Exercises in Mental Discipline of the Emotions

["Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>]

Dear Friends,

Recent discussion has brought to the foreground an important issue which
Bardon didn't speak about directly in IIH -- the necessity for control
and discipline of the emotions. Although such emotional discipline is a
direct result of both the mental discipline and the soul mirror work, it
is still worthy of specific attention since so many budding magicians
fall prey to their own habitual emotional reactions. Emotional
discipline is also an important part of attaining the astral Equilibrium
of the Elements that, if ignored, can lead to years of frustration.

While the *experiencing* of our emotions must not be repressed, they
must still be examined and understood, and their *expression* must be
within our conscious control. Just as the initiate's thinking must be
reshaped into a useful tool, so too must their emotions be transformed
from knee-jerk reactions, into conscious choices of expression.

As with the transformation of the thinking processes, this
transformation of the emotional processes begins with detachment and
observation. Here then are series of exercises which will lead from
observation, through to discipline and ultimately, to the conscious use
of emotion as a means of clear Self-expression.

Exercise #1:

Choose a piece of music that is very sentimental and which you know can
stir up a strong emotional response within you. Play it through once
and let its sentiment play with your emotions. Just go with its
emotional flow. Abandon yourself to it and really get into the emotions
it makes you feel.

Now play it a second time and, as before, go with its flow. After a few
moments, step back from that flow of emotions and separate yourself from
them. Observe them exactly as you observed the mind's chatter in the
first mental exercise of Step One. Listen to the remainder of the piece
of music from this detached perspective and observe how your emotional
body is being manipulated by the music.

Now play it a third time and resist involvement with the sentiment of
the music. Refuse to involve yourself in the emotions that result from
the music's manipulation of your emotional body.

With a fourth playing of the musical piece, alternate between giving in
to the experience of the piece's sentiment and stepping back from
involvement. Work at gaining that power of choice to participate or
not, as *you* wish.

Now choose other, equally sentimental pieces of music and practice your
ability to engage and disengage at will. As you're practicing that
ability, take careful note of the ways in which this mechanism works.
What sort of input results in what sort of emotional result? Why? What
parts of *you* are involved in that process? Etc.

Exercise #2:

Repeat exercise #1 but this time, with a piece of music that gets your
foot tapping and your body dancing, something that stimulates and cheers
you. As before, work to gain that power of choice to participate or
not, and examine the workings of this mechanism as well.

Exercise #3:

Now repeat the same exercise, with the same aims, but this time, view a
beautiful painting or picture that moves you deeply. Also view images
that disturb you. As always, work to gain the power of choice to
participate or not in the emotions which images elicit and examine the
mechanism.

Exercise #4:

Now apply the same exercise to poetry and to stories that move you, both
favorably and unfavorably. Gain that power of choice and examine the
mechanism by which ideas affect your emotional body.

Exercise #5:

Now watch a movie or television program that you know will stir deep
emotions with its strong sentiment. Exercise your power of choice and
examine the mechanism by which images *and* sound *and* ideas affect you
when they are combined.

Exercise #6:

Now extend this exercise to your everyday encounters and the emotions
that they generate. Gain that precious power of choice and examine very
closely the mechanism by which live interaction affects your emotional
body.

Exercise #7:

This exercise is a departure from the first six. Here you must *create*
an emotion within yourself. This is really an extension of the Step Two
sensory concentration exercise, except here, the feeling one creates is
emotional instead of tactile. Practice this in private meditation until
you can invoke any emotion you wish, at will.

Exercise #8:

Now put these abilities into action and make your emotional expressions
conscious acts of will. During your everyday encounters, first note the
emotion as it naturally arises. Before you express it, examine it and
see if it exists as you would choose to express yourself. If it does
match your true will, then consciously and willfully express it as it
is. If, on the other hand, it does not match your true will, then
modify it and express an emotion that does.

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
17 Dec 2003
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
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