• Registered: 2005-03-07

Topic: Mastering the Lower Self

All right, my head is full of Fourth Way/Mouravieff right now.  And I am trying to synthesize it all for myself. 

I love the esoteric metaphor of the carriage, horse, driver and Master inside the carriage.

Carriage=body; house=emotional body; driver=mental body; Master=the spirit. 

Different people at different levels have different parts of themselves in charge.  Some let their body, their libido, their stomach, or their sense of pleasure or pain run the show.  Some let their emotions dominate them (the ones who can't stop yammering about what so-and-so said to them at work).  Some let their mind run the show (ex: the ones who disbelieve entirely in spiritual stuff). 

Then there are those whose spirit runs the show. 

The million dollar question: How does one do that?  (The aim of all religions and spiritual systems). 

Big topic here.

If becoming "the Master," living life through the spirit instead of through the stomach, emotions or analyzer, is indeed a matter of shifting the locus of power away from the body, emotions and mind and into the inner, infinite self, as the metaphor suggests, then...there is a rough sort of map. 

My current brainwaves about it: smile

(Mastering the...)

BODY

is (1) a question of reconciling with your limitations .  Striving for perfect health can become an obsession and can shift attention away from the bigger picture.  Even saints get sick.  I think, maybe, the best move is to accept your body as it is and work around its limitations-- really care for your body so that your body (through disease) doesn't open you up to spiritual attack, set backs, or ennui.  Reconciling with your limitations is compassionate health maintenance without going overboard.

(2) a question of relaxation ; if the body is in Sympathetic Nervous system overload, it can be difficult for the spirit to communicate with it.  Our culture--between traffic, caffeine, corn syrup, breaking news, flashing lights, etc.--is a recipe for tension.  Learning to relax the body is key.  There is a reason that spiritual experiences correlate with relaxed, trance states.

(3) a question of having seniority over your sexuality ; if your sexuality owns you instead of the other way around, then the cart is before the horse.  Seniority over your sexuality isn't about suppression or denial--it's about recognizing physical sexuality for what it is, a physical urge like hunger.  It's about not confusing sex with higher love or happiness.  If the mind/spirit becomes convinced that sex is love/happiness/the best pleasure, authority is handed over to the body.           

EMOTIONS

Mastering emotions is (1) a question of maintaining flow ; repression, suppression, depression lead to indulgence--they create a "dense charge" that will eventually exert a pulling force on the attention and higher awareness may be lost in the resulting drama.

(2) a question of maintaining positivity

(3) a question of learning how to transmute negative emotions into positive.

INTELLECT

Mastering the intellect is (1) a question of quieting the mind

(2) a question of educating the intellect ; learning to discern between faulty reasoning and sound reasoning.  As long as you're unable to detect faulty reasoning (and/or without a strong intuition), you're susceptible to excursions into false beliefs.

(3) a question of balancing the intellect by including your feelings in decisions.  As long as you exclude your feelings/heart from your decisions, you will be working against a part of yourself (be incoherent).

You can't change a tiger's stripes,
but you can avoid its teeth.

2 Reply by Sowelu (edited by Sowelu 2005-11-01 23:00:18)

  • Registered: 2005-06-26

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Wow, another great post, dreamosis. Thanks!

Somewhere along the line I "got it" that Spirit/Source is allowing, and non-judgmental. So... in working to have "spirit run the show", it made sense to me that it was important to "be that" myself. To emulate my mentor, so to speak. smile Again, the witness self becomes primary. If the body is hungry, tired, "wanting"... allow and witness. If the mind spins... allow and witness. If emotions heighten, allow and witness. When questions arise, open and get curious, then listen.

It works amazingly well. I guess in retrospect I realized that by doing that it actually accomplished a number of other things spoken of on the path, such as becoming sovereign (almost a by-product of this approach, really), detaching, and trusting.

There's a lot less "efforting" with this approach, too, because the allowing causes you to "go with the flow" rather than "try" anything or control anything. And suddenly it becomes clear that there is a silent, active intelligence to life, and infinite organizing power, that orchestrates events and circumstances perfectly suited to one's needed, proper edification.

And of course nothing goes smoothly and perfectly all the time, we have our hooks and snags, and then self-love (accepting with compassion for self), rather than self-hate ("beating oneself up" for the error, looking to "fix" the self, etc.), takes one a long way toward rectifying the footing and moving forward again. There's such a tendency to defer to the intellect, and as you mention, balancing is certainly a necessity.

"The most important decision you have to make is whether you live in a hostile or friendly universe."
~ Albert Einstein

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~Marcel Proust

The evolution of humanity is an evolution of the heart. The path is through the heart.

3 Reply by RonD

  • RonD
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Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Thanks for the insights!  Really helpful stuff.  What a great esoteric metaphor . . . I may take the carriage for a peaceful ride tomorrow.

4 Reply by dreamosis (edited by dreamosis 2005-11-04 06:50:32)

  • Registered: 2005-03-07

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Sowelu wrote:

...the witness self becomes primary. If the body is hungry, tired, "wanting"... allow and witness. If the mind spins... allow and witness. If emotions heighten, allow and witness. When questions arise, open and get curious, then listen.

I'm glad you wrote that.  As I reflected back on the thoughts I posted, I was thinking that there was larger process that I wasn't quite expressing.

Sowelu wrote:

...the witness self becomes primary.

That's the larger process...The largest process. smile 

Thank you.

You can't change a tiger's stripes,
but you can avoid its teeth.
  • Registered: 2004-04-21

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

I like the carriage analogy.  Detachment from ego is necessary in order to make the "soul" connection.  Ego is the door that blocks the two-way flow.  I found that  mentally stepping outside myself and becoming an impartial observer opened that door.  In addition I expressed the desire to let soul through, for soul to look through my eyes and act through my body.  I suppressed my mutinous ego so that the captain could take the wheel.  Many wonderful things began to happen as I felt the veil lift.  I understand now that adversities are allowed in order for us to learn and to experience letting spirit work through us.  It's an amazing symbiotic relationship.

Then someone pointed me to The Four Agreements based on Toltec wisdom.  It confirmed what I'd discovered and made it easier.  I highly recommend it as well as The Voice of Knowledge, both by Don Miguel Ruiz.  I'm sure most people who read the books have no idea the power this knowledge can unlock.

http://www.miguelruiz.com/teachings/fouragreements.html

6 Reply by manyeagles (edited by manyeagles 2005-11-04 21:34:49)

  • Registered: 2004-04-10

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Thank you Soloflecks  wink

If there is no time
      Then you have time for everything.
   You're never in a hurry.
That's true freedom.
  • Registered: 2004-06-24

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

I like to use this analogy when dealing with the mind/ego. It's like walking through a carnival and having the barkers yelling at you trying to get your attention, "3 throws for a dollar, give it a try". Your inner Self knows that the games are rigged. In the ring toss, the block is wider than the ring. In the ball throw(knock over the target) there is a cinder block behind the target.  But you don't go over and debate with the barker because you know it would be a waste of time. Besides, he's just doing his job, that's all he knows how to do. Instead you just smile and walk on past. You resist the temptation to waste your energy on a useless game for a worthless cupie doll.

  • Registered: 2005-03-07

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

So I've been thinking about this more lately and have begun writing a long essay/short book.  The practices that I've developed over the last two years are slightly different than what I wrote about before. 

In terms of mastering my body I've found three things to be helpful:

(1) Self-Care- Compassionately caring for my body.  Getting enough rest, exercise, stretching, and eating right.

(2) Seniority- Having the willpower to deal constructively with addictions, unhealthy cravings, and lusts.

(3) Presence- Being grounded and present in my body.

In terms of mastering my emotions I've found three things to be helpful (these are the same as before):

(1) Flow- Learning how to untie emotional knots and keep emotional energy running.

(2) Positivity- Disciplining yourself to withdraw your attention from negative emotions and consistently choose positive ones.

(3) Transmutation- Taking the time to do meditative work with particularly stubborn negative emotional energy and convert it into a good mood.

In terms of mastering my mind I've found three things to be helpful:

(1) Inner Silence- Turning off the internal dialogue.

(2) Discernment- Honing the logical mind; teaching yourself to think thoroughly, eliminate bias, and recognize inconsistency.

(3) Equanimity- Learning when and how to let intuition guide you rather than reason, and learning how to apply both to a situation.

You can't change a tiger's stripes,
but you can avoid its teeth.
  • Bhang
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  • From: American Underground
  • Registered: 2005-04-12

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

I just mastered my lower self in about two minutes.

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  • Pharos
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  • From: Ontario, Canada
  • Registered: 2007-11-15

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Wow, this was very insightful, and it made me look at a few things about myself and re-evaluate them... thanks a lot for posting this!

"Don't reach into a direction you're not ready to look in yet."

"Inspire the Inspiration."

"If just one person loves you, it surpasses any number of people who don't."

"He who knows not himself, is poor in spirit, for he is his own poverty." - Jesus Christ
  • From: Australia
  • Registered: 2007-04-07

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

That was really good dreamosis.  Not to say that most threads don't have value but ones like this dealing with the essentials of consciousness are especially practical and focused right where they need be.... if we're ever going to transcend ourselves that is.  It shows we have far more to do [and not do] than passively await a date 5 years hence to change us and our world. 

Sometimes the simplest concepts say so much don't they?  I hadn't read Mouravieff and few people nowadays probably have, so it's good that such great work, as that metaphor, is kept alive by your own interest and resonance with it.   I wonder if that is part of our 'job'?  To pour over the gems of the past and re- invigorate and re- present the divine concepts expressed so well by deep 'thinkers' of the past.  Thankyou for it.

I also appreciate sowelu's reply too.   Practical as always.   I would just add that Spirit, as well as being a silent witness to our various internal and external experiences, is also the goad to physical action where necessary.  I've read the concept in many places, and practised it when at my best, that "nothing matters".   That is, 'nothing matters' more than maintaining the internal state of divine harmony in all situations.  This is the only state of consciousness that inclines a listening ear to the inner direction of Spirit no matter what is happening.   Spirit is at the eye of every storm.  Calm and unconditioned by the storm's external fury it sees clearly and knows what we must do or not do.  It commands us 'halt!' when we would go and 'go!' when we would not.  It is often contrary to the demands of our emotional and mental nature.  Refining all that will bring us to a perfection of union of soul to spirit. 

Not many people much like the word it seems but "obedience" is an important ingredient to spiritual transcendance.   Without maintaining inner attunement the inner direction to action can be missed as often as the inner direction to not act.   Our conditioning and beliefs can play havoc with discerning that.   That is why such a huge effort is expended by the manipulators in the world and in our own subconscious.   To re- inforce limiting beliefs and conditioning is to prevent us taking the necessary action that Spirit would have us take.

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12 Reply by dreamosis (edited by dreamosis 2007-11-27 10:17:44)

  • Registered: 2005-03-07

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

nexus wrote:

Spirit is at the eye of every storm.  Calm and unconditioned by the storm's external fury it sees clearly and knows what we must do or not do.

I've found that the effect of mastering the lower self (or at least trying to) is an automatic awareness of that calm eye in the storm.

You can't change a tiger's stripes,
but you can avoid its teeth.
  • From: aworld w/out invisible borders
  • Registered: 2005-06-09

Re: Mastering the Lower Self

Wonderful information. Thank you.

"Beyond the stars a new world awaits me now" - Wintersun

Natural Mystic's Website