"Be
a place on earth where nothing grows,
but where something can
be bred - the seed of God."
Rumi - Sufi mystic
Emotional
self-mastery, as described by James Mahu in concepts such as "Living from the Heart", is a process. It is not one event, one
act, it is a process that must continue on and on in the life of the
individual. In the article mentioned above, James states that this
process has three phases:
1. Observation
2.
Treatment
3. Transformation
So let's explore these
three phases so that we can see what they bring to our daily practice
of emotional self-mastery and how they differ from each other. We
begin our exploration with a quote from James, who describes the
process in Living from the Heart as follows:
"For those who establish emotional self-mastery as their path, they will need to track, treat and transform their behaviors as they progress on this journey because this is not about instant gratification. This journey is truly focused on connecting with one’s higher guidance (receptivity and listening) and expressing this wisdom into the field in which you live, move, and have your being (transmission and expression).
Let me be clear about the framework of track, treat, transform.
• Track means that the individual can self-report their progress on the six heart virtues over time and track their ups and downs, and see their self-mastery growing against the backdrop of time.
• Treat means that the individual while tracking their progress can see when they hit a snag or vexing problem that takes them off course and then treat this issue like a physician treats a wound or illness. The treat, in this case, is not a reward, but rather a solution or remedy to a problem or emotional misstep.
• Transform is the result of tracking and treating along this journey and seeing how you are transformed into a self-empowered, spiritually vibrant person.
Books and self-help programs abound in the world on what one should believe, do, think, and feel. They are translated from the minds and hearts of some of our greatest thinkers and spiritualized beings. We do not require more information on how to behave or believe. We simply require more discipline in our emotional lives and the tools and techniques to attain this. In other words, we need a practical framework."
James Mahu - Living from the Heart
Here James clearly communicates that what we need is not more information, but perseverance and patience in practice. In this persistent and long-term process of emotional self-mastery, we need to focus our attention on our emotional states, to understand the causes that activate them and the consequences that these emotional states bring. In other words, we need to "observe" ourselves in a focused way regarding emotions, feelings and sensations. However, this "focused observation" does not take the form of a long session in a meditation position, as many might expect from a spiritual practice, but is "scattered" into daily life and the events it brings.
This
inner Self-Observation is therefore probably not recognized by anyone
in the outer world, because it is not accompanied by any specific
body position, spoken mantra or eye gaze in the mirror. It is an
inner practice that is about seeking the state of a neutral observer
while being aware of one's own emotions, feelings and sensations.
This neutral observer is found at the very center of the whirlwind of
emotions that the events of each day play out within us. This neutral
observer is also the one, who is aware, who is always present, but
one who is usually somehow forgotten or inaccessible in human life,
because conscious attention is drawn into the experience of the
whirlpool of emotions that makes the perspective of neutrality
inaccessible.
Having explained in detail Phase 1 of the
process of emotional self-mastery, i.e. Observation or Awareness, we
move on to Phase 2, which is Treatment.
Just as
Observation is a long-term process, Treatment is a long-term process
as emotional states usually have an inertia effect and for this
reason a one-time treatment is insufficient. A one-time change in an
emotional state will not cause an undesirable emotional state to
reoccur. An emotional state is usually a life pattern that tends to
repeat itself. A one-time change in an emotional state will not cause
the pattern itself to be reshaped. The root of the emotional pattern
is usually so deep in the subconscious or unconscious mind that a
one-time treatment can only correct the sprain or energetic sprout,
while the root will remain intact and sooner or later produce new
spurts that will need to be treated again with emotional remediation.
So this emotional remediation must be done so long, repeatedly, over
and over again for long periods of time, whenever the challenge
arises, until the root of the emotional pattern is corrected.
Now
let's take a closer look at the difference between Phase 1
Observation and Phase 2 Treatment. Whereas in Observation it is an
act of simple awareness of "I am as I am" without the
presence of critical judgment about the experienced state, in the
second stage in Treatment there is already present the awareness that
the observed emotional state is not the preferred state, that it is
not in accordance with the Virtues of the Heart as the practitioner
understands them. This realization results in the need to correct,
amend, change or treat the emotional state to a different one -
closer to the Virtues of the Heart. As we discussed above, this
correction (e.g., condemnation --> forgiveness) needs to be made
each time the practitioner realizes that he or she is condemning.
This gradually reveals the root of the condemnation. If this root
cause is removed, corrected, or "weeded out," it can be
replaced by a permanent state of forgiveness.
Poetically, then, the practitioner can be said to "live in the landscape of forgiveness," to experience this blessed state permanently, no longer needing to attain it. However, this state can only be attained after many years of practice and only through the persistent and sincere efforts of the practitioner who sets "living from the heart" as the gravitational core of his or her life. Therefore, the statement by some practitioners, "I no longer need to practice forgiveness because I have already forgiven the person years ago and therefore I no longer need to deal with forgiveness in my life, the subject of forgiveness is settled," is nothing more than the rhetoric of the ego, which has no insight into the depths of the state of forgiveness and considers its brief glimpse of superficial understanding to be the final state with which it is satisfied and therefore has no need to deepen it.
For a full understanding of the Treatment process, let us also acknowledge the diversity of emotional states. While there are six Virtues of the Heart, these are the six noble essences from which the thousands upon thousands of derived emotional patterns and the almost infinite number of feelings and emotions that flow from them are usually blended to form the emotional landscape of an individual's life.
The
conscious emotional state of an individual is therefore always a
composition of many sub-states, some of which may be unconscious or
subliminal, others of which may be in a state of Observation and
Awareness (i.e., without the need for Treatment), and still others of
which may be in the process of Treatment (the complex and long-term
nature of which we have explained above).
Transformation
is the third stage of the process, in which there is a realization
that a permanent change has occurred in a particular emotional
pattern and therefore attention can be released from that area and
redirected to another pattern that is still in the process of
Treatment. If the experience of transformation is repeated multiple
times in different emotional patterns, there is a cumulative
awareness that James calls: "the awareness of being transformed
into a self-empowered, spiritually vibrant person".
A
partial experience of transformation can be illustrated, for example,
in Forgiveness. An individual may be Treating their emotional
relationship with a particular person for a long time, and it may
take them years to reach a state of permanent forgiveness towards the
person. This attainment is equal to a partial Transformation
experience of a particular emotional pattern, from which understanding, Self-Appreciation, and Self-Confidence can flow, giving him or her the strength and motivation - which nurture the much-needed perseverance - to continue practice in other "territories of the emotional landscape."
The transformation of an individual's emotional field can be expressed symbolically by transformational formulas:
Although the symbolic verbiage used above calls for it, do not look at words with the prefix "non" as opposites of the Virtues or words denoting their absence. Instead of activating dualistic thinking, use the imaginative faculty of the noble mind and think of non-appreciation as the seed of appreciation from which its full, conscious presence needs to develop. This unfolding process needs your attention and loving care, as well as your persistence and patience. Imagine that you are a gardener - a breeder who cultivates and treates these Virtuous, Pure Emotional States in the soil of your heart. The discovered and realized non-appreciation is then the symbolic, metaphorical finding of the seed of appreciation, which is, however, for the time being, only the potential or shadowy presence of appreciation itself. Nevertheless, this seed need not be destroyed or discarded, but it must be used for refinement.
Of course, the above "negative" emotional states spring from the darkness of ignorance, while the "positive" ones bring the light of awareness. However, the Virtues of the Heart also contain within them their "shadow" essences described by words prefixed with "non." However, if we experience transformation in the realm of emotional patterns, then we clearly perceive this as a shift from the darkness of ignorance to the light of awareness.
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| Diagram of Heart Virtues from WingMakers.com website |
If we look at the illustration above, we find in it the assignment of colors to the individual Virtues of the Heart, i.e. their color coding, while in the middle of the diagram we find the source of white or clear light, which is decomposed by the individual's heart prism into an emotional spectrum forming his vibratory field or "emotional landscape", which is the "matrix" for perceived reality.
When the Virtues of the Heart have a weak presence in the individual's vibratory field, areas of shadow or darkness are created which we can symbolically assign to the outer edge of the diagram.
The experience of transforming an emotional pattern can then be likened to a journey from the outer edge of the "shadow of ignorance" to the presence of the "light of awareness" at the center of the schema. The closer we approach the center of the vibrational field, the core of consciousness, the brighter the colors become until they eventually merge into white and clear. This is Love, which is the Light of Consciousness.
In this process of transformation we experience a change of identity, for emotions are what we identify with at a deeper level. When we experience a shift in our emotional state towards the Virtues of the Heart, we experience "I am the Virtues of the Heart" and in the next shift "I am the Source from which the Virtues of the Heart flow".
From the Universal perspective, however, it is the Core of Consciousness that expands in all directions to the peripheral regions of the individual's vibratory field, illuminating all colors and shades within it.
This is the pathway to the realm of the Wholeness Navigator, which is the core consciousness of the entity.
This is the breeding of the divine seed in the soil of the human heart.
This is the process of emotional self-mastery.
In
love and free will
Ondra Pruzracny
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