Zigzag Idiot

Thank you, @Eternal Unity I appreciate you for letting me know,,,

This ranges from the imagination of self deception to manifesting through visualizing in the Causal realm aka the Imaginal realm. It can be our biggest stumbling block or our saving grace. Like a lot of my posts, I use Fourth Way Jargon but I welcome all sincere perspectives which can often dovetail nice with one another. From my study of Gurdjieff’s magnum opus - Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson. He repeatedly points to man’s imagination, ungrounded with no embodiment amounts to contemporary humanities downfall. My homegrown condensed formula after study of the book. Prana = chi Kundalini = Prana = Kundabuffer = imagination Kundalini + 3 Centered Awareness = Holy Prana A kundalini awakening in which we become all enthusiastic and big eyed is what he called kundabuffer. The remedy for this is becoming grounded thru the body. This is just my take. All sincere perspectives are welcome.

Purification of the emotional center as it’s referred to in the Fourth Way is the elephant in the room. This task isn’t accomplished in just a few months or even a couple of years. Some may scoff at this claim but I would hold the mirror up to reflect their derision as a pointer to how we are all prone to feed on negative emotion. As has been said by others, it’s not sex that makes the world ‘go around’ but the feeding on negativity. Look at our culture and other cultures and see how it manifests. Having grievances and keeping accounts, complaining, gossiping, displays of one-upman-ship in found in most areas of life including spiritual communities,,,, How many can say that they have seen these aspects in themselves previously or more importantly presently? Who is willing to potentially lose face this way? Who is willing to look at or even admit to a deeper level of self hatred that is often encountered by those who do very in-depth shadow work? Emotional mastery is realizing that we have a right NOT to feel and be negative, to paraphrase Maurice Nicoll. It is to have an awakened conscience. Gurdjieff remarked once that in the world, a man who has an awakened conscience among contemporary men will often be considered as,,,, well,,,, an embarrassment. To me, a sign of having emotional mastery is to truly wish others well. It means forgiveness or overlooking others transgressions. It means inspecting the world through a perceptual filter of Love. Am I there? No. I’ve had brief instances of it though. Also it’s how I make sense of the phrase “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.

The Actualized.org forum moderators. ?❤️?

I see people who are deeply insecure do this the most. Unconscious or low consciousness people in general tend to feed on negativity. Look at most media and news broadcasts,,,,

Cool! I’ll add a little more with some links. Facets of Unity is just about my favorite book on the enneagram. By the way, I’m a counterphobic 6. Mapping Certain Levels of Reality We use the Enneagram as a tool and a map at specific junctures in our work of spiritual unfoldment. Initially, we use it as a psychological map that aids self-observation and study. Students also work with our theory of holes (see Essence, Almaas, 1986), which describes the loss of Essence and the consequent development of the personality. Then the work of uncovering the essential aspects proceeds. The theories of depth psychology on object relations, narcissism, and the like, constitute a major portion of the tools used to access the various essential dimensions. The Enneagram is then used at particular points as a map of certain levels of reality, in order to facilitate spiritual transformation. For example, work on the Passions and Virtues helps students in the process of purification of the soul. The Enneagram of Holy Ideas is most useful at the juncture between personal and cosmic realization of Being, as previously mentioned. As with other concepts from various schools, our approach utilizes the Enneagram for the purpose of direct, experiential understanding. It is not used only for psychological observations and typology, nor only for guiding various spiritual practices, but specifically for guiding and supporting open inquiry into one’s experience. Facets of Unity, pg. 16 This is the forth of nine excerpts. Link just below https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/enneagram-and-diamond-approach https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/enneagram-holy-ideas O https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/enneagram-specific-delusions https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/enneagram-specific-difficulties https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/enneagram-specific-reactions

When a Feeling is Just a Memory by Dr. Jim Rosen ©2021 Dr. Jim Rosen When an emotion comes to the surface, how can you know if you're reacting to something from your past? It's actually easy to tell the difference between "feelings of now" and "feelings from the past." Feelings of now build slowly. They are like an acquired taste that develops over time, or like a piece of fruit that slowly ripens. Feelings from the past come in a wave or rush. They jump to the surface because they've been triggered. You seem to feel the feelings now, but in reality, you are remembering these feelings. Something just happened that triggered the memory. The feelings came in a rush, because your mind is a fast computer. Your mind noticed something in your present situation that is similar to the old happening. You may not be consciously aware of what your mind just did, but you can become aware. And awareness and understanding are important steps toward putting the old feelings behind you.

@Karmadhi Thank you for your work. I just wanted to leave one of my favorite quotes about the idea of evil. It meshes well with what you’ve come up with on your own. The Holy Idea referred to below is one of nine points on the enneagram. All Spiritual Work Would be Pointless if There Were Such a Thing as Ultimate Evil As we have seen, each Holy Idea is a characteristic of reality at all locations, at all times, and at all levels. Holy Truth explicates this understanding. Here, we are saying that not only is reality just one presence that is boundless and real, but that it is also positive, blissful, and wonderful. So not only is God one, but God is also wonderful and made of love. The truth, then, is loving and lovable, which is why we say in the Diamond Approach that you must love truth for its own sake. If your orientation is that you love truth so that it will change you and make you a happier person, your orientation is out of sync with how things objectively are; if you see reality as it is, you can’t help but love it. It follows, then, that objectively there is no evil. We see evil only when we perceive reality through a filter. A person who behaves in what we consider evil ways is a person acting through a distortion. In spiritual work, concepts of a devil, of dark forces, of some evil that exists on its own outside of the goodness of reality are considered manifestations of ignorance, both in terms of believing in such concepts and in terms of the manifestations attributed to such forces. All spiritual work would be pointless if there were such a thing as ultimate evil. Facets of Unity, pg. 215 Taken from: https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/evil

There seems to be a tricky play here to balance that of fulfilling desires and maintaining discipline. I remember Ken Wilber once saying something about “to taste something until you’re full”. Also from another source the idea of the permanent witness bossing the automaton (body and instinctual drives) around. Every now and then though to throw it a bone or let it off it’s leash so as to pacify it.

@Nightwise I see myself in a lot of what you describe. In the past I’ve seen where thinking too much has unnecessarily created anxiety. Thinking too much means I’m stuck in my head and detached from Being. One remedy for this is to sense the physicality of the body and find or reconnect with the hara. When the locus of my experience is felt to be either there or close by in the belly or sometimes possibly in the heart, there is a reconnection with being that is absent when I’m thinking too much. I can say only what is right for me. You might need other ideas or answers for a solution to what you seek. I hope this little bit of what I’ve shared can be of use though. Just speaking for myself. When my intention is to express from being instead of mind and there is the felt sense that I’m doing so, I feel clarity and a sense of trust that everything will work out. This contrasts from times when I’m thinking too much. Doubt and confusion then seems to surround everything in my experience with the mind chattering away offering up doom scenarios almost continuously. If what I’ve written resonates. The following two links contain many relevant quotes. https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/basic-trust https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/being

Feminine compassion via wisdom and Love with a big L.

Four types of suffering For whatever it’s worth,,, I copied this from the thread on George Gurdjieff. A legitimate swatter of hornets nests,,,, Intentional suffering is sometimes referred to as Conscious suffering in the Fourth Way. In Talks on Beelzebub's Tales, Bennett distinguishes four types of suffering - Unnecessary Suffering, Unavoidable Suffering, Voluntary Suffering and Intentional Suffering. Lets have a look at each of these to see if they can help our understanding: The first is Unnecessary Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that we incur because of our unreasonable attitudes and expectations towards others, from our ill-will, hatred and rejection of others, from doubt, possessiveness, arrogance and self pity. In other words, suffering arising from our self-importance. The second is Unavoidable Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that comes to us by accident or from events beyond our control, such as interpersonal conflicts, war, disaster, disease or death. Third, we have Voluntary Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that we take upon ourselves in order to accomplish a personal aim, such as an athlete who disciplines himself to win a race, or a student who labours to get good grades. And finally we have Intentional Suffering. According to Bennett, this would be the kind of suffering that we take upon ourselves in order to accomplish an impersonal or altruistic goal, one that is directed more towards service to others or to the Work, and not for any personal gain. Bennett assumes that this is what Gurdjieff meant by Intentional Suffering. From an article on the second Conscious Shock https://www.endlesssearch.co.uk/philo_is_talk_ae2005.htm

“You can’t be an expert about anything until you’re at least 500 miles from home and you’re carrying a briefcase”. That was said to my father by a friendly competitor in a family business we had years ago. We had quite a few laughs about that one. Because there is definitely some truth to it. You know how people put you in a box and keep you there,,,

@Preety_India I didn’t say that complaining was wrong or hint that others should be demonized for complaining. I specifically said that key in the practice was not judging or engaging in any self criticism. Its natural for people to justify, through imagination, their own complaining as a form of woundology. http://www.halexandria.org/dward044.htm “We have to bless the living crap out of everyone.”- Matt Kahn ??

I started this thread based on the Fourth Way practice of not expressing negative emotions. In the Fourth Way practice of Self observation not engaging in self criticism is heavily stressed. Just observe objectively,,,, hands off self criticism or judgements. This is not an easy practice. Sometimes it’s described as a gathering of snapshots. I used to be a big complainer. I still complain at times,,,, I try to observe it though. Those snapshots inform me that at times I’m quite unconscious in these moments.

I completely agree and have experienced it in myself before. Many times,,, Anger Is higher in the scale of emotional tone than shame or apathy.

Not complaining doesn’t mean repression or blowing sunshine up everyone’s ass either. It’s just not giving expression to a negative emotion. Has anyone noticed how expressing negative emotions seems to drain one of chi energy or life force? Not expressing negative emotion is good cooking! @Preety_India I didn’t say everything negative is wrong. Do you think you could have projected that this thread is about toxic positivity? Lets talk it out friend,,,

The enneagram is a deep topic. Study or typing of personality types is the most superficial of the concepts it represents. I don’t mean to dismiss the personality studies it frames. I’ve found it very useful for working on myself within my own inquiry. The enneagram shows the law of 3 and the law of 7 or octave which frames the Ray of Creation. In this YouTube, some of the text from Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson is being read.

Underneath I’ve pasted a bit from Chance and Choice. It goes along with the excellent material @kinesin posted. Esoteric traditions have always known that the autonomic nervous system is the key to Awareness and thus to spiritual development. The autonomic system is the doorway to the wisdom of the body. The body systems may be unconscious, and the autonomic nervous system may be outside "our control," that is, our ego control, but it is still a part of us, the holistic self. For this reason some people have learned to control some of the autonomic systems, and a few Yogis for instance, can slow down, or even stop, the heart for a short time. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic system accelerates the twelve organ systems of the body with adrenaline. It is tuned to the left hemisphere of the brain -- the ego, time and waking consciousness. The parasympathetic system does just the opposite. It slows down the organs. It is tuned to the right hemisphere of the brain -- to self, space and dreaming. The sympathetic design system connects the organs to the spinal cord horizontally. The spinal cord is related with one nerve to the cerebellum, and 20 nerves to the organ systems, through the twelve chest vertebrae and the five lumbar vertebrae. Thus in waking we are not just apprehending the real world, but are also processing the reactions of the organs. For that reason we naturally create the human environment in part as an organic projection. For example, we build kitchen's for our stomach, and toilet and sewer systems for our waste elimination organ system. Our skeleton is like our machines, our brain is like our computers. We build facilities like our liver for power and energy production, and our fashions are related to our skin and sensation system. We have to get in tune with our body and its twelve systems to understand our environment. The slowing parasympathetic nervous system is only connected to the head nerves and to the sacrum. There are no connections with the vertebrae. The directive tenth nerve, vagus nerve, which actually changes it position over time and is thus known as the "wandering nerve," branches out to other organ systems. But the vargus nerve does this in a 1:1 relation, not 20:1 as in the sympathetic system. The deceleration side of the nerves is tied to the spiritual side of man. The quickening is tied to the material. For example, in the male sex organs, erection depends on the parasympathetic system, on romantic love. Ejaculation comes from the sympathetic system, from the movement of love making, from quickening. Consciousness is inherently fragmented. It follows the numbers one to infinity. Awareness is holistic, unifying. It follows the number zero. Slowing down and quickening have a limit which leads to the same experience from two different directions. Slowing down the associations in Yoga creates a state of meditation. Quickening can lead to the greatest velocity, the speed of light, illumination. The slowing down is stopping, absolute zero, which again is illumination, but of a different character. As soon as you come to a full stop and reach complete silence and center, you are in the same place as the speed of light, and illumination will come by itself. This has been described by many Asian traditions and scientifically by transpersonal psychologists like Charles Tart. Thus Yin/Parasympathetic and Yang/Sympathetic blend in total awareness of Chi. With this blending a human can be totally awakened to both this and the next world. Taken from chapter four - http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/brain-and-mind/

@Preety_India I’ll smoke to that! Maybe it will result in more frequent- Symptoms of Inner peace http://www.halexandria.org/dward774.htm

http://www.halexandria.org/sitemap.htm A little bit of something for everyone,, maybe An old favorite of mine. Beware of getting terminal seriosity. Become a Bozo-Sattva http://www.halexandria.org/dward015.htm Find a webpage you like and share it with the rest of us if you like.

I think it’s a great idea. A lot of people will not give up their unnecessary suffering. I used to be one. Still am sometimes. I practice letting go of reaching conclusions and that saves me from a lot of suffering sometimes. Life is often unfair. I use to complain a lot about how things were often unfair and it only aggravated and prolonged my suffering.

Had a nice fire this evening. It was too hot to enjoy it though. I’m still burning underbrush that I’m clearing out on my hill. It’s going to take a couple of months next fall and winter to finish the whole hill. While grocery shopping this morning a woman whistled a cat call at me. Not from a distance either. This was as we passed each other in a grocery isle. It caught me off guard. I just said -“why Thank ya” and walked away not really knowing what else to do. Of course my ego really got some mileage out of this. That’s the first cat call I ever got as an adult. I think.