Series [3] blog [01] Dualism and Reason

Date: 2010/06/26 - This information was downloaded using a pendulum as instructed at the end of the second series.

Download Layout:

[01] Subject - Dualism

[02] External characteristics - I-Ching

[03] Internal characteristics - Peace

[2+3] Synthesis - Language

[04] Core - Illumination

[05] Consequence - Noosphere

[06] Responsibility - Liberation

[07] Probable outcome - Literalists

[08] Conditioning - Crystal

[09] Attitude - Dionysus

[10] Right action - Helping

[11] Qty and Quality - Development

[12] Objective - Reason

[13] Outcome - Balance

Synopsis:

The subject matter calls for a new system of reasoning to engage higher mental faculties that our current binary system is able to do using natural language. This reference is perfect as a start for this new series.

It expands on this with a description of what this unconscious thing looks like by giving us Jung’s explanation of the I-Ching, which is the greatest oracle of all time. Jung wrote that we need a method of enquiry with as few conditions as possible to force Nature to give us an answer that we can interpret with our intuition.

The internal characteristic rounds this off by linking this dowsing method to the interplay of Yin and Yang to the peace in Tao. Treating the unconscious as an equal partner will bring peace, and so will restoring the balance between the two brain hemispheres through whole-brain thinking.

The synthesis of these two to three to four is quite obvious insofar as it relates to this method as an oracle that speaks out from books. It forces one to think of the learning potential in being able to access this massive knowledge base under the direction of a higher aspect of Self that supports personal growth.

To test this we need to look at what s4 introduces as the core issue to be raised here. It refers us to the creative thinking process that has stages of incubation and illumination, which is when we upload the problem into the unconscious and then wait to download the answer when ready. Another way of stating this is when we wait on the right-brain hemisphere to finish processing the problem and to relay the answer back to consciousness under mysterious circumstances. The core issue here is that this process is hardly ever acknowledged, even at creativity conferences, because of a fear of the unconscious. This fear is stems from a prejudice against right-brain thinking that has been around for thousands of years, which the majority of people are not aware of. One must first become aware of this prejudice.

As a consequence (of s1-4) we get directed to Pierre de Chardin’s notion of the Noosphere as the collective consciousness of our planet that contains ‘super-vision and super-ideas’. It makes us aware of the fact that others have already given this collective database a name, and it is not the internet. This is about becoming aware of a parallel Net, a mental one, a supermind.

In s6 we get a look at our responsibility, which is to liberate ourselves from the conditioning that prevents us from seeing the truth of our interconnectedness and the true realization of this natural state.

The sad reality of the current paradigm is that the Literalists will continue hold sway over the masses (s7) as the probable outcome. To change this we need a breakthrough in how we communicate with the unconscious Mind.

The download offers a way to overcome the conditioning (in s8) and the attitude (in s9) to adopt to help bring this all about. Our belief systems reflect a conditioning that separates us from our pagan nature so it is fitting that we are advised to adopt a Dionysian attitude.

This leads us to the right action one should take, and here in s10 we get told that helping "typically involves learning, as in unlearning, relearning, new learning.

In terms of just how much helping is required we get insight in the paradox of modern life from Marx. There is a balance to strive for.

This is supported by the objective for taking this action, which is to develop the faculty of reason to arrive at objectivity. Fromm believed that if one's capacity for reason is restricted or damaged, its use in all other sectors will create illusionary perceptions.

In s13 the final outcome is about realizing one’s personal destiny. This fits with the ancient teachings that we are wiped clean of any knowledge of our destiny at birth. It is only by working with the unconscious mind that one can actively participate in following this path.

This download introduces a new method with which to engage one’s unconscious in a more transparent and meaningful way. It opens us up to Self-directed knowledge.

[01] Dualism

Subject s[01] is DUALISM: This is great start for using a pendulum. It suggests that the download will deal with the limitations of language and how this dowsing method offers raises unconscious knowledge.

Charles Hoy Fort … he is attacking the mental structure of civilized man. He is completely out of sympathy with the two-stroke motor which is the driving power of modern reasoning. Two strokes: Yes and No, Positive and Negative, Modern knowledge and modern intelligence are based on this binary system …

Where Fort is opposed to Descartes is in his insistence that we should envisage the general from an angle which would allow the particular to be defined in its relation thereto, in such a way that every object or thing would be seen as intermediaries between other things.

What he demands is a new mental structure, capable of recognizing as real the intermediate states between the yes and the no … In other words, a system of reasoning which is higher than binary and would be, as it were , a third eye for the intelligence. To express what this third eye perceives, language (which is a binary product, an organized conspiracy and limitation) is not sufficient.

[Pauwels I. & Bergier J. The Morning of the Magicians, 1979, Granada Publishing]

[02] I Ching

The external characteristics is to be found in the symbol s[02] I CHING, which introduces the Chinese way of thinking to the problem raised in the subject s[01]:

The exact method of divining is explained … Jung's description of this process is reprinted here (Jung and Pauli,1955) … The I Ching, which we can well call the experimental basis of classical Chinese philosophy, is one of the oldest known methods for grasping a situation as a whole and thus placing the details against a cosmic background - the interplay of Yin and Yang. This grasping of the whole is obviously the aim of science as well, but it is a goal that necessarily lies very far off because science, whenever possible proceeds experimentally and in all cases statistically …

The workings of nature in her unrestricted wholeness are completely excluded. If we want to know what these workings are, we need a method of enquiry which imposes the fewest possible conditions, or if possible no conditions at all, and then leaves Nature to answer out of her fullness. …

Chinese sages … supposed that the same living reality was expressing itself in the psychic state as in the physical. But in order to verify such a hypothesis, some limiting condition was needed in this apparently limitless experiment, namely a definite form of physical procedure, a method or technique which forced Nature to answer in even and odd numbers … this naturally presupposes an intuitive knowledge of the meaning of each oracle figure …

The interpretations formulate the inner unconscious knowledge that corresponds to the state of unconsciousness at the moment, and this psychological situation coincides with the chance result of the method …

The method, like all divinatory or intuitive techniques, is based on an acausal or synchronistic connective principle. 

[Hook D.ff. The I-Ching and You, 1973, Routledge & Kegan Paul]

[03] Peace

Symbol s[03] is PEACE: it may refer to the dualistic relationship between the two brain hemispheres that is also male:female and how harmony is restored when communication respects the unconscious (read as also mute right brain) as an equal partner.

Peace. (Yang supporting Yin and going to meet each other …)

[Hook D.ff. The I-Ching and You, 1973, Routledge & Kegan Paul]

[02+03] Synthesis – Language

The SYNTHESIS s[2+3] relates to the limitations of language that must be addressed if we are to learn a language of symbols that can allow us to interpret unconscious knowledge. It relates to the harmony of thought generated by whole-brain thinking - Peace of Mind.

[04] Illumination

For the Core Issue in s[04] we are given the symbol ILLUMINATION. This stage of the creative process depends largely on invoking a meditative state of mind to receive this type of thought.

The Creative Process. All creativity means is the use of the imagination to produce some new thing … What makes high creativity so elusive is that, in general, we do not know how to evoke the state of mind in which we can easily make new, unique, and useful associations between ideas … creative expression is a process. Inspirations … in a flash of illumination …

Herman Helmholtz first described the stages … saturation, incubation, and illumination… Incubation begins when a problem solver gives up actively trying to solve the problem, handing it over to the realm of the unconscious … will then give birth to illumination …

Elmer and Alyce Green, biofeedback researchers … The entrance, or key, to all these inner processes [is] a particular state of consciousness in which the gap between conscious and unconscious processes is voluntarily narrowed, and temporarily eliminated when useful. When that self-regulated reverie is established, the body can apparently be programmed at will, and the instructions given will be carried out, emotional state can be dispassionately examined, accepted or rejected, or totally supplanted by others deemed more useful, and problems insoluble to the normal state of consciousness can be elegantly resolved.  

[LaBerge S. & Rheingold H. Exploring the world of Lucid Dreaming, 1990, Ballantine]

[05] Noosphere    

As a consequence s[05] we get the symbol NOOSPHERE. Teilhard stated that our biological evolution is giving rise to special forces that are a psychic phenomenon of hominisation; that this has created a dimension of 'thinking substance' that he called the Noosphere. This fits perfectly with the goal of Mx, which is to tap into this collective Brain.

The Formation of the Noosphere: c) The cerebral apparatus. Between the human brain, with its milliards of inter-connected nerve cells, and the apparatus of social thought, with its millions of individuals thinking collectively, there is an evident kinship … On the one hand we have a single brain, formed of nervous nuclei, and on the other a Brain of brains … the 'cerebroid' organ of the Noosphere … a synthesis … a vault above our heads, a sphere of mutually reinforced consciousness, the seat, support and instrument of super-vision and super-ideas … it is on a higher level than the individual that everything achieves its fulfillment.    
[de Chardin P.T. The Future of Man, 1969, Fontana Books]

[06] Liberation     

The responsibility in s[06] is to free oneself from the causes of suffering, and to work at understanding life from an awakened perspective using the unconscious knowledge that rises into awareness.

Liberation: Jamgon Kontrul: " … The cause for liberation is unconditioned insight, the true realization of the natural state that is free of ego-clinging, which has the capacity to eliminate all negative emotional states. The cause of this true insight is one pointed samadhi … the cause of samadhi, which is the utterly pure discipline of renunciation. Thus, right now, in order to free myself from samsara, I will stick to the discipline, train in samadhi, and generate true insight in the sense of understanding the meaning of impermanence, suffering, emptiness and egolessness." …

In other words, we want to be free of samsara, of all samsaric states, the causes of which are the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aggression.

[Edited by Schmidt M.B. Skillful Grace, Tara Practice for our Times, 2007, Rangjung Yeshe Publications]

[07] Literalists

The probable outcome s[07] is that humankind will continue down the bloody path that LITERALISTS have carved out over the centuries unless we start to push back against intolerant religions and try to reclaim what was lost. To do this we need a breakthrough in how we communicate with the unconscious Mind.

The Destruction of Gnosticism: In response to the continuing popularity of Gnosticism the Roman Church set out to unify Christianity by force … In 381 Theodosius finally made heresy a crime against the state. Gnostics writings were condemned as a 'hotbed of manifold perversity" which 'should not only be forbidden, but entirely destroyed and burned with fire'.  All philosophical debate was entirely suppressed …

Inherent Intolerance: Although modern Christianity is made up of countless diverse sects with opposing approaches … are fundamentally shaped by the triumph of Literalism in the fourth century …

The wanton destruction of our Pagan heritage is the greatest tragedy in the history of the Western world. The scale of what was lost is hard to comprehend. Pagan mysticism and scientific enquiry were replaced by dogmatic authoritarianism. The Roman Church imposed its creed with threats and violence, denying generations of human beings the right to think their own thoughts and find their personal route to spiritual salvation … (we ask) why was Pagan civilization replaced by the 1,000 years we appropriately call the 'Dark Ages'?  

[Freke T. & Gandy P. The Jesus Mysteries, 2000, Thorsons]

[08] Crystal

The conditioning in s[8] relates to CRYSTAL and brings up an interesting problem that the collective unconscious which controls human behaviour, remains unchanged by civilization. The conditioning that I believe we need to overcome involves changing that which we can, the belief systems that prevent us from allowing for our pagan nature.

The crystal is a fascinating phenomenon in physical nature. Its structure, like that of an archetype, is transcendental, a noumenon: the eternally existing pattern of any class of things, of which the individual things in that class are imperfect copies, and from which they derive their existence. (Plato's Primordial Idea) …

In the same way that the structure of a crystal can be imagined and derived from an actual crystal, the psychology of an archetype can be derived from psychic utterances llike dreams and visions …   

[Edited by Mason & Stanely. Quest, 1975, Analytical Psychology Club]

[09] Dionysus

The attitude in s[09] is that of DIONYSUS, which supports the preceding point in offering a fresh perspective on Nietzsche's work.

What I Owe to the Ancients … the still rich and even overflowing Hellenic instinct, that wonderful phenomenon which bears the name of Dionysus: … For it is only in the Dionysian mysteries, in the psychology of the Dionysian state, that the basic fact of the Hellenic instinct finds expression—its “will to life.” …

I know no higher symbolism than this Greek symbolism of the Dionysian festivals. Here the most profound instinct of life, that directed toward the future of life, the eternity of life, is experienced religiously—and the way to life, procreation, as the holy way. It was Christianity, with its ressentiment against life at the bottom of its heart, which first made something unclean of sexuality: it threw filth on the origin, on the presupposition of our life …

Saying Yes to life even in its strangest and hardest problems, the will to life rejoicing over its own inexhaustibility even in the very sacrifice of its highest types—that is what I called Dionysian.    

[Nietzsche F. Twilight of the Idols, 1972, Penguin Books]

[10] Helping

When faced with overcoming conditioning and the right attitude to adopt, it is fitting that we get HELPING as the right-action to take in s[10]:

Helping as an Education Process: Another way of looking at the goal of helping is client learning. As Strupp (1986) puts it, helping "typically involves learning (unlearning, relearning, new learning), which may take many different forms …

 The outcomes may manifest themselves as changes in cognitions, feeling, or behaviour (or some combination of these)" (p. 124).

Helping is thus an education process whose goal is learning. An excellent definition of learning is this: Learning takes place when options are increased. If the collaboration between helpers and clients is successful, clients learn in very practical ways. They have more "degrees of freedom" in their lives as they open up options and take advantage of them. … Every helping interview can be seen as an opportunity to help clients develop more options in their lives.

A poet once described the lot of people to be "cabined, cribbed, and confined."

At its best, helping enables clients to learn to open doors, to throw off chains, to stretch.

[Egan G. The Skilled Helper, 1990, Brooks/Cole Publishers]

[11] Development

For the quantity and quality aspects in position s[11] we get DEVELOPMENT. Note the references to archetypes and Dionysus as covered in s[8 & 9], and the paradox.

Marcuse's criticism of Marx … where Marx's favorite is attacked … : Prometheus is the culture-hero of toil, productivity, and progress through repression … the trickster and (suffering) rebel against the gods, who creates culture at the price of perpetual pain. He symbolizes productiveness, the unceasing effort to master life. … Prometheus is the archetypal hero of the performance principle.

Marcuse proceeds to nominate alternate mythological figures, whom he considers more worthy of idealization: Orpheus, Narcissus, and Dionysus … [They] stand for a very different reality. … Theirs is the image of joy and fulfillment, the voice that does not command but sings, the deed which is peace and ends the labor of conquest …

If Marx is fetishistic about anything, it is not work and production but rather the far more complex and comprehensive ideal of development - "the free development of physical and spiritual energies" (1844 manuscripts); "development of a totality of capacities in the individuals themselves" (German Ideology); … "the universality of individual needs, capacities, pleasures, productive forces, etc." (Grundrisse); "the fully developed individual" (Capital). … Marx wants to embrace Prometheus and Orpheus …

The great gift he can give us today, it seems to me, is not a way out of the contradictions of modern life but a surer and deeper way into these contradictions. He knew that the way beyond the contradictions would have to lead through modernity, not out of it. He knew that we must start where we are: psychically naked, stripped of all religious, aesthetic, moral haloes and sentimental veils, thrown back on our individual will and energy, forced to exploit each other and ourselves in order to survive; and yet, in spite of all, thrown together by the same forces that pull us apart, dimly aware of all we might be together, ready to stretch ourselves to grasp new human possibilities, to develop identities and mutual bonds that can help us hold together as the fierce modern air blows hot and cold through us all.   

[Berman M. All that is solid melts into air, 1987, Verso]

[12] Reason

In s[12] we get insight into the desired objective for the right-action, which is to develop the human faculty of REASON. There is an important distinction between reasoning and intelligence that fits brilliantly with the rest.

But even if man's frame of orientation is utterly illusory, it satisfies his need for some picture which is meaningful to him … the picture of the world which he has depends on the development of his reason and of his knowledge … it takes a long evolutionary process to arrive at objectivity … Reason is man's faculty for grasping the world by thought, in contradiction to intelligence, which is man's ability to manipulate the world with the help of thought. Reason is man's instrument for arriving at the truth, intelligence is man's instrument for manipulating the world successfully; the former is essentially human, the latter belongs to the animal part of man. Reason is a faculty which must be practiced, in order to develop, and it is indivisible … If one lives in illusions about one sector of life, one's capacity for reason is restricted or damaged, and thus the use of reason is inhibited with regard to all other sectors. Reason in this respect is like love.

[Fromm E. The Sane Society, 1991, Routledge]

[13] Balance

The symbol for the final outcome s[13] is BALANCE, which relates perfectly to the download as a whole. I think this reads well for a first attempt using the pendulum, I'm happy :)

Finding balance is key to the success of any karmic journey. Grappling with the challenges of life often means that we have to reconcile conflicting energies. Each of the karmic paths seems to require finding the middle between two concepts that often appear to be unrelated or mutually exclusive.  Resolving this paradox is part of the journey … Working with a paradox causes one to move outside the framework of ordinary perceptions or notions of logic and can bring the student to new levels of awareness …

It is important to develop the objectivity to gather the fruits of the lessons as you encounter them. Otherwise life may seem meaningless or, worse, hopeless.   

[Goldschneider G. & Elffers J. The Secret Language of Destiny]

[13] Finding answers with a pendulum

Psychic Download: 2010/04/12

Q and A using a dowsing method

Download Layout:

[01] Subject - Dialectics

[02] External - Transformative power

[03] Internal - Body language

[2+3] Synthesis - Philosophical technique

[04] Core - Atlantis

[05] Consequence - Neuroses

[06] Responsibility - Answers

[07] Predictable outcome - Indifference

[08] Conditioning - Crystals

[09] Attitude - Toning

[10] Right action - Metaphor

[11] Quality and Quantity - Drawing lines

[12] Objective - States of consciousness

[13] Possible outcome - Q and A

Synopsis:

This download refers to Socrates' dialectical method, but for questioning the genius within, which is what he was doing in a round about way by submitting to a higher source. The problem with asking questions is that it activates a transformative power that will challenge one’s beliefs. Linked to this is an unconscious ability to read emotional expressions that must be raised in a synthesis to something like the Philosopher’s Stone that one can use to navigate the change process. The link with emotions has to do with overcoming one’s own fears and also those of others.

The core issue suggests that Atlantis is another name for the universal Mind we seek, and that automatic writing will help get the answers. The problem with this method is that one can produce thousands of pages of nonsense, so it needs to be improved on to enable one to tap into the collective database of knowledge for specific references and answers.

The consequence of inviting change introduces a state of ambivalence in which one must learn to accept the coexistence of opposing attitudes and feelings that challenges one’s commitment. The responsibility one then has is to learn to listen for the subtle clues in the answers we receive that can help with navigating the Path. The probable outcome is being left with the question of what the ‘right action’ is at any given step on the path, and of how to solve this.

The conditioning to overcome suggests the use of quartz crystal (pendulum) to communicate with inner guides or heart mind etc. The right attitude supports the view that there are natural energy channels in our body that one must use to stay healthy.

The right action to take is to stimulate and train one’s imagination using mixed metaphors, which is to engage right-brain thinking, using language to raise consciousness. The quantity and/or quality aspect of the right action is a problem of where lines are to be drawn. The answer one gets from the other side is a clue that depends on the reason for the transfer of knowledge which in hindsight may appear as wisdom. The objective of any right action relates to it having deeper significance, linking dreaming to day dreams, to visualization, to right brain thinking, that should be supported into the waking state. There is a new state of consciousness to explore here.

The final outcome suggests developing an effective Q&A system using the pendulum.

Details:

[01] Dialectics

The subject is Socrates' method of DIALECTICS. Where it refers to ‘others’ we should include the internal guides etc.

By the middle of the fifth century BCE the Sophist was the popular image of a philosopher … I'm sure it was important for him to distance himself from the Sophists and to maintain his own image and independence … Sophists only talked for money … Socrates' method of question and answer [see s13], the dialectical method, may have even developed as a response … setting up a method in which he wants only to ask questions of others, not to answer them himself … had no need to act like the other wise men.

Forstater M. The Living Wisdom of Socrates, 2004, Hodder and Stoughton

[02] Transformative Power

The external characteristic is an attitude change in one's faith that can be attributed to the divine energy.

The Transformative Power of the Divine Energy: The fear of the supernatural and antipathy towards religion that had been constantly present during the first few months had partially disappeared … From a devotee, I had become an inveterate enemy of faith … turned into a rank atheist … In the early stages, desperately engaged in a neck-and-neck race, with death on one side and insanity on the other.

Krishna G. Living with Kundalini, 1993, Shambhala Publications

[03] Body Language

The internal characteristic to look for relates to the unconscious reading of body language.

The Man of Seven Thousand Faces: Paul Ekman … landmark finding in the understanding of the universal nature of the expression of emotions. That led him to a serious reading of Darwin, who long ago had proposed just that universality … Paul set out to build that system … Facial anatomy allows about seven thousand visually distinct combinations of those muscles … Facial Action Coding System.

Goleman D. Destructive Emotions, 2003, Bloomsbury

[2+3] Synthesis

This refers to a philosophical technique found in alchemy that one can use to navigate the changing attitude during the transformation process. And, just as Jung developed Active Imagination, so we need to continue to improve these methods of inquiry. This download suggests to me that I need to work on developing a system that will allow a person to use a pendulum to find answers in a library.

[04] Atlantis

The symbol ATLANTIS as the core issue is a metaphor for the higher state of consciousness.

Did Atlantis really exist on earth? Does Atlantis exist already as a state of awareness [see s12] slightly more advanced than any now on earth, but on a higher vibratory, yet earthlike level? If so, is Atlantis yet to come to earth? Is man seeking Atlantis in the wrong direction, by looking into the past rather than into the future? … Atlantis could, itself, be another name for Mind. Is man matter or mind, or both? If man is a dweller on two plane(t)s, how long must he remain so, and how can he best live with his own duality? Automatic writing will help you gain many answers.

Parrott W.S. Understanding Automatic Writing, 1974, Sherbourne Press Inc.

[05] Neuroses

As a consequence one needs to be aware of the creative ways in which the mind works with neuroses.

Let us turn to the obsessional neuroses in the hope of learning more about the formation of symptoms … fall into two groups, each having an opposite trend. They are either prohibitions … negative in character … or … substitute satisfactions which often appear in symbolic disguise … The symptom-formation scores a triumph if it succeeds in combining the prohibition with satisfaction so that what was originally a defensive command or prohibition acquires the significance of a satisfaction as well; and in order to achieve this end it will often make use of the most ingenious associative paths. Such an achievement demonstrates the tendency of the ego to synthesize … In extreme cases the patient manages to make most of his symptoms acquire, in addition to their original meaning, a directly contrary one. This is a tribute to the power of ambivalence.

Freud S. Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety, 1961, The Hogarth Press Ltd.

Definition of ambivalence is (a) the coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings toward a person, object, or idea. (b) uncertainty or indecisiveness as to which course to follow. [see s07: indifference].

[06] Answers

It is one's responsibility to learn to respond to the subtle clues from higher consciousness:

We thought back over the day's long journey, attempting to marshal it in reversed images. What would have happened … (if)? … what would have happened had we not responded … And still we have no answer to this question, other than in the clue found in the fragmentary gospels now called the The Acts of John. The Disciple cries out, 'I would flee.' The Master says, 'I would rather have you stay.' The angels, no less than the Master, are not permitted to issue imperative commands. However, it seems that they may warn or persuade us with signs and wonders, even if these are no more substantial than … (whatever).

Ovason D. The Zelator, The Secret Journals of Mark Hedsel, 1999, Arrow Books Limited

[07] Indifference

For the probable outcome we get the symbol INDIFFERENCE. Note how the paragraph ends with a question on how best to act.

One can draw so-called indifference curves, i.e. lines joining the points in the coordinate system representing alternatives to which the person in question is indifferent. Given certain assumptions about preferences, these curves are always convex with respect to the origin; and a part of the person's preference system is that, of all the curves he might possibly find himself on, he prefers that which is furthest from the origin. The question now is how a reasonable or rational person who wants to maximize his well-being or utility should behave in this situation.

Johansson I. Ontological Investigations, 1989, Routledge.

[08] Crystal

The conditioning one needs to overcome in is given in the symbol CRYSTAL. Note the reference to communicating with angels, and the energy fields that shape our actions.

Crystals: Aldous Huxley … had his own theory. Precious stones are precious because they remind us of the glittering vistas of the inner worlds, pregnant with light and colour. … but quartz crystals are unique. Their inner and outer aspects are identical , the only known structures on our planet to exhibit this characteristic … Elizabethan magicians John Dee and Edward Kelly attempted to communicate with angels, they did so with the aid of a crystal shewstone … Russian scientists … 1960s … explored the possibility that the Earth itself is a giant crystal. According to this theory, a crystalline lattice, providing a matrix for cosmic energy, may have formed part of the original structure of our emerging planet. More exciting still, this structure can still be seen in twelve pentagonal slabs covering the surface of the globe … has influenced diverse phenomena as magnetic anomalies, earth faults, volcanoes, mineral and oil deposits … even the siting of ancient civilizations.   

Campbell E. & Brennan J.H. Dictionary of Mind, Body and Spirit, 1994, The Aquarian Press.   [see s9 for natural energy channels in the body]

[09] Toning

The need to change an attitude is given by the symbol TONING:

I tone, therefore I am "… We do leave a tone by the sound of our voice and the feel of our actions, an impression that may be remembered long after our messages are forgotten." -Guidepost.

As adults, many of us have lost touch with our voice as an expressive tool. We aren't as unselfconscious or spontaneous as we were as children. But if we only try, we can do amazing things with our vocal equipment … I realized that to enter the world of sustained vowel sounds - to begin toning … meaning to make sound with an elongated vowel for an extended period, it dates back to the fourteenth century … And, in 1973, Laurel Elizabeth Keyes wrote a simple and intuitive book called Toning: The Creative Power of the Voice … "There are natural channels in the energy in our body, and if we recognize and learn to flow with them, they will keep us healthy."

Campbell D. The Mozart Effect, 1997, Avon Books

[10] Metaphor

This symbol represents the right-action to take.

Robert Graves and Alan Hodge go some way towards defining a more 'permissive' attitude [see s8]. 'A ready test of the legitimacy of a metaphor', they say, 'is whether it can be illustrated even in fantastic caricature or diagram.' … Mixed metaphors are apt to train the imagination to its furthest limits. Why do we mix them so often? Writers in other ages were far more versatile than us in the use and exploitation of imagery. Language, for the Elizabethans, was very much alive, something to be manipulated and gloried in.      

Lawrence J. Mix me A metaphor, 1972, Gentry Books Limited

[11] Drawing a Line

This symbol is apt because it raises the problem experienced at this point, which is to find the line between not enough and too much, between nurturing and spoiling, between corrective and abusive etc.

How will a clear dividing line be drawn between two … The answer to this question is uncertain … " a reason related to a transfer"    

Van Zyl rudd, Labour Law Review, 2005, Van Zyl Rudd & Assoc.

[12] States of Consciousness

The symbol REM sleep, as the objective, introduces another state that continues to influence our cognitive processes after we wake up.

… experiment, conducted by Fiss, Klein, and Bokert … to study the interrelations of waking and sleeping states … The results strongly suggest that the distinguishing properties of a sleep stage are not "switched-off" following awakening but may persist into the waking state … On the basis of … REM and NREM sleep differ sharply with respect to cognitive qualities and … are two distinct states, subject to separate regulative mechanisms.   

 Jones R.M. The New Psychology of Dreams, 1974, The Viking Press

[13] Q and A

Finally, we go back to existing methods that we simply have to build on. Note how this links back to the first symbol, that of Socrates' Q&A method. It is these links that make us aware of a higher mind at work directing what we need to become aware of within the limited focal point we call conscious awareness.

Mental questions, or the 'YES' / 'NO' system … is effectively for the pendulum only, for only the pendulum has the necessary range of reactions, precision and speed of reply.    

Graves T. Dowsing, 1980, Granada Publishing Ltd

[12] The Trapped Soul

Psychic download: 2010/02/11

The Soul Trapped in the Material World

Download Layout:

[01] Subject  -  REM Sleep

[02] External  -  Daimon

[03] Internal  -  Binary Oppositions

[2+3] Synthesis  -  Spirit Aspect

[04] Core  -  Rose and Cross

[05] Consequence  -  Paradox

[06] Responsibility  -  Life-cycle

[07] Predictable outcome  -  Runes

[08] Conditioning  -  Nature

[09] Attitude  -  Population Growth

[10] Right action  -  Music

[11] Quality & Quantity  -  Soul

[12] Objective  -  Suffering

[13] Possible outcome  -  Phenomenology

[01] REM

The symbol under subject s[01] is REM SLEEP, a mysterious state of consciousness:

What happens when you sleep? The body remains busy … The brain is electric … Michael Jouvet, a French neurobiologist … writes about REM sleep (paradoxical sleep). We observed that dreaming was neither sleeping nor waking. It was obviously a third state of the brain, as different from sleep as sleep is from wakefulness. This stage … rapid eye movement … varies in length (between 5 and 20 minutes) with the longest period occurring early in the morning just before you wake up. We spend about 25% of our sleeping time in the REM stage.     Frank E. The Book of Dreams, 2004, Human &  Rousseau

[02] Daimon

The external aspect s[02] is held in the symbol DAIMON. We need to find what it is that looks like a daimon and how it relates to our dream state. The daimon is more commonly referred to as the soul; the spirit; the genius; the guide; the angel etc.

These acorns evidently picked mothers … Whether their subject receives support from the mother (Calas, Wright, Roosevelt) or has differences with the mother (Lukacs, Arbus, Stravinsky), or is neglected by the mother (McClintock, Millay, Turner), biographers tend to enlarge the Mother with mythical greatness, confusing the power of her archetypal image with the force of their individual acorn. … innovation and the transmission of ideas takes place in various ways: horizontally within the family (sibling to sibling); vertically, but reciprocally, child to mother and mother to child; outside the family …     Hillman J. The Soul's Code, 1997, Bantam Books.

[03] Binary Oppositions

The task is to unpack the symbol BINARY OPPOSITIONS s[03] to find the internal characteristics S[02] that fit, and that will spark a synthesis:

It is a feature of culture that binary oppositions come to seem neutral to members of a culture. Many pairing of concepts (such as male-female and mind-body) are familiar within a culture and may seem common-sensical distinctions for everyday communicational purposes even if some of them may be regarded as 'false dichotomies' in critical contexts. The opposition of self-other (or subject-object) is psychologically fundamental. The mind imposes some degree of constancy on the dynamic flux of experience by defining 'the self' in relation to 'the other'.  …   Chandler D. Semiotics, The Basics, 2002, Routledge.

[02+03] Synthesis: The Soul in Matter

The SYNTHESIS s[2+3] appears as the spirit aspect that we call the soul, and it relates to the problem of body-mind within the dream state. This synthesis brings a psychic aspect of ourselves into play, within another state of consciousness that has been described as the 'highway to the unconscious'. This state is for some a virtual reality where simulations are run; and is also a state that includes day-dreaming or 'active imagination' as coined by Jung. This also makes one aware of another fundamental relationship: that of the self and the Self; of the ego and the daimon.

[04] Rose and Cross

The basis s[04] for this download relates to the ROSE-CROSS: This confirms the soul as trapped in the material world as represented by the four elements (arms) of a cross. Dreams are the most important source of unconscious material and one can see how this fits with learning to communicate with one's daimon. Working with the symbols from a dream is a meditation.

Meditation exercise: Evening: The mind pictures the Rose-Cross. Thou my soul, look up to this symbol: may it be to thee the sign of the World Spirit who fills the cosmic spaces, who works through the cycles of time and work eternally in thee … Morning: Let my thinking, let my willing, let my feeling, stand in this sign. May its meaning live in my heart's depths, live in me as light. (Restfulness of soul).    Steiner R. Guidance in Esoteric Training, 1977, Rudolf Steiner Press.

[05] Paradox

Humanity is in this predicament as a consequence s[05] of not realizing the urge to self-transcendence rests is an individual process, hence PARADOX: This links back to INSTITUTION in previous downloads. To put it mildly, we create evil when instead of working at spiritual growth from within, we project it outside of ourselves as an ideology.

AD Majorem Gloriam [For the greater glory of God] … take a look at the human predicament …failure must be sought in the reformer's mistaken interpretation of the causes which compelled man to make such a disaster of his history, prevented him from learning the lessons of the past, and which now puts his survival in question. The basic fallacy consists in putting all the blame on man's selfishness, greed and alleged destructiveness; that is to say, on the self-assertive tendency of the individual. … the part played by crimes committed for personal motives is very small compared to the vast population slaughtered in unselfish loyalty to a jealous god, king, country, or political system. … thus the historical record confronts us with the paradox that the tragedy of man originates not in his aggressiveness but in his devotion to transpersonal ideals; not in an excess of individual self-assertiveness but in a malfunction of the integrative tendencies in our species.        Koestler A. Janus: A Summing Up, 1978, Pan Books Ltd

[06] Life-cycle

Under responsibility s[06] we get the symbol LIFE CYCLE that relates to how one must use the time left wisely.

Phase 6: Age 40-50 - The denial of time and the shadow of approaching night. … when aging begins to affect function for the first time … a noticeable feature of phase 6 is the speeding up of inner time … Phase 7: Age 50-69 - The acceptance of time. By phase 7, individuals have usually had long enough to devise strategies to cope with the knowledge of their mortality … this can be the greatest period of true growth in the human life cycle depending on whether the mid-life confrontation with death has been faced or fled from.     Reanney D. The Death of Forever, 1995, Souvenir Press

[07] Runes

In the position of predictable outcome s[07] we must decode the symbol RUNES, which appears to point to the need to develop more effective systems to engage the unconscious. This symbol points to the underlying geometric structures in nature, and the task at hand, which is to develop devices to help interpret communications with the unconscious Self or Mind.

The Armanen Runes were the invention of the Austrian Guido List (1848 - 1919) who was the founder of the main school of German rune-work in the twentieth century … He based their shapes on the six branches of the Hagal "hailstone" rune, or the "mother rune." … the shape of the Hagal rune imitates the hexagonal lattice underlying the structure of matter. It is said that all of List's 18 runes can be projected by shining a light through a hexagonal crystal at certain angles. Pennick N. The complete illustrated guide to Runes, 2003, Greenwich Editions.

[08] Nature

The symbol NATURE has in it the conditioning s[08] that one needs to overcome. I take this to mean that one needs to get more actively engaged with nature instead of watching on TV or ignoring it as we go about our daily business. Yes, nature is dead to most people who litter, pollute and exploit. But to try explaining why they behave this way will raise issues such as the projection of the unconscious 'mood'.

The mysterious mother has shrouded herself from us in an impenetrable veil of illusion. But though we cannot know nature absolutely we can pick up a practical and piecemeal knowledge of nature not by dreaming but by doing. The man of action can within certain limits have his way with nature … In general, sentiment is not of much avail when pitted against industrial advance … The Rousseauist, on the other hand, does not in his "communion" with nature adjust himself to anything. He is simply communing with his own mood … He sees in nature what he himself has put there. The Rousseauist transfuses himself into nature … Nature is dead, as Rousseau says, unless animated by the fires of love.     Babbitt I. Rousseau & Romanticism, 1966, The World Publishing Company

[09] Population Growth

This calls for a change in attitude s[09] with regard to POPULATION GROWTH:

Ishmael: "So what will happen if you feed the starving millions?" "They'll reproduce and our population will increase." "Without fail … with predictable results … Global population control is always something that's going to happen in the future. It was … when you were three billion in 1960 … there is in fact no significant thrust toward global population control … "Famine isn't unique to humans … Mother Culture says that humans should be exempt from that process." … "True. But all the same, it's hard just to sit by and let them starve." "This is precisely how someone speaks who imagines that he is the world's divinely appointed ruler: 'I will not let them starve …'    Quinn D. Ishmael, 1992, A Bantam / Turner Book

[10] Music

The right-action s[10] is given in the symbol MUSIC, which we all know to have some universal significance that we still need to discover. Music has a special effect on brains that must surely be more than a coincidence or chance evolutionary development. It is as if it is a magic key that we must learn to use.

Singing in One Voice: like a miracle … 'I had a Bird.' … Nothing brings children into one voice like music … music is there to teach him the social skills of turn taking, listening,, and sharing.        Campbell D. The Mozart Effect for Children, 2002, Hodder and Stroughton.

[11] Soul

The symbol SOUL is used here to explain the quality or quantity in s[11]:

The soul is of an eternal essence. It is actually a particle of the Supreme Being … When we once become aware of the idea of an inner direction of Life and its energy paths, bubbling like a fountain from within outwards, then confusion vanishes … But lower mind does not penetrate into essences … it wants its way and uses force to rule outside in matter, it further binds and buries the soul in the mire by these desires, actions and reactions. The pity of it is that man does not realize that he must reap the rewards as well as pay the penalties for all his thoughts, words and deeds(.) And when he has the opportunity to pay some of these debts through the sufferings and afflictions that come his way so that he may learn humility and love, instead of being grateful and patiently doing his best under the circumstances, he begins to grumble and blame others, which only further entangles him in this valley of tears.   Stone R. Mystic Bible, 1989, Radha Soami Satsang Beas

[12] Suffering

The objective s[12] is to acknowledge SUFFERING as a task:

Sometimes man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross. Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness, and there is always only one right answer to the problem posed by the situation at hand. When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.   Frankl V.E. Man's Search for Meaning, 1964, Hodder and Stoughton

[13] Phenomenology

The last symbol under s[13] is PHENOMENOLOGY:  describes the role of the soul as the transcendent aspect that makes meaning out of what we experience. What's interesting here is that although Husserl rejected dualism he believed in a similar subject-matter outcome, which is what this download is about: the body-mind (or soul).

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) Phenomenology: applied the epithet "transcendental" to consciousness as it is aside from its (valid and necessary) self-apperception as in a world. At the same time he restricted the term "psychic" to subjectivity (personal subjects, their streams of consciousness, etc.) in its status as worldly, animal, human subjectivity. … an abstracting and self-restraining attitude , Husserl believed, is necessary, if one is to isolate the psychic in its purity and yet preserve it in its full intentionality.      Runes D.D. Dictionary of Philosophy, 1962, Littlefield Adams & Co