Re: [BardonPraxis] Exercises in Mental Discipline of the Emotions

[Allen Kray <sourceport@...>]

Thanks Rawn. There is some mighty useful stuff here. I
would assume that initiates would tend to start this
discipline of observation naturally by way of the
exercises. 

The first time this happened to the extent I REALLY
noticed was arguing with my wife. I had become an
observer, and instantly noticed the physical reactions
of my body. I had separated myself from the emotions.
At the point it became very easy to just to
*transform* the situation from a negative one to a
positive one, all the while remaining an observer,
even when it was positive.

I have managed to transfer this to working
relationships, other personal relationships, and
encounters with strangers in public. I now find very
little conflict in my life after I started this. It
really is a choice.

I would also like to recommend if I may a book by
Gerald Jampolsky called Love is Letting Go of Fear. I
wouldn't be surprised if a lot of you already know
this book well. It is based on a Course in Miracles.
The lessons of the book should be integrated into
everyday life. This small book is in my humble opinion
harmonizing very well with Franz Bardon's teachings.
It has helped me immensely to treat others like I
would like to be treated and to minimize all
*negative* emotions that eventually lead to fear.

There is one thing concerning emotions that confuses
me. During really *successful* meditations, I find
myself overwhelmed with the emotion of (lack of a
better word) Divine Love. Everything seems so perfect,
I cannot help but cry. I am in the NOW so to speak
when this happens. I am then exactly where I should
be. This emotion feels like something I should be
striving for and not something I can observe.
Sometimes it comes like a flood and too beautiful to
detach from. What then? Is this only a trick of the
mind? Because if I feel this, achieving a perfect EOM
for example becomes trivial. Such peace in this
emotion...

Sincerely,
Allen Kray


--- Rawn Clark <rawnclark@...> wrote:
> 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@...
> http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis
> http://E.webring.com/hub?ring=arionthebardonwe
> 
> 


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