Balance

Emotional Balance:

Nature is vast, powerful, organised, un-emotional. We can look at nature in many different ways but we should look at it untainted, it is purposeful, and if we are to be sound then we should look at the purposefulness and not the seeming negatives. Nature in many ways is like us, our consciousness is said to stem from out thoughts, our thoughts stem from our brains. So lets look at ourselves emotionally.

The above is a diagram of basic emotions, I try and look at this as though these emotions are symbolic of nature, our basic consciousness, without control would be going through various stages of emotions. We have the ability to balance our emotions, and the best way I have found to do this is to literally break your consciousness up and become an observer of yourself. Try to look at your random thoughts and moods as an innocent child, show kind compassion for this as it gives us a huge potential, we have a great capacity to feel anything from hatred to love, I propose we are at the stage where we can choose where we can exist. This is what I refer to as balancing our emotion.

All emotions and thoughts are tools, they give us an opportunity to interact with this potential, allowing us to choose correctly what we should do. Every situation brings about emotion, quite often the best of these is what I call fear.

When we step out of our comfort zone we tend to get a little voice telling us that "this is stupid" or "I cannot do this" This voice if ignored, will just fester and we will either find it very difficult to continue or we will indeed cave in and stop. I believe that morally we have an obligation to tame this emotion or innocent consciousness, It is of the benefit of ourselves the people around us, our species, and the infinite consciousness as a whole. Once we understand this then we will find ourselves approaching life in a different way, ensuring that every decision is made correctly, this is what has happened to me anyway.

The trick is to show compassion to the process, to not be hateful at ourselves, and if possible not to hate anything, hatred is quite often an impatience combined with convenience of not trying to understand something. We should learn to be patient and tolerant, irrespective of circumstance, as fundamentally the source of all variation is innocent. 

So imagine this untamed child, you would not should at a child or show hatred to something that is innocent, and I think this is the context. I base this on the innocence of nature, at each level and ourselves being a part of nature aware of nature means that we have a distinct advantage and responsibility to use our consciousness effectively.

We can recognise that we are connected to an I.C and perhaps can recognise the pure innocent beauty of this consciousness, and how our emotions are a direct link within this consciousness. We can see how we can distinguish ourselves from this matrix and observe it and it within us. We can almost shape this I.C using ourselves as a vessel for creating another level of consciousness, or in another way taking control of our own consciousness, respecting the source and also taming it. In effect we can take control of our consciousness, and this is what I call "becoming greater". This is a journey which will continue for the rest of your life and beyond.

Our left / right consciousness:

It is our current understanding that the brain works in two ways, the right and left sides, one being the source of order and logic, the other being the creative intuitive side. The left side of the brain processes information in a linear manner. It processes from part to whole. It takes pieces, lines them up, and arranges them in a logical order; then it draws conclusions. The right brain however, processes from whole to parts, holistically. It starts with the answer. It sees the big picture first, not the details. If you are right-brained, you may have difficulty following a lecture unless you are given the big picture first. That is why it is absolutely necessary for a right-brained person to read an assigned chapter or background information before a lecture or to survey a chapter before reading. If an instructor doesn't consistently give an overview before he or she begins a lecture, you may need to ask at the end of class what the next lecture will be and how you can prepare for it. If you are predominantly right-brained, you may also have trouble outlining (You've probably written many papers first and outlined them latter because an outline was required). You're the student who needs to know why you are doing something. Left-brained students would do well to exercise their right-brain in such a manner.

Our interpretation of The world around us involves this process. Some activities are designed to use the right/ creative parts like the activity detailed earlier, other such as mathematics use reasoning and linear processing to retrieve information. Having said that the two function in harmony, and the better the mix then the better the results.

Ill give dowsing as an example, the activity itself lends itself to our intuition, the right side of the brain, but prior and after the dowsing a logical process should be laid out, this helps to draw useful results and without this then the dowsing has no meaning.

Nature seems to be radically unordered at a glance, but when you start to compare aspects of itself you see an order, fibonacci, phi & pi, all are integral laws that shape the nature around us, taken above scale this affects the universe, and taken below, even atomic structure. The system is scaler, but the most significant part about the infinite consciousness is the separation and seemingly equal unity. Nature exists from order, complex but order and creativity spawns from a set of extremely complex rules, a combination of the left and right side of the brain, nature is in harmony, creating such beauty and at the same time the laws to support the creation. Even nature uses the same principle of logic and creativity.

Scientists tend to use a sceptical, logical process which is great for the work that they do, but almost all of the great scientists of the past used a level of intuition, and creativity, Leonardo Da Vinci, Einstein, Newton are great examples. In many great breakthroughs in our scientific community, a level of creativity was involved in thinking up the idea, and from there logical experimentation developed the idea forward into something useful. But without the spark, the idea then the rest would not have followed.

It seems to me that we have this great capacity within our level to order, to order ourselves, and the immediate world around us. This is self organisation at our level of consciousness, this organisation can occur collectively and individually and in my opinion should occur within the framework of the infinite consciousness with respect to the current organisation. This is where we have perhaps forgotten, and our organisation has become the priority, in which way we have individually become secondary to the collective organisation, which has become ignorant to the complete collective organisation.

Individually we are aware of the implications of this but as we are so involved in the organisation, we seem unable to change the direction in which our evolution is heading in. Having said this the times are a changing, the power of the individual mind is in fact a very powerful asset. Throughout culture individuals have stood out to have pioneered, and incited change inspiring millions to change, to act and to stand up and be counted.

Take a japanese Zen garden, the straight lines that resemble order and the circular ripples around the rocks which represent the power and influence one can have on the universe. This lies hand in hand with consciousness and the Eastern philosophy, a little of which are described later, when I first started to review these philosophies I did so in a sceptical nature, but I could not find a reason for so many individuals and cultures believing in the same values, if indeed none of the philosophies were relevant, as everything uncurled many of the philosophies made a great deal of sense.

So, we all have the power to create, to use our creativity in tandem with our logical mind, producing a level of consciousness which can be described as a similar parallel process to that of nature and our creation. This level of consciousness if shared collectively can become something greater, and we have seen that with spirituality, revolutions, even the fan culture. Collectively consciously our potential is even greater, one mind can change the universe, via our level of consciousness. It is suggested also that individually through consciousness we can change the world around us, perhaps through the infinite consciousness. The difficulty with accepting this is who and what takes priority, if the infinite consciousness is interacting with us, how can it possibly interact with everyone, even if just potentially. My answer is because it is infinite and we are an integral part of it, therefore we help to shape it, whether we realise it or not.

Yin and Yang:

During my spiritual development I started to pay attention to the eastern traditions. Th concepts of yin and yang interested me, and if nothing else was a clever way of viewing the world around me in an interconnected method. Yin and Yang, defines everything within a dualistic approach, in where everything is composed of a balance of these two extremes. Yin representing, dark, cold, female, the moon. Yang representing, male, light, hot, the sun. 

The logo for yin yang is in fact supposed to be spinning and represents the balance of the duality. At night time (Yin) the sun reflects against the moon (yang), In the day time (yang) when an object blocks the shade there is darkness.  Of course, our galaxy has a sun and the earth has a moon which affect our planet and us also. The sun has obvious effects on our species, and so does the moon. The symbol for me describes our unique approach to perceiving the world as a system, of a whole with divisions, operating as separate components yet interacting with seeming mutual respect and balance. Is this our perception, interpreting the universe segregating it into categories, or does it in fact seek out to create these characteristics, evolving into a range of potential, a range which its levels of consciousness will occur and react within. 

Tai Chi:

Tai chi is the expression of movement using a yin and yang perception. Once understood the power of Tai Chi is massive, meditation is the balancing of the mind, life mediation which really is mindfulness is meditation in everything we do, and tai chi is more or less an art form where we can understand through ourselves the duality of the universe. When we perform tai chi we are admitting ourselves to a force beyond our own, allowing ourselves to emulate Yin and Yang. In itself It is not important that Yin and Yang exist but our perception of Yin and Yang is important as it helps us understand and I believe communicate with an infinite consciousness which we are parts of, and in this way we are experiencing ourselves. In this way perception between levels is key, self awareness at the top level is a consequence and aim of these teachings, allowing the essence of the universe to literally understand itself. 

There are many forms of tai chi, many of which mimic creatures in the environment, I often find myself free forming and tai chi is very much like that when you know a few movements you can fill in the gaps yourself. The great thing about Tai chi free forming is you tend to end up in the same position as the starting one, except you feel energised and ready for anything! Tai chi combines physical excersize with mental excersize, and leaves you feeling more alive.

Tai chi itself is comprised of forms, and the three main forms are: Yang, wu and chen, these are named after the families that developed the techniques. It is worth trying all three before dedicating yourself to either one, once you feel confident you will combine steps from these forms combined with your own.  Tai chi is in itself defined as a martial art, it depends how far you wish to take it, but for me it is about using focus and perception to synchronise your physical self and your mental self to the universe.

I am only going to offer a few basic moves and suggest that you try it for yourself, as there is no right way as such but an adaptation of the Tai Chi principles. The moves I offer are adapted moves which have remained in my Tai chi movements, but I suggest you get yourself involved in a class or read a book to fully appreciate Tai Chi.

Excersize

Starting position:

It is advised to wear loose clothing and start off with some stretches before you begin, if you have medical conditions you should consult a doctor before putting yourself at risk. Begin with your feet grounded and an awareness of your centre of gravity. With your chin up, eyes gazing forward, imagine your spine is in perfect alignment. Keep your leg muscles taut and knees flexed while pulling in your belly button and inhaling. This is your foundation posture and beginning position.

Sharpen the Bow:

widen your stance so that your feet are about a pace wide, slowly turn your upper body to the left, place your left hand out  to the left with the palm facing forward, pull your little and next to little fingers into your palm leaving your thumb, forefinger and middle finger out, with your right hand clench a fist and bring your right hand out to your left so it is almost touching your left hand, this is the starting position to this set of movements, adjust it so you feel comfortable – but you should have the type of position that an archer would adopt before firing their bow. You should imagine pushing out with your left hand but without actually moving it while pulling your right hand in a straight motion across your chest – you should breath in slowly, when you have pulled across you release the fist in your right hand, while breathing out. You then repeat the step on your right side, and back again several times. When you perfect the steps you may find that your fist turns slightly when drawing in and out, and you feel a sensation in your palms as you expand, you may even feel like a ball is forming between your hands.

Supporting the world:

This is a movement I combine with mindfulness, as it has merits in both fields. From your starting position, you bring out your arms from your navel in a circular motion downwards and outwards, slowly bringing them up imagining a big ball at your chest, bring your hands right up until they are almost touching in the highest comfortable position above your head, imagine that your spine is a pillar, and the pillar continues above you up to your hands, turn your hands inwards so they make the shape of a pillar, and imagine the world being held up by your hands, you may feel your hands slip downwards a little, but when your hands are in position you breathe out slowly, when you finish breathing out give the weight of the world back, bring your hands back down while breathing in and relax at the navel. This excersize can be used between others or on its own.