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The subject matter covered by the symbol FEELINGS s[1] relates becoming more assertive. This could extend beyond interpersonal relationships to include the relationship with the inner-child and/or right-brain hemisphere. Jung said that one has to engage the unconscious as an equal partner, but to be able to do this one needs courage and assertiveness to prevent the little guy (ego) from suppressing the bigger guy (unc).
Feelings: The emotional component of assertiveness. … "The Feeling Myth' … This myth teaches us to believe that our words and actions literally cause other people to feel the emotions they feel. It teaches us to believe that we have no choice about our own feelings. … One way to understand that feelings are a choice is to think about cause and effect. … Simple observation proves that different people have different feelings about exactly the same event. Therefore it is the person receiving the words, actions, or events who chooses an emotional response. … your emotional response may be a strong habit. … Assertiveness demands emotional honesty. This is difficult to accomplish if you will not accept responsibility for your own feelings. … understanding the truth about feelings is to learn to use more of your power. By allowing others to 'make you feel', you give the power to others. Lloyd S.R. How to Develop Assertiveness, 1988, Kogan Page
The external characteristic of what is rising from the unconscious is represented here by the symbol REASONING s[2]. Keep in mind that this looks like practical philosophy, which is the title of the book.
Inference vs simple induction … two kinds of reasoning. Simple induction: When a pattern is repeated in many instances in the data and there are no exceptions to it, conclude that the pattern will be found in all future data. Inference to the best explanation: When a theory explains all the available data and explains it better than any available theory, conclude that the theory is true. … Empiricism claims that all our beliefs are based on perception.
Morton A. Philosophy in Practice, 1996, Blackwell.
The internal characteristic is to be found in the symbol s[3], who is also Sophia. One needs to unpack those associations that can be added to the reasoning of s[2]. In other words this thing looks like practical reasoning of the R1 type (right-brain cortex) that asks WHY and looks for patterns in chaos; and it has a feminine quality on the inside that relates to , which suggests unconscious knowledge and wisdom.
Noble Goddess , the Tibetan equivalent of Kuan Yin. … inspires compassion and wisdom - the true nature of our mind. Through training, our ordinary perceptions are gradually transformed. We lighten up. … She embodies the most compelling and vital qualities of the feminine: beauty, grace, and the ability to nurture, care and protect. In addition, she is a true warrior, vanquishing fear and ignorance. … "The special quality of is her extraordinary compassionate resolve to benefit all beings by removing whatever causes them to feel anxious or afraid, … The Dharmakaya Mother is unconfined empty cognizance. …
[p134] Next comes the 'mandala of the supported,' which is the deity. … turns into another green lotus, an utpala lotus flower with the syllable TAM in the center. It is brilliant, with shining rays of light emanating in all directions. These rays of light purify all the realms of sentient beings and carry out all the buddha activities. The immense light rays return back into the TAM syllable, which instantly changes into the bodily form of . It transforms so that you become . … they send out rays of light that alleviate the eight outer and eight inner fears. The eight outer fears have to do with outer situations, while the inner fears are the eight negative emotions and negative viewpoints, … All of this constitutes the mandala of twenty-one forms of .
Edited by Schmidt M.B. Skillful Grace, Tara Practice for our Times, 2007, Rangjung Yeshe
[+] Green Tārā, known as the Buddha of enlightened activity. … quotation from H.H the Dalai Lama about , spoken at a conference on Compassionate Action in in 1989: "There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, "I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman." Tārā then, embodies certain ideals which make her attractive to women practitioners. … The practice then weans one away from a coarse understanding of Reality, allowing one to get in touch with inner qualities similar to those of a bodhisattva, and prepares one's inner self to embrace finer spiritual energies, which can lead to more subtle and profound realizations of the Emptiness of phenomena and self. … As Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche notes of his lineage: " is the flawless expression of the inseparability of emptiness, awareness and compassion. Just as you use a mirror to see your face, meditation is a means of seeing the true face of your mind, devoid of any trace of delusion".
The SYNTHESIS of s[2+3] appears to be the practical approach one must take to apply a philosophy of mind that takes the feminine into consideration, and the assertiveness that the ego must develop to be able to engage the unconscious (or Anima) as an equal partner. This relates to my challenge that there is an insidious prejudice against right-brain thinking that hardly anyone is aware of. The reasoning in s[2] relates to finding meaning and patterns in the chaos, which reduces fear and anxiety as in s[3].
It would seem that the feminine principle makes its first appearance in Buddhism as the "Mother of Perfected Wisdom" and then later comes to be seen as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom…. as a tantric practice quickly spread from around the 7th century C.E. onwards, and remains an important part of Vajrayana Buddhism to this day. The practices themselves usually present Tārā as a tutelary deity (thug dam, yidam) which the practitioners sees as being a latent aspect of one's mind, or a manifestation in a visible form of a quality stemming from Buddha Jnana. As John Blofeld puts it in his The Tantric Mysticism of : The function of the Yidam is one of the profound mysteries of the Vajrayana… Especially during the first years of practice the Yidam is of immense importance. Yidam is the Tibetan rendering of the Sanskrit word "Istadeva" — the in-dwelling deity; but, where the Hindus take the Istadeva for an actual deity who has been invited to dwell in the devotee's heart, the Yidams of Tantric Buddhism are in fact the emanations of the adepts own mind. Or are they? To some extent they seem to belong to that order of phenomena which in Jungian terms are called archetypes and are therefore the common property of the entire human race. Even among Tantric Buddhists, there may be a division of opinion as to how far the Yidams are the creations of individual minds. What is quite certain is that they are not independently existing gods and goddesses; and yet, paradoxically, there are many occasions when they must be so regarded.
The core issue here is the GENDER s[4] difference within the individual, which is something one never hears about. If one has the opposite sex as the inferior function (Anima/us) or as the feminine principle in the unconscious, then one should consider how to live with these differences. It also makes sense in terms of managing the relationship between left (masculine) and right (feminine) brain hemispheres.
Gender, Temperament, and Moral Senses. … A clearer test of gender differences comes from the many experiments conducted to see how people will divide rewards after performing some task. … When a woman has performed better than her partner in some common task, she tends to split the reward equally; when a man performed better … he divides the reward equitably (that is, in proportion to the value of each person's contributions). … The evidence of differences in empathic behaviour was inconclusive … No one has clearly shown … that how people respond to real moral issues, and especially how they behave in actual moral quandaries, can be predicted from their reaction to these fictional stories.
Wilson J.Q. The Moral Sense, 1995, Free Press.
The next symbol follows on with GENDER CONTRIBUTIONS or accomplishments s[5]. This is interesting, it relates to the role of the feminine principle in the unconscious minds of men, specifically in respect of achievements. The way we measure accomplishments is the consequence of having ignored serendipity, and of discounting right-brain thinking within the creative process. We can extend the cliché that says behind every successful man is a woman, to include the feminine right-brain.
Since 1950. With all the changes that have taken place in the standing of women over the course of 20C, how much increase in the proportion of women could we expect from a roster of significant figures that covered all of 20C? Based on the most obvious indicator of distinguished achievement, the Nobel Prizes, little seems to have changed. … Let us say for the sake of argument that the sources used for the inventories were so biased against women that they left out half … 95.6 instead of 97.8 percent men - a distinction without a difference. … In the field where women have been most prominent , literature, the last half of 20C saw a steady and substantial increase in participation, with women amounting to more than 30 percent of all entries in a recent encyclopedic source.
C. Human Accomplishment, 2003, HarperCollins.
The responsibility one must accept here is given in the symbol SYNCHRONICITY s[6], which links to serendipity; when something is more than just a coincidence, when the accident provides a solution. One must also take responsibility for the maintaining a centuries old prejudice against our own sixth sense. One can not be still on this issue, for how can we deny ourselves something as special as sight for example. Are we not denying ourselves the right to be fully human by suppressing our innate psycho-perceptive skills?
Archetypes, so far as we can observe and experience them at all, manifest themselves only through their ability to organize images and ideas, and this is always an unconscious process which cannot be detected until afterwards. … phenomena of synchronicity, which are associated with the activity of unconscious operators and have hitherto been regarded, or repudiated, as "telepathy," etc, Skepticism should, however, be leveled only at incorrect theories and not at facts which exist in their own right. No unbiased observer can deny them. Resistance to the recognition of such facts rests principally on the repugnance people feel for an allegedly supernatural faculty tacked on to the psyche, like "clairvoyance." … Professor Pauli formulates the physical side of the complementary relationship here expressed as follows: "It rests with the free choice of the experimenter (or observer) to decide … which insights he will gain and which he will lose; or, to put it in popular language, whether he will measure A and ruin B … It does not rest with him however, to gain only insights and not lose any."
Jung C.G. Jung - Selected Writings, 1983,
The probable outcome reflects a change to a MEDITERRANEAN DIET s[7] with the emphasis on fish and vegetables. Recent news on aging was about a Spaniard of 114 yrs who it claims has benefited from this diet. A change would reduce the millions of unnecessary animals that produce significant quantities of methane. This suggests we should be moving from the masculine 'hunting' to the feminine 'gathering' diet.
Marinated seafood diet.
[+ p263] Wisdom from within: The human capacity to survive and thrive is driven less by the brain in the head than by newly discovered intelligence centers in the gut and in the heart. The highest reasoning and brightest ingenuity involve all three of these "brains" working together. … Known as the enteric nervous system, this "second brain" in the intestines is independent of but also connected to the brain in the head … it has more neurons than the entire spinal column … Whether or not you acknowledge you "gut reactions," they are shaping everything you do … So begin to tune in. … In the 1990s, scientists in the emerging field of neurocardiology discovered the true brain in the heart, which acts independently of the one in the head. And it's comparable in size, with a distinct set of more than 40,000 nerve cells called baroreceptors as well as a complex network of neurotransmitters, proteins, and support cells. The brain in the heart has powerful, highly sophisticated computational abilities. And just like the brain in the gut, it uses its neural circuitry to learn, remember, and dictate actions.
Cooper R.K. Flip the Switch, 2005, Rodale Inc.
The conditioning one needs to overcome is given in the symbol PSYCHOPATH s[8]: so one should be looking to find a link with gender differences. When one thinks of psychopaths, do we think only of men? It is defined as a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.
Psychopaths remain alarmingly unafraid both of their own and others' hostility. They commonly exhibit an unusual disregard for danger, whether this be a threat from other persons or else from situations upon which the average man looks with apprehension. … secured them esteem in wartime, but intolerable to society in time of peace. Such men behave as if they were omnipotently immune from danger; and their courage is less impressive than it appears, since it is based upon a lack of appreciation of danger rather than upon a stalwart facing of real peril.
Storr A. Human Aggression, 1974, Pelican Books.
The download gives the symbol COMPARISON s[9] for the attitude that one needs to support the change in consciousness. This fits with the issue of gender differences and the need to make comparisons to correct the obvious prejudice that exists against the feminine, and against right-brain thinking.
Normally comparative and superlative adverbs are made with more and most. … But a few adverbs have … forms with -er, -est. The most important ones are: fast, soon, early, late … [+144] The comparative is used to compare things or people that are separate from each other. The superlative is used to compare one member of a group with the whole group (including that member).
Swan M. Practical English Usage, 1987, Press.
The next symbol is SPIN ENERGY s[10]: suggests to me that the right action to take has to do with quantum energy and it introduces an interesting question on whether telepathic thoughts have energy. Assuming these thoughts have energy, we can try focus on using positive thoughts (+spin= +energy) to try bring about a mind shift that acknowledge the true role of the feminine.
Spin: A term of special significance in particle physics. Sub-atomic particles … may possess, in addition to other forms of energy, such as energy of translation, energy due to the spinning of the particle about an axis within itself.
The Penguin Dictionary of Science, 1982, Penguin Books.
[+] The author Evan Louis Sheehan, on the other hand, does portray memes as particulate (atomic-like) entities, captured in cortical hierarchies identical to what Jeff Hawkins proposes in his book On Intelligence. Each hierarchy expresses a pattern that the brain-owner has sensed and remembered. "Sensed patterns" can reflect anything from the shape of a tree to a commonly performed pattern of behavior that routinely propagates through mimicry. A cortical hierarchy consists of a "molecular" entity, constructed from sub-hierarchies, which are themselves ultimately constructed from atomic entities — sensory elements. Sheehan, in his book builds a model of creative thinking around a Darwinian process of combining and recombining various causal memes.
The symbol REVOLUTION s[11] is used to measure the quality and quantity of the right-action. This suggests that fathers have a responsibility to help turn things around by taking responsibility for children. One can read into this layers that include the inner child and the future of mankind. The inner child can also relate to the mute right-brain limbic system, which means one needs to first get this part healthy and working in harmony with the other parts.
The only revolution that will heal us is one in which men and women come together and place the creation of a rich family life back in the center of the horizon of our values. A letter I got recently from a woman makes the point: "Perhaps the real shift will come when men fully realize, in the gut and not just in the head, that they are equally responsible, with women, for the creation, nurturing, and protection of children - that children are not simple sex objects, ego trips, or nuisances, but their first responsibility - before war, money, power, and status." … Fortunately, the profusion of dysfunctional families does not necessarily predict a grim future for the family. One of the standard themes in mythology is the promise of the wounded healer. In our hurt lies the source of our healing. … One of men's greatest resources for change is our wound and our longing for the missing father. Keen S. Fire in the belly, 1996, Judy Piatkus.
The symbol BREAST s[12] confirms the objective in respect of the role of woman as active agents of change or a passive source of strength.
The breast of a woman as distinct from the generic human bosom acts as a sign of nature and its wild connotations in visual imagery … Of all the Virtues, only Charity, … Her breast becomes the mark of her natural, motherly relation to those who come into contact with her. … the exposed breast denoting the wild thing can also mutate her into a Tyche, a matron and nurturer, and a type of the protective state. The oscillation between these two dominant meanings of the breast is constant after the first Revolution in , and it reflects the swings between accepting woman as an active agent of change or desiring her to remain a passive source of strength.
Warner M. Monuments & Maidens, 1996, Vintage.
The last symbol CHARIOT s[13] suggests a final outcome: the masculine aspect that is threatening our planet is extinguished by the feminine. This sounds a bit apocalyptic but the word also means revelation, or the lifting of the veil. Global Warming has the doomsday clock ticking, and one’s perspective of the role of the feminine, and the potential of the right-brain to raise human consciousness, must change.
Eridanus / The river: is a large Southern constellation … Major stars *Achernar - "end of the river"; * Cursa - "throne"; * Zaurak - "boat". … The stars of this constellation have been associated with various earthly rivers, including the , the and the Padus … Aratus (classical author) refers to "those poor remains of Eridanus, river of many tears". … Desiring to establish the truth of his parentage, Phaethon came to the Sun-god's palace. Here, Helios acknowledged that he was indeed Phaethon's father, and to prove it he promised to satisfy an wish requested by his son that was within his power. It was a fateful oath because, despite his father's protestations, Phaethon demanded to be allowed to drive the Chariot of the Sun for a single day. … lost control … As the chariot passed close to the Earth, it set the mountain peaks alight, and fires raged … The Earth-goddess Gaea let out a shriek of horror and Zeus intervened to save the world from destruction. … The blazing body of Phaethon fell into the Eridanus, and the water quenched the flames.
Cornelius G. The Starlore Handbook, 1997, Chronicle Books,
A river of tears.
