Balancing the Psyche

[Unseen_Abilities]

To balance ones Psyche well is clearly an Art finer than I first thought.

 

Many Spiritual teachers say to follow the intuition, for it will guide you where you're meant to go. I thought I'd put this to the test and, yeah, I'm making awesome progress in my life on the whole, but you can lose it a little bit if you spend too long in that state (probably more so if in a very distressing situation, or having had quite a distressing few years), though it does give very good and accurate advice.

 

What are your thoughts on Intuition vs. Logic, Reason, Rational Thinking, etc.?

 

To what extent do you feel it's necessary to balance more Spiritual thinking/states with those that are more "normal"?

 

 

[BaguaKicksAss]

Intuition, psychic impressions, divination and such I treat exactly the same way that I treat taking supplements. You always have to give something new a month to let it kick in and see how it works, perhaps two if you have heard really good things about it. Then you assess the situation; does it work or not? Have things improved at all? How are things in general overall? Each type of intuition is different, and each situation one uses intuition for is different (training, mundane life, qigong path, etc.), so each one should be assessed differently imo. Though I really don't think intuition should be used with qigong/neigong/energetic practices until one has had proper training from someone qualified for a couple of years, to get on the right track. I've seen some pretty bad fallouts from self made systems; sometimes this doesn't show up for a few years.

 

Also having a teacher or very blunt friend (most friends will just feed you what you want to hear) to help you keep on track and make sure you don't go to far.

 

Though really, as long as you can pay your bills, are happy most of the time, and things go well more than at least half of the time, how much does it really matter?

[GrandmasterP]

Body.

We live in.

Mind.

Instinctive largely inherited or inculcated reactions north of our neck.

Spirit.

What we are and where intuition operates.

We are immortal beings temporarily inhabiting the body we're in right now.

Cultivation allows those three facets of 'us' to work together rather than against each other.

It's all about balance.

Driving for example is a great opportunity to do driving meditation, or we can just drive.

Zazen's really antisocial and it's far more polite to mindfully 'be there' for someone else if they want to talk to us.

For example a manager at work.

You come across the odd person in life who might be said to be " So spiritually minded that they are no earthly use at all."

By and large those are odd people with issues who are using 'spirituality' as an escape mechanism from the world.

If spirituality and intuition cause us to be separate from loved ones and necessary everyday activities then those are a problem and no 'solution' at all.

There's a time and a place for everything and if people set aside a disciplined time each and every day for cultivation and/ or meditation then all else falls into place.

Disciplined, regular (sometimes grinding) cultivation, day in - day out every day of every month of every year is what does the trick.

Monkey/ Butterfly minded folks who flit from one thing to another whilst settling upon none are those most likely to mistake their flitting and passing whims or fancies as 'intuition'.

Those aren't intuition at all they are manifestations of the mind

When it is 'intuition' ,that's where spirit speaks to our spirit and we are able to listen and hear.

Accept no imitations.

 

:-)

Edited April 25, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Unseen_Abilities]

The longer I live, the more I learn.

 

I'm not sure if you were referring to me as someone who "flits from one thing to another", based on other posts of mine on the forum, but even though I've changed Martial Arts a few times and I've tried quite a few practises, the basics of my personal path have been the same for quite a while: Talking to my Higher Self. That's pretty much it - it doesn't get much more basic than that and it's taken me quite a long way, though I've been feeling a little "not with it" again lately due to the things going on, hence the idea to snap into a more logical state of consciousness this evening.

 

Best wishes.

[GrandmasterP]

Not at all and profound apologies if I conveyed that impression.

I don't know you or your circumstances.

That post of mine is a précis of Session 1 intro so often repeated that I have it 'off by heart'.

Main thing for anybody cultivating anything is to keep looking until you find something that suits you with a teacher you feel comfortable to learn with and from.

After a certain point none of this stuff 'works' without a teacher.

Teachers aren't magicians* either, they simply get to know you, how you best learn and at what speed and they are there with you in the same room so can help you move any barriers as and where those arise 'for you'.

Because every student is different, no book or DVD can do that as well as a real teacher can.

 

* OK maybe some teachers 'are' magicians of a sort but that stuff comes in much later in the course, if at all.

 

:-)

Edited April 25, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Unseen_Abilities]

This is almost unrelated, but in spite of everything I'm actually genuinely stoked right now - I'm becoming much more the person I always knew I was deep down, the person that I always envisioned myself to be, deep down, beyond the conditioned dreams and images I picked up earlier on.

 

Just derailed my own thread, can I get banned for that?

 

[jschultz]

To balance ones Psyche well is clearly an Art finer than I first thought.

 

Many Spiritual teachers say to follow the intuition, for it will guide you where you're meant to go. I thought I'd put this to the test and, yeah, I'm making awesome progress in my life on the whole, but you can lose it a little bit if you spend too long in that state (probably more so if in a very distressing situation, or having had quite a distressing few years), though it does give very good and accurate advice.

 

What are your thoughts on Intuition vs. Logic, Reason, Rational Thinking, etc.?

 

To what extent do you feel it's necessary to balance more Spiritual thinking/states with those that are more "normal"?

 

I think all these things are one in the same when I think about "me". I don't think there is any separation at all and that is maybe one of the reasons life can become and seem so complicated. Everything that is me, makes up who I am. (There is also no "me" because there is no separation anywhere, but that is an impossible thing to "think" about) I think for every person/awareness/perspective the only normal there is specific to them. As an example in North Korea, being and thinking "normal" in that society is likely much different then it would be in, say, Saudi Arabia or America. When I classify different parts of the "whole" I consider to be me, I can create separations, divisions, and conflicts within myself. If I put Intuition vs. Logic I create a conflict in that thought itself, within myself and my mind, and it reads as such as well.

 

It can be hard not to choose sides and create divisions in my thoughts and my observations and sometimes they can also be very useful. Hot vs cold, dangerous vs safe, etc. (Those are fairly easy) I see this way of thinking in divisions as more of a tool then anything else. I don't have to choose any way of thought or make a stand on any one idea, thought, or way of being and by not seeing them as separate I can more fully use them all however I want. As an example, if I consider myself to be logical I am defining myself as being that way and I can create conflict in myself if I wish to explore my spirituality. If I consider myself to be intuitive I may exclude non intuitive thoughts that could also be useful. When I think in absolutes in any particular way I deny myself the "opposite" way of thinking. Personally right now when I "see" a thought or get an intuition I also look at my life and life in the physical world around me and decide if I want to hold onto it and think about it a little longer, use it and move on, or discard it. Using "it" or discarding it is fairly easy, but I find that the hardest thing is to hold onto it and think about it longer because the longer I do the more "real" that thought or intuition gets on it's own. I can make that thought or intuition more "real" in a sense then it otherwise would have been had I just accepted it and decided what to do with it. I think the same goes with other things within me like anger, sorrow, happiness, etc. When I'm not open minded and open hearted and living in the moment I'm holding onto something that may need to just be accepted, and used or discarded. Often when I am open I can see more easily where that thought or emotion came from as well as why.

[Rara]

To balance ones Psyche well is clearly an Art finer than I first thought.

 

Many Spiritual teachers say to follow the intuition, for it will guide you where you're meant to go. I thought I'd put this to the test and, yeah, I'm making awesome progress in my life on the whole, but you can lose it a little bit if you spend too long in that state (probably more so if in a very distressing situation, or having had quite a distressing few years), though it does give very good and accurate advice.

 

What are your thoughts on Intuition vs. Logic, Reason, Rational Thinking, etc.?

 

To what extent do you feel it's necessary to balance more Spiritual thinking/states with those that are more "normal"?

 

 

A balance if all. I say this because if I rely too much on intuition alone, I soon find that that just becomes fantasy, dreams and often self-trickery. It's important to evaluate intuition with logic etc...in the material world anyway. Because that is the tune everyone else is listening to!

[Rara]

Though I really don't think intuition should be used with qigong/neigong/energetic practices until one has had proper training from someone qualified for a couple of years, to get on the right track.

In anything for that matter!

 

@Unseen_Abilities The book "Blink" by journalist Malcom Gladwell might interest you re this.

[Rara]

Body.

We live in.

Mind.

Instinctive largely inherited or inculcated reactions north of our neck.

Spirit.

What we are and where intuition operates.

We are immortal beings temporarily inhabiting the body we're in right now.

Cultivation allows those three facets of 'us' to work together rather than against each other.

It's all about balance.

Driving for example is a great opportunity to do driving meditation, or we can just drive.

Zazen's really antisocial and it's far more polite to mindfully 'be there' for someone else if they want to talk to us.

For example a manager at work.

You come across the odd person in life who might be said to be " So spiritually minded that they are no earthly use at all."

By and large those are odd people with issues who are using 'spirituality' as an escape mechanism from the world.

If spirituality and intuition cause us to be separate from loved ones and necessary everyday activities then those are a problem and no 'solution' at all.

There's a time and a place for everything and if people set aside a disciplined time each and every day for cultivation and/ or meditation then all else falls into place.

Disciplined, regular (sometimes grinding) cultivation, day in - day out every day of every month of every year is what does the trick.

Monkey/ Butterfly minded folks who flit from one thing to another whilst settling upon none are those most likely to mistake their flitting and passing whims or fancies as 'intuition'.

Those aren't intuition at all they are manifestations of the mind

When it is 'intuition' ,that's where spirit speaks to our spirit and we are able to listen and hear.

Accept no imitations.

 

:-)

I've always wondered...Buddha (Siddharta) made a big impact on yhe world. But some legend has it he ditched his parents and pregnant missus to find that "truth". Harsh?

[GrandmasterP]

Dancing girls I heard.

His rich dad bought the lad his own personal pole dancing troupe for his birthday.

Guatama had asked his dad for a "a swimmin' pool" but his Dad heard it as ' a wimmin pool".

In disgust the lad up sticks and left home.

The rest, as they say; is 'history'.

 

;-)

Edited April 25, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Stosh]

I've always wondered...Buddha (Siddharta) made a big impact on yhe world. But some legend has it he ditched his parents and pregnant missus to find that "truth". Harsh?

This is just how I read it all , just me maybe..

 

Im thinking theres truth in it , but consider one who has done this , well they might beat themselves up over it, yes the person was following the paradigm of religious folks before him , but that wouldnt make his guilt go away. He pounded himself for years trying to come back to a situation of ease ,like back to when he was a young innocent boy ,, and IMO he finally came to the realization that he just could not beat himself enough to make it go away, he'd litterally die trying to escape his self inflicted misery. And it was only when he forgave himself that he could open back up. Thats how we end up with the 'morals' of the whole story ,, Re: suffering, relief , human nature , the middle way , and the human condition.

It is the low point to contrast his ultimate triumph, the story is not one of straight up meteoric rise from the norm we live and "hypothetical heaven of the gods" It is a human story of fallibility confusion and finally revellation.

 

IMO

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

I would never have chosen to leave my children, my wife or my hearth and home.

 

It was a place of power for me.

 

But I was given no choice in the matter.

 

You may dispute this.

 

But I know it to be true.

 

Hence my disposition.

...

Edited April 25, 2014 by Captain Mar-Vell

[Rara]

...

I would never have chosen to leave my children, my wife or my hearth and home.

 

It was a place of power for me.

 

But I was given no choice in the matter.

 

You may dispute this.

 

But I know it to be true.

 

Hence my disposition.

...

No one can judge you on so little they know.

 

I suppose I cannot judge Siddharta from word-of-mouth either.

[Nungali]

To balance ones Psyche well is clearly an Art finer than I first thought.

 

Art ... yes

 

 

 

An art alchemical.

 

Many Spiritual teachers say to follow the intuition, for it will guide you where you're meant to go. I thought I'd put this to the test and, yeah, I'm making awesome progress in my life on the whole, but you can lose it a little bit if you spend too long in that state (probably more so if in a very distressing situation, or having had quite a distressing few years), though it does give very good and accurate advice.

 

Intuition ... another whole other thread there ! Intuition works best when backed up by learning and experience, things get lodged in the unconscious where many processes happen that we are not aware of , then a result or impression is thrown up , as if out of nowhere, (as we are not, by definition aware of the unconscious) and we call it intuition. Its a good facility to develop and many of our senses and mentation from their input is on an unconscious level.

 

What are your thoughts on Intuition vs. Logic, Reason, Rational Thinking, etc.?

 

I too advocate a strengthening and balancing of all the facilities as well. balance is very important. I also like to see balance .. as well as the duality in the above image ... as four fold, elemental. Coming from 'spirit' is fire your will and individuation, water- here you can place intuition and other things, air , which includes your Logic, Reason, Rational Thinking, etc. and earth, your physical body .

 

I agree with the 'doing something about it' approach (no earthly use at all ) all four need to be used and equally balanced. That gives a base and a space for you to 'rise up' and your individuality and own (as opposed to others projections and expectations) sense of identity to shine.

 

I see it like this; we get an inspiration , stoke of genius, etc (fire), we see how we feel about it, intuit, harmonise with it ... some even say 'sleep on it' and what is this but running it through the unconscious (water) , then think, rationalise and logically nut out the how and possibilities (air) and lastly start doing something about it (earth). Without air one might have a great inspiration but be awaiting the arrival of the 'space brothers' to fix anything, no fire is no inspiration and nothing starts , only empty stuff that really doesnt inspire us. Who wants to do something that just doesnt 'feel right' and with no culmination in earth, its all just a pipe dream.

 

I like to keep them in order and harmony ; mind is third, thats tricky as mind likes to think it is first ... but you can do a deal with it

 

Same as not to let one's emotions rule or neglect the physical body, or fail to nourish the spirit or fuel fire.

To what extent do you feel it's necessary to balance more Spiritual thinking/states with those that are more "normal"?

 

Depending on the approach, lifestyle and environment ... when I visit aboriginal friends, at their sacred site I suspect there is no difference and then it starts to rub off on me. I try to remember that when I come back to the 'real world'. Its a matter of balance again I suppose.

 

Edit: I remembered advice someone gave me once; try to always maintain an advanced aware state, but one that allows you, when need be, to navigate the supermarket.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Nungali

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

I remembered advice someone gave me once; try to always maintain an advanced aware state, but one that allows you, when need be, to navigate the supermarket.

 

Good advice, that.

 

Yes.

 

Balance.

 

I had to embrace Old Crow.

...

Edited April 26, 2014 by Captain Mar-Vell

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

Teachers aren't magicians* either, they simply get to know you, how you best learn and at what speed and they are there with you in the same room so can help you move any barriers as and where those arise 'for you'.
Because every student is different, no book or DVD can do that as well as a real teacher can.

* OK maybe some teachers 'are' magicians of a sort but that stuff comes in much later in the course, if at all.

 

I find the most simple of parlour triX to be most exhausting.

 

I hate having to do tricks.

 

I'd much rather not.

...

Edited April 26, 2014 by Captain Mar-Vell