, let this be the first of those five. And then, without any "time obligation"
or "should stressing" - start it.

First step first. And ENJOY it. And LOVE yourself - take care of yourself.

This is the only thing that the Universe (God?) wants from you, I think.
[/quote]

 

[obyvatel]

Thanks for your responses Los and GotoGo.

Los, what I got from the passage you quoted was that G was looking for a personal sacrifice (by not using the considerable psychic powers he had developed) of such a great magnitude that he would always be reminded of it thus strengthening self-remembering through that association.

GotoGo, the quote form Rodney Collin in Theory Of Celestial Influence seems to suggest that to self-remember, one needs to acknowledge something that stands higher than the self and the object as the 3rd factor. You are using the divine cosmic mind as that higher component to assist in self-remembering.

It seems that various shocks can be used to bolster self-remembering - like alarm clocks going off to arouse one from slumber. Also, if we can remember one thing, then that can act as an associative tool to help remember the self. Thus a remembering of the divine cosmic mind can act as an aid to self-remembering.

I have read accounts of mystics describing the state of constant remembering of a higher power (God) leading to a state of ecstasy - divine union - where the sense of self is sort of annihilated. This is referred to as the state of "I am That" in Advaita (Non-dual) philosophy. This state is said to be generally acquired in a state of deep meditation leading to experience of samadhi. However, for very few, this state is said to be abiding even outside the state of deep meditation or samadhi. These people are sometimes called paramahamsas - (translated as supreme swans - equally at ease with the worlds of spirit and matter) though this term is perhaps liberally misused in present times.

 

[Oxajil]

I think I just realized something.

Somewhere in the past, basically, when I started changing my lifestyle... You know, eating healthy and practicing External Consideration I've realized that I began to love myself much more.
Not in the sense of thinking that I'm superior or something, but I love myself for being myself, for being me.
The kind of love a parent should have for his/her child.

So when I began to truly take care of myself, filling my needs myself and taking responsibilities for myself as Consciously as possible, I began to understand myself better.
And by understanding myself better and the Universe, by reading the material, I started to love myself.

I think one of the reasons why we might hate ourselves or not love ourselves is because no one really cared for us. No one really thought about our needs. No one really taught us what loving really is.
Our parents indirectly do not love us, the way we thought they would. And if nobody really loved us, why should we?

And that really hurts if you think about it. I do think some parents truly love us, from the very inside of their hearts. But they never express that love in its pure form or at all or maybe only in rare ocassions.

So should I tell my parents to stop being so selfish?
Tell them that they are not treating me in the way they should?
That they should also take my needs in consideration instead of putting their own always on top?

No. I don't think that's the answer. Though it depends on the kind of parents you have, some are willing to listen and perhaps learn if you gently could tell your problems. Others not at all.

In my eyes, my parents are still children, they are still hurt (because I think they never really thought about/learned from their past) and if I would do the same to them, by forcing/manipulating them to change or act in a certain way in order for me to be happy, I would do the exact same thing.
Something like that should come from both ways (I mean: reciprocal love and caring) by choice.
So I practice external consideration.

So what I do now is to understand their situation and try to take care of myself.
And I think that by loving myself, I learned to love them as well.

I feel like I am a child and a parent at the same time..

I thank the Divine Cosmic Mind and all of you for giving me the opportunity to be able to See (I hope) the situation I am in and to understand it.

I wonder and it makes me so sad thinking about it : How many children are out there who do not understand or misunderstand their situation and are lost in it?

Still have a long road to go. Any comments are welcome.

 

[Hildegarda]

Okajil, I think what you said is beautiful. I have been having similar feelings for some time now, but you put it in words so much better than I ever could have. Thank you!

 

[Tigersoap]

I think I just realized something.

I think you've expressed an important point, if not the most important of all !
This has been my experience as well but it's still a work in progress indeed.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.



Mod's note: Edited to fix the quotation.

 

[Beau]

That's a very important realization to make Oxajil. It's one that isn't easily learned or understood. It may be the most difficult lesson for some of us to learn, to practice external consideration towards our parents, especially if they have contributed to our own narcissism or pain/suffering. That's quite a step forward IMO.

 

[Oxajil]

Thanks guys!

It may be the most difficult lesson for some of us to learn, to practice external consideration towards our parents, especially if they have contributed to our own narcissism or pain/suffering.

That's definitely the hard part. Sometimes I do slip up and sometimes I get hurt or them or both. But I'm learning a lot along the way and hopefully one day I won't make mistakes anymore.

 

[Nienna]

Oxajil, I think that you have hit upon a most important part of what we are trying to do. And it truly is external consideration.

In my instance, I know that my mother would have done better if she, herself, had been raised differently. So how can we expect them to treat us differently when they know no better?

The sad part for me is seeing that my mother would rather believe the lie in certain instances rather than acknowledge the truth of a certain situation. It breaks my heart. But having seen this, and knowing as a fact that this is true, I do not try to convince her of the truth as this is not what she wants to see.

I think that sometimes, being externally considerate is a bittersweet thing.

But, as you have said, it is one step of many to self-love. Or so I think.

Thanks for writing what you did. It is beautiful.

 

[Aliana]

Oxajil, I think that you have hit upon a most important part of what we are trying to do. And it truly is external consideration.

In my instance, I know that my mother would have done better if she, herself, had been raised differently. So how can we expect them to treat us differently when they know no better?

The sad part for me is seeing that my mother would rather believe the lie in certain instances rather than acknowledge the truth of a certain situation. It breaks my heart. But having seen this, and knowing as a fact that this is true, I do not try to convince her of the truth as this is not what she wants to see.

I think that sometimes, being externally considerate is a bittersweet thing.

But, as you have said, it is one step of many to self-love. Or so I think.

Thanks for writing what you did. It is beautiful.

Yes, thank you Oxajil. Your post was quite timely because i have been dealing with this intensely the past few weeks in respect to my mother. The EE program seems to have stirred up a hornets nest of bottled up emotions from childhood including buckets of anger and deep pain of not feeling loved. And while trying to move through this, I also must set those feelings aside when she calls and when I need to be there to help her (as she is older and requires help sometimes). It requires a formidable amount of control at times, so that i can be present with my mother now, rather than reacting to that mother from the past. And of course, she still pushes manipulation buttons - so I take deep breaths and bite my tongue.

Fortunately it helps that i know the circumstances of her upbringing and have some compassion for what she experienced as a child - and that she really tried to create a better life for her children than what she experienced. Yes it really is a bittersweet thing - to face the pain from those childhood experiences and still manage to be compassionate / considerate. But we are fortunate that we are able to see this and practice external consideration - even if still a work in process. I am so grateful for the EE program.

 

[Buddy]

I think I just realized something.
{...}

Fwiw, I too thought that was a wonderful post. In fact, I saw it as so poetically beautiful that it reminded of Laura's reply of the Three Phase Progression.

I find myself hoping that others also see it as an example of tempering the spirit of the warrior beginning with our personal challenges.

 

[Oxajil]

My apologies for this late reply.

Thank you for your kind comments, thank you Buddy for the Thee Phase Progression, that is quite helpful.

I think that sometimes, being externally considerate is a bittersweet thing.

Your post was quite timely because i have been dealing with this intensely the past few weeks in respect to my mother. The EE program seems to have stirred up a hornets nest of bottled up emotions from childhood including buckets of anger and deep pain of not feeling loved. And while trying to move through this, I also must set those feelings aside when she calls and when I need to be there to help her (as she is older and requires help sometimes). It requires a formidable amount of control at times, so that i can be present with my mother now, rather than reacting to that mother from the past. And of course, she still pushes manipulation buttons - so I take deep breaths and bite my tongue.

Fortunately it helps that i know the circumstances of her upbringing and have some compassion for what she experienced as a child - and that she really tried to create a better life for her children than what she experienced. Yes it really is a bittersweet thing - to face the pain from those childhood experiences and still manage to be compassionate / considerate. But we are fortunate that we are able to see this and practice external consideration - even if still a work in process. I am so grateful for the EE program.

Yes indeed. I have much respect for all of you.

It is some kind of a balance it seems, this bittersweet thing. In the Wave I read:

He (Castaneda) further tells us, and this is corroborated in other teachings, that to interact with the unknown, but that which is ultimately within the reach of knowing through great work, is energizing, exhilarating and fulfilling even when it is also full of apprehension and fear. It seems that one of the effects of enlargement of the perceptual field is a combination of sheer joy combined with a frightening feeling of sadness and longing. This is apparently because a full field of awareness includes all the opposites in perfect balance.

Edit: Another quote that fits here is this from the Statement of Principles:

Conscience is objective, in that it gives each part of creation its due, blinking neither at the Light nor the Dark, while differentiating between the two.

 

[pirataloko]

Hi everybody.

I believe that this discusion is very important.

On the one hand we have the external consideration, that allows us deal with others being aware of the pattern of their thoughts and manipulations allowing us to place ourselves in a position somewhat more distant and seeing things in a more "objective" perspective. In same way this is changing ourselves and our outlook on life and interactions.

In the other hand we can extrapolate these interactions in the following way: If there are persons trying to maipulate us under their thoughts patterns, we are aware about it, we are gonig to do what we have to do. How have our behavior affects others?, we are changing, we see things differently. I think that certainly we are also affecting those who interact with us, in a more or less significant way. From one point of view may be very important ,our influence is latent although sometimes the opposite seems . I think it is a very important step to change things.

I encourage everyone, and to continue down this line.