Resonance with the Self

Handbook for connecting with the spirit within and bringing some empathy to this world

By Martin Euser, May 2021

Know your Self

and be whole

Coverpage (head on front): Background Bokeh Light (Pixabay)

Goals of this book:

Understanding the crisis of civilization: lack of vision, materialistic values, the long descent downwards

Regaining purpose of life: the position of the human being in the world

Finding meaning in a fragmented world

Developing a solid understanding of life

Forming a sound vision of one's role in society

Developing a philosophy of life

Working together to make a transition to a wholesome world: from ego-centric to eco-centric

Index of content

Foreword

Introduction

Ch.1:  Perception and beliefs

Perception is everything

Belief systems: the heritage of humankind

One sees what one believes to be true – a parable

Values guide us in our thoughts and beliefs

Which are your values? A short questionnaire

Psychocybernetics: the goal directed brain-mind

Ch.2:  An analysis of the thinking process

What are thoughts? A new perspective

The character of thoughts

The process of thinking

Conscious thinking:observing the stream of thoughts

A simple technique to neutralize negative thoughts

The seven aspects of thinking

Changing the pattern of thinking:

the thought, action, habit, character connection

Stoicism, panpsychism: Marcus Aurelius, the emperor-philosopher

Observing the stream of consciousness

Pythagorean exercise

Controlling the flow of thoughts

Is there a Matrix or storehouse of impressions?

Ch.3: The Self: your true parent

The luminous Self

Testimonies of encounters with the Self

Some universal principles of concern to humans

The golden rule: virtues are all important

What you sow is what you reap

Learn to become who you really are

Unity of all life

Ch.4:  Self, society, ecosystem

The money system

Ecological considerations

Peak prosperity course

Degrowth

Artificial intelligence

Biotechnology

Climate change

Social systems

Philosophy: panpsychism

Psychological counseling and online groups

Ch. 5: Death and the afterlife

Introduction

Traditional views of death don’t encourage us to think about it

Why knowledge of the processes of death is useful

Man: a stream of consciousness

Death is a gradual process

After-death states according to Theosophy

How can we verify the given information ourselves?

Bibliography

Ch. 6: Roberto Assagioli's psychosynthesis and the act of will

Introduction

Phases of the act of will

Bringing a vision into manifestation

Some concluding remarks

Appendix A: A monadic model of the human being

Appendix B: Qualities working within the human psyche

Foreword

In today's fragmented society, many people seem to have lost any sense of meaning and purpose.

Our materialistic science has taught us that we are just a kind of advanced ape with a big brain brain. Survival of the fittest and fierce competition has been hammered in like a dogma. Religion has lost its appeal for many, because of its inconsistency or incompatibility with science. "God is dead", Friedrich Nietzsche said.

To make matters worse, the world is facing threats like climate change, ecological destruction, pandemics, resource scarcity, financial instability, authoritarian regimes, psychopathic leadership, and so on.

Yet, this is not the whole story. Throughout the ages there have been and still are spiritual teachers who have tried to help the human race by explaining that there is more to this world than the eye can see. They have provided us with insights that could transform this world into a much better place than it currently is.

Indeed, the goal of this book is to summarize some of the essence of these teachings and provide some techniques and practices for you to expand your awareness of what life, death, cooperation and struggle is all about.

The emphasis lies on your inner game and how to deal with the conflicting impulses in your system. Space is reserved on some pages to write down your observations and experiences with the exercises.

Some consideration will also be given to new organizations that strive to bundle individual efforts to change the course humanity is currently on. After all, insights need to be applied in one's daily life and today that life influences the whole globe through its consumption and ecological footprint.

May this information be of help to you, the reader, and the people you connect with. In case you want to contact me, email me at ResonanceSelf@protonmail.com

Thanks goes to all those who have inspired me to write this book.

Martin Euser

My academia.edu page

My library at archive.org

Introduction

The topics of this book comprise a vast terrain. They range from perception, belief systems and world views (religion, science), to the underlying principles that can  be seen operating throughout nature. Some of this material can be found elaborated in my book “Mysteries of the human mind”, freely available at archive.org.

Here, I have condensed some of that material and added some new insights and new articles of mine.

Some may ask: why have I chosen the title “Resonance with the Self”?

The reason for this is as follows: unless one has some clarity in mind as to one's purpose and goals in life that fit well with one's character and potential, one will struggle endlessly and may well despair as to the meaning of life at all.

The study of first principles of how nature works will give satisfaction to the brain and heart. Learning to cooperate with nature, including humans, brings joy to the self (and the Self as well!). The “Self” refers to that part in you that is the spiritual part. In actuality, the Self is your parent from which you originate. Learning to attune to the Self means to discover who you are, deep inside, and learning to cooperate with others for a more harmonious world. What could be more important? This is also the natural way to evolve, to unfold one's potential.

The techniques and practices I describe in this book will provide some help to those who are seeking to get a clearer picture of the situation they find themselves in, and of the global state of affairs at this time in history. It is not a scheme of get-rich-and- happy-quick, of which too many already exist. It is not the little self or ego- personality that is the center around which everything revolves, but the larger  world in which it is embedded that should matter. Empathy is the quality that is sorely needed in our world.

Many false beliefs need to be exposed and wrong conditioning needs to be undone. Humanity as a whole will need a long time to reach that point. You, as an individual, have an opportunity to start now and have a deep look inside yourself. By doing so, you are also influencing your environment, since all is connected in this world and the universe at large.

Transforming the self is hard work at times. Yet, the gratification and joy can be immense. Have a pleasant and fruitful journey!

The author

Chapter One: perception and beliefs

Perception is everything

Did you ever wonder whether life has a purpose?

What about your own life? Also, do you think that your belief system influences your ideas about purpose? If so, how?

Ponder a while about these questions and write your answers down below on a printout of this page, or in a notebook.

My purpose (or larger goal) in life is:

My beliefs influence my view on life as follows:

The reason I ask these questions is to start you on a journey of investigating your perception of life, your belief system. What did your parents, school, church, friends, and others, tell or taught you about the world we live in?

What was an implicit or hidden message that you got from them? What did they teach you about religion, spirituality, death, love, work?

Write your answers down below.

My parents, school, church, friends, media told me about religion/spirituality:

About life and death they told me this:

About love:

About study and work:

We will now dive into the world of consciousness and perception, with its many aspects, and start developing a view of things based on the ancient wisdom traditions.[1] True wisdom never ages. It also incorporates new insights when circumstances change. So, universal principles never change, but the application of insights is adapted to specific situations as these invoke the necessary intuitions.

Intuition is the capacity to grasp a situation as a whole, in all its aspects. The intellect then can work out plans of action to be dynamically adapted when necessary.

The first thing to do now is to investigate belief systems.

Belief systems: the heritage of humankind

Philosophically speaking, one can divide belief systems in two great categories:

materialistic versus spiritual belief systems, or views on life.

The materialistic view entails the belief that matter is all there is. Consciousness is seen as a by-product of matter, the mysterious something that is produced by the neural networks in one's brain. There is no good explanation of phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, near-death-experience, out-of-body experiences, encounters with angels, origin of life, meaning of life, deep spiritual or mystic experiences, and so on. In fact, such view has little to offer to humanity but shallow pleasure, addictions, greed, ecocide, promises of a techno-paradise. Yet many people live in despair. One may wonder why so many people hold this view.

One might counter-argue that technology has brought us, at least in (post)industrial countries some affluence. True, but at what cost!

The combination of a wrong monetary system, based on eternal economic growth, with a neglect of ecological considerations, has brought the destruction of life on earth ever closer to us.

The spiritual view on life entails the belief that consciousness is primary to manifestation. It builds the vehicles it needs for its manifestation out of primordial elements. The human personality consists of just such vehicles, which are coupled with consciousness. This is a well-known vision in many religions. Some religions state it more clearly than others, like Advaita Vedanta. It should be noted that consciousness itself has a substantive side. The whole universe is a manifestation of One Life that penetrates all, a bit like an ocean that contains countless water droplets. It has a substantial side as well as a consciousness aspect.

More information about the spiritual view can be found in my e-book “Mysteries of the human mind”. In the following chapters I elaborate the spiritual view as well.

A short note on postmodernism

The postmodern philosophy has some good points, in my opinion. It analyzes things in its context and tries to deconstruct language, among other things.

It stresses the relativity of opinions. So far, so good. It is clear to see, however, that extreme postmodern views negate or contradict themselves. If all is but an opinion, than such postmodern views are just opinions themselves. Such a view negates itself. It is a hollow thing, meaningless.

Above opinion stands an informed opinion, based on facts and reasoning, and above an informed opinion stands direct knowledge of an object. The latter knowledge is known as pure intuition, which is a clear registration of the essence (vibration) of a person or object of perception. The philosopher Plato writes about that in his work “The Republic” , the so-called divided line. We will investigate these matters further in the next chapter.

One sees what one believes to be true

The parable of the snake and the rope

In the Indian Upanishads there is a nice story about a boy who walks in his village’at dusk and suddenly sees a snake. He starts shouting: snake! Snake!

After a while he looks closer and realizes that it is a coiled piece of rope where he nearly trampled on.

This is a perfect example of how our perceptions are colored and influenced by our beliefs about ourselves and the world. If one believes that others can't be trusted, one will see deceit everywhere. It is a self-fulfilling thing. One projects one's opinions and beliefs on situations one encounters. Perception and beliefs act like a filter on one's consciousness, blocking a lot of valuable information from our awareness.

So, examine your beliefs carefully. Where did your get your ideas about society, education, work, relationships? From the media? From your parents or friends? From experience?

Clear perception is not easy to attain. It requires a cleansing of the mind.

More about that that in chapter two where some techniques and methods are given to set the mind on a path of clear perception and thinking.

Values guide us in our thoughts and beliefs

It will not come as a great surprise that values exercise a great influence on our life. After all, values play a role as diverse as to the importance of success, having good relationships, making money, looking attractive to the other sex, but also in ethical issues and moral decisions and developing virtues. One attaches value to things, persons, achievements. We give meaning to our sense-impressions, filtered through our belief system.

Which are your values? A short questionnaire

A quick way to discover your values is to ask yourself the following questions: what do I want or expect from a life partner? What do I like to do most of my time (paid or unpaid)? What kind of work would I like to do best? How do I spend my money? What kind of hobbies do I have? Do I like to work with people? Do I like to do research? Work in nature? Care for children? Repair cars? Why? Try to get an overview of your most important values. Make a note on the next page. It may pay off to revisit your notes some years later to see whether you have shifted your values in some respect.

Psychocybernetics

Lately, I have been listening to the audiobook “Psychocybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz. It is published by Pinguin random House audio. I found it on audiobooks.com. Matt Furey, president of the psychocybernetics foundation gives a commentary in the audio.

I was pleasantly surprised to recognize many points of agreement with my own writings, which give a spiritual form of psychocybernetics. Some highlights, from the first half hour of the audiobook, paraphrased, are the following:

1. Work with visualization and mental imagery

2. The self-image and success

3. The theater of the mind

4. The goal-directed feature of the brain-mind

The self-image is defined in the (audio)book as “the individual's mental and spiritual concept or picture of himself”. It is “the real key to human personality and behavior”. See chapter one . Maltz/Furey state that “a mental blueprint in subconscious mind controls our future”.

If one gets stuck in the past and only remembers one's failures, then this is a sign of a poor self-image. The advice is “to relive your best memories, picture what you want and feel you can have it and do have it”. Do this on a daily basis.

Of course, you also have to set goals for yourself. In positive psychology (Seligman) and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) there are helpful exercises as well to get on a positive track.

In the theater of the mind “remember, relive your best memories, victories, successes, happiest times”. Then comes an especially interesting point: “imagine and feel achieving a goal in the future, but experiencing it now, almost like a memory of an accomplished goal”. That corresponds with an exercise I mention in my article on Roberto Assagioli, that is included in chapter six.

“You can be happy before you reach your goals”.

My comment: when you see life as a process, you can enjoy the moment and focus on the here and now.

The brain-mind is goal-directed. It is teleological. This is not mystical at all. Cybernetics (science of steering and feedback) grew out of the (programmed) goal-directed behavior of mechanical systems in and shortly after world war Two. Anti- aircraft missiles needed to be more effective in downing airplanes. So, feedback control was implemented in the machines.

Purposeful behavior of machines was studied and optimized.

The idea of teleology, or goal-directedness, was banned from science in the nineteenth century. It is still controversial, I believe, but will be the accepted wisdom of future times. Scientists are just humans, most of the time limited by a very narrow education and suffering from a tunnel vision.  History shows this all the time. The greatest minds of science always realized this. No-one has ever been able to explain how exactly a person is able to pick up a pen from a table. How does a thought of the pen in your hand materializes in the action to accomplish this fact? Nobody knows exactly. We must be humble in this regard!

Back to the audio: “self-image is the key to human personality and human behavior”. “Change the self-image and change the personality and the behavior”. The self-image “is changed for better or worse, not by intellect alone or by intellectual knowledge alone, but by experiencing”.

“Our present state of self-confidence and poise is the result of our experiences”. Indeed, and the exercises given here and in chapter two can help one to organize one's life and orientate it in a more positive direction.

“Use creative experiencing to create a better self-image”.

This is further explained in chapter two, where a visualization technique is given to transform negative thoughts.

Successes help build our self-confidence and from failures we can learn a lot.

So, be flexible and have an open mind. Self-acceptance is stimulated by the recognition that we form an integral part of the universe. Much more about that in the next chapter and appendix A, where the capabilities of the human being are discussed in light of the experience and knowledge of the great sages of all time.

Lastly:

Remember your successes, however small or great, and let these inspire you to go on with the challenges you face in your daily life.

Chapter two: an analysis of the thinking process[2]

What are thoughts? A new perspective

Did you ever wonder where your mind came from? How did it come about that humans can construct elaborate mathematical systems, anticipate future events and plan accordingly? What are thoughts? Are you the originator of thoughts or are you a passive receiver of thoughts originating from others? What about telepathy? We will consider the process of thinking in some detail in the next sections. Take some notes of what follows and try to connect the ideas with situations you encounter in your daily life. Where not mentioned otherwise, quotes are from my book “Mysteries of the human mind”, that is freely available on the archive.org or academia.edu.

Character of thoughts

Scientists have no idea what a thought actually is. They seem to assume that the network of neurons in one's brain somehow produces thoughts, but have no idea how that works, let alone how abstract thinking comes about.

Thoughts come in a wide variety and are of different quality. For example, one aspect of thought is desire. There is lust, and gross passion, but there can also be lofty aspirations.

People can be obsessed and even possessed by thoughts. A thought can grow so strong that one can't resist it.

Let's have a look at the characteristics of living beings. What is required for something to be called alive?

Criteria differ among biologists, but we can use the following ones:

1. Living beings are subject to the processes of birth and death.

2. Living beings require food of some kind.

3. Living beings have a character of their own.

4. Living beings can procreate in some way.

5. Living beings do have some consciousness of their own.

Analysis of thought will learn, that thoughts conform to all of these points:

1. Regarding history, one often talks about the 'birth of an idea' in a certain era. Many examples can be given. Not only such dramatic events as the French Revolution but many other gradually unfolding episodes like the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, the computer era, the information superhighway, etc., can be seen in this way. After the birth of an idea, it will grow, evolve to some extent and finally die, to be replaced by another idea (thought).

2. We all know that we often have some desires, maybe to buy something or so. If we fulfill this desire, the associated thought often quickly dies. If we can't fulfill it, one of two things can happen: we either forget about it or this desire becomes really strong, up to the point that we have to fulfill this desire. We almost drive ourselves crazy until we have got this wish fulfilled. We are constantly feeding this thought with our desire-energy (the fourth aspect of thinking, see further on), making this thought really strong and big. Many examples can be found of this process, showing that we can loose control of ourselves and get entangled in some acts resulting in a really messy situation. Oh, how do we desire that we never had done these things..Thoughts take form and last longer corresponding to the degree to which they are sustained. They will die sooner when we spend little attention to them.

3. Thoughts having a character of their own can be understood as follows (my paraphrase of Kok’s line of thought): when we recall the fact that we are sometimes confronted with strange or incomprehensible thoughts, which we soon forget, then we can understand this to be due to the deviant character of these thoughts from  our own character. These thoughts simply cannot find a proper soil in us to root  and sprout.

Inversely, a thought or idea will strike a note in our consciousness much easier if the character of this idea conforms to the character of our personality.

Racist ideas will easier resonate in one's mind if one has an element of or a tendency towards racism already in oneself. Art will be more appreciated if we have a sense of beauty or harmony developed in ourselves.

4. The procreation of thought might seem a little odd at first sight. Yet, we all know about this. If a teacher tells us about something, and we 'buy' it, then these thoughts find a fertile soil in our minds, enabling them to grow, flower and come to fruition. On our turn we can transfer these ideas to others ('sow these thought- seeds'), where they can find a new life. Nowadays, we hear about 'memes', but I take this one step further saying that thoughts are more than just information floating in the air.

5. A thought has its own consciousness. We all know, that we can be quite 'obsessed' by thoughts sometimes. We have great difficulty to break out of some strong thought-influence. The thought has grown to gigantic proportions, blocking other thoughts out of our consciousness. How to deal with such a situation? We must concentrate with all our efforts on other thoughts; especially we must get into action, to break out of this iron hold. A constructive approach is given in the next section.

A positive example of this own consciousness is when we are caught by some grand, inspirational thought, leading us into unselfish acts we normally would not do.

Kok draws the conclusion that "thoughts are living beings."

"Besides having a vibratory aspect they have life in themselves."[3]

Then follows Kok’s argument that the stream of thoughts that pass through our minds consists of hosts of living beings. He adds that our faculty of thinking is so to speak the capability of perceiving thought-forms or images. We will soon see that we do not have to passively undergo the influences of these beings.

Kok continues: "The concept of the stream of thoughts as a host of living beings provides an important key to changing our lives! By applying this knowledge (see also subsequent sections) we can open new vistas of perception and experience. Of course, we have to experience the correctness of this point of view in our own thinking, before we can apply this key."

The following part up to the elaboration is a loose paraphrase and translation of a non-public document from D.J.P. Kok I have in my possession.

In order to investigate the nature of thoughts as living beings, it is advised to see oneself more as a witness of thoughts than as a creator of thoughts. Think of yourself as part of the One Life that is the essence of all beings. That will make it easier to get into the state of witnessing thoughts.

The process of thinking

Here, I repeat, with minor alterations, a part of what I wrote in my first book “Mysteries of the human mind”.

The wisdom-tradition “makes a division between conscious thinking and unconscious thinking.”

“Unconscious thinking is what we all do too often. We uncritically accept the dogma's of science, commercial slogans, technological innovations, political propaganda, etc. It's quite easy for strong personalities to force idea's into the minds of people, as long as these last ones don't know anything about the effects of thoughts on themselves and the situation in the world. Yet, we should know better. We all know how war propaganda can drive people crazy. Propaganda, slogans, advertisements and the like, can easily influence people when they are not conscious of the effects of these messages.”

“This ignorance about the process of thinking and the effects of thoughts on others and selves has brought many disasters to mankind. We are in the illusion that we think consciously, that we control our thoughts, while the facts point in another direction. Fact is that we are drifting on the waves of thoughts projected and amplified by strong personalities who have clear reasons to do so (for personal gain, political power, commercial reasons, etc.). Mind, that this is all cleverly done. We are made to believe to have so many rights (what about our duties?), are made to believe that we need this or that latest object of technology (do we need it really?), made to belief almost anything. It's a scary situation.”

“How can we break out of this passive kind of thinking? By conscious or clear thinking.”

Conscious thinking: observing the stream of thoughts

“The recognition of thoughts as living beings is an important step towards conscious thinking, because it leaves no room for doubt respecting the responsibility one has for one's thoughts. Thoughts are simple, elemental beings that follow slavishly the impulse that is given to them. They mostly express their own consciousness when the process of thinking gets out of control.

Many psychological disturbances could possibly be prevented if these facts were known and the knowledge of these things would be correctly applied.”

“In order to illustrate the process of thinking, one can think of the technique of transmitting radio or television waves. A receiver can pick up certain frequencies and by attuning to one of the channels messages are made visible and can be understood. Likewise, a person picks up thought-waves that lie within his bandwidth of thought frequencies. In the case of the human thinking faculty it is clear that this can function both as a transmitter and receiver of thoughts.”

“When we look at a child, we can observe that it has its own character already at birth. Gradually it starts expressing its character during the first years of its life. This character forms so to speak the bandwidth within which thoughts can be received or perceived. Nurture, education, and all kind of other factors influence the child and limit this bandwidth further by offering a narrow perspective on life. Not that the child doesn't resist tradition and prejudice, for example in puberty, but the environment's influences are usually too strong to resist. And so another 'decent' citizen is born, neatly adapted to the utilitarian way of life.”

Note: today that education will not do any longer since a transition to a healthy, harmonious way of life has become a bare necessity for humanity's survival.

“This explains why new, refreshing ideas have so much trouble to enter into the human mind. Our minds are just too crystallized in traditional concepts and notions of life. The receiving brain-mind can only pick up thoughts of certain frequencies and re-transmit them. This fact is unconsciously or even consciously misused for commercial and political ends.”

“How to change all this? First of all, the process of change should begin with the individual himself, because he must realize in which mental situation or state he is in. Then only he can decide to change his or her way of thinking. He or she can tune in to other frequencies of thought, that is, the higher aspects of thinking (see seven aspects of thinking below), finer qualities of thought. Where I write 'he' you can substitute 'she', of course.”

A simple technique to neutralize negative thoughts

“Now, we won't book any success if we try to combat our character-faults.”

“Why not? This is because by combat we feed our thoughts, which are living beings. So they will grow stronger instead of starve to death. Instead of combat, we should forget about the unwanted thoughts, let them die. For this we need recognition of these thoughts and give them a positive impulse by simply thinking an opposite, positive thought. By thinking and acting according to this positive thought we outweigh, outbalance, the effects of the negative thought. By persisting in this practice we can change the quality of thoughts and also make our thinking faculty function on other frequencies, more altruistic, spiritual, positive, etc. After some practice we will even no longer receive these negative thoughts (we may notice or observe them but do not allow them to upset us). I’m addressing myself to reasonably healthy people here. Others may need psychotherapy to effect an integration and positive orientation towards life.”

The seven aspects of thinking

The wisdom-tradition enumerates seven aspects of thinking, as follows: physical, emotional, vital, desire, intellect, intuition, inspiration.

In my first book (see above), I have described these aspects in some detail. Here, I will summarize some of that material. Quotes are from my book as mentioned above.

The physical aspect of thinking is concerned with bodily care and necessities. This is obviously necessary to some degree. Too much attention to body detracts from other aspects, as will be clear.

The emotional aspect of thinking refers to the sense-impressions on the mind, and the reaction one gives to one's perception. Too much of this can degenerate into sentimentalism. It might be a good idea to read some of the writings of followers of the Stoa (Stoicism), like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Nowadays, the ideas of the Stoa gain some traction to help people get some peace of mind. I will get back to Marcus Aurelius further on.

The vital aspect of thinking refers to activity of mind in concrete action. For an example of excess expression of vitality, think of managers that want to plan and deal with about everything in business. Otherwise, it is a good thing to follow up on one's plans.

The desire aspect of thinking is often misunderstood. Desire is a neutral force, like electricity that flows through a wire. It can be used for good and for bad.

In my first book, I wrote:

'Understanding the motive for our actions is of fundamental importance in the process of acquiring self-knowledge. This motive can be selfish or selfless. Rather than talking about 'good' or 'bad', which are relative terms, different in each culture and historical period, we can better use the terms "selfish" or "selfless" as a criterion for judging our own acts and thoughts. We can deceive ourselves, however, by subtle motives, for example, ambition that may be altruistic, or, on the other hand may involve quite a bit of egoism, pride, etc. It takes a lot of sincerity to see our motives clearly for what they are. According to the degree of developed discernment or understanding we will recognize these subtle motives. Are we slaves of our passions or do we control our mind's activities? This important subject is part of the discussion Krishna has with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Example of higher form: Lofty aspirations . Example of lower form: Gross passions.'

The intellectual aspect of thinking “ is only one aspect of thinking, and not the highest. Intellect works mostly with isolating problems out of their context. It gives fragmented, partial, knowledge. It has a limited ability to get to the core or essence of things, unless coupled with real understanding. It often leads to fighting against symptoms, solving nothing.

Higher form: use of intellect to work out practical solutions in the context of really understanding what the core of a problem is or what a situation is really about.

Lower form: blindly relying on models in science or wherever, without the necessary understanding of their inherent limits and shortcomings.”

The intuitive aspect of thinking refers not to pure intellectuality, but to a deep understanding of things, people, situations. One can grasp a situation in a flash of insight and see a solution to the problem at hand.

“We see this with the 'mental eye', so to speak. It can take considerable time after this flash of insight occurred to us to work this out in a systematic fashion by use of one's intellectual aspect.”

“Understanding is involved with grasping the relationship between parts and the whole. One sees the relationship between science, spirituality and philosophy. One appreciates the fact that one cannot really separate the individual from the collective, etc. One recognizes the builtin harmony and order in man, nature, and, in the cosmos in general.”

This aspect of thinking can be called the enlightenment aspect.

“If one has fully developed this aspect, not only on the thinking level, but above that, one is technically called: a Buddha.”

Example: “using one's understanding of things to help others, to improve conditions of humanity.”

The inspirational aspect of thinking.

“The influence of inspiration can be seen in great works of art. Also, mystics of all ages have witnessed great visions in a state of unity consciousness, an experience of the actual wholeness of all life. Sometimes we ourselves feel connected to all beings (to life in general), absorbed into a feeling of unity, while walking in a forest.”

“In general terms, we can develop (identify ourselves with) this aspect only through developing our understanding or intuitive faculty.”

Examples: bringing new concepts into science (based on genuine intuition), like Max Planck, one of the founders of quantum mechanics; creating masterpieces of art.

“If all seven aspects of thinking are completely developed, we can speak of a truly complete, harmonious, wholesome human being.”

We have transcended pity personality to open ourselves for the influx of the spirit within. The motto can be: seek and you will find ,or, attune to the inner layers of yourself and get some understanding.

Exercises

1. Now that you have studied the seven aspects of thinking, can you name one or two dominating aspects working in or through your mind? How can you tell?

How much time do you allow these aspects, and others, to dominate your thinking?

2. Apply the method for neutralizing a negative thought on a daily basis.

Write down your experiences. Does counting to ten before you react give you the necessary time to imagine a positive thought?

Changing the pattern of thinking:

the thought, action, habit, character connection:

We have seen already how we can change our thought-pattern. To elucidate this process further we will look at some important issues of character (again based upon a paraphrase and translation of D.J.P. Kok’s work, but expanded with notes of my own)

Stoicism, panpsychism

The emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius says in his 'Meditations' that: "Your life is what your thoughts make of it".

"This truth is based upon the fact that behind each act there stands a corresponding thought and the fact that a repeated act becomes a habit. Habits form our character, that is, our pattern of life. A critical investigation of our own thought-life will render an understanding of these facts. From this follows the conclusion that changing our habits of thinking will lead to changes in our character! Of course, we will have to exercise this practice of changing our habits of thinking."

"The direction of change should be towards impersonal, selfless thoughts. There are great examples in history of men and women who practiced self-- forgetfulness, worked for the benefit of all, fought against dogmatism, group-interests and injustice, created great pieces of art, etc. These were the real founders of civilizations! They can be our examples."

Everybody can become a purveyor of culture and help build a society in which every human being has the opportunity to evolve and express the best qualities that are within him or her.

"The only thing you have to do is to use the creative powers that are within  you. The technique is simple: use the power of your imagination by creating an image of how you want to be! "

You will discover the enormous power of creative imagination (a formative power of the human soul). I'm not talking of mere fantasy here, but about the powers of the higher aspects of thinking on the spiritual-mental plane.

“On the one hand you know what your character is now. On the other hand you know how you want to be (and potentially are, deep inside: the higher Self, which forms a part of your constitution and which already has such a high level of awareness and spiritual development).

You can make your personality transparent to the inner qualities of the Self (see chapter three and appendix A for a discussion of the Self), allowing these energies to flow through your personality. This can be called "attuning to the spiritual worlds", "building a bridge to the inner worlds", "setting up spiritual vibrations". This will greatly influence the world for the better.”

“These forces all work through the astral Matrix (higher parts thereof, in the above case), the connecting sphere or spheres for inner and outer planes of being [see further on about the Matrix]. The astral light or field-matrix is a key factor in the explanation of (for example) how a thought impulse leads to a movement of the body, how telepathy and clairvoyance works, etc.”

Note: this Matrix has formative qualities. Rupert Sheldrake has postulated morphic (formative) causation, the existence of form-fields. He also did experiments with telepathy between dog owners and their dogs. Very convincing stuff.

“By this process (see above) you will transform yourself gradually into a more complete human being. The higher aspects of thinking (see above) will be able to express themselves in and through you.”

The personality is connected with the Self. Our thinking faculty has been kindled by this Self. This , by the way, solves the mystery of the evolution of abstract thinking which has puzzled so many biologists.

“Thinking is from one perspective a kind of 'reflection' of the pure ray of thought, emanating from the higher human ego, onto the turbulent mirror of the brain-mind. You can clear this mirror and reflect this pure ray on a crystal- clear mind. “

“The technique is the following: You will have to form an image of yourself of how you want to be and perfect this image. This ideal picture will grow and refine in proportion to the growth of your understanding of life. You will encounter difficulties, no doubt about that, as you will experience relapses in old modes of thinking and acting. This should be a stimulus to persist in changing your habits of thinking.”

Observing the stream of consciousness

“In order to investigate the nature of thoughts as living beings, it is advised to see oneself more as a witness of thoughts than as a creator of thoughts. Think of yourself as part of the One Life that is the essence of all. That will make it    easier to get into the state of witnessing thoughts.”

“A good exercise to learn to recognize in what 'track' your thoughts naturally flow, is to observe your flow of thoughts on the moments before you fall asleep. Just observe as a witness (in this exercise). You can learn to recognize the quality or character of these thoughts, and, to recognize the several aspects of thinking. This will be helpful in the process of getting to understand yourself better. You can also do this exercise on a quiet moment of the day. If you don't like what you see, then you can apply the methods in the next sections for changing your thought-pattern.”

Pythagorean exercise

“A helpful exercise, sometimes ascribed to Pythagoras, consists of looking back at, evaluate, the events of the day when you go to bed. Ask yourself: "What did I do this day?", "Did I do as I planned to do?", "What did I learn from this day?", "What things can I do better?", "Did I hurt somebody" (If so, "How can I correct that"?), etc. This is very useful for coping with the world's affairs and will help you to profit more from deep sleep since you already 'processed' some stresses and strains from the day. Of course, this exercise should be done with a sincere attitude of mind.”

“Also, you will understand your weaknesses more clearly as your consciousness is raised. This is only to be expected because a clearer light comes literally to shine through your mind. These weaknesses should not be combated but forgotten by dynamically working for the benefit of humanity, so that you gain inner strength and your consciousness becomes more centered in your spiritual core.”

“One becomes what one thinks. Ponder on the fact that energy describes a circuit and thoughts that are send out will come back to you after some time. So, be careful in what you send out into the world. A negative projection will get back to you like a boomerang and catch you unexpectedly, if not in this life then surely in another reincarnation. A positive impulse sent out will be reinforced and stimulate others (and yourself too). Ponder about the statement that a force once spent is not lost but continues to exist on subtler planes until it is brought into balance again by another force.”

"One is that with what one identifies oneself with. Think about yourself as a man or woman who is capable of understanding the background of life and who is capable of realizing high ideals in practical life. Be a creator of uplifting ideas and you will become a living embodiment of these!”

Controlling the flow of thoughts.

Changing our pattern of thinking (habits of thinking).

The following three paragraphs are based on some of D.J.P. Kok’s work (my translation and paraphrase).

“The reason for the necessity of getting control over one's thought-life will be clear by now: by controlling the kind of thoughts that enter into one's mind, one can exert a powerful, positive, harmonious influence on this world and also avoid being carried away by harmful desires.”

“We can use the force of thoughts without any danger if we concentrate our minds on a high ideal, that aims at the well-being of humanity in general, e.g. the ideal of human brotherhood (siblinghood/sisterhood/etc.). Think about this ideal in detail and eliminate all elements in your thinking that are in conflict with this, by replacing these with positive building stones (thoughts).”

“These thoughts will touch many minds and create a driving-force for changing conditions in this world. Persistent and purposeful thinking is necessary to achieve this. By the practice of selflessness and self-forgetfulness one will also see effective ways to help others to help themselves. Many people, but not enough, are doing this kind of things already for a long time. Do you want to join them?”

“Let me add a couple of practical remarks to the above procedure. To make it more effective, visualize concrete, practical steps to establish parts of this image and DO what you need to do. To give just some examples: did you ever think of helping change the flows of money in this world? Why don't invest in projects that educate people to make a living for themselves and their families (or put your savings on banks that support projects like these)?”

“What about consumer power: buying products that conform to certain standards of production, labor conditions, environmental conditions, etc.? What can you do for your neighbors, elderly people, homeless people, etc.? Most important of course, is to set a good example for others by living a life of love, compassion, using your talents, keeping the welfare of others in mind.

Organizing groups, partaking in groups, spreading information about the reality of the spiritual world, about spirituality in daily life, writing letters to organizations and influential people (opinion makers); a thousand possibilities exist to do useful spiritual work. Personally I like to participate in LETS systems (Local Exchange Trading Systems). These are systems that work with local currencies and have banned the practice of charging interest. Social contacts are stimulated by participating in such a system and you can gain many new friends.”

“One thing is sure: it is acts which are important, guided by wisdom and discrimination. Use of imagination is the preparatory work, the evolving of the right mental patterns, the 'preparation of the soil'.”

Is there a Matrix or storehouse of impressions?

Some of you may have read “The divine matrix” by Greg Braden.

In this book, Braden describes how to use the properties of this matrix to accomplish your deeply felt wishes. My comment on this is, to proceed wisely, have realistic goals in harmony with your character and possibilities.

This matrix is nothing new. It has been known throughout the ages. (Even in science, there are people speculating on a holographic universe, which is a closely related idea.)

One of its names is “astral light”. The starry sphere, so to speak.

I myself have seen this light too. It is the sphere in which we live, have our emotions and thoughts. It has many regions. The images in our dreams are molded in this light by our mind.

Few people seem to be aware of all this. It is like telling the fish in the ocean that that there is an ocean. What?, they say, we don't see an ocean. No, you don't see it, “you are in the midst of it”, as a spiritual teacher (Vitvan) once said. Plato's allegory of the cave comes to mind. It is still a very apt allegory for this confused time. If you haven't read it, please do so. It is so to the point.

Did you ever ask yourself where the emotional-mental energy goes when you have a deeply moving experience?

The matrix, or field, records and stores all the impressions from life. It is certainly peculiar to see the recording of events or the etching of it in the fabric of the field, as I once clearly saw. This function is related to karma. One has to deal with karmic impressions in this or another life. More information about that can be found in esoteric literature.

“Mental patterns are not abstractions. They are really existing as patterns of subtle matter in the field-matrix, consisting of living beings, vibrating with life and light (In Buddhism the term "skandhas" is sometimes used). They tend to materialize if only you use your spiritual will.

'Will (energy) follows desire', says William Quan Judge[4] in his comments on the Bhagavad Gita. In other words: if one directs one's attention, desire (in the form of one's spiritual aspirations) to the inner planes then you can receive spiritual energy from within, establishing a new circuit for one's energy to move in!”

“The human psyche will certainly respond to images, dynamically hold in the mind, no doubt about that. It is a practice that is known to quite a number of people today. It takes some resoluteness of mind and some effort of concentration at first, but will soon become a habit! Real thought-currents are set in motion when you practice imagination (not your fantasy). Your acts will amplify the influence of these currents a thousand fold. It will bring a healing influence into this world that so sorely needs it. Love (compassion) is the greatest healing power in the world! A true divine magic for the benefit of all, brought into manifestation by you and others. You can make a difference, if you want!”

I'd like to give two references here:

1. Roberto Assagioli, "The Act of Will", Wildwood House, London, 1974. This is a worthwhile book written by the developer of psychosynthesis, Dr.

Roberto Assagioli. This includes the concept of skillful will and transpersonal Will.

2. School of the Natural Order:

Gnosis (Wisdom tradition) in a modern form.

In this context especially see the material on the “Psychic nature of man”, and, the “First crossing” which deals with the discontented self, the search for meaning and insight, and the possibility of transforming the content of the psyche.

Chapter Three

The Self: your true parent

Before I tell you about the Self, some information about evolution is appropriate here. According to the esoteric tradition, there are three lines of evolution: physical, mental and spiritual. It is interesting to know that the word 'evolution' has the meaning of 'flowing out of', an unfolding of substance and quality.

So, physical evolution is about the development of suitable vehicles for manifestation; mental evolution is about the development of the mind, the mental faculties and the brain; spiritual evolution is about the development of spiritual faculties such as direct knowledge of something and opening up for inspiration.

Scientists have limited themselves to study of physical form and of a limited range of cognitive functions. Most of what is essential to the human being has been ignored as being “subjective”stuff that can't be measured or is just some function of the brain. That is extreme reductionism[5], which is one factor that has led to the deplorable state humanity currently finds itself in.

Some psychologists have gone further, like Abraham Maslov who later in his work has added self-transcendence to his hierarchy of values and Roberto Assagioli with his formulation of psychosynthesis and act of will. I have included a piece on the latter in a separate chapter.

The luminous Self

What is the Self? How does it look? What is its form? Many questions can be asked about this mysterious being, that is on the one hand the parent of each of us, and seems so distant from us.

The ancient teachings reveal some bit of the secrecy surrounding the Self.

To begin with, each human being is the projection or outflow of energies from his or her own higher Self. These Selves are interconnected on their own planes of existence. The Self has no gender per se, although some might say that It manifested itself to their psychic eye as a man or woman or child.

Many testimonies exist as to encounters with the Self, especially with a bright inner Light that brings joy, peace and clarity of mind. Many people have at least once in their life some uplifting experience concerning the spiritual. The psychiatrist Richard Bucke has devoted a whole volume to that, discussing Cosmic Consciousness. See below.

In appendix A, I discuss the human being and its constitution further. The model you will find there may contribute a great deal to your understanding of the connection of all life, embedded as it all is in one ocean of life, energy, consciousness and substance.

More details about the process of manifestation of the Self in the form of personality can be found in appendix A.

These are almost forgotten teachings of the past. Yet, many people state that they have had at least once in their life some experience of the spirit working in their mind.

Is the Self distant from the personality?

Yes and no. One has to realize that the Self operates in different spheres than the personality. Yet, one can contact the Self when brooding on matters of importance, like vital decisions. When people have serious doubts about some decisions they have to make, and direct their mind towards the spirit within, a certain resonance with the Self may or will result, which will transmit the answer: no. When in serious doubt, don't do it.

Keep in mind that the human being is a stream of consciousness. A human can shift his or her consciousness to more spiritual levels as indicated in chapter two.

Obviously, the Self is deeply involved with the personality of which it is the causal factor. Yet, a person has to learn to develop its own spiritual capabilities. That simply is spiritual evolution which will result in a transformation of the lower self. The development of virtues is paramount in this regard. Courage, concentration, compassion, integrity and so on. Wholeness of life. A well integrated personality capable of transcending its own small self-interests.

Testimonies of encounters with the Self

The Greek philosopher Socrates testified of the influence of his higher Self on him, which he named his Daimon, a semi-divine being. This not to be confused with the word demon, which indicates just the opposite.

Another philosopher, Plotine, also refers to his encounters with his Self, as Richard Bucke mentions in his book on “Cosmic Consciousness”. The latter has described many persons that have had an experience of the inner Light. He describes the character of those that have had such a vision of this Light.

These were always people of high morality. Virtues matter in this case.

Many names can be stated here: Gautama Buddha, Shankaracharya, Socrates, Plato,Plotine, Jesus Christ, St. Paul, Mohamed, St. John of the Cross, Jacob Boehme, Blake, Edward Carpenter, Walt Whitman, to name a few.

The list is long and contains only some of the well-known people of their age. I could mention some others, but this list suffices for my purpose.

Unless one has a certain level of spiritual development, there is little chance of having such profound visions. Yet, flashes of intuition, or rather hunches, occur in the lives of many people. It all is a matter of degree.

The conclusion of this chapter is this: it is possible to direct one's mind to the energy world of the spirit and strengthen the bond with it. In chapter two, I have indicated how this can be done. A simple technique goes a whole way. Yet, perseverance is needed and the development of clear goals and a sense of purpose. In this connection, in the next chapter the interaction of self and society is further elaborated.

Some universal principles of concern to humans

Many people seem to doubt the value of developing virtues, thinking that we  live in an unfair world. Granted that the financial and economic system we live in is terribly flawed, these people are yet misguided as to the need for developing some measure of virtue in themselves. The reason for this will become clear in the next sections.

Ethical principles: grounded in the fabric of nature

In chapter two, I briefly mentioned the Matrix as a field on which impressions are etched or recorded. This Matrix is well-known in esoteric circles. It goes by the name: Astral Light. It has many functions, but here I am concerned with its recording properties. Since our intentions and especially actions leave an imprint on the substance of this field, one at once can begin to understand the injunctions of religions and spiritual philosophies:

A. The golden rule: do not unto others as you do not want be done to you.

Often it is stated as: do until others as to yourself.

Since we often don't know what is good for ourselves, let alone for others, the negative formulation above has preference in my opinion.

B. As you sow, so you shall you reap

This is a very familiar saying from the New Testament.

The connection of B to A is immediately clear. In Hindu religion, one can find the idea of karma. Now, according to the esoteric tradition, karma does not simply mean fate. Instead it refers to action and the consequences of action.

Materialistic people will object that they often don't see justice done to criminals. This is a correct observation. The idea of karma, however, has to be coupled with the idea of reincarnation.

Now, I want you to understand that the personality does not reincarnate. What happens after death is, that the lessons learned in life and the best features of the self are stored in the Self, like a page written in a notebook. There comes a time that the Self will project and develop a new personality to be born on earth.

This personality will be confronted with the consequences of past actions, for so far that didn't happen already in the previous manifestation of Self. Nobody can escape karmic justice. Nobody. What one can do in this life is develop positive tendencies and character traits and perform acts to equilibrize some of the wrongs of the past. It is a dynamic, evolutionary process! Humans will evolve over long periods of time into beings with more wisdom and powers of mind and spirit.

That is, if the human chooses so.

Here we see why we must develop a clear vision on life. Virtues matter. Think this through, logically and philosophically.

Note for you: what I now understand about justice, cause and effect is this:

Learn to become who you really are

At birth, a baby already has his or her own character pattern. Every mother recognizes that fact. She knows how to recognize very quickly who is who, in the case of an identical twin. In the course of, say, twenty years, the expression of this character pattern usually is constricted according to conventions and morals of the time and place the child finds itself in. Many young adults have difficulties in their development. This has been sketched in chapter two. They become frustrated in their development. Society is to blame for a large part in this regard. One factor is the grip that the neoliberal financial-political-economic system has on this world.

Yet, we can make some choices to live according to our higher values. We don't have to consume so many things all day long. We can ponder about a life with less goods and more time for self-development. We can engage in volunteer work and so on. We can listen to our bodies and intuition and develop a more natural or harmonious lifestyle, in accordance with how we feel inside.

In addition, the esoteric tradition states that the Self has developed more qualities than the human being of which it is the originator. It teaches progressive evolution: the idea that all life strives to develop, unfold, deeper qualities from within without. More information can be found in appendix A.

Unity of all life

The most profound teachings of the perennial wisdom-tradition pertain to the unity consciousness that pervades all life. There is one Field from which all beings originate. We are as droplets in an ocean of life. To us, limited beings, It will be incomprehensible in all its vastness. Yet, we may experience a little of this Sat-Chit- Ananda (Being, Cosmic Mind, Bliss) in short bursts of experiential awareness.

Diversity in Unity seems to be the way the Field operates. Blessed is the human being that can penetrate deep into this field.

Chapter four: Self, society, ecosystem

The esoteric tradition doesn't give prescriptions on how to organize a society. Mentalities differ among nations and across time, so, the form of societies will differ. Yet, some general principles are given, from which one can deduce guidelines on how to proceed.

I will discuss some of these succinctly while dealing with the topics here under.

The money system

From the most basic considerations about compound interest and exponential growth, it can be deduced that Infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible.

The gap between the rich and poor is getting larger. Bad idea. The rich use much more resources than the poor. Bad idea too. Thomas Piketty has written a bestseller about it.

Mike Maloney deals with the workings of our money system in his much acclaimed free video series about money and the Federal reserve system.

Especially, video number five deals with how money is created in our society.

Ecological considerations

Agricultural soils are being depleted at an alarming rate. This cannot go on. Restoration of the soil is a necessity. Permaculture and related methods come to mind. These have been employed with success already at some parts of the world. Climate change could mess up with these results, however.

Peak prosperity course (free on peakprosperity.com)

The world currently uses billions of gallons of oil today. When the easy to extract oil has gone, it seems difficult to replace it with something else.

When one studies the concept of energy density, it looks that a green new deal will fall short of its promise. “The long descent”, a book by Howard Kunstler may prove illuminating to many in this respect.

Degrowth

Ireland's prime Minister has called for a steady state economy. This looks like a good idea to me. The equilibrium may well be at a lower level of prosperity, in terms of wealth, than currently is the case in the Western world.

An increasing number of scholars are pleading for degrowth, nowadays. It may well be that a simpler life also is a happier life with less stress.

Artificial intelligence

Humans have become very dependent on technology.

We have become slaves from our own scientific technology.

The line is certainly crossed when we let algorithms take moral decisions. Yuval Noah Harari sketches some dangers that face us in the near future.

It remains to be seen how intelligent and understanding AI will become. My guess is that for a long time AI will not reach a high level of insight into human problems and ethical questions. It may split humanity in factions.

Homo Sapiens has become clever, but certainly not wise.

Biotechnology

This is another hot topic . Will Humans become cyborgs in the future? How far will genetic manipulation go in the future? There are many pitfalls here. One can point to the increasing dependency of human on complicated forms of technology. Have we become slaves of our own technology?

Climate change

Perhaps the number one threat in the short term is climate change. Ever more scientists warn us for serious disruptions in the near future. Paul Beckwith has a large number of videos on this topic. See Youtube.

Let's hope that the Arctic ice doesn't melt very soon. You don't want too many self- reinforcing feedback loops messing up the climate.

It seems, however, that humanity is in for a rude awakening.

Social systems

Charles Taylor is well-known social philosopher who deals with many questions pertaining to society. Another writer is Charles Hugh Smith.

See kindle books at amazon.com for his name.

Philosophy: panpsychism

Michael Dowd, eco-theologian, has had many interviews concerning ecological considerations.

Panpsychism as a philosophy is clearly gaining ground in this world.

Psychological counseling and online groups

For those who are in despair about the climate situation and related possible collapse of society, Jem Bendell and his forum may offer some consolation.

What Happens To Us After Death?

Martin Euser, May 2021

(Slightly revised from the March, 8, 1995 edition)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Traditional views of death don’t encourage us to think about it

3. Why knowledge of the processes of death is useful

4. Man: a stream of consciousness

5. Death is a gradual process

6. After-death states according to Theosophy

7. How can we verify the given information ourselves?

Bibliography

Copyright Notice

_________________________________________________

Section 1.

Introduction

The subject of this article is the discussion of death and the processes of dying. Invaluable information will be given about life and death, from Theosophical sources, and a way will be shown how to verify the given information. This verification is possible because sleep and death are virtually identical processes, a subject about which you can read more in section 7.

The connecting thread throughout this article will be the concept of man as a stream of life-consciousness, using various vehicles (‘souls’) for manifestation of this stream. For an extensive discussion about this concept I kindly refer the reader to appendix A, which gives a model of the stream of consciousness, and the composite constitution, of a human being. So, it is wise to consult appendix A while reading this chapter.

Section 2.

Traditional views of death don’t encourage us to think about it

In Western culture death is largely a taboo subject. Most of us don’t like to think about the fact that one day we will die. Many people hold to the point of view that we live only once, and that after death there is either an eternal ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ or there is ‘nothing’ at all.

Both these points of view are something of ‘an easy solution’. If we have some fixed prospect then there is no need anymore to think about it..

Philosophically spoken, the concept of ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ as static states is a bit childish. Nature herself shows that everything is in a constant change of flux, motion, change. Change is the essence of life.

Plato provides some interesting food for thought in his ‘Phaedo’. Socrates argues in that dialogue that everywhere in nature we can observe the play of opposites: day and night, sleeping and waking, life and death, etc. Regarding the pairs of opposites he notes that everything has the possibility to pass into its opposite state. Every pair of opposites has transitional forms, for example, good and bad have as transitions: getting better and getting worse. Night comes forth out of day via twilight, and day comes forth out of night via dawn.

Sleep comes forth out of being awake and being awake out of sleep. With each of these pairs of opposites one can find transitional states or forms.

Moreover, one can understand that these opposites and transitional forms are always a state of something and that the appearance of this something is only a transition from one state to another.

If this applies to all pairs of opposites then the question arises whether life and death are also such a pair of opposites. If so, then it would be logical that there are transitional states for life and death too. Death is certainly opposite to manifest life, so let’s start searching for transitional states. One gets into life by birth. One gets into the state of death

by dying. One can only die because one lives now. Analogous, one can only get into life because one has been dead before.

Conclusion: life and death come forth out of each other and pass into each other via transitional states. A very plausible reasoning indeed! One has only to observe the processes of nature to see endless cycles going on and on.

The key question is what is it exactly that is going through these changing states?

Answer: it is consciousness. Man is consciousness, and specifically gifted with the power of reflection, thinking. The personality (persona means “mask”) is a temporary vehicle built by the real human monad (see appendix A) in order to express itself on the outer planes of life.

The higher aspects of thinking can be brought into expression on this outer planes too, thereby providing the means of verifying the truth of reincarnation (see section 7).

Section 3.

Why knowledge of the processes of death is useful

The conclusion of the foregoing section is that any real knowledge of the processes of death, in fact of life itself, is lacking in this world.

Yet, we can find certain clues in some religions as to what happens when we die (see section 6). Since the old Wisdom-Religion was reframed in Theosophy by H.P. Blavatsky, we are given a lot of valuable knowledge about death and the processes involved. Now, having said that this information is available to this world, this doesn’t imply blind belief! Rather, Theosophy encourages everybody to investigate the processes of nature and the structure of the universe him/herself. How this can be done is briefly outlined in section 7.

Besides satisfying our curiosity, knowledge of the processes of death is really knowledge about the processes of life itself and about the structure of the universe. Why is this so? Because life and death are, contrary to how we ordinarily see them, two phases of an ever recurring type of cycle in nature: the cycle of manifestation of consciousness on the outer planes of life, preceded and followed by the withdrawal of consciousness from the outer into the inner planes of life.

This cycle can be described in a general form as: birth, outer life, death, inner life, reincarnation.

Now, if we proceed from the viewpoint of reincarnation, then naturally the question rises what/how/who will we be in our next life. In what circumstances will we be born? These may seem interesting questions – indeed they are to a certain extent – but the most important question is: what will be our character in our next life? Why is this such an important issue? Because our character is a decisive factor, not only regarding which family we will feel attracted to, but also how our entire look upon life will be and how we will live our lives. I tried to explain questions of character and how to refine it by developing one’s higher faculties in my previous article.

The point is, that we ourselves decide now what our character will be in our next life! By necessity, our character in its main aspects cannot differ very much from our character we have build during this lifetime. So we have to work now at ourselves, get some feeling for what we really are, deep inside and bring some spiritual light in our character and express it in our life. No one else will do that for us. You can’t buy a wholesome character. The only way to develop it is through selfless service and trying to understand the deep meaning of life and death. One of the ‘tricks’ is starting to live in the now, to just be yourself, dynamically doing what we feel and understand is necessary to do and go on. Don’t expect too much fruits of your labor. Your mind will get trapped in expectations (a form of attachment!). If you get a feeling for this, your life will gradually change into a more holistic one. You will feel more connected to the whole, the supreme spirit, including mankind. Your appreciation of nature and her wondrous works might raise considerably.

So, knowledge of the processes of death is really knowledge about the processes of Life and is important for our everyday life.

As your understanding of the inner states of life and consciousness, and how these connect to daily life, expands, verification of the information that is provided here, and in my other articles, becomes possible. See also section 7.

Section 4.

Man: a stream of consciousness; the composite constitution of man.

Here follows a diagrammatic view of the composite constitution of the human being:

A short clarification:

The circles within the egg-scheme symbolize so-called ‘monads’: sparks of the universal life-force. These are pure spirit. The stream of consciousness, that flows from the Supreme Spirit at the top of our hierarchy (= most spiritual level in our hierarchy) down to the ‘grosser’ states of consciousness-matter manifests itself through pairs of souls/ego’s. A soul is a ‘carrier’ of consciousness.

An ego is a center of consciousness, through which many powers work, a facet of the stream of consciousness, using an appropriate soul (the configuration through which these powers work). The soul/ego pairs arise out of the interfacing of spirit and matter.

Our personal consciousness is centered in the personal ego. The reincarnating, personal, ego emanated by the personal monad, contains a ray of consciousness emanated from the higher human monad. This is one of the mysteries of the human being: his thinking faculty is dual in character. Man can concentrate his thinking on almost exclusive personal affairs, but on the other hand (s)he can direct his/her attention on high ideals, giving expression to spiritual energies.

The higher human monad has evolved the thinking faculty to an almost perfect degree and the faculty of understanding, the enlightenment principle, to a reasonable degree.

Death occurs as the link between the personal soul/ego and the  parent soul/ego, the higher human ego/soul, is broken. The reason for this break is simple: the old ‘vehicles’ are not longer useful, nay, become an impediment for the parent ego to manifest its qualities.

Time to change clothes!

Somewhat rephrased: the ‘voltage’ has become too high for the lower vehicles to bear. Remember, the stream of consciousness is a mighty vital, psycho- magnetic stream, the ‘voltage’ of which must be stepped down all along from the divine planes or states to the grosser states.

One point is exceedingly important to keep in mind when we study scheme’s as the above: we should not separate all the planes, states of consciousness, ego’s, etc. in any absolute sense. In reality, all these seven states interpenetrate each other, giving rise for example, to the sevenfold division of thinking I discussed at length in chapter two of this book. In other words: the small mirrors the large in some respect. The small contains elements of the whole! So above, so below. The old Hermetic axiom (a master key to understanding !).

Because one is the seven principles of manifestation, one does not have to look somewhere else for ‘enlightenment’, etc.

One is also what/how one thinks (compare the writings of Marcus Aurelius). Realize your potential and just be yourself, not forcing yourself into a cramped mental state. Use the faculty, power, of Imagination to form images relating to Siblinghood, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, cooperation, etc, and these images will concretize into a living reality, touching the minds of those who are spiritual seekers. A persistent effort and discipline is required of course. Remember also: thoughts are living beings!

As to the name ‘egg-scheme’ I could add that it is derived from the concept (and reality) of the Auric Egg, which was a secret teaching among the Brahmans. The Auric Egg is the basis for the commonly known human aura, which last one is only it’s grossest form! More info about this mysterious subject can be found in the esoteric instructions of Godfried the Purucker (see lit. #3b). Also, see appendix A where the egg-scheme model is further explained.

Section 5.

Death is a gradual process

What happens near the end of our life?

To answer this question we should first of all recognize the fact that we feel a certain attraction to outer life. We want to play our role on the stage of this world. The stream of consciousness manifests itself because there is a certain characteristic within this stream that is attracted to the outer planes of life. If we be honest with ourselves then we can easily be aware of this fact.

In the course of life this attraction gets a bit less strong. We have witnessed many events and see a repetition of the same old patterns over and over again, wherever we look. The attraction to the inner planes or states in the stream of consciousness gets stronger for us. Bit by bit we loose the interest in outer life. We start having periods of absentmindedness. The stream of consciousness flashes up and down, so to speak, between the outer and inner planes or states of consciousness. The ‘turning point’ has been reached for our personal soul.

This period of the lessening of our attraction to outer life usually takes a couple of years, varying with each individual of course. One more word about the stream of consciousness. This stream is a strong psycho-magnetic vital current that is being transformed by each of the vehicles (souls) it uses to manifest itself. Each vehicle or sheath is similar to a resistance or fuse in an electrical circuit. When the body, the outer vehicle, wears, it will breakdown in the end. The fuse melts.. The stream is interrupted. Compare an ordinary lightbulb. A similar process is going on there (a crude analogy).

This break occurs between the personal human soul and the higher human soul (see egg-scheme). Now that the lower or more outward vehicles are not longer fed by the energy of the stream of life-substance-consciousness, these vehicles start disintegrating. The ‘overlord’ (the higher human soul) doesn’t hold the composing cells any longer together.. This leads us to the consideration of after-death states.

Section 6.

After-death states according to Theosophy

The following info about the processes of death will be a bit sketchy. A mere outline will be given here. I refer the interested reader to the esoteric instructions of dr. Godfried the Purucker (lit. #3a) where (s)he can find more details such as about suicides, fatal accidents, etc.

The last couple of hours before brain-death are spend on the so-called ‘panoramic vision’, a process that involves the review of the life about to be ended. This review is like an extremely accelerated movie of all the events of life, seen in the light of the causes behind these events. Now, from this statement alone, the reader could infer that the higher human souls/ego’s are involved in bringing about this review, and he is right! Normally, we are not very perceptive to the causes behind events, and it is really the higher human ego which brings this vision about.

The personal human ego sees the justice of all that has happened, just because its consciousness is in an extremely altered state, brought about by the higher parts of the human constitution and is thus able to understand its past life in the light of karma or the correlation of cause and effect. (But see also my remark about collective karma later on in this section) You could call this panoramic vision a teaching or instruction for the personal human ego.

After physical death of a person there’s the following situation:

1. There is the physical body which is decomposing. The model body, sometimes called: ‘etheric’ body, is decomposing as well.

2. The personal soul and animal soul are separated from the physical and model body. They are clothed in a kind of astral body.

Together this complex is called: ‘kama rupa’ (kama=desire, rupa=body or form; hence: body of desire) More discussion about this complex will follow shortly.

The three higher souls/ego’s remain in their own spiritual spheres, yet connected to the kama-rupa complex, in fact not much different from the situation before physical death.

The life energies, the vital streams, disperse into space; they go back to the realms where they belong.

Let’s pay some more attention to the kama-rupa complex. It is held together by the force of desires that we collected during our earthly life. The higher principles/souls/ego’s are still bound to this complex, working to free themselves from the influence of the magnetic earthly desires/energies.

Now, where is this kama-rupa to be found? Obviously not in the material world. Theosophy teaches that it remains in a quasi-material world, called: kama-loka (loka=place or state, hence: place of desire). This is a familiar notion in many religions. The Roman Catholics call this place the purgatory, the Greeks called it Hades, the ancient Egyptians called it Amenti (see Egyptian book of the Dead), the Tibetans call this the Bardo (actually a subdivision of the Bardo; see Tibetan book of the Dead and lit. #3a).

Famous scene of the weighing of the heart of the deceased

[Regarding the Egyptian book of the Dead we could add that it describes esoterically the processes of Initiation, a thing which is related to the processes of death. Death, sleep and initiation are similar processes, varying in degree only.]

We ourselves determine the duration of the kama-rupa state by the way we live our lives now! If we lead a spiritual life, serving our community, our personal ego-soul will have a short stay in kama-loka varying, say, from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

If we live otherwise, paying a lot of attention to our personal status, filled with selfish ambitions, paying little attention to the needs of others, then we will have a much longer stay in the kama-loka varying, say, from a couple of years to a much longer period. In some cases (of really vile people) there’s a possibility of loss of soul – a mysterious teaching, but important to know – a thing that is clarified by H.P. Blavatsky (see: Blavatsky Collected Writings, Vol. XII, Theos. Publishing House, Wheaton, Il.)

Well, you could say, what does it matter if my soul stays long in the kama-loka or not? One answer to this lies in the dangers for the kama-rupa to be attracted to seances. Theosophy teaches that necromantic practices are unhealthy and dangerous, both to the medium and participants as for the deceased. For the latter especially if the deceased’s soul is still in the kama-loka as in cases of accidental death. It may very well be impressed with the unclean vibrations of the medium and of other forces, attracted to the seance.

H.P. Blavatsky and others have repeatedly warned against these practices (see lit. #3a, #7 and #8).

Leave the dead undisturbed! If you have deep love for a deceased what better respect could you pay to him/her than to live according to the highest ideals of that person? By identifying with these ideals and the highest qualities/characteristics of the deceased you will actually incorporate these qualities in your own character!

Speaking about the dying person, esoteric teachings state that one should not disturb this person by being overly emotional. I realize that this may sound harsh towards the relatives, etc. but in truth it is a sound advice. The dying has other concerns; (s)he prepares for the panoramic vision and needs quietness, peace, around him/her.

Coming back to the issue of the kama-rupa: when the higher souls/ego’s of man have released themselves from the lower desires then the second death occurs – a new phase for the personal ego-soul as well.

This implies the absorption of the higher aspirations (higher desires) into the higher human ego-soul. This marks the end of the kama-loka state of the personal ego. It enters into a new state of consciousness:the devachan (deva=god, chan=world or place; hence: ‘world of the gods’ or ‘heaven-world’), not so much a ‘world’, but a state of consciousness.

It is an exalted dreamy state of spiritual fulfillment[6] of all the ideals the personal ego cherished during lifetime and can also be seen as a kind of reward for undeserved miseries on earth. These miseries are to a large degree the consequence of collective deeds and thoughts of the human race, so, from the point of view of the personality these miseries are not deserved.

Yet, being part of humanity, it cannot escape all the stupidities and violence in this world. Of course this includes its own follies as well.

It is not only that. It is also a state of weaving the spiritual elements in the character of the reincarnating ego – a ray of the parent monad: the higher human monad. The three higher ego’s are now completely separated from the kama rupa and the personal egoity is dreaming-sleeping ‘in the bosom of the higher human monad’ – a sleep which can endure for many centuries. The kama rupa is now an ‘astral corpse’.

In it’s next eartly life the personal ego will commence with an improved character. So you see why it is important to know these things. You sow the seeds now for your next life. We determine the character of our next life partly by what we do now, by how we live now. How just this all is! How can we be different from what we make of our selves? We can’t. Of course, collective karma plays an important role during our life and will do so during our next life.  This can be no excuse however for not exercising one’s own powers of the mind. Nor should this lead to indifference to the lot of others.

All the ancient peoples of the world believed in the reality of reincarnation and a majority in this world still does. Buddhists, Hindus, Druids, Celts, Britons, Gallics, Platonists, Pythagoreans, many gnostic Christians, are only some of the people that hold to this doctrine. Add the Inca and Maya civilizations, the old Egyptians, the Roman poets Vergil, Lucretius, Horatio, the Stoics, and the list is still not completed! Also the Jewish Sohar, the famous Kabbalistic book, contains references to reincarnation.

The Christian Bible contains some implicit references to this doctrine (see gospel of John(9)). The famous church father Origines was very familiar with this doctrine. Eusebius was one of the church fathers who helped to eliminate the doctrine of reincarnation from the Christian faith (which was more a sort of collection of sects).

Needless to say that Nature doesn’t go along with this decision..

Reincarnation is the ‘lost thread’ in our society.

Understanding this key to life, together with that of Karma, would change fundamentally the way we live. It would bring some order in this chaotic world, if properly understood.

One question about reincarnation, namely: ‘why don’t we remember our past lives?’ can be shortly answered here. The point is that we get a new brain in our new life. This new brain doesn’t hold the memories of the past lives. Well, you could ask, where are these memories kept? Answer: in a certain part of the human constitution called the ‘auric egg’, and also in the astral light of our earth.

The astral light is the all pervading ‘fluid’ which was known among many mystics (Boehme, Swedenborg, etc.) and even to some of the scientists in former centuries, and, of course to sensitive people in our era.

It is the ‘magical agens’, correlating all the forces of nature, carrier of our thought currents, elementals of nature and much more.

The human will can exert a powerful influence on and through this light (see lit. #8, chapter V). The auric egg is composed of Akasha-Cosmic Aether- ‘invisible’ Light – a relatively conscious substance!

The more spiritual parts of the auric egg are composed of celestial light which is the building substance of our spirit; the less spiritual parts are composed of astral light, formative substance of our psyche. The auric egg is fundamental life. It also contains the karmic records of all our thoughts and deeds..

This will undoubtedly lead to many more questions and the best I can do is to refer the reader to the books of Blavatsky, Judge and De Purucker (lit. #3a,3b,7,8,9).

Another question about memories from previous lives is whether reincarnation therapy or hypnosis can help us to get these memories back. Esoteric teaching is quite clear to this: no, they won’t. As to the ‘memories’ people experience during reincarnation therapy, these are most probably impressions from the astral light, or, to some extent, impressions from the therapist him/herself unconsciously projected into the aura of the client and unconsciously perceived by the client whilst in a state of regression.

Regarding hypnosis, it is stated in esoteric literature (lit. #7) that it can be dangerous to a person. Hypnosis brings about a temporary separation of the higher principles in our constitution (notably the higher aspects of the thinking faculty) and the lower principles. This is an unhealthy situation. Many people have suffered from participating as a volunteer in hypnotic shows. Needless to say, a very pure motive and wisdom are necessary attributes for the would-be therapist to exercise his/her mesmeric powers on others, in order that no impure thoughts enter the aura of the client!

Why don’t we study the structure of the universe and especially man first, before we engage in such activities? The same advice applies to euthanasia. Are we wiser than nature? No! Using pain-killers is ok, often already shortening the period of dying. But to actively end one’s life by lethal injection is quite another thing.

To end this section, we can ask ourselves what happens with the kama-rupa, the astral corpse, after the second death has taken place.

Little is left of this corpse after second death. The lower desires are slowly dissipated, somewhat analogous to the afterglow of an electric stove when the electricity is switched off.

It disintegrates and the elements composing it return to their own realms; these elements just cycle back to the realms where they belong.

The lower desires are destroyed in their form-aspect. There remain, however, impressions, karmic consequences, ’germs’, in or on the astral light. Those germs are activated when the reincarnating ego manifests itself again in this world. See lit. #9 on the subject of skandhas.

Section 7.

How can we verify the given information ourselves?

A pertinent question to ask is: ‘How do you know all this?’ or ‘How do you know this information is correct?’ Is it only from books or teachers?

Well, sure we have information from the great Teachers of mankind, but this is not enough. Everybody can experience the value and truth of these teachings for themselves! Remember, we ARE the stream of consciousness. We can shift our center of consciousness from personal to more spiritual. We can use our faculty of thinking in such a way as to become more transparent for the inner light that is called understanding (the Enlightenment-principle).

We have to practice brotherhood/sisterhood, try to realize at least a bit of our highest ideals. That will change the characteristics of our consciousness.

Brotherhood/Sisterhood/Siblinghood is not so much about being nice to each other. Rather it has to do with respect for the uniqueness of other beings and trying to learn something from each other!

We can learn something from the other when we try to identify ourselves with the essence of the other, using our empathic faculty (an aspect of the faculty of understanding!) So, our relationships with others are deeply involved here. While spiritual growth processes can be painful sometimes, one reason being the immense resistance we encounter in ourselves (and others), it is beautiful too! We will experience more depth, warmth, humanness, less automaticity, etc. in our relations with others. Of course, sometimes we will have inner struggles, and, who knows, outer struggles too. All worthwhile things must be conquered!

When we start expressing our higher aspects of thinking, such as understanding, inspiration, etc. this is accompanied (expressed in ‘instrumental terms’) by our inner nature building a ‘bridge’, a conscious connection between the personal soul and the higher human soul. This bridge is called the ‘antaskarana’ in the ‘Voice of the Silence’ – a beautiful book from H.P.Blavatsky for true students on the Path.

This means that we open our minds for an enhanced influx  of spiritual energy from within. This has an effect on our consciousness also during sleep. Our body sleeps, while we keep the continuity of our (thinking) consciousness instead of plunging in an oblivious state of unconsciousness. The mind goes through certain states of consciousness similar to what happens during and after death. This means that the mind experiences a kama-loka state, then a state of some bliss, probably cycling from state to state a couple of times.

[a phenomena we may well be acquainted with: sometimes we wake up feeling deeply refreshed and content with life, maybe even feeling some happiness or bliss- whatever our brain-consciousness can retain from this state of consciousness we experienced during deep sleep.

Similar, we sometimes wake up in a bad mood. We probably didn’t get a lot of this deep sleep!]

Sleep research confirms this changing of states we experience during sleep. REM-sleep and deep sleep. I gather from this fact and from the esoteric teaching that sleep and death are similar processes (the Greeks said: sleep and death are twin brothers) that in the processes of death and after-death states a similar recurrent change of states of consciousness (‘unconsciousness’ may be a better term!) will happen.

Little information about exact details concerning these processes is given in esoteric literature (mostly in lit. #3a), as far as I know, so these we have to find out for ourselves using analogy and direct experience of the processes of sleep.

A critical investigation and verification is always necessary regarding esoteric teachings. I myself would never just accept teachings from others without applying my best powers of philosophical scrutiny and without testing these teachings in my own life, which testing involves the becoming familiar with one's own composite constitution and it’s relation with nature, the world.

I myself had several experiences with astral visits of just deceased persons, some with guides, who came to thank me for what I had done for them, and I could thus verify some aspects of the teachings on after-death states.

The old Wisdom-Religion provides pointers on the spiritual path. It is for the self-chosen, self-elected, to start their journey along the path, a path that is defined, characterized, by the motive of the seeker.

Bibliography

Note: many publications can be found in the online

archive of Theosophical University Press, like G. de Purucker's “Fountain source of occultism” [occult: that which is hidden to the profane eye], which is an amazing treasure trove of information about esoteric issues.

From:

Point Loma Publications

Post Office Box 6507

San Diego,

CA 92166

USA

1. After death-what?

Leoline L. Wright

ISBN: 0-913004-15-4

2. What death really is; questions we all ask

de Purucker

ISBN: 0-913004-48-0

3a. Death and the circulations of the cosmos

Volume I and II

G. de Purucker

Vol.I:  ISBN 0-913004-62-6

Vol.II: ISBN 0-913004-63-4

3b. From the same author: Esoteric Teachings IX,

Correlations of cosmic and human constitutions

ISBN 0-913004-60-X

4. Fundamentals of the esoteric philosophy.

G. de Purucker

ISBN 0-913004-70-7

5. The astral light: nature’s amazing picture gallery

H.T. Edge

ISBN 0-913004-20-0

6. Theosophy and Christianity

.T. Edge

ISBN 0-913004-17-0

7. Echoes of the Orient, vol. I

W.Q. Judge

ISBN 0-913004-28

From Theosophical University Press (TUP).

Postoffice Bin C, Pasadena, Cal. 91109 - 7107 USA

tel. (818) 798-3378 :

8. Isis Unveiled

Volume I,II

H.P. Blavatsky

ISBN 0-911500-02-2 cloth

ISBN 0-911500-03-0 softcover

9. The key to Theosophy.

H.P.Blavatsky.

An excellent intro to Theosophy.

ISBN 0-911500-06-5  cloth

ISBN 0-911500-07-3  softcover

10. The ocean of Theosophy.

W.Q. Judge.

ISBN 0-911500-25-1  cloth

ISBN 0-911500-26-x  paper

A concise intro to Theosophy.

11. Fundamentals of the esoteric philosophy.

G. de Purucker

ISBN 0-913004-70-7

Point Loma edition

Chapter six

Roberto Assagioli on psychosynthesis and the act of will

by Martin Euser

august, 2020

Introduction

In this paper, edited from old blog posts of mine, I deal concisely and informally with the fascinating route from wish to reality. There have been quite some authors who have been writing and lecturing about this, especially in new age circles (the law of attraction hype). However, I draw my material from other sources: Roberto Assagioli, the Italian psychiatrist who laid down the foundation for psychosynthesis, and also from the perennial tradition. This lays the foundation for healing of one's broken self, and also for the world at large, if enough people will follow this route. At the concluding remarks, I will say a bit more on this topic.

I am especially interested in Assagioli's work “Act of Will” in which he presents the steps or phases of the process of active will.

Note that I am not dealing with the law of attraction stuff, because it is far too egocentric of a nature: it is all about satisfying personal, often materialistic goals.

Precisely stuff that is killing our habitat. The question that is often forgotten in this respect is: are my wishes good for society as a whole? Do they help to make the world a better place (sustainable, to say the least) or am I merely indulging in fantasies and wishful thinking? Not to mention the fact that some wishes may not be very healthy for the individual concerned or not in alignment with the deeper layers of the psyche.

On a deeper level, one could say that wholeness of mind, and psychosynthesis, has to do with a natural process of bringing one's capabilities to expression  and realizing one's potential for the greater good. Integration of elements of the psyche/self are involved here. Will is one of the forces that are involved in that.

Phases of the act of will

Will is a most interesting topic to research. Everyone of us has to some degree experience with the act of will and can do experiments in this field.

The process of active will is very complex. It has been described by Roberto Assagioli in his book "Act of will". I cannot deal with it here at length.

I will mention the steps or phases involved in the will-process, however.

Note that some fluidity is involved in this process, as stages or phases may overlap somewhat, and may transition into each other gradually. There will be some loops between stages, going back and forth. The point of decision is usually a clear point in time, however.

Reversely translated from my Dutch copy of Assagioli's book, we have:

1. Goal or purpose, based on valuation, motivation and intent.

2. Deliberation.

3. Choice and decision.

4. Reinforcement: command or fiat of the will.

5. Planning and elaboration of a program.

6. Steering of execution.

This is the process of will in it's complete and ideal form. Remarks, based on Assagioli's treatment of the subject:

1. There is a goal to be reached. One has to clearly define a goal or purpose to be realized. (Some authors mention desire or wish as the starting point. I interpret that as a deep-felt desire for accomplishing something worthwhile. Simple needs are of a more biological nature and are not dealt with here.)

The faculty of Imagination (ideation, vision, giving form to a seed-thought) is involved in this.

This is not enough to get things going. A general vision is just a starting point. An evaluation or valuation of the goal is necessary ending in a judgment.

Then a motive must be generated that provides a drive and intent for one to realize this purpose/goal.

A motive is a dynamic thing. It is generated by the values we ascribe to the goals we want to reach.

We perceive or believe the goal to be lofty, necessary, etc.

2. As there are many goals, we must choose between them. This establishing of a preference is the result of the function of deliberation where we have to investigate or research several goals, our skills to realize these goals (our belief in our capabilities), the consequences of our choice, social desirability, acceptability, etc. Discrimination, clarity of mind, is necessary! Communicating our wishes and ideas to others may provide some feedback to us, sometimes leading to an adaptation of goal and preliminary plan.

3. Deliberation should lead to choice and decision. One has to wrap up, integrate, all the points mentioned at phase two, and come to a decision.

4. Then follows reinforcement of the choice and decision. This activates the creative and dynamic energies necessary to accomplish one's goal/purpose. The image of what is to be becomes dynamic now. It has been charged or colored by our intentions and values. Compare this with J.G. Bennett's "commitments", described in his tome "The Dramatic Universe".

5. Planning and a program are needed. Methods of execution come into play as are considerations of time, circumstances , conditions.

6. At last there is the steering of the execution.

Will is like a director of a play. It is the supervisor of the whole process.

It looks to me that the whole gamut of human functions is concerned in this process: from will to imagination to motivation to discrimination to planning all the way down to the physical act itself.

Quite impressive! The physical execution itself, sensori-motor function, is not a function of the will, but the steering of that part is.

Note: adaptation of a plan will often be necessary as conditions and circumstances may change during the implementation of that plan. Perseverance and improvisational skills are a must. The final phase, not mentioned by Assagioli, consists of receiving the fruits of one's work, appreciate what has been done, relax, rest, and let go.

The Dutch author Marinus Knoope , the discoverer of "the creation spiral", which consists of twelve steps, mentions these three steps (out of twelve) or phases in his book. His work is now being used to help children and adults help to formulate their dreams or wishes at schools and in communities in the Netherlands. It is also used by some consultants in transformation work in the business environment.

Knoope also mentions briefly, that there can and will be blockages, potentially at every step, called "negative" emotions (but these can be a source of power), and deals, to some degree, with these in his latest book. He states that these emotions fulfill an important role as paradoxes surround the creative process.

People often have difficulties with discovering or acknowledging their deepest wishes, giving form to it, and often lack faith in their own abilities or in support of their network. As to other blockages one can think of people who can't decide; people who cannot persevere; people who cannot share and communicate. It occurs to me that his circle of twelve steps, as well as Assagioli's steps or phases can be used as a diagnostic tool. A questionaire could be developed in this respect. Assagioli deals with some of this issues in his work “Psychosynthesis” and gives a number of therapeutic exercises as well.

Bringing a vision into manifestation

The following diagram summarizes the process of active will. One can see how the human being, through active will, connects the spheres of vision, thought and action in the act of creation (form-giving). Example: a well-developed vision of a harmonious world to be realized, connects the two poles of goal and need or necessity. A link has been made between the realm of possibilities and the here and now, especially so, when concrete steps are being taken to bring the vision into realization.

In other words, what can be or should be (and already exists as an idea, or seed-thought, in the mental sphere) has now a pathway to the here and now through the formative and physical  plane(s). It is  the magic of creation!  It is contemplation and  consequent plan and action combined. It involves the grounding  of spiritual  forces  to  allow them to do their transformative work here on  earth. That  work  can  be anything: from developing alternative systems of money to establishing a healthy ecosystem, etc.

Naturally, one will encounter resistance in society in the process of lofty work. Established interests will try to counter one's work. The necessity for building a base of interested co-workers seems obvious to me.

The above diagram concerns primarily the work of Roberto Assagioli. Here, I have conceived a model, consisting of four layers nested as shown in the picture, with a preliminary mapping of the six stages of the active will. The picture shows the interpenetration of levels or spheres in which psyche/mind operates. It is not a layered cake! It can be interpreted as follows: the human being desires something (evoked by some thought); this is the first stage, where also imagination takes place. It is internal to the human psyche, interacting with the world of ideas, thoughts, etc. The way I have formulated this, means that in this diagram I do not discriminate between lofty aspirations that reach the higher, transpersonal strata of the mind and more personal desires which act only in lower strata.

The second layer shows communication, networking, deliberation, valuing and choice. This concerns partly an interaction with the "outside world", the social environment in a broad sense. It also entails a valuation and decision process. Feedback and input from the environment play a role here.

This has been described above. For all the levels subsequent to level (or layer) one, there is an overflowing of forces from one level to the next. The levels interpenetrate and resonate to some degree!

The positive choice (go for it, do it!) concerns the fiat of will. Fiat means "let there be..".

This fiat activates, motivates, organizing vital forces [called pranas in Hindu lore] which flow as it were to the next (third) layer and phase of the creative process: planning, organization, etc., which have to do with making scripts or blueprints (structuring the executive act). It is very easy to recognize this phase: we all have had ideas for which we made plans. If you have some sensitivity, you will have observed the flow of energy that comes with the planning. Managers often display a lot of vital energy, busy as they are with organization.

Form giving and structuring or planning events require flexibility of mind. "Steer and follow", so to speak. One has to see the opportunities that exist or rise and gather the means necessary for accomplishing one's goals. That starts already on the second level, where one has to weigh the pros and cons of the cherished ideas, and is becoming urgent and actual in this phase.

The fourth layer concerns the steering (control) of execution. Supervision of tasks to do is needed. This phase combines the previously prepared and planned parts and stages of the execution.

Feedback arises where corrections in execution and plan are deemed necessary. This phase combines the influences of all the previous levels. Resistance and inertia on this level (as well as in the planning/organization phase), due to many factors, can cause a lot of headaches. Flexibility is needed. If you can't do something in one way, try another way. Learn to see different possibilities to do something and realize your goals. If one realizes a goal (or part of a purpose), one will get some satisfaction out of that. If it doesn't work out quite the way one has expected, there probably is a lesson to be learned.

Some concluding remarks

Much could be added to the above sketch of the process of active will.

To begin with, an elaboration of what the will consists of, its ontological status. It certainly looks like a directive force, so it must be of a substantial nature.

This would lead me to speculate on the nature of consciousness, mind and thought, something I have done in my book on “the mysteries of the human mind”, available at archive.org and academia.edu. It includes some exercises that can help one to become clear in one's mind as to purpose and goal in one's life.

The perennial tradition has a lot to say on these topics, including the nature of thoughts as presentations rather then representations, the observation of the stream of consciousness and how to direct one's mind to deeper or inner strata of Being.

Resonance with the Self can be reached by conscious effort. That is a whole chapter on itself. It involves the use of the faculties of imagination and will and often includes focused group work as well to form a dynamic field of thought. It certainly involves a fuller manifestation of one's inner characteristic pattern.

It is the road to becoming aligned with one's inner Self (a goal of psychosynthesis), and thus becoming a force for bringing wholeness into and onto this world. This important theme is dealt with at length in my book (in the second article). Today, this knowledge is as vital as ever, and probably more urgent than at any other time in human history.

Appendix A

A monadic model of the human being

The composite constitution of the human being

The purpose of this section is to present in shorthand a 'model' of man, which can greatly enlarge our understanding about the relationship between 'us' and the Universe. If we get a feeling for this, it is easier to grasp the wholeness or interconnection of all life, because 'what is above, is below' (the Hermetic axiom).

The theosopher G.de Purucker has presented a model of the human being in the form of the egg-scheme. See figure.

Figure: egg-scheme: a monadic model from G. de Purucker

Important Sanskrit names in the egg-scheme are:

kama: desire (a neutral force, which can be used in a selfish or selfless way: see the section on the seven aspects of thinking in chapter two)

prana: vital energy

manas: faculty of thinking; in the personality it is mixed with desire (kama) and typically active in the chasing to fulfill 'dream pictures' of possessions, position, power, 'romantic' relationships, etc., etc. which are all soap bubbles of course, bound to vanish into thin air sooner or later.

buddhi: spiritual soul. Light-substance (not ordinary light, which is but a modification of the primordial Light)

atma(n): universal spirit. Also: the divine monad, a ray of the supreme Self.

The esoteric tradition, in this case by word of De Purucker, presents a kind of spiritual-material model of man. Matter is viewed as crystallized spirit and spirit as rarefied matter. Spirit and matter are ultimately states (manifestations) of One Principle that is the One Life-force. Science recognizes the fact that matter and force are convertible into one another. The perennial wisdom adds that this fact also applies to the psychic and spiritual realm. Old forms of thought can be dissolved and the frozen energy can be liberated and used in new forms. More on this topic can be read in chapter two.

The circles within the egg-scheme symbolize so-called 'monads': sparks of the universal lifeforce. These are pure Spirit. The monads act as foci or knots or centers for the stream of consciousness, that flows from the Supreme Spirit or Logos (the "Word") at the top of our hierarchy (= most spiritual level in our hierarchy) down to the 'grosser' states of consciousness-matter.

We all have a ray of the Supreme Spirit in us, and this provides a way to find the path within, a way to place one's consciousness in more subtle states of matter within our hierarchy (sphere of life). See lit #1, where the topic of the Supreme Spirit or Supreme Self or Silent Watcher is treated in the context of the egg-scheme, the seven jewels of wisdom, and initiations.

Let me add here, that all this stuff has nothing to do with escaping reality since the spiritual planes or spheres are already present in us here and now, and it is only a matter of recognition of this fact that will help us to open our mind to these spheres, influences, within ourselves and learn to give expression to these energies!

In order to manifest themselves, these monads need to make use of a dual pair of organized consciousness-matter. This dual pair is split up in the egg-scheme at the left-hand side (vehicular aspect = 'soul', carrier of consciousness) and at the right-- hand side (Ego or center of consciousness).

Each ego in this scheme expresses the evolved faculties and qualities of the corresponding ego emanating monad. The divine ego expresses far more faculties than the personal ego. Likewise, we as persons have evolved more qualities of consciousness than the animal monad, which forms a necessary part of our constitution. We need it and, of course, our body in order to express ourselves in this world. The arrows pointing to the various monadic centers indicate the fact that these centers have developed self-consciousness. The animal soul has not yet done that. It follows blindly the impulses and suggestions given to it by the personality.

One's personal consciousness is centered in one's personal ego. The following enumeration shows in a nutshell some of the developed qualities of consciousness of the diverse monads. See also lit. (1,2)

Divine Monad: Inspiration, Unity consciousness

Together with the spiritual monad: our inner god or Higher Self. The range of consciousness of this monad is said to encompass all the planes (inner and outer) of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Sanskrit corresponding name: atma(n).

Spiritual monad: Enlightenment principle (understanding, intuition; Sanskrit term: buddhi). Also known as the (holy) Guardian Angel. Range of consciousness: entire solar system.

This monad is the vehicle for the divine monad. It partakes in the heavenly world and to some extent in the world or sphere of the human being. It seems to warn us in times of danger, but its voice is not easily heard because we are not used to listen to the voice within, totally absorbed as we are by affairs of the world. These two monads are part of the spiritual line of evolution of a human being.

(Higher) human monad:

Vitality, emotion, desire; also higher aspects of thinking, and part of the understanding faculty. It is the parent of the personal monad. Range of consciousness: all the planes/spheres pertaining to the earth (far more than the physical earth alone).

The higher human ego and the higher human soul together can be called a 'son of Mind', or manasaputra, because of the fact that this being has developed noetic mind (higher manas, higher thinking capacity) to a large degree. This being is the one that kindled the human thinking faculty by projecting a ray of its manas (some of its fiery essence) into the embryonic thinking organ of the human being, generations ago. Keep in mind that the Element of Fire is something quite different from ordinary, terrestrial fire, though in that fire too there is the subtle essence of Fire at work.

This event in human prehistory has brought a strange condition to bear on the human race. The Prometheus myth of the ancient Greeks is reminiscent of this event. He stole the sacred Fire from the Gods at the Olympus, gave it to humanity and was severely punished for this. This is a clever parable that is full of hidden meanings! You will have to study it thoroughly, together with the theosophical teachings, in order to extract the carefully veiled meanings.

Prometheus is a symbolic figure for the higher human ego or Self which becomes crucified upon the cross of matter and spirit.

This myth is a symbol for the second line of evolution of the human being: the evolution of the manas (the thinking faculty).

Think about this and you may begin to understand the reality of this event. After all, there is a great mystery in that the human being can think (and be self-- conscious), a thing that cannot be said of an animal. A wide gap exists between the animal and the human being (although their physical bodies have many features in common). No biologist will ever be able to explain this fact of self-consciousness along a materialistic line of thinking. The Neo-Darwinian theory of evolution is incorrect in many respects as is known by all true spiritual teachers, since they know that evolution starts by the impulse of spirit given unto matter. ( An increasing number of biologists see the shortcomings of the Darwinian theory as well)

The beings of spirit and matter work together in order for the first to get experience in the relatively denser worlds of matter (and develop the faculties of the mind) and the latter for being gradually spiritualized or etherialized (evolution of spirit, inherent in all beings).

Noetic mind is a state of mind far above cortical thinking or brain-mind, and it is transpersonal, of course. It can be equated with the Christos energy, the 'Father in heaven', a lofty state of consciousness, characterized by impersonal, transpersonal, love.

I added the label 'Radiant Mindstuff' as a descriptor for the higher human soul, because to us ordinary human beings this level or state of mind is seen as luminous (when one happens to see, or temporarily be united with, one's higher soul this last event being an example of epiphany: result of exertions for the well-being of the human race ), due to the fact that the higher Self has developed buddhi: spiritual discrimination, love, empathy, etc., to a considerable degree. The radiance of buddhi (the spiritual soul) makes the mind radiant because of its union with   buddhi (the light of understanding). This union is designated as: "buddhi-manas" and it is a state of enlightenment (a goal of the natural order process, but not the end of spiritual evolution or unfoldment).

I have added the label 'solar ancestor of the human being' as a description for this ego because it is the ancestor of the human being: the Self was a human being, not necessarily with a body as we have now, in a previous cycle of development and the human being was then an animal forming part of the constitution of the Self that was a human being then.

Personal, or lower human Monad

Developed aspects: vitality [prana], emotion, desire [kama], lower aspects of thought [lower manas]. This is the monad that reincarnates or sends out its rays into matter. The personality is like a mask that is put on during an incarnation. It is not the personality that reincarnates but the 'personal' monad that sends out a ray, forming a new vehicle in the composite stream of life-energy-substance- consciousness. It is the parent of the animal monad as the higher human monad is the parent of the lower human monad.

I added the description : 'higher part of psyche' at this position in the egg-scheme because aspects as cortical thinking and aspirations are usually attributed to the (higher) psyche by philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras and also Vitvan. The personality, or little ego, thinks: I am I, separated from others. The Self knows: I am, unique, yet an integral part of the whole that is the Supreme Self. The Self shares some of the psychological characteristics with his ray or emanation (the lower human monad). It shares to some extent in the karma of his emanation, so when his child monad in incarnation suffers, it suffers too. A mystery indeed, but easier to understand when you draw the analogy with a child and its parents on the physical plane.

Animal monad: Vitality, Emotion, Desire

Part of the third line of evolution of the human being: physical/emotional/desire-- mind.

The soul (kind of a psycho-electromagnetic 'field') which is associated with this monad is called: the vital-astral soul. This is the field or state of being in which our consciousness is active most of the time. I labeled this soul 'the lower (aspect of the) psyche'. A further clarification is this: this soul or field of awareness is centered in the lower chakras, beneath the diaphragm. Typically under the influence of the phase of the life-force that is called the libido, the drive for sex, etc.

Part of the process of spiritualizing lies in bringing (part of) the life-energy (the libido) to the higher centers (chakras) by focusing on spiritual creative work. Don't force this too much. Strike the golden mean as Pythagoras is said to have advised. Freud talked about the 'sublimation of the libido', which phrase expresses the same idea.

Keep in mind, however, that we need the impulse of our desires in order to evolve. We can't do without emotions or desires, but as is often stated in our literature, use the energy of emotion, desire, thinking, etc., in a constructive way.

The development of consciousness by the spiritual seeker and worker will bring him/her ultimately into contact with the 'baptizing fire [or light]' of the Christos, the inner manasaputra, which will open a new field of awareness ("noetic or spiritual octaves of consciousness"). Some interesting information concerning the development of consciousness can be found in William Quan Judge's booklet "culture of concentration". See also the reference to Vitvan below.

This 'baptizing' (better: an absorption of spiritual energy-light) must or will be followed by an integration process of this energy in the sphere of action on this earth, in order to bring more light to one's fellow beings. Cooperation for establishing a healthier world becomes a strong urge after this baptism (a kind of initiation). In this regard I can add that no extraterrestrial or master, etc., can or will save humanity from its follies. We ourselves have to clean house [the body and our contaminated ecosystems]! How else can we learn the necessary lesson of compassion, love, cooperation and respect for nature and one's fellow brother/ sister?

Physical Soul: The physical soul consists of the model-body (a template), also called 'linga sharira' in Sanskrit. Sharira means envelope or body; Linga can be translated as 'model' and has also a connotation of creative energy. It is the carrier  of the pranas or vital forces that express themselves in the physical body through the chakras. It is also the formative cause of the physical body (sthula sharira) and it contains the astral senses, the necessary intermediaries between the outer senses and the mind. These astral senses are also involved with telepathy, clairvoyance,  etc.

The connection between the Human Monad (Self) and the Personal Monad has been sketched in a previous chapter as being a relation between parent and child.

Note that we have in the recesses of our constitution a divine core that is sometimes called: our 'Spiritual Self' (=Inner God). This makes the notion of theurgy in the Gnostic literature a bit more understandable. Iamblichus ("De Mysteriis") writes interesting stuff about this. The working of the Divine in man (theurgy) is possible, just because there is a Divine element in man's constitution.

This requires a highly pure and selfless life as will be easily understood.

Our responsibilities towards the animal ego and the body are great, but are completely unknown to our world. Yet, we can imagine that we have a great influence on this ego within our constitution whether we think negatively or positively. This influence is 'stamped' into the fabric of consciousness of the animal ego. Further elaboration of this and kindred subjects can be found in lit. 1, 2 and 7, 8, 9.

Gnostics speak of the Aeons (Angels, Archangels, etc.), Kabbalists of the (Sephirotic) tree of life, Indian Purana's of the Prajapati's. These are all names for the same hierarchical emanations from the One Principle and are all involved in the formation of our Cosmos.

If one progresses in consciousness by one's own [and collective] effort, then one will transform oneself from being a personal soul-ego-monad to a real human soul-ego- monad, taking along the animal ego towards the stage of personal ego! This example shows the karmic inter-connectedness of the monads. See lit. (1,2) for further development of these thoughts. The student of the Kabbalah may be able to map the tree of life onto the egg-scheme.

We will not concern ourselves further with these often very metaphysical (though important) subjects and confine ourselves to something more tangible: our personality (= lower human ego) and its relation to the (higher) human ego. See chapters two and five of this book. It will pay off to reread these chapters and do the exercises.

Bibliography

Note : many books are now available free online at: TUP online books

1. Fundamentals of the esoteric philosophy.

G. de Purucker. TUP-press. ISBN 0-911500-63-4

ISBN 0-911500-64-2

A good introduction to the Secret Doctrine (H.P.Blavatsky's masterwork).

2. Esoteric instructions #9: Correlations of Cosmic and Human Constitutions by G.de Purucker.

Point Loma Publications, Inc. P.O. Box 6507

San Diego, Calif. 92106

3. The key to Theosophy. H.P.Blavatsky. Theosophical University Press (TUP). Post-office Bin C,

Pasadena, Cal. 91109 - 7107 USA

tel. (818) 798-3378

An excellent intro to Theosophy. ISBN 0-911500-06-5 cloth

ISBN 0-911500-07-3 soft-cover

Other useful books:

4. The ocean of Theosophy. W.Q. Judge. TUP-press ISBN 0-911500-25-1 cloth

ISBN 0-911500-26-x paper

A concise intro to Theosophy.

5. Echoes of the Orient. W.Q. Judge. (3 volumes) Point Loma Publications, Inc.

P.O. Box 6507

San Diego, Calif. 92106

Contains many excellent magazine articles (vol. 1, 2)

and comments & suggestions about esoteric teachings (vol.3)

6. The Secret Doctrine (2 vol's), H.P. Blavatsky. (TUP).

ISBN 1- 55700-001-8 cloth

ISBN 1-55700-002-6 soft-cover

7. The esoteric tradition (2 volumes).G. de Purucker. (TUP) A thorough work on many theosophical teachings. Contains also comments on science in the thirties.

ISBN 0-911500-65-0 cloth

ISBN 0-911500-66-9 paper

8. Fountain-source of occultism. G. de Purucker. (TUP) An advanced book on esoteric topics.

ISBN 0-911500-70-7 cloth

ISBN 0-911500-71-5 soft-cover Also available on the web. See: online theosophical books

9. The dialogues of G. de Purucker (TUP)

Very diverse, but offers valuable insights on practical human problems and on profound themes of Theosophy.

ISBN 0-911500-59-6 (3 volumes)

10. Man in evolution. G. de Purucker. (TUP)

A book that analyzes Theosophy in relation to science.

ISBN 0-911500-55-3

Online file: Man in evolution, G. de Purucker.

11. Isis unveiled. H.P. Blavatsky. (TUP) ISBN 0- 911500-022 and 0-911500-030

12. Beyond ego. Transpersonal dimensions in psychology. Ed. Roger Walsh , M.D.,Ph.D. & Frances Vaughan, Ph.D.

J.P. Tarcher, Inc.,Los Angeles.

ISBN: 0-87477-175-7

Appendix B:

Energy qualities (gunas) at work in the human psyche

by Martin Euser, 2011

Edited and expanded, august, 2020

Introduction

In this article, I will relate the ancient Indian teaching on the three gunas to energy qualities that are expressed in the human psyche, or brain-mind. Some examples will be given that can be of therapeutic use.

Also, I will present some cybernetic diagrams of the perception-feeling-emotion process action-loop that tie in with the idea of the gunas. Much is still to discover about said process, and these diagrams are just a first step in gaining more understanding of it.

The three gunas

The three gunas are: sattva, rajas, tamas. Briefly stated, sattva designates balanced use of energy, rajas means activity and tamas passivity or inertia. There is a deeper explanation of these gunas which is not well-known. It has to do with the simultaneous working of these qualities, and their relative dominance. For example: pure tamas (tamas in the tamas condition) can be equated with passivity in a negative sense. However, tamas can be in a higher condition (sattvic, balanced) which equates with persistence and steadfastness, which have a positive connotation. The same applies to rajas: pure rajas is uncontrolled, raw energy, while controlled rajas (in a sattvic condition) is an expression of wise use of observing ability plus well-directed energy. This explanation is rarely given in standard texts. Yet, it makes much sense, as you will see when studying the following diagrams.

Fig. 1: polarities and the gunas.

Explanation of fig. 1.

The process starts at the decision point. This simply is a state of mind, brought about by some psychic energy, as you will see in the next figures. It can be anger, or jealousy, or fear, or any other activation of an emotional state of the mind. This state calls for some resolution, some action, some decision or choice to be made.

The balanced approach, a constructive decision, requires some observational ability. It is something that may take longer to do, or may require more patience, than the unbalanced approach which is often destructive or missing the mark.

There also is a possibility that one does not choose to do anything at all. One remains passive, which usually means that one ends up being controlled by one's instincts and impulses, or at the mercy of the environment and other people.

To make this a bit clearer, let's have a look at some concrete examples of psychological energies at work. See figs. 2, 3, 4.

Fig. 2: How anger is resolved.

Explanation of fig. 2.

Anger is seen here as a signal of the psyche (from the subconscious to the conscious) that something is not well. Typically, some kind of hurt from outside impinges on one's boundary. It can be something that someone says to you, or an unpleasant look or gesture. Anger is not a negative energy. It is a neutral energy, which function it is to alert you to some hurt, or a signal that some need is not met.

The mature reaction to anger is to assert your needs, and to assert your boundary. Stating that you don't like something someone just said to you is a mature thing to do. (If it doesn't touch you, then you probably will just ignore the message.)

Being able to say no, is a mature thing too. And being able to hear no, is a mature thing as well. Aggression, in the modern use of the word, means an inappropriate use of energy. It almost always leads to hurting another person. Most likely, the other will try to retaliate, which may lead to a vicious cycle of verbal and/or physical violence. Not a healthy situation.

There is also the possibility that one does not make a choice in dealing actively with the signal that the subconscious is giving you (as the conscious operator or ego). This will result in a state of depression or feelings of sadness. This is needless suffering, and one will remain in this state until the lesson, implicit in the situation, is learned.

Another example of psychological energies at work is given in fig. 3: the resolution of fear

Explanation of fig. 3.

Here, the signal is fear or a state of anxiety. The only positive resolution of this state is to do what is needed (and right), in a given situation. One can call this courage, without the association of a knight going to war. Fears can be many: fear of losing one's job, fear of losing one's partner (see next figure), fear of contracting a disease, etc.

Dealing constructively with fear requires to face the situation one is in with an open, observing mind. See the possibilities that are open to you at any moment in time, and weigh your options. It does not help to keep worrying about what could happen to you. It is a waste of valuable energy and leads to suffering. Another option is to put your head into the sand, like an ostrich, and avoid any consideration of options. It is more than likely that you will regress into compensatory behavior: overeating, addictions to alcohol, work, drugs. Panic may set in too.

Another example is given in fig. 4: resolution of jealousy

Explanation of fig. 4.

By now, you may have got an inkling of how various psychological energies are related to decision making. There is a balanced way to do things, an unbalanced way (missing the mark) and a passive attitude, which leads to suffering, like the unbalanced way. In the case of jealousy, let's say about a partner, or potential partner, who you see in company with someone of the opposite sex (or same sex, if you are gay or lesbian), there are choices you can make. The balanced way is to trust the other person. That is: you realize that you don't possess the other. You cannot decide what is right for the other.

How could you? The other has a right to lead his or her own life. You may be a part of it, or you may not. If you think otherwise, and try to control the other, say by forcing him or her to stay with you at home, or always trying to accompany him or her (“babysitting”), what will you accomplish? Probably the exact opposite of what you want. Grudges will arise on the part of the other and you may very well loose him or her.

When feeling jealous, fear of loosing a desired one, it will not help to stay in a passive state. This will lead to despair. This is because you don't trust the other (your partner) and cannot engage in controlling him or her. Both are options that will not help you forward in your life. It is much better and sound to start trusting life. This attitude will give you peace of mind and is part of a positive, constructive way of dealing with situations. Using and developing your observing skills will serve you well.

Some further ideas

There are many subtle points that can be made here. I can only touch upon some here. For example, passivity of mind should not be confused with receptivity. The latter can be a very necessary state of mind: being open to ideas, suggestions, and possibilities of a situation, etc.

A balanced use of psychological energy often requires a somewhat developed observational skill, not in the least: the skill of self-observation. It will be clear that there are mature levels of functioning and immature levels, as expressed in the diagrams. Passivity seems to me to be the least mature way of reacting, while indiscriminate use of psychological energy also classifies as immature (but will get you strong reactions from others, in this case, and you might learn a thing or two about yourself). The most mature way of decision making is the balanced way, involving good judgment, life experience, and a high moral standard.

Constructive use of psychological energies leads to self-confidence, well-being and the like. Self-esteem is associated with this. This is a matter of personal growth.

Another thing concerns the use of graphs. What I have presented here, are graphs of pathways of decision, and associated states of mind. Graphs like these can be combined. For example, graphs of two persons who are interacting with each other can be combined. These will portray feedback cycles. Does one reinforce co-dependency, for example? Or do two people reinforce mutual balanced growth? Interaction with the environment can be modeled likewise, giving some flow-diagrams of needs that are being met or fulfilled. The possibilities seem endless, and more research into this area is necessary.

It all fits into a process philosophy and model of psychological forces at work. Perhaps the same diagrams can be used in other domains, like biology. This is an open question.

Last, but not least, my gratitude goes to Dr. Paul Dobranski, whose work on MindOs has been very helpful in developing these ideas. The work on the gunas, however, is strictly mine, and so are the diagrams in the specific form that I have given them, combining gunas with psychological energies. As you will notice, my work falls under a creative commons license, which allows other people to make use of it under the associated conditions.

Addendum

Two Cybernetic diagrams of the perception-feeling-emotion action-loop

After rereading Stafford Beer's book “The heart of enterprise”, I got the idea of drawing cybernetic diagrams of the process of perception, feeling, emotion and decision.

This is work in a beginning stage. Nevertheless, these diagrams can be helpful in understanding some of the complexities of said process.

The first diagram shows how perception of an event leads to an evaluation of the significance or meaning of the event. This involves the use of a norm (mostly learned by education, nurture, etc.), necessary to compare whats happening to oneself with what is expected or deemed appropriate in a given situation. The evaluation process involves as its outcome feelings, a matter of the heart or gut, metaphorically and perhaps literally speaking.

Emotions are something else: they resemble action programs, some being instinctive, others being acquired by growing up in society. Emotions are reactions, expressions of how one feels about things. Much of this is subconscious (body language).

The decider component has to with choice, selection of an appropriate emotional response. The following diagram shows this selection more clearly.

In this diagram is shown that an appropriate emotion is chosen from a repertoire. That should be typical for a civilized person. Now, when, on second thought (the emotion adjuster box), the emotion does not seem that adequate, the decider having been too impulsive, a correction is made to the behavior. Maybe an excuse of some sort, or a clarification of one's feeling.

There is a double line between the emotion adjuster box and the rest of the system (shown in the large box) to indicate that the adjuster works on the whole of perception, comparator and decider components. The adjuster fulfills a meta-function. It is of a higher order.

The whole system of perception, etc., is very complicated. What is shown here, is a global picture. Details have to wait until further examination.

About the author

Martin Euser received his Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and his Bachelors degree in Theoretical Physics from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He worked at this university as a teacher in statistics and courseware developer, and later as an internet developer at several companies. He has published many articles on esoterism, spirituality and psychology and made old texts (Jacob Boehme, Proclus) available as free ebooks in the archive.org internet archive and academia.edu. New articles of his are also published there. As a researcher on the links between science, psychology and spirit, he views cybernetics as a promising candidate for furnishing such a link.

Footnotes:

1. The wisdom tradition is also known as the perennial wisdom and includes the best of the esoteric and mystic writings of several schools of philosophy (AdvaitaVedanta, Buddhism, Neoplatonism, Sufism, Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, theosophy, to name a few.

2. Much thank for this chapter goes to D.J.P. Kok, a former leader of the Dutch branch of the Point Loma theosophical society

3. Nowadays, the philosophy of panpsychism is gaining ground among philosophers, because scientists cannot explain consciousness at all. Panpsychism actually was universal among ancient and modern people as well. It was put aside after Descartes fancied his dualistic scheme and materialistic philosophy took over.

4. W.Q. Judge: a former leader of the theosophical society in the United States of America

5. For a solid criticism of reductionism see the book “Irreducible Mind” by Edward F. Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly & others. Rowman & Littlefield publishers, 2007 and later editions.

6. Devachan has also been called “a fool's paradise”, because the deceased one, say a devout christian or muslim or an artist, will be immersed in his or her exalted dreaming, imagining to be a very good christian, muslim, artist, etc. Above Devachan is the state of Nirvana-consciousness, which is beyond such illusions as in the devachanic state.