EGO'S TRIAD - DESIROUS ATTACHMENT

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill, keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt, chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench, care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back, the only way to serenity.”  Tao Te Ching

 Impermanence

We are all climbing toward the summit of our hearts’ desires. Should the other climber steal your sack and your purse and wax fat on the one and heavy on the other, you should pity him. The climbing will be harder for his flesh and the burden will make his way longer. And should you in your leanness see his flesh puffing upward, help him in a step, it will add to your swiftness.” Unknown

Nothing lasts, everything we have is in the process of decay and we cannot take it with us. The more attachments to stuff that we have the harder will be our transition to the other side of the veil. When the Grim Reaper comes to tell us that our shelf life has expired and we move out of this plane to the "elsewhere" we leave with nothing but our experiences and our karma. We are here to enjoy this impermanence and the moment responsibly.

“One day the people came to the master and asked: “How can you be so happy in a world of such impermanence where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness and death.” The master held up a glass and said. Someone gave me this glass and I really like this glass. It holds my water admirably and glistens in the sunlight. One day the wind may blow it off the shelf or my elbow may knock it off the table. I know this glass is already broken so I enjoy it incredibly.”               Achaan Chah Subato

“By attributing worth to tangible objects humans becomes attracted to them; attraction brings desire for them; desire leads to competition and dispute. These create anger and the result is delusion. Delusion completely overcomes a human’s sense of right and wrong.” Srimad Bhagavatam

Happiness is a legacy of perception rather than an accumulation of the material. We need to attend to our needs not our wants.

“…Abundance is not an achievement of the acquisitive but rather a legacy of the perceptive, a realization of plenty - not an acquiring of more.” Hillel.

The more we have - the more the ego desires. The marketing media play on this weakness. Steve Jobs of Apple said to his employees that their job at Apple was not to give folks what they needed but to tell them what they wanted. 

"Greed is not stilled with money anymore than thirst is with salt water." Ksemendra

 Keep to the source of living waters. Do not think to store in cisterns for they will break and crumble and the water will be lost. Cup your hands and drink deeply and often.

“Give up owning things and being somebody. Quit existing.”Rumi

Before we can subordinate ego to the Higher Self and open the heart chakra we will need to confront our Shadow, Monkey Mind and the Dark Forces or Tricksters - all trying to hold us down in the lower chakras. These three are always in flux sabotaging Spacious Mind and our Guides. Spiritual practice is essential to maintain equanimity.

The challenges and their remedies are summarized in the figure below.

Once we move energy from our survival centers below the diaphragm into the heart chakra or the sephira of Love we are on our way to mastering the Three Triads and to Becoming - Self Realizing.

Click, play and meditate

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THE TREE OF LIFE'S AND THE CHAKRA'S EGO TRIAD 

In the prior blog on the T.O.L.'s Love Triad we talked about Judgment. In Yoga however, Judgment is included in the Third Chakra of Ego together with the other Deadly Sins of Karma.

Ego is about our power and how we make our way in the world. Here we will confine ourselves to the other two deadly sins of Karma related to the Third Chakra -  

Yesod on the T.O.L. - balanced by 

Attachment and Non-Attachment.

                     

“Behind my work was ambition
Behind my love was personality
Behind my purity was fear
Behind my guidance, the thirst for power.
Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come mother, I come in your warm bosom, floating where-so-ever you take me. In the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland. I come a spectator, no longer an actor”
Swami Vivekananda

Below is the Hexagon symbolized in the Heart Chakra. The "lower"   mini-triangles point toward the Third Chakra of Ego -

including 

self-Cherishing and Desirous Attachment.  

These signify our survival needs rather than those above which relate to our higher consciousness.

“In the samadhi that comes at the end of reasoning and discrimination no such thing as “I” exists but it is extremely difficult to attain as “I” consciousness lingers so persistently. This is why humans are born again and again.” Sri Rama Krishna

self- Cherishing of the persona, 

this self being the little self and

Desirous Attachment -

 attachment to the object of our desire.

                       

There are some subtle differences in emphasis concerning the Ego of the Third Chakra versus the Ego of Yesod in Kabbalah as noted in the figure below. These will be dealt with first before we arrive at the commonalities.

The T.O.L. emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationship between any of the Four Beings of Nature but especially the Talking Beings. In other words love thy neighbor as thyself (not more or less than oneself.) Namaste - I recognize the divinity within you (and mySelf.) We are all one though not the same.

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.” Roshi

... If we cannot embrace the other, do not think to embrace God. The more expectantly we look for Him in the other the more readily does S/He show Himself.  

Reference is also made to the example of a garden and the gardener and applies to any of the other Beings of Nature who deserve to exist not for what they bring to us but for their own sakes.

The sages speak of a garden where plants are treated with tenderness and care for their own sakes alone such that garden and gardener unite as Netzach (Non-Attachment to outcome) flows while one weeds, waters and prunes; nurturing and delighting in the garden itself and not ego and attachment to how the garden may be perceived by others. If the garden is tended like this, then Netzach flows only to those who are to be impressed rather than to the garden itself - the gardener decides. 

But Netzach can be misdirected, resulting in an imbalance in relationships. Netzach is the courage and force to reach out in relationship. Hod (Attachment,) its counterpart on the Tree of Life, is the empathetic balance and effective communicator of Netzach (Non-Attachment.)

If we focused only on Netzach in our relationships we may be taken advantage of. Hod allows us to be wary of this and communicate skillfully so we are not harmed by another's selfish motivations.

Netzach is the key to spiritual evolution - 

ie. to opening up to the Love Triad or the Heart Chakra.

God does not measure results, only the trueness of intent and the fervor of effort. This is why there is such joy in daring one’s best.

All must be done for its own sake, not for reason of an outcome. 
All is a journey not a destination and it is a continual arriving.

Yeats recognizes the "enlightened" implications of doing things for their own sake. The motive, if for its own sake, without consideration for any outcome, is a Higher Self, Spacious Mind intention or motivation. If for the deed alone, it may only be a self-cherishing, ego bound, Narrow Minded agenda related to our Shadow or Evil Inclination.

Do you listen with your heart or are you hearing with your ego.
The possible peril is not a punishment, it is a consequence…

However,

Ulterior motives are greatly under-rated. Acting compassionately to do good for any reason is preferable to not doing good at all.
But determine well the heart’s true desire for in releasing the power of your motivation, its energies will actualize the holiness or unholiness of your intent.

Moreover, even if we do things for their own sake there are no guarantees, and sometimes 

"no good deed remains unpunished..." 

The reward is equanimity and knowing we did the right thing. If we can maintain our serenity and selflessness in the face of all obstacles and challenges and still be non-attached...

 God’s breath can be heard in quietness and felt in stillness. 
Beware the noises and clamor of ego which drown out the Divine whisper.

Until you empty yourself of pride, God cannot be realized.

Detachment is not the same as attachment. Detachment is a giving up as opposed to surrender which is a giving in to something bigger and more important than one's little self.

Concerning detachment, one of its paths leads to a lifeless world without enthusiasm or hope, a place of indifference where one could become ensnared in hidden traps of dejection and despair, where one no longer cares to love nor dares to trust.

The self-cherishing persona is bound to the following polarities; Pride, Prestige, Fame, Power, and

Information and Knowledge rather than Wisdom or Knowing 

If information or knowledge do not serve justice and compassion they are but a conceit and a hollow sound.

 The value of information resides in its use for transformation.

Pride, Prestige, Fame

"God cannot be realized is there is the slightest trace of pride." Upanishads 

Humility is truthful acknowledgement of the wonders of yourself. It is taking appropriate credit for your part while recognizing the Creator’s gifts to you…

 Concerning false humility ... do not be so humble you are not that important! Unknown

 "... If you can empty your boat (of ego) crossing the river of the world, few will oppose you or seek to harm you."  Unknown

 As fame can enslave, so the costs of money can impoverish. Make sure the need is worth the price. To overpay robs the Self.

"S/he who does good and does not pursue fame or honor, s/he honor overtakes."  Hillel 

As in Mother Theresa and others.

"S/he who loses himself (as in small self) will find himSelf.

 

 "Those that will be first will be last."  Jesus

Let them be king.

Let them come along and shout

 - they will shout their name last. 

The Ancestors

Click, Play and empower your-Self 

 10_Let_Them_Be_King.mp3

…We must beware of anger and pride which are weapons of chaos, connecting us to our destructive instincts…

Power

Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character give him power.” A. Lincoln

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sir John Dalberg-Acton

Given full power greed becomes an enslaver of the greedy - fear becomes first a bully, then a torturer and then a killer. 

 We are seeing this more and more today around the world and even in the U.S.A. 

 Click, Play and Meditate 

 03_Warnings_for_the_Way.mp3

THE THREE TRIADS OF THE T.O.L. AND THE CHAKRAS

THE MIDDLE TRIAD OF LOVE #7

In the first Triad of Becoming on the T.O.L. we discussed Truth which is the balance of many factors; 

Understanding versus Wisdom, 

Hope, Faith, Belief, Trust, Surrender versus 

Hopelessness, Disbelief, Doubt, Denial, Resignation.

These polarities in yoga correspond to the 6th and 7th chakras - the Third Eye of wisdom and intuition and the Crown chakra of oneness with the cosmos and the divine. These qualities are not as clearly delineated in Yoga as the polarities on the T.O.L.

The properties, however, are more similar when we compare the Heart chakra to Tiferet, the central sephira on the T.O.L. which represents love balanced by Mercy and Judgment. The Fourth or Heart chakra in yoga is its equivalent and it houses the symbol of the hexagon. It is separated from the higher chakras by the diaphragm.

We can analyze the symbol of the hexagon as having three small triangles pointing downward (survival) and three upward (growth and transformation.) Those above include; Truth, Awareness and Being in the Present Moment which are also embodied in the Triangle of Becoming on the T.O.L. 

The three below or the Triangle of Ego are to be discussed later. These relate to the lower chakras especially the Third chakra of Ego which  can be impediment to fully opening the heart chakra. Ego has three components; self-Cherishing of the persona (the small self,) Desirous Attachment (attachment to the object of our desire) and Judgment. Spiritual practice will help subordinate these and open the heart chakra. The Yogis say that the most difficult chakra to open is this one. Kabbalists affirm that when the student has mastery over Tiferet (Beauty) - the love sephira - s/he can teach themselves.

On the T.O.L. Judgement is a higher order of challenge and part of the Triad of Love since it is a more difficult nut to crack. It is balanced by Mercy. The tension between the two is where we balance the sephira of Love and start to recognize the Divinity in all of us.

The wisdoms below relate to the tension between 

Judgment and Mercy.

Forgiveness, compassion and empathy and loving our neighbor as ourself (we do not have to like him/her) are key.

There can be judgment of Oneself, 

Judgment of Another and Judgement of Others.

Do not condemn yourself, or let others condemn you.

JUDGMENT OF ONESELF

 “Self condemnation strengthens guilt which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of realization.” Sri Swami Rama

Self condemnation or recrimination put our higher consciousness resident in the prefrontal lobe of the brain in lockdown so that Monkey Mind which is about survival can prevail. We need to practice an unconditional positive regard not only for ourselves but also for others.  U.S.A. - universal self-acceptance. No-one is perfect.

Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and, above all, release yourself from what you are not accountable.

“Just as its presumptuous to put ourselves above others, so is it pretentious to put ourselves below them.” Unknown 

The judgment of the 99 neither validates nor invalidates the worth of the one.
The many and the few do not speak to value – only to popularity. Popularity is not to be equated with value.

If we cannot embrace the other, do not think to embrace God. 

God is not a test of love, God's love is not a test. 

The Creator will forgive anything that is done to Him/Her in other words damage inflicted on one's Higher Self or soul 

but not anything we have done to another. 

For that we have to clean the slate.

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts  become your words. 
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.” Gandhi

JUDGMENT OF ANOTHER OR OTHERS

Reality usually follows its description. Hence it is ever changing and is perceived differently by different people.

We all dance to the beat of different drums. As long as someone is not doing harm we should be merciful with his or her "beat."

“Actions arise from conditions. Do not judge then the former until the latter is well understood. If you have eaten what the judged one has eaten, and worn his clothes, and thought his thoughts, and felt both his joy and pain then you may say you have stood in his place but only briefly compared to the length of his stay. So still you may not know the past or present plights that plague him. Our judgments are frequently fraught with error and usually tainted with arrogance. Compassion and love are our salvation and joy.” Hillel

In other words try to walk for a day in someone's moccasins.

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.” Roshi

 Judgment accentuates the duality we already carry. The Ancestors teach we are all one, though not the same.

“See yourself in others then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?” Dammapada

“There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.” New England Saying

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” Goethe

We need to remember that we may be an older soul than the other and had probably done things as unskillful and possibly worse in one or another of our own past lives.

 

“Despise no person and consider nothing impossible, for there is no one who does not have his/her hour and there is nothing that does not have its place.” Talmud

HAS JUDGMENT CREATED HARM? 

Kabbalah teaches that when we slander we "murder" three people.

Our Self (as in Higher Self.) and our Karma. 

The person to whom we gossip, by possibly poisoning their mind.

And the one we are slandering, by character assassination.

"Hatred does not cease by hatred only by love. This is the eternal rule." The Buddha

 "Holding on to anger or hatred is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." The Buddha

Hatred or anger is self reflecting.

“… and do not give the Devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:27

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil…” Romans 12:17

Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.

Karma will resolve all differences.

When judgment leads to covetousness we may transgress one of the ten commandments depending on what we do about our jealousy:

You shall not covet your neighbor's house or your neighbor's wife, or his male servant or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

If someone has a heart of envy this may lead them to want something that belongs to someone else or just as bad, to prevent them from having something that you yourself cannot have and want. We see this in politics all the time as well as character assassination where some methods go well beyond healthy competition. 

In the extreme it can lead to criminal acts, sorcery and the dark side of witchcraft.

MERCY

"Turn the other cheek" or respond positively depending on the situation. If you respond negatively you inherit their energy. It's not about them it's about you. Give compassion. Imagine them changing for the better.

Make of your opponent, a dance partner.

“The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.” Goethe 

“Great are the righteous for they transform judgment into compassion.” Genesis Raba 33.3

“When you see a worthy person endeavor to emulate him, when you see an unworthy person then examine your inner self.” Confucius 

We tend to project our own shadow onto someone else so that our ego can feel better about itself.

“Do not spread a bad image of anyone or any group - even if true
 (or to the person himself.)
Do not share information that can cause harm.
Do not embarrass even in jest.
Do not pretend that innuendo or body language are not speech.” 
Chofetz Chaim

Do not refrain from judging but do not judge harshly, judge favorably.

The Ancestors tell us to; sweeten our judgments.

It is difficult not to judge - better to discern.

“Judge not that you not be judged. 
For with what judgment you judge you shall be judged 
and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew

What goes around comes around sooner or later or karmically when we ultimately face a spiritual tribunal on the other side of the veil.

Our judgments, thoughts, feelings and actions all have connections not just in the material world but in the spiritual realm. The spiritual influences the material. We invite, support, encourage or exclude, reject, discourage…

"Cosmic energy enters through the Energy (Etheric) Body and our thoughts determine whether this is positive  or negative and how our Etheric body will be – (imbalanced or balanced.) Spiritual Practice will encourage positive flow." Yoga philosophy

Click, play and meditate on the wisdoms most applicable. We all have many.

Dear God, so far today, I’ve done alright. I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper, I haven’t been selfish, greedy, grumpy or over indulgent. I’m very proud of that.
But in a minute God I’m going to get out of bed and from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Anonymous

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