JOY - SUMMARY
INVULNERABILITY!
Invulnerability can signify an overemphasized ego (even narcissism) and a closed heart Chakra, as in Paul Simons song;
"I am a rock I am an island...
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries..."
There seems to be a striving for invulnerability in the West generated by our culture. There are some, buried in social media, who have an imaginary invulnerability because they do not have to relate to others. Below we have a figure of the flip, excessive, negative, "Contraction" side of the energy hierarchy where we should not want to dwell. We have to balance both sides of these systems; sun and moon, expansion, contraction and find the middle way of peace, harmony and happiness.
This is probably the last of the blogs on Joy and I thought I would summarize where we have been. When I began this journey I was struck by the profoundness of some of the Ancestral teachings on Joy but never quite realized how important they were. As per Rev Nachman;
"Joy is not incidental to your spiritual practice it is vital!
Joy or happiness we have seen, does not stand alone but is a summation of many spiritual principles all coming together at the top of the energy-vibration-coherence hierarchy of the Tree of Life or the Yoga system of chakras. These maps tell us where we are and where we need to go to find more well being.
At the end of the day happiness is about Virtue which is right at the top.
and therefore we need to
The Ancestors
We have looked at the Root chakra of flight or fight, freeze or feign death (Kingdom on the T.O.L. and the earth where we live.) This center includes Seligman's helplessness and pessimism which can be reversed with learned optimism. Ancient wisdom teaches that in every crisis there is opportunity and to take our suffering and make something useful out of it. Its not what happens to us thats important but what we do with it - pain is inevitable, suffering optional! If we look at all the factors that affect happiness 40% are trainable and can be altered by changing one's mind set. Only 10% are related to circumstances.
The Ego energy center (or the triad on the T.O.L. of Ego-Attachment-Non Attachment) is the place of self-cherishing (Buddhism) and self-esteem with a strong emphasis on the small s of the little ego self. However, it's important to have a strong ego before subordinating it to the Higher Self.
The hardest chakra of all to open is the love chakra (balanced by Mercy and Judgment on the T.O.L.) Opening the heart is key to s/Self concept, forgiveness of s/Self and of others. Self concept is an upper chakra energy, unlike self esteem.
The Hero/ine's journey is something we keep doing in the upper energy centers. We are always refining the way "up" with more subtle higher, vibrational refinements. However, it's important to validate the three stages in order to actualize the Incorporation phase. Service - the key factor in the Hero's journey can be creatively expressed to the extent we invoke the Fifth chakra. This is also Karma yoga.
(The Warriors journey is usually a lower, ego-bound polarity but is important for finding our core strengths and congruence with self and eventually then with Self.)
The Fifth chakra of creative expression (and less so the Sixth chakra of intuitive wisdom in the Third Eye) are where Gratitude resides with all the benefits of how we mindfully give and take (these centers on the T.O.L. are embraced by the triangle of Understanding, Wisdom and the God head.)
Gratitude can be a form of Devotional or Bakti Yoga especially if it involves devotion to the Creator.
The P.E.R.M.A. of Seligman includes a lot of what ancient wisdom has been teaching for eons and straddles both higher and lower energy centers as does Carol Ryff's positive psychology and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. However, their emphasis is more psychological than spiritual. It is interesting to note that neuroscience is now proving that this is also a journey to better physical health.
Invulnerability can signify an overemphasized ego (even narcissism) and a closed heart Chakra, as in Paul Simons song;
"I am a rock I am an island...
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries..."
There seems to be a striving for invulnerability in the West generated by our culture. There are some, buried in social media, who have an imaginary invulnerability because they do not have to relate to others. Below we have a figure of the flip, excessive, negative, "Contraction" side of the energy hierarchy where we should not want to dwell. We have to balance both sides of these systems; sun and moon, expansion, contraction and find the middle way of peace, harmony and happiness.
Going up the contractive forces on the energy maps...
We find that if overemphasized...
We basically tend to favor fear based feelings over love.
Many feel helpless and pessimistic from grief, sorrow and poverty.
This is epitomized by the Resignation Syndrome now given to describe immigrant children placed on the remote island of Nauru of Australia who have lost hope and are no longer eating or speaking.
When the first Dutch colonizers landed in what is now Cape Town and imprisoned the local San people for killing Dutch live stock (the San were hunter gathers and lived by the law that all animals were fare game to anyone) - the results were catastrophic. Jailors would soon find them dead in their cells in spite of the fact that food and water were provided. The San lived so much in the present moment that they could not conceive of a time when they might be free. With no hope they checked out spiritually but also physically.
Politicians should be more effectively addressing the poverty factor which leads to Helplessness. They give lip service to it but ultimately the powerful who are in control prevail. European countries are much more successful on the happiness scale, especially Scandinavia.
Regarding ego...
The "Hollywood" industry does wonderful things to educate and entertain but also engenders a desire for the perfect persona by all means possible from clothing to car, to house and even to a surgically induced perfection.
And the heart chakra...
We are taught to blame and be skeptical which lead to cynicism and the byproducts of shame, guilt, lack of self-worth and failure to forgive ourselves and others. We may learn not to ask forgiveness from our politicians and heads of state and to never apologize.
Wisdom and the 3rd Eye...
We find that if overemphasized...
We basically tend to favor fear based feelings over love.
Many feel helpless and pessimistic from grief, sorrow and poverty.
This is epitomized by the Resignation Syndrome now given to describe immigrant children placed on the remote island of Nauru of Australia who have lost hope and are no longer eating or speaking.
When the first Dutch colonizers landed in what is now Cape Town and imprisoned the local San people for killing Dutch live stock (the San were hunter gathers and lived by the law that all animals were fare game to anyone) - the results were catastrophic. Jailors would soon find them dead in their cells in spite of the fact that food and water were provided. The San lived so much in the present moment that they could not conceive of a time when they might be free. With no hope they checked out spiritually but also physically.
Politicians should be more effectively addressing the poverty factor which leads to Helplessness. They give lip service to it but ultimately the powerful who are in control prevail. European countries are much more successful on the happiness scale, especially Scandinavia.
Regarding ego...
The "Hollywood" industry does wonderful things to educate and entertain but also engenders a desire for the perfect persona by all means possible from clothing to car, to house and even to a surgically induced perfection.
And the heart chakra...
We are taught to blame and be skeptical which lead to cynicism and the byproducts of shame, guilt, lack of self-worth and failure to forgive ourselves and others. We may learn not to ask forgiveness from our politicians and heads of state and to never apologize.
Wisdom and the 3rd Eye...
Our education system dictates that if you cannot prove something with a study it does not exist, and so we buy into dogma, doubt and denial. We try to have control and make the uncertain, certain and the imperfect, perfect, when the Ancestors teach;
"You cannot control results only your actions, you cannot predict outcomes only your choices."
So look now how far we have come in the figure below!
Joy and Happiness are at the top and
lack of Joy also has karmic consequences.
lack of Joy also has karmic consequences.
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