Different Types of Self Ore
While Being participates in the drama of her Person, she is detached from results. This is very different from the dispassionate state of Alienation, associated with the need for Soul Retrieval.
The Undifferentiated state is when Person and Being are mixed up in the same Ore.
This is common & accepted as natural and good -
Victim from cradle to grave.
Also common is the state of Alienation - when Being is separated from Person.
Only the Master achieves the Integrated and Differentiated state,
When the Being is separated from the Person and yet still involved.
This state is difficult to achieve and very rare.
Punishment yields Alienation
The state of Alienation is frequently the result of physical or emotional abuse.
The Self Ore (the Person/Being complex) experiences sufficient Pain and Suffering.
In response, Being retreats into her own World –
Letting Person fend for himself.
Person builds an Emotional Callous
There are a few problems with the state of Alienation.
The Alienated Person is separated from their Self/Being.
As Being is the source of Direct Experience,
The Alienated Person can’t feel and experience Life as deeply.
Person feels such pain, of whatever variety, that Being retreats.
Person builds up an emotional callous.
(This is represented by the shaded disk around Person in the diagram below.)
This callous protects him from emotions.
He will not feel the Pain as deeply.
To an equal degree, his capacity for Happiness is also dulled.
Further, this emotional callous also reduces Compassion for others.
In short, the Emotions are blunted to shield Person from a Painful Environment.
False Antipathy between Person and Being
Ironically, the Punishment creates an artificial antipathy between Person and Being.
This is indicated by downward arrow on the right in the above diagram.
Note that the Antipathy arrow only points from Person to Being.
The antipathy is due to the fact that Being allows Person to feel Pain more deeply.
Further, the spontaneity of Being many times gets Person in trouble -
Especially if they are not properly differentiated.
Under these circumstances Person will attempt to shun Being -
Will even mistakenly attempt to purify himself of Being.
Alienation bad for Individual - good for Collective
Of course purifying Person of Being,
While terrible for the Individual,
Is great for the Collective Good, the Group.
Being is not there to protect Person.
Hence Person makes a better worker Bee -
Willingly sacrificing Self for the Greater Good -
Because Self or Being is already gone.
Alienated adopts value system of Abuser to avoid Abuse
To avoid Pain, alienated People will cleave to any Authority figure.
They will adopt the value system of the ruling class - inadvertently, without thinking.
The logic is simple. If they obtain the approval of the Abuser,
Then they won’t be punished,
And will thereby be able to avoid Pain.
Unfortunately, Sacrifice of Self is frequently required to gain the Abuser's approval.
Therefore, the Person without Being is severely disadvantaged -
Blunted emotions to dull one’s experience of Life -
Slavish following of authority figures -
Most of the times to the detriment of the Person.
Both of these reactions are based around avoiding Pain.
Soul Retrieval Essential to Integration
Because of these disadvantages it is in our best interest to integrate Being and Person.
For those who have been Abused -
Which includes almost everyone -
To a greater or lesser extent -
This is the first task – the re-integration of Being and Person.
In the shamanic traditions this is called Soul Retrieval.
Under this construct the Soul is the same as Being -
The real center of the experience of Life.
How is this essential process achieved?
Remember that we defined Emotions,
One of the three components of Person,
As the emergent feature of the mixture of Mind and Body.
Abuse tends to disassociate Mind and Body,
Which acts to neutralize Emotion,
Which neutralizes the Suffering.
However just as Violence separates - Love joins.
Love the Soul - Give her a good reason to come back.
Show her a good time and she will return.
But you must want her to return -
With all her messy emotions.
One must embrace the Pain to get to the Happiness.
Of course there will always be more Pain.
But remember Person needs Being to be Whole -
Else He’s just partial -
Pretending to be alive -
Going thru the motions -
Without emotions -
No Life.
So Feeling Pain & Facing Fears,
Rather than running away,
Is a mandatory step in the process to Be truly alive.
This washes away the calluses built up by abuse.
Feel the Pain and know that you are truly Alive -
Not just pretending to Be.
Physical Cognitive Reaction to Fear
Let us examine the linkage between Pain and Fear from the biological level.
First let us introduce the characters that make up the physical brain.
The Thalamus routes information from the eyes and ears to other parts of the brain for processing.
The Amygdala is the brain’s rapid response system -
Sending the body into high alert when triggered.
The Hippocampus evaluates threats relative to past experience.
The Sensory Cortex separates threats from false alarms.
The Prefrontal Cortex reins in the Amygdala if an initial threat is deemed insignificant.
The Amygdala is the brain’s rapid response system
The Amygdala is the most ancient and related with sheer instinct.
Its response occurs in microseconds -
Short-circuiting the other Decision Centers.
The speed of its response is what allowed the Prey to survive.
The Amygdala is the anonymous trigger for the famous ‘fight or flight’ response,
Which we identified earlier.
Amygdala’s Method
What does the Amygdala do?
It prompts the autonomous nervous system to increase breathing and the heart rate.
It tells the adrenal glands to secrete their adrenaline
-> which triggers the production of hormones
-> which prepares the organism to fight or flight.
This is accompanied by a depressed appetite -
Because blood is pumped to the extremities
To prepare for immediate action or reaction, as the case may be.
Incredible Memory of the Amygdala
Further the Amygdala has an incredible memory.
If a dangerous event occurs just once,
It is immediately programmed into the automatic response center.
The evolutionary reasoning is simple.
If anything of a similar nature occurs,
The organism will presumably respond quickly enough to survive.
This memory does not fade like positive memories do.
It is deeply ingrained forever.
For instance, the 9-11 vision of airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers is permanently etched into the minds of those who have seen this scene over and over and over again. Further this experience could evoke a fear response whenever they hear the word terrorism or board a plane.
Get Back on the Horse or Deprogramming the Amygdala
The only way to defuse this automatic response system is by deprogramming the Amygdala. This occurs by engaging the Prefrontal cortex in some serious retraining. It is similar to getting right back on the horse after having been thrown in order to avoid permanent emotional scarring.
Unfortunately, the Propagandists encourage the Amygdala with visions of fear,
Because it makes the Population more docile
As the automatic response short-circuits their ability to reason.
Because of their agitation
They will do anything to alleviate their fear,
Even if it is against their better sense.
Deprogramming the Amygdala is a must,
If we are to remain free of Cultural Propaganda -
The Red Dust that falls daily.
The Difference between Differentiation and Fragmentation
A simultaneous task with the Integration of Being and Person is their Differentiation. Retrieve and Differentiate - almost sounds mutually exclusive. Indeed, this has been the source of much confusion.
However, as is frequently the case, instead of just one polarity, we have two - similar but distinctly different. We have the Polarity of Integration and Fragmentation, intersecting with the Polarity of Attachment and Differentiation. While Attachment and Integration have some features that seem similar, as do Fragmentation and Differentiation, they apply to unique aspects of Human Existence.
No unified action in the midst of Fragmentation
Fragmentation has to do with the inability of Parts to join in connected work -
No possibility of unified action - no power - no cohesiveness - to life’s movements -
As each part could be moving in differing directions.
With everything moving every which way - it is hard to get anything done.
The energy lacks continuity and integrity.
It is unlikely the Threshold of Generation will ever be reached.
In this case Self Reflection has been applied just enough to really mess things up.
Not enough of a good thing can be real bad -
Like antibiotics which have not been taken for the full term -
Strengthening the bacteria that they are meant to kill.
No intentionality in the midst of Fragmentation.
Indeed Intentionality is the antidote for Fragmentation
And will move the Person towards Integration on this polarity.
Differentiation based in Intentionality
On the other hand, Differentiation is based in Intentionality. The Differentiated Being has the ability to disconnect the parts when necessary. She is not involuntarily disconnected as in Fragmentation, but intentionally so. Further it takes practice to reach this state. It is in no ways automatic, based upon realization. Realization is only the Key that unlocks the Door. Practice is the only way to turn the Key and Enter in.
As an example the Fragmented Person is running in a million different directions getting nothing done, while the Differentiated Person searches for another Door when he finds one Door locked. With a constant sense of purpose, this Person is like the water on the dam - constantly pressing - without effort - waiting for the crack to open up.
They don’t exist - It’s only Us
Aside: These processes that we’ve been speaking of - that we’ve been obliquely referring to - that we’ve been hinting at - suggesting - whispering about - pointing to - are all Human Mechanisms. All of us go thru these mechanisms some of the time. None of us is completely immune to their influence. We all have been and will be victimized by involuntary responses to external circumstances - which many times are not in our best interests. We could all exert a little more intention, and reside a little less frequently in the state of Oblivion. So these words are just attempting to provide a way out. They are in no way attempting to suggest the existence of Us and Them. We are in no way completely integrated and differentiated. While They are not completely fragmented and attached. We and They are both on the same continuums, perhaps at different spots, but with the same difficulties and problems. So we are speaking to Us because They don’t exist.
Casting follows Purification
The Point of this whole section is to point out the importance of separating Being from Person. This is just one part of the Firing Process. It has to do with separating the Metal from the Ore - Firing for Purification. The second part of the Firing Process has to do with Casting the Metal.
The first part of the Firing purifies the Metal of the Ore, the Being from the Person. In the second part of the Firing, the Casting, a purified Being enables Person to achieve his Destiny, rather than be a victim of Fate.
The two types of Firing are intertwined. For instance, the creative process associated with casting might generate the internal Heat used for purification.
Which Game are we Playing to Win?
The Buddhists would say any part of the Process is right and good. While this is certainly true, it is not complete. We are still in the Game of Life. Because we’ve joined the Game, we play to Win. This work is not showing a lack of respect for the Game, it is merely attempting to redefine what it means to Win. In so doing we will also suggest a different way of playing the Game. We are not suggesting leaving the Game. We are attempting to persuade the Reader of the necessity of refining Goals and Methods.
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