Glossary A>F: definitions, descriptions and links of the diverse variety of terms employed throughout the multiple articles devoted to the Firing Process.
Our Person exists in the space-time continuum and consists of Mind, Body, and their synergy – Emotions. In contrast, as Being we exist in the eternal present and experience reality directly. (We're just throwing words at that which can't be precisely defined.)
The relationship between Being and Person is akin to the relationship between Parent and Child. The ideal Parents loves their Children. Accordingly, they do their best to tend to their Children's needs and encourage their abilities. However, the ideal Parents are fully aware that they are not their Children. While the ideal Parents experience their Children's joys and sorrows, they attempt to sooth their Children's emotional upset, rather than fueling it or participating in it.
In similar fashion, as Pure Being, we love our Person and hope the best for him. We do our best to nurture his body and encourage his dreams. We experience his hopes and fears, but don't participate in his mental constructs or fuel his emotional upset. As Pure Being we realize we are attached to, but are not our Person.
However, most, if not all, of us Beings, are polluted with our Person. We identify with and think we are our Person. This misconception leads to all sorts of misery, as we form unnecessary attachments to destructive mental constructs. For instance, we become emotionally upset when our Person is attacked, somehow thinking that this is us. When we are upset, our ability to make sane decisions is minimized. The probability of veering off the Path increases. Further, our capacity for enjoying the sensual delights is dimmed, if not extinguished. Nothing tastes or sounds as good.
Differentiating ourselves as Being from our Person enables us to avoid the emotional upset that is so destructive to our potentials. In the Firing Process metaphor, we must extract the Metal (Being) from the Ore (the Person/Being synergy) for the Casting (Self-actualization) to be successful. The Author's intent is to point to techniques for extracting Pure Being from Person.
The Cauldron is one of the crucial components of the Firing Process. The synergy of the Cauldron and the Flame constitute the Furnace. The Cauldron has a variety of functions in the Firing Process. As a container that transmits and contains energy, the Cauldron represents restraint and stillness. 1) Cultivating restraint prevents the dissipation of our vital energies and thus enables us to concentrate and direct these same energies more efficiently. This concentration is crucial to the success of the Firing. The Cauldron's stillness provides two benefits. 2) Cultivating quietude, for example meditation, slows mental momentum. This slowing provides an opportunity for self-reflection. By cultivating the perspective of the non-conceptual Observer, we don't get swept up in the destructive momentums of fear and desire. The other form of stillness is non-action. 3) Cultivating non-action with regards to thoughts, words, and deeds prevents the inadvertent fueling of the Emotional Wildfire that leads to the False Behavior that leads us off the Path of Self-actualization. These topics are covered in more depth in an article entitled The Cauldron.
'Destiny' and 'Fate' refer to the possible outcomes of a Person's life. Fate refers to the situation when a Person blindly follows the dictates of culture for his entire existance. He is a victim of circumstances. The laws of matter govern his material body; the laws of behavior modification govern his behavior. Positive and negative reinforcement from his environment increase the probability that the individual will behave in a certain way. For instance, automatically responding to the subtle pressure from family, friends and society, the young man was fated to go war and die in battle.
Destiny refers to the possibility of transcending Fate. Rather than responding mindlessly to social programming, the individual exerts her potential for self-reflection. Cultivating the perspective of the Observer, the individual makes a conscious effort to decrease the probability of destructive behavior and increase the probability, and even possibility, of constructive behavior. Rather than reacting automatically to situations, the individual chooses when to participate and when to abstain. As an example, the recovering alcoholic frequently chooses not to enter bars where the temptations of intoxication overwhelm his ability to control his behavior.
If the individual consistently hones behavior to engage in activities that aim at fulfilling potentials, the Person increases the possibility of transcending Fate and fulfilling her Destiny - her Life's purpose. If the individual mindlessly responds to the momentum of his Life, he becomes the victim of Fate.
Due to blind faith in their Reason, the extreme materialists believe that Destiny is but an illusion and that we are all victims of Fate. In contrast, the aim of this Author's writings is to provide a methodology for self actualization - the tao of transcending Fate and fulfilling Destiny. If the Life's Firing Process is successful, the individual fulfills their Destiny. Acknowledging the difficulty of turning one's Life course around, the Author also refers to this process as Stealing a March on Heaven.
Alchemy employs the Firing Process as a metaphor for personal transformation. The Author extends the metaphor to include self-actualization at whatever level and whatever time in a human's life. The elements of the Firing Process centers around the purification and casting of metal into a finished product. In this process there must be fuel, symbolized as Wood, the Flame (Fire), the Cauldron (Earth) The synergy of these three constitutes the Furnace. The Furnace extracts the Metal from the Ore in which it is contained, and also casts this purified metal into a finished product, perhaps a work of art or something useful.
From the alchemical perspective, the Human is polluted Ore that must be purified of cultural pollutants in order to achieve Immortality. The Author takes Immortality to be self-actualizing potentials over a lifetime. Self-actualization includes raising children, being a good person, or creating a work of art. The Author's work The Firing Process is meant to reveal some of the codes of this matrix of personal transformation.