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Russian Foundation of Transpersonal Psychology |
International Noosphere Institute |
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Moscow
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Chapter 2 PRELIMINARY PURIFYING (INTEGRATION), WORLDS OF TRANSFORMATION
We have already mentioned the importance of preliminary purifying and transformation for successful and safe journey to subtle reality. Now we will look at this closer. In ancient tradition both preparation and initiation played a significant role and not anybody could successfully go through all preliminary stages which often took many years. However, the preliminary stages themselves and their sequence were very much alike. The sense of the whole process can be shortly described as symbolic death, destraction of the old Self and the birth in the new more harmonic and purified condition. For example, in early Christian communities during buptising the initiated person was put into water and kept there until he or she stopped moving (that was clinic death). Then the person was brought back to life and given a new name as a new born person liberated from the burden of past whose state had a new quality (was transformed). The sense of purifying is in liberation from complexes, blocks, displaced into unconsciousness negative or forbidden experiences and desires (psychtraumas), from all this unconscious laggage that deforms our behavior and makes it irrational and destructive. The transformational stage included forming of the new more harmonic value system and subordinationof our bestial flesh element to conscious control. The initiated person stopped being a helpless toy of bestial instincts, behavioral stereotypes and uncontrolled habits as majority of us. Both these stages were necessarily realized on psychological and psychoenergetic levels, including serious elaboration of subtle body structures (czacras and acupunture channels), learning to work with them and vital energy and finally qualitative change of the subtle body itself and its working regime. This was the final aim of Indian Kundalini-yoga, Tybetan technics of inner fire (Too-mo) and many other traditions. It is important to remember that without psychoenergetic work purifying and transformation turn into empty imitation, a show that does not lead to any serious internal changes. And finally, both these stages passed once could not be left behind but became a constant element of religious mystic's, sorcerer's, shaman's life.. If they happenned to be forgotten the spiritual and psychoenergetic degradation quickly took place, the obtained abilities were lost or weakened and a person became an unprotected toy of dark forces. It is impossible to clean the teeth or have a shower once and for life and it is also impossible to purify and transform once and for ever. The methods that will be described in this chapter should become a constant element of your life. Especially if you are going to wander in subtle reality.
2.1. Purifying To understand the principles of purifying we will first concentrate on the nature of our mental life pollution, the mechanisms of their establishment and stability with which tehy influence our behavior and condition. A famous psychoanalityc S. Freud was one of the first researchers of the influence of psychotrauma on human mental life. His works have proved that a person, who has experienced strong emotional shock or has found him or herself in the situation of the problem which could not be solved, gets under the influence of 'displacement' mechanism and seems to forget the unpeasant situation or is not aware of it. Yet, such displaced psychotrauma does not dissappear but does into unconsciousness and continues actively influence the behavior of this person.. It can manifest through general drop of tonus, pathologic fears, constant worrying, nightmares. In many cases such displaced psychotraumas, called complexes, can lead to neurosis and more serious psychic disorders, although the person does not know of their existence. The complex may be caused by very different reasons. The common feature is strong emotional experience in the situation which makes its solution impossible. So in the childhood the complex could be formed on the basis of the strong sexual desire with strict injunctions in the backgroung. Often the reason is in the unsolvable situation that endangers one's life. The works of another psychoanalytic O.Ranke have shown the conection between significant psychic disorders and puerperal traumas. Later these ideas were developed by the works of S.Grof and other researchers of unconscious spheres (8, 15). At the moment when the cramps begin a baby feels that all the universe, limited by the womb, is collapsing trying to smash him. The situation seems to have no solution this is the end of his world. Naturally, then the birth and coming into the world will follow but the baby does not know it and feels only the strongest pain, fear and total doom. In the adult life such person, being influenced by this complex, can experience the strongest fear, that seemingly does not have any reason, in the elevator, underground or any other closed space reminding of the limited universe of the womb. It seems to him or her that hte walls can fall down and smash him or her. It appears that roots of many suicides are also connected with puerperal trauma. In the following adult life the complex may become a kind of cristalisation centre that constantly attracts new traumatic situations. Many such cases are described in S. Grof's monographies.He develpos the concept of psychotrauma and complex and creats a conception of 'system of condensed experience' (SCE) — a pathologically stable structure appearing in our unconsciousness around preliminary psychotrauma (8). Even when realized SCE still cannot be consciously controlled and continues to influence our mental life in the active way, deforms and blocks our behavior. The destruction and anigilation of such SCE is a necessary condition of healing one's mental life, activating of its deep resources and work with subtle reality. In order to understand how to get reed of psychotrauma consequences and anigilate SCE we should look at the mechanisms of its establishment and stability. In this respect the language of the new field of physics — nonequilibrium thermodynamics and synergetics that study processes of self-organization in complicated nonlinear systems — is especially effective (16, 17, 18). Our psyche belongs to the category of such informational systems. We will use the synergetic metaphore and try to examine the process of SCE establishment and mechanisms of its stability. From physics we know that one of the most important condition s of selforganization and forming of stable structure is nonlinearity which appeares when energetic flows become highly intenive. The analogy of such flows in mental life is intensity of emotional experience, the level of psychic energy, activated by a given behavior. In a usual situation motivation energy is spent in the process of active behavior, hence its level does not reach significant values. If a conflict or frustration takes place then the situation reminds of a dike blocking the river, the concentration of motivation energy, strength of emotional tension can increase many times.Here nonlinear effects appear that enable establishment of SCE. The iner conflict of two contradictory desires, for example fear and wish to help a friend in danger can make impossible both running away and help. Great emotional tension can be also caused by frustration being a result of a life endangering situation impossible to escape (kidnapping, terroristic act, natural calamity, etc.) or breaking moral and social norms (betraying the loved person, 'losing one's face', career breakdown, etc.) and many other reasons. Nevertheless, the scenario of SCE establishment would be more or less the same, no matter what the reasons are. To make it clear we need a small degression concerning mechanisms of our behavior. Picture 3 presents the structure of elementary behavioral brick — behavioral module. Both, our normal behavior and SCE are made of such bricks. We have already mentioned that behavior is built on the basis of self-organization and self-completing from relatively autonomous elements — behavioral modules. The self-organization process is guided by motivation (motivation energy) redestributed between such modules.Putting this in the terms of synergetics, motivation energy is a criterion of the order that rules complicated hierarchy system of our behavior (18). The higher motivation energy of behavioral module is the more it dominates over the other ones, the stronger its influence on the realized behavior. Motivation energy, in its turn, concists of deliveries from other behavioral modules belonging to the higher levels of the hierarchy. An important special feature is redestribution of motivation energy according to the principle of resonance (5, 11, 19). In other words, it is not passed to any concrete behavioral module but to all which are close to the image of the receiver and the greater the similarity is, the more energy it gets. It can be easy understood if compared to radio or television. Radiosygnal, unlike postal sending, reachs all possible (radio-)receivers but it would be accepted only by those tuned on its frequency (or special code in the case of the mobile phone). In addition, the better the tuning is, the higher the level of the sygnal would be. Such tuning for every behavioral model can be described by special entance functions of destribution Hij that define which part of motivation energy from the j module of the higher level will be delivered to the given i behavioral module. Thus its motivation energy Pi' would consist of the sum of all such deliveries. It is also transmissed farther but already with its own receiver's code. It could also be described by destribution functions Hij' but this time they are exit ones and define motivation delivery from i module to j one. Another significant factor influencing motivation delivery is external situation and condition of the environment. The more suitable for the given module realization it is, the more motivation energy will be delivered to it. In fact behavioral module works as collector-transformator that accumulates motivation energy and passes it on to other receivers fulfilling its tasks and aims. It is important to stress once more that motivation energy is transmissed with the code (an image, archetype) of the receiver to all other behavioral modules. It is accepted according to the resonance degree. Hierarchy of such modules create advisible behavior. At least it should do so unless something goes wrong. This, unfortunately, happens, especially in situations connected with strong emotional tension. If two or more unreconcilable modules rival they can start blocking central parts of each other's destribution functions and interrupting this way the delivery of motivation energy for corresponding behavior. This mechanism can be seen on the picture 4. In that case motivation can be accumulated up to the level from which it will spill over. In other words, it will be go through sideway low spheres of destribution function, for its central part is closed. It reminds of brim-full river dike during the flood. Then some elements unneeded for this behavioral module and only vaguely reminding of it will be activated. As a result some strange hybrid will appear instead of the behavior adequate to person's desires. So-called 'displaced behavior' that people and animals may demonstrate in the situation of conflict or frustration can be a good example. So when situation is uncertain some people could start biting nails or pencils. Obviously, this does not help to solve the problem but the tension can be partly minimised. Many birds when their aggression is supressed by fear (for example during territorial behavior when the rival is stronger) start to browse the grass (6). The SCE is established in more or less the same way it is also a kind of hybrid of a few conflicting behavioral programs. At the same time the destribution functions are formed they fix the image of the situation which has established SCE. The mechanism, called in ethology 'imprinting', activates here, for instance, a new-born chicken remembers the first moving object it sees and treats it as its mother (this may be somebody's leg, a mechanic toy or even a cat). In the same way the primary situation, behavior that caused SCE are remembered and become its core. They feed it with motivation energy. Naturally, thye 'birth' and bifurcation of SCE establishment needs motivation energy to overcome certain minimal value. Otherwise it would be just a memory without autonomous behavior. One of the examples of the relatively undurable SCE is an importunate motive, a melody of a song that gets into our mind once and then repeats again and again inspite of our will it is disturbing and irritating but at the same time is absolutely uncontrollable by our desires and lives with its independant life, parasitizing and nourishing with our vital energy. In this case the energy resonates with the certain music rythm maintaining the existence of such informational parasite-whirl. Another example is uncontrolled stammer during strong exitment, here mini-SCE is established on the level of nerves and muscles mechanisms. In our mental life the energy is destributed on the basis of resonanse with situations activating certain kinds of behavior. That is why SCE pursues the constant repetition of the primary conflict situation, provoking both, importunate memories and its recurrence in the future. This is a source of endless memories, nightmares and so on. Other than normal behavior that serves a person and is controlled by his or her desires, SCE starts to live with its own life and tries only to maintain its own existence and getting maximum amount of vital energy from 'the owner'. At the same time it makes 'the owner' suffer and is dangereous for him. Displacement In any case SCE, when established, becomes an outside structure, a parasite, sucking out the vital energy and deforming one's behavior. Certainly, our organism and psyche try to get reed of it. The simplest way is to block the memories of the primary situation resonating with SCE and ensuring the energy for it. That is how displacement appeares. Yet, on the other hand, when SCE is not reflected in our behavior it practically does not lose any energy and can spend years in such drowsy state. Besides it is impossible to exclude any situatuion that, at least up to the certain extant, reminds of the primary one, hence, SCE using the strength of emotional tension can suck out the vital energy in the amount more than enough for its existence. Let us think of the example with the elevator which does not have much in common with the womb but still activates SCE established by the puerperal trauma. The strong emotional experience a person has once had is always a central part of SCE. This strong emotional load distingueshes the complex from the simple memory, a forgottem episod from the past. The following acts and desires concentrate around it, forming multi-level framing that looks as a cabbage. Primary experiences present its inner coats and the following outer ones increase the spectrum of activating situations (dissolving the core, the resonance of entrance destribution function) and in this way strenghten SCE motivation energy. The head of cabbage lives due to constant nourishing with the energy of the sun that gets through outer coats and in the same way SCE gets vital force and prana through constant repetitions of variable variations of the primary experience. That is why one of the special features of the complex, SCE is its impotunate repetition and attracting new but similar situations even if they are harmful and dangereous for this person. In order to undrestand better what has been just said we will examine the following case described by S.Grof (8). One of his patients Renata has come to him with a serious psychic disorder. She had the hardest form of cancerophobia, a fear to get cancer. In the beginning she had made endoscopic tests many times, suspecting womb cancer, then she had made doctors to repeat again and again a rather complicated bronchscopy procedure. Later being afraid of metastasis she started to cut of the pecies of tonge and gums causing dangerous bleedings. All this was preceeded by quite difficult life as though she had had some bad fortune. Since the young years her relations with men has always had a good start, a romantic affection that, however, has ended up with a try of rape. Even her own husband has tried to do so when she was obsessed with the fear of having sexual organs cancer and rejected to have sexual relations many times. It is clear that she has not actually had any oncologic problem. During the altered state travelling with the help of LSD the history of her illness establishment was reconstructed. In the early childhood she used to live with her mother and step-father who treated her really well. Yet, at the same time their relations contained an element of sexuality. Her step-father has often got excited when she was sitting in his lap. Besides Renata was a beautiful and flirting girl. Once shortly before Christmas they have stayed home alone. Her step-father has knifed the Christmas goose and has got very excited. He has made Renata undress and started to stimulate her sexual organs with his hands and then has forced oral-genitale contact. He said that if the girl would tell her mother he would cut off her lips and tonge. This traumatic experience was displaced and completely forgotten by Renata but in fact the strongest SCE was established and it has influenced all her following life. It is not difficult to see that all later importunate situations in Renata's life were the repetition of the primary traumatic situation elements. This can be said of romantic affection ended up with a try of rape and of importunate need to examine sexual organs, mouth and throat and even of cutting off tonge and gum pieces (let us think of her step-father's threats). The interesting thing is that her mind has created a myth of developing cancer to justify such unnatural desires, in other words the whole mythology was established to protect SCE and hide the real reasons of her behavior. From the synergetic point of view SCE reminds of a whirl that appears during the quick movement of air or liquid. Such whirl appears and starts to live its own life and at the same time sucks out the energy of the energetic stream that has created it. Whirls like that, solitones, could be observed in the wake of the quickly mowing ship. After they are created they are able to move even faster than the ship itself and take its energy. The nature of the whirls behavior does not depend on the phisic environment in which they exist but is defined by the type of describing them methematic equation. Obviously, SCE or psychotrauma do not exist as objects of phisic space, they are not formed of gas or liquid as natural whirls (tornado, cyclon or antycyclon). Their environ ment is informational space of our psyche formed by electric processes in the brain and biologic fields related to subtle reality. Nevertheless, from the mathematic point of view they are the same and, hence, have similar features which allows to use synergetic effects obtained in the process of phisic whirls examining for our aims. This way, generalizing all that was mentioned one can distinguish the following features of SCE: 1. SCE is formed as a result of interferention of fragments of several kinds of purpous behavior (the effect of conflict or frustration) and is a certain hybrid, chimeric structure; 2. Its behavior does not have any paticular aim it is behavior for behavior itself. The only real aim is to survive for any price sometumes this can be even the life of the given person. In this respect the situation reminds of the rlations between the human and pathogenic organisms which kill their owner and die themselves trying to survive; 3. Other than normal behavior destribution functions Hij of SCE are smothed and unprecise. That is why even being blocked or displaced it can nourish through 'tails'. Besides the older SCE the more dissolved are its destribution functions and the higher its stability. 4. The basis of SCE stability is a great load of motivation energy. This load constantly grows due to the 'tail' nourishing and provoking wrong actions or directed behavioral breakdowns which repeat the primary situation. The greater the load is the more significant and effective the motivation nourishing through 'tails' (due to perceptive pretuning, see Chapter 1) is. So the positive reversed connection, selfdriving appears. 5. Deep predispositions for SCE establishment and its stable growth are related to person's strong bestial passions, desires, fears (often displaced). Their energy nourishes SCE through 'tails', for its receiver's code is unprecise and is not selective enough. Hence, the best prevention and protection from SCE establishment is elaboration and harmonization of one's own value system, moral principles, aims and desires. Using the synergetic analogy, all this can be compared to ensuring the streamline and good aerodynamics in the case of a plane or a ship that prevents establishment of parasite whirls (SCE) which take the majority of the energy and slow the movement down. 6. Increasing of SCE load can lead to qualitative stepwise change of the situation (bifurcation) when SCE destructs blockades and gets into the mind. Then the psyche is split in two or more conflicting personalities that take the power over the body one by one. Such cases are well known in psychiatry but, fortunately, are relatively seldom (usually tehy are defined as a variety of schisophrenia). 7. Much more often the father development of SCE and increasing autonomy of its psychoenergetic structure can make it stable enough to survive the death of the physic body and follow the human soul through after death bardo. Such SCE becomes a karmic problem and can persecute the person for many lives attracting again and again the same situations and problems.
2.2 Karma Special features of SCE transformed into karmik problem should be examined in a more detailed way. We would like to focuse our attention on two fundamental aspects of karmic problems — the sense of life and overcoming negative attachments. The problem of destiny and fatum has always been a touchy one for human and it has possibly found the fullest expression in concepts of karma and tao that became so popular during last years. The closer we get to the end of the XX-th century the sharper the value crisis in the modern society becomes. The disonance between external well-being of Western civilization and the growing spiritual emptiness and senseless existence increases. We start to understand that material well-being and consumption opportunities do not mean happiness. A modern man gets entrapped by unsolvalable emotional problems, has longer unlucky periods and suffers from the lack of love and spiritual closeness more and more often. All this makes us turn towards ancient philosophic and religious traditions and look for the answers concerning meaningful matters in the sources of our existence. A modern man often sees the reson of his failures in external situations and un profitable circumstances. The concept of carma allows to change the subject of attention, turn it inside and understand that something inside us disturbs to fulfil our tasks and do what we really want. Such position is much more effective it makes a person not an unhappy victim of circumstances but an active creator of one's own destiny. It is important to understand that the work with karmic problems does not necessarily demands admitting of past lives reality. For example modern psychtherapeutic methods interpret karmic memories as projections of our problems displaced into subconsciousness. In other words the concept of karma works as a kind of screen through which we keep in touch with our unconsciousness. Eastern tradition strongly connects the concept of karma with concept of reincarnations and sequence of incarnations from one life into another. The analysis of one's memories of past lives and one's acts there often helps to find the source of our present problems. However, even in India and Tibet such memories are treated rather as a metaphore, a tale through which our subconsciousness tries to show us the reason of our failures. Both Hinduism and Buddhism claim that our karmic past is thoroughly hidden to prevent the old attachments and emotions from slowing down our development and driving our attention away form our present life problems. Imagine what a hell our life would be if all we had once experience would suddenly enter our mind. There are many examples of the situations when real karmic memories were suddenly brought to life in the mind of a child or grown up person (1). Nevertheless, the result as a rule was the strongest emotional trauma, for it was impossible to go back and revive the things that have already passed away. That is why artificial revival of the past lives memories, digging in their details is not used in ancient traditions. Even enlightened beings, Tibetan Lamas, acknowledged as reincarnations (tulku) do not try to remember their previous lives without real necessity. From this point of view many modern methods of work with karmic problems are below any critics. When people are put into altered states and made experience previous lives and then go through their details looking for primary reasons of their failures, not only the old problems are not elaborated but the new ones appear. As a rule people unsatisfied with their present life see themselves as somebody great and powerful (from Alexander the Great to one of the saint Apostoles) and treat this as reality trying to hide from the problems of the present in their 'great' past. As a result specific karmic narcomany appears. There is no need to say that such practice does not have much in common with elaborating karmic problems in ancient traditions. What is the main thing in karmic images to us, what can help to make our present problems clear? If we turn once again towards ancient traditions we will see that negative karmic experience is first of all connected with negative attachments and constant chasing pleasures. Besides inventive human subconsciousness often presents the worst passions as superficially high motives and aims. For instance violence tendency and slavering another person can be hidden behind the slogans of bringing order and discipline (9). One's own cowadrdice is seen as saving the own life for common good. And I think it is even needless to mention all those inventive ways of masking lust, enjoying alcohol or drugs. From this point of view the work with the karmic problems allows to understand the real motives of our actions better and to overcome negative subconscious desires which put us in trouble time after time and do not let us to reach happiness, well-being and harmony. Another very important aspect of karmic work is connected with sense of life, this thoroughly individual predistination everyone is supposed to fullfil. Many of us may think that this category is tooabstract and far from the real life. Yet, it is not so, modern psychologic researches prove that a usual person dissapointed by life values can find him or herself in a serious psychologic crisis (20). The wave of violence, suicide has attacked the modern Western society and is a undirect support of this thesis. the awareness of the sense of one's own existence leads a person beyond the boundaries of simple surviving and chasing escaping pleasures, unbearable heaviness of duties and social stereotypes. The realization of global aims unifying many past and future lives gives an enormous spiritual strength, allows to overcome difficulties of the daily life, troubles and emotional chaos. People who have gone through such transformation were able to survive and did not break down even in the most terrible conditions of fashist and stalinist concentration camps. They have not only survived but have also created real masterpieces of scientific and artistic work. The famous Austrian psychologist Victor Frankle who has created his logopedic therapy method in nazist concentration camps is only one of them (20). Another wonderful example is the life of Russian mystic philosopher and poet Daniil Andreev. His greatest book The Rose of the World was written in terrifying stalinist camps. Plenty of such examples can be found. The famous German philosopher, mystic and painter Lama Anagarika Govinda (Ernst Lothar Hoffman) in his book the way of the white clouds describes his own karmic experience that allowed him to realize the global sense and aim of his existance (1).The most important thing was to feel the unity of reincarnation cycles, to look at himself from the wider perspective which is something more than the short period of time between birth and death. He writes: "…No work of importance, that one's heart is bent upon with single-minded devotion, will remain unfinished. This is what Tibet has taught me, where the saints and Siddhas of old kept on returning through ever new incarnations, in ever new forms until the present day — thus confirming what first came to me as a faint remembrance or message from the past and grew in the pursuance of a distant aim into an inner certainty. It is not my ideal to be reborn for ever in this world, but neither do I believe that we can abandon it before we have fulfilled our task in it — a task which we may have taken upon ourselves in some remote past, and from which we cannot run away like cowards…" Indian tradition often uses the metaphore of the wind of karma that carries human soul from one life into another. It is important to feel the direction in which this wind blows and not to get into one of existance whirls, not to destroy the chain of our lives inheritance. In this respect the concepts of Taoism seem to be very close. The manifestation of Tao in our lives also establish special force lines — Dragon's lines. It is important to know their path and correlate our acts and aims with them. This, certainly, does not mean the loss of free will and becoming a toy of circumstances. Streams of karma and Dragon's lines create a complicated pattern involved in the structure of our space and time. Moving along them reminds of car driving. If you use a net of roads you can get where ever you wish. Yet, if you leave the road and choose wilderness you will move slowly and probably get stucked. In precisely the same way you can overcome serious obstacles and fulfil the task with minimal loss feeling the movement of Tao and karma, following Dragon's lines and swithing from one on to another. The concept of karma is strongly related to the concept of synchronism, according to which our previous life (casual facture of destiny) influences only probability of some destiny turns in the future, 'attracting' certain situations (21). Here the law of similarity starts to work: 'the similar attracts the similar'. In other words, the way gravitation forces attract two masses to each other, similar situations start to get attracted by similar situations. They can also occur at the same time but in distant places (synchronism). In other case they are repeated in a cycle way in the sequence of certain periods of time (attraction from the past into the future). The last one is conected with karmic predistination. The action of the past attracts the situation from the future. Besides the strength of such 'attraction' is defined by emotional load of action from the past (affection). If the load has dissapeared (the affection has 'discharged') it does not manifest in any way in the future. In India such affections are divided into four groups according to degree of their manifestation: drowsing, weackened, interrupted and fully developed (22). The latter ones define the external visible facture of the destiny. Such imagination is absolutely different from very popular in our country describtions of karma that present it as unreversible punishment for the wrong-doing in the past. These images of karma do not have anything in common with deep images of India and Tibet but are a result of European machanisism pretending to be Eastern. Depending on the actions character and situations attracted to them from the future Indian tradition distinguishes four kinds of karma: black, black-white, white and neither black nor white (22). Black karma is established as a result of immoral deprived life. It can be divided into external conditioned by negative actions towards other people: insults, slander, selfish intrigues, humiliation, theft and so on. Internal (mental) black karma is defined by negative states of one's own soul: envy, lack of faith, stubborn ignorance, cynism etc. White karma is formed by bliss of mind which is appriciated much higher than any actions in the external world. White-black karma is traditionally connected with person's external behavior, making good or evil towards other people (the difference with black karma is that evil is unintended here and does not make too much harm). Niether black nor white karma is a separate thing it is connected with actions of hermits and monks in their last material incarnation. This stage lacks emotional attachment to one's plans and actions, hence, there is no any energetic charge here that would make karmic elaborations more stable. This becomes possible, for a yogin denies even the fruit of his blissful actions, his mind and senses are fully unattached to sensitive objects. However, the fruit of karma, even when formed, can stay unmanifested for a long time (sometimes for several lives) it develops when the corresponding conditions occur. Nevertheless, in its hidden state it actively 'attracts' situations that create such conditions. This way the law of similarity fully works. Only discharge, anigilation of emotional affection laying inside of the karmic fruit is able to break this chain. Such 'discharge' is a basis of majority of psychotechnics elaborating karmic problems.
2.3. Methods of prevention and purifying SCE, special features of karmic whirl Speaking of practic methods ensuring purity and harmony of our unconsciousness, we should first of all pay our attention to prevention SCE establishment. If your mental life lacks harmony and unity and the subtle body structure is disbalanced purifying psyche from SCE may remind of cutting dragon's head off when instead of one thre new heads grow. This, certainly, does not mean that you do not have to fight SCE parasitizing you. Such purifying has to be a regular hygenic procedure as cleaning teeth or having shower. However, the global problem solution is in deep internal transformation, concerning our mental life and psychoenergetics this task demands many years of intensive inner work. The harmonized mental life can be compared to a ship with good thermodynamics and streamline if it moves fast the whirls may still occur but they dissapear quickly and without leaving traces. The real deep transformation includes forming of deeper and more harmonic vision of the world, changes in value system, control over bestial instincts and challenge, opening of subtle body structures (chakras and acupuncture chanels. Later we will speak of the few attitudes towards this, now we concentrate on the methods of purifying and harmonizing of our subconsciousness and of integrative methods among other things. The first stage of such purifying is integrative technics oriented towards destruction, anigilation of psychotraumatic experience and this way to remove the impenetrable wall between consciousness and subconsciousness. In the beginning we will shortly examine the best known modern Western methods, their advantages and disadvantages. As a rule such psychotechnics are based on special breathing excersises and are in fact simplified and adapted to a modern person Indian and Chineese methods of psychotransformation. Variable modern integrative technics differ from each other mainly by breathing methods and music background, the character of interaction between a 'holonaut' put into altered state of consciousness and his helper, concentration on elaboration of muscle or deep psychologic experience. So one of the first such technics 'rebirthing' as a rule uses the silent altered state travell without music and pays attention to muscle sensations. During the seance holonaut and his assistant can talk. The way of breathing is restricted: it is an intensive active inhale and a very relaxed outhale without any break (conected breathing); in the process of rebirthing the rythm and depth of breathing changes several times (from the quickest and the deepest to nearly unnoticable). One of the most complete integrative technics is holotropic breathing or pneumokatharsis created by S.Grof, it pays special attention to the change of holonaut's psychologic attitudes and increasing his imaginations of the nature of reality (8, 15). This breathing technic is not restricted only its intensity and depth are given. The contact between the holonaut and hs assistant is realized only through previously defined language of touches, the verbal contact is absolutely prohibited, for the activation of brain spheres responsible for speech automatically throws the holonaut out of deep subconsciousness. Music plays a significant role in this method. The specially composed music programs are used they include modern and classic symphony music and also traditional music of India, China and other ancient civilizations. Besides the high quality stereophonic technic is used and the sound is very loud so the holonaut seems to swim in its waves sensing it wth the whole body. All this allows to reach deeper coats of subconsciousness in pneumakatharsis and elaborate its archetypic symbols. Some psychotechnics, in order to elaborate birth trauma and death deeper, use so called 'wet rebirth' when the holonaut spends the integrative seance under the water breathing through the straw for underwater swimming. If the water temperature is a little bit (less than a grade) higher than the body temperature such dip gives integration of birth experience. If the temperature is slightly lower than the human body temperature (cold rebirth) the result is integration of death trauma. As a rule the group taking part in integrative altered state travelling consists of 20-30 persons who make couples. One person goes in the altered state (holonaut), another assists him (sitter). They change their roles during the next seance. Minimal integrative course includes 4-6 seances which in the average last 1,5-2 hours. After such primary course a person can make altered state travels on his or her own at home. No doubt, the wide spreading of integrative technics in the West means a new stage in the development of human society, its humanization, awakening of huge resources of unconscious. Still, as it has already been mentioned, modern integrative technics remain far from perfection. One of the most serious disadvantage is their exaggerated psychophisologism and practical ignoring of phisic reality of psychoenergetic phenomena, subtle worlds and beings. This, naturally, makes full integration and development of deep resources of unconscious impossible. We have elaborated a method of psychoenergetic resonanse (psy-katharsis) it belongs to the new generation of integrative technics (19). It is also adapted to needs of a modern person but is based on a fuller use of psychoinformative and mystic ancient psychotechnics, especially Indian and Tibetan tantrum, yoga, Taoism, Zen-Buddhism. At the same time it uses new concepts of natural sciences and modern technic tools. The method of psychoenergetic resonance is based on the following main suppositions concerning the nature of human psyche:
Now we will examine practical realization of the given method. The first preparational stage includes organization of appropriate psychoenergetic environment in the practice place. Thid needs purifying the place from negative psychic energies, prevention eventual intrusions of parasitizing beings and organization of the energetic channel connecting us with higher levels of subtle reality (see Appendices 3, 5). It should be stressed that all these stages are necessary not only for integrative practice but also for any other forms of work in altered states of mind: meditation, religious practice, psychoenergetic excercises (chi-gun, yoga etc.). Special features of integrative altered state travel according to the method of psychoenergetic resonance are first of all connected with active work of organizer and participants with psychoenergetic structures (matrix, beings). This work is oriented towards activation stable psychoenergetic structures and their following destruction and removement. If in traditional integrative methods such destruction was made due to active feeling of psychotraumatic experience, here we use both: ancient shamanic, magic and mystic technics and modern tools. These are first of all variable psychotronic instruments which allow to maintain appropriate psychoenergetic environment, remove, desintegrate strange psychoenergetic structures. The thing is simple repetition of traumatic experience, coming back to it can make SCE stronger through a kind of energetic 'orgasm' accompanied by cries, convulsions, etc. And this way instead of elaborating traumatic experience its new accumulation takes place and holonaut becomes a holothrop narcoman, enjoying altered states travels. The work with SCE energies, use of archetypic signs and symbols and other ancient and modern methods could be up to the certain extant a prevention such undesirable development of the events. The process of integration pays a great attention to the work with subtle reality, so the organizer should know psychoenergetics well (to be able to feel and 'see' subtle structures). To make this abilities stronger additional technic tools are used, to start with biolocation and to end up with laser scanning systems, computer virtual reality. Arsenal of the participant of integrative altered state travel mainly includes traditional archetypic signs, mandalas from ancient esoteric traditions, mudra keys and mantras. Certainly, it also contains some psychologic attitudes, knowledge of close subtle worlds cartography, special features of subtle beings behavior, skills of work with subtle body (chakras and acupuncture channels) and energies. Here a hugh role could be played by knowledge of chi-kung, cartography and habits of subtle worlds beings. All those matters due to their particular significance wil be examined below in a detailed way. So, for ezample, the use of sign and mantra IM from Kuntayoga, that is mentally projected into the image of traumatic situation, quickly lowers its destructive energy and finally desintegrates SCE (19). In the very beginning of the travel the deep and smooth entrance into ASC can be achieved due to Jnana mudra (the tips of the thumb and middle finger are put together) and projection of IM sign on one's own body (see picture 20). Obviously, this is only a small part of the applied hints. As our practice has shown intensive quick breathing (hyperventilation) gives an effect only in the very beginning of the travel and not in all cases. That is why this method mainly uses traditional meditative breathing technics from Zen-Buddhism and yoga. These are Bhastrika, Murchha, Tela-yukta, Kevala whose typical features are holding back or 'hiding' of breathing. So in the process of psy-katharsis hyperventilation is used only in the very beginning of the tavel. The music for the altered state travel is as loud as in the case of holotropic breathing. In some cases it goes together with psychoenergetic modulation that ensures additional harmonizing effect. The position of participants in the room may strenghten psychoenergetic element of the travel. The resonanse of the shape is also used here. When the persons lay, repeating the shape of a mandala they integrate their biologic fields significantly increasing anti-chaotic influence. The use of Feng Shui principles is very effective among other things for defining of person's head direction and the best place in the room for him or her (here the information concerning birth date, stage of yearly and monthly rythm of vital energy in the day of the travel is used). Generally we can mention everything that belongs to methods of transpersonal Feng Shui (see Appendix 3). According to one of the technics the organizer treats the whole group as one organism, a huge body formed by all participants and, correspondingly, having its own chakras acupuncture points and channels. This technic is especially effective during the work with large groups. In this case it is possible to harmonize the state of every participant, influencing only few of them who are a kind of 'acupuncture points' of this group. Certainly, the regular purifying of subconsciousness from SCE does not necessarily need a group altered state travel. The group work is mainly desirable at the early stages during learning of psy-katharsis method. Then elaboration of psychotraumatic experience can be conducted independantly. However, this should be done regularly not to allow the SCE seeds, that constantly appear, to cover with following coats and get stable. The use of modern technologies of virtual reality may give a new perspective field of purifying from SCE methods. For instance, in order to define SCE structure, especially in the case of Karmic whirl we have used the method of fractal oracle (see Appendix 4). Then SCE was annigilated with the help of specially created by the computer fractal mandalas with inbuilt archetypic signs or mandalas, icons suitable for a given person.
2.4. Transformation As we have already said transformation includes the crossing into qualitatively new stage, change of his mental life, value system and energetics. Finally a person becomes a new more spiritual and harmonic being gifted with amasing superabilities. Naturally, this is a complicated and long-lasting process, including many intermediate stages and usually taking more than one life (23). Such higher transformation is a final aim of majority of great religions. It is clear that it is impossible to describe this process in a more or less detailed way even in a dozen of volumes, even if to speak of only one esoteric tradition. As an example of higher transformation forms a state of 'samadhi' can be given, it is achieved at the highest stages of yoga and then superabilities occur — siddhis (ability to levitate, materialize in any point of space, transform form and nature of material objects, etc.) (24). Another example is crossing into luminous body or 'Rainbow body' achieved at the highest stages of Dzogchen in Tibetan Buddhism (25). In this case phisical body turns into energy and a teacher who has reached this stage exists as a field being. Garment, hair and nails are the only things left after such transformation (they are body inpurities). In spite of the fact that such turn seems unbelivable there are many objective evidences of the witnesses who have observed such process nowadays (25). Taoism tradition and esoteric Christianity (Mayrink) speaks of many similar crossings. Yet, now we concentrate on the simplest primary stages of the transformation process which look more or less the same in variable traditions. Alchemistry that was known in Medival Europe, Arabian world and China gives us one of the best languages for this. Not ocasionally its language was brought back to life and ruminated anew by Carl Yung and has then become one of the most effective methods of modern psychotherapy (26, 27). The idea of necessity of going thruogh a number of intermediate stages in order to achieve the final one lays in the basis of alchemic transformation (transmutation). In fact, as in the process of the chemic reaction, we obtain the needed substance as a result of the whole chain of transformations. The huge contribution of alchemistry, which took hundreds of years, is in accumulation of a great 'library' of transformation sceneries that allow to turn one state into another due to few intermediate changes. Besides the scenaries have archetypic character and could be in the same way applied for chemic reactions and states of human spirit or psyche. Up to the certain extant such sceneries remind of mathematic equations that equally well describe the process of star establishment and hydrodynamics of liquid in a washing machine. Usually all alchemic scenaries of transformation have selfalike fractal structure containing in themselves plenty of microsceneries whgich in their turn consist of even smaller ones etc. All these levels repeat the same sequence of transformation stages but concrete forms are endlessly changed. This is a symbolic death re-creation of oneself (rebirth) and active realization in the new quality. The that process repeats again and again. Any of the three stages contains those three stages etc. These three stages can be found in practically any esoteric tradition. For example in the process of shamanic initiation the spirits firs kill the future shaman, cut his body in parts and put into boiling water. Then they take out his bones, put them together and cover with the new born flesh. Only after that a shaman becomes a shaman and gets all his atributes. Then he comes back to the human world and the stage of realization begins it will last until the shaman dies. In medival alchemistry these stages were described with the symbols of primary elements. At first the scheme included four stages: black (nigredo), white (albedo), yellow (citrnitas) and red (rubedo). These were four primary elements (earth, water, air and fire) used in European tradition. However later this scheme was simplified to three stages: the yellow stage describing the crossing from albedo to rubedo has fallen out of it (28). The first stage — nigredo is a stage of destruction of everything old, outdated, disturbing father development. Here the forces of chaos are in power, primary elements are desintegrated and mixed, the light is absent. Correspondingly the dark necrophilic symbols and feelings of doom and sadness preveil. Yet, it would be a serious mistake to trear this stage as unneeded and dangerous. Its successful crossing is a necessary condition of any following development. That is why psychotherapy based on the alchemic tradition never interrupts its crossing and even directs nigredo experiences in a certain way often strenghtening unpleasant emotions to finish the purifying process. The next stage — albedo starts with 'washing', final removement the rests of all negative elaborated in nigredo. This is a Moon world full of silver-white light. White symbolises plenty of opportunities, for the white light contains all rainbow colors. this is a stage of choice, forming and establishment of the following development stage. Many possibilities and potential sceneries of the future destiny exist here. And the last world — rubedo describes the stage of realization for which transformations in nigredo and albedo were done. Sun rules here and the energies are vigorous, the main task is to manage them not to lose the control and successfully end up the chosen stage of development. This reminds of restraint of a pure-blood horse. Any mistake might lead to irreversible consequences and return to nigredo. One of the main principles of the alchemic transformation is ensuring of the process dynamics smooth passage from one stage to another. Negative state is first of all connected with 'stucking' in one of the stages when one tries to escape unpleasant experience and this way blocks the problem elaboration and does not go farther. Every of these stages had a corresponding subtle space filled with archetypic beings and spirits and where it was elaborated. This could happen in dream, during hypnotic transe in altered states of consciousness. Naturally, this is not always done consciously and the analysis of symbols of such vision allows to understand what happens to a given person, what is his or her problem and how it can be solved. At the same time the superficial treating of those visions may be absolutely wrong and only make the inner conflicts deeper or lead to 'stucking' in negative state. So, for example, nigredo experiences could be treated as a terrible nightmare, astral attack, bewitchment etc. Hence, the usual logic of psychterapy or extra sensor healing tells us to escape this state and necessarily interrupt it at any price. As a result the problem stays unelaborated, relief is only temporal and is followed by even worse dhastly things. This happens again and again. Such situation reminds of taking pain-killers instead of curing the illness. Now we will examine the symbols of every world of alchemic transformation in a more detailed way. Nigredo As it was already mentioned, nigredo presents a world of purifying destruction, a necessary stage preceeding the following development and transformation. However, this is a tiresome and unpleasant stage. This world lacks light its metal is lead, the main archetype of this world is disintegration which gives a taste of bitterness and decay. At this stage outdated forms and stereotypes that hold us back die, the world, we are used to, collapses and the new one is not established yet. This results in a feeling of suppression and gloom, heaviness in the heart. It seems that the world breaks in parts and the time has stopped. The feeling of nigredo endlessness belongs to the most painful ones. In the world of nigredo our mind loses its power and everything that was suppressed and displaced gets liberated. Our task is to be in this world and not to give the way to despair but to direct the purifying process to its end applying for elaboration of the negative material the whole arcenal of psychotechnics, archetypic forms, signs, mantras. Probably, one of the worst behavioral sceneries in nigredo is panic and trying to escape this world at any price without ending the process. This may result in chronic depression and durable stay in that world. The following symbols are typical for work with nigredo: the feeling of painful going down, nasty smells, stench, putrid stink. Dead lifeless landscapes, ruins, masses of rubbish and compost. The atmosphere of hopelessness is all over it you see the tools of torture and murder, terrible wounds, death of the loved and close persons, hurt animals. Then it is mess and chaos, the loss of sense and orientation points. Obscene and cynic pictures, scenes of sadomasochism or disgusting pornography appear. You are also suppounded by appropriate 'civilization achievements': concentration camps, prisons, sewage pipes, crematories, gutters, heros and fragments of horrors and computer videogames. The dwellers of nigredo are sinister and disgusting animals: rats, bats, crows, werewolves, poison shakes, sharks.Very typical creatures are the ones that suck out the vital energy: variable vampires, octopuses, jelly-fishes, leeches and even hoovers. Human images are: incvisitors, executioners, fashists, prison guards, sadists and rapers, witches and wizards, representatives of satanist cults and sects. Albedo Albedo ends the process of purification, the dirt that is left after nigredo is washed away, so one of its first archetypes is laundry or bathroom. Correspondingly, white colors — colors of purity rule here. Yet, its main task is establishment of the future development scenario, this is a world of creativity, fantasies, fairy-tales and magic. Everything unstable, undurable and virtual here, all shapes are dissolved. Its light is Moon, its metal is silver. Its god is Mercury who is an archetype of transformation but at the same time he ruins stability and durability. He is one of the main images of alchemy but is also a patron of trade and theft. That is why in albedo nothing and nobody should be absolutely trusted, everything is unstable and delusive. The aim of travel into albedo is a search for appropriate way of the farther life, selfrealization, solution of problems we face. We have to be maximally open for everything new, unexpected, different but at the same time to remember about our basic life positions and sense and treat the obtained knowledge in a critical way. Otherwise it is very easy to get entrapped by illusions, to take the desirable for the real and to end up wth nothing. Images and symbols of this world remind of a magic fairy-tale. It is full of reflecting surfaces (water, mirrors, ice) and of silver moon light. One can feel dreamy and fantastic, separated from daily cares and trivial bustle. Poetic images, pictures, watercolors and oil paintings, architecture. Some images connected with taking mild halucinatory substanses might appear. It is full of things connected with washing and cleaning (variable cleaning stuff, laundries, washing machines etc.). It can also be chracterized by images conected with bearing and giving birth to the new (pregnancy, sitting on eggs, germination of seeds). The landscape is dominated by valleys, lowlands, peripheries. Mirror transformationa are an often phenomena: lefthandness, travesty, transsexuals, movement wrong side foremost, that is why the images of crabs and cancers are common. Light erotic fantasies, peeping are also possible.The mood is dreamy and thoughtful. It is a feeling of healing and begining of a new life. This world has many things made of silver, refrigerators, different washing gadgets (showers, bathes, pools etc.), medical instruments. Unstable vehicles (bicycles, motobykes, skates) are common. The same can be said of mass media (radio, television, cinema, computer videogames, internet, fine arts). Albedo is dwelled by different fairy-tale and magic beings who are not frightening or dangereous (elves, nymphs, hobbits, dwarves etc.) There are plenty of night and lowflying birds and butterflies here. White mouses, bears and sheeps, foxes and weasels, variable reptiles (frogs and salamanders) are many. Animals sloughing their skin (snakes, lizards) or beings with some intermediate development stages (grubs, chrysalises) are also typical for this world. Human population of Albedo consists of bohema representatives (poets, artists, clowns and zanies). There are many people with psychic disorders here but they are not overactive or aggressive. You can meet different charlatans, theives, cheats and liers (remember Mercury patronizes theives and prostitutes). Rubedo The main archetype of rubedo is sunrise, Sun rules here, its color is red, its main metal is gold and its animal is powerful lion. The bright light of the sun brings clarity and precision, order and rational perception. The multy-meaningness and virtuality of albedo dissapear tracelessly. This world corresponds to the end of realization stage. Here the alchemic wedding takes place, it is a mystic marriage of the King and Queen — in other words, harmonic unity of male and female elements, the birth of the new quality. Carl Yung perfectly describes this (Bosnak, p.53): …The alchemists termed this the rubedo, in which the marriage of the red man and the white woman, Sol and Luna, is consummated. Although the opposites flee from one another they nevertheless strive for balance, since a state of conflict is too inimical to life to be endured indefinitely. They do this by wearing each other out: the one eats the other like the two dragons or the other ravenous beasts of alchemical symbolism. Realization in rubedo demands activity and decisiveness, concentration and discipline, being consequent is very important here. This is a world of heroic actions, not only the things that could not be unified become unity here and the new is born but also the huge resources of energy and pressure awake in its roistering hot. The lack of balance between male and female elements at this stage may cause loss of control over great energies and as a result will lead to destruction and chaos and falling down to nigredo. That is why during the work in rubedo it is very important to watch energies dynamics and direct it appropriately. If the energies are only held back their pressure grows and may come to explosion. In rubedo symbols the colors of gold, beaming of jewels, the first sun rays and day-break prevail. Here left and right, rational and irrational are opposed, the mind and sense of measure, ideals and loyalty towards them rule. Rubedo is a kingdom of summer, everything is rich green, the harvest is getting ripe. The landscape mainly consists of mountains and highlands. Orientationpoints are courage, masculinity, power and money. There is a lot of red meat and homeric laughter here. Vulcans, sigars and sigarets, rolls and pipes, alcohol are in plenty. The same can be said of variable stimulating substanses, coffee and sugar. The dominating directions are South, East and Centre. Male sexual symbols: phallos, carrots, bananas reddish are also present here. Sugar-beet, tropical fruit and fructosa can be also found. It is a world of social relations and family problems. It has monumental sculpture and oil painting. In rubedo one can meet technic objects, connected wth moving up: rockets, space sheeps, elevators going up, tramplins, fountains. It has all kinds of high speed vehicles too. There is plenty of fire here: car engines, apparatus for rubbish burning, fuel containers, petroleum stations, gas stoves. One can easily find everything that is conected with calculation (abacus, calculators, computers). Phallic symbols give a lot of sharp-ended and long subjects, knives, shavers, telescopes, microscopes, binoculars etc. Among animals the ones of prey prevail, the birds are highfliers. Correspondingly, people have rational mind (engineers, programmists, economists, administrators). The ones who have power: dictators, tyrans, policemen, military people, oil kings, plantation slave-drivers and, certainly, heros, giants, athlets and solders. Sequentional elaboration of the problem in the three worlds The simplest transformation scenary includes sequentional going through each of the three alchemic worlds starting with nigredo. Besides the first stage contains purifying of all layers of mental life from negative behavioral matrixes. The second stage is a search for new and better behavioral state. The third one forms stable behavioral patterns on the besis of the previous stage results. It is necessary to do all preparational procedures neede for entrance into ASC before the travel (see Chapter 5). The crossing into alchemic worlds is conducted in the following way. First, after preceeding relaxation, we visualize lead tunnel leading to nigredo. You are said that you move through this tunnel according to the count from one to ten, on ten you are in nigredo. At the same time your attention is focused on the nigredo symbols and you hear suitable music. During the stay in this world it is very important not to block negative experiences and images, behavioral steretypes, coming up from the depths of subconsciousness. That 'informational rubbish' should be actively elaborated, so our subcosciousness would be liberated of it. One can use sign IM and other purifying and balancing our mental life archetypic images in order to fulfil this task (see Chapter 5 and Appendix 5). Besides work with energies of the five primary elements and use of their mantras and mudras is also a good help (see Appendix 5). Fire (burning negative energies) and water (washing away 'the energetic dirt') are the most suitable for nigredo problems. When the elaboration in nigredo is over we again wisualize the lead tunnel and on count backwards form 10 to 1 we are going back to our reality. The next travel to albedo world may be started straight away or after a few hours break. In this case after previous relaxation we visualize a silver tunnel full of magic moon light. Again on the count from 1 to 10 the travel begins, we visualize albedo archetypes. Certainly, during the travel in this world different music is used (calm am bringing tha atmosphere of magic, fairy-tale and mystic). As we have already mentioned, the main tasks of this travel are final purfication from nigredo dirt and search for better ways of future selfrealization, solution of present problems. Signs, mantras and mandalas activating creative processes and work with the energies of water (washing away rests of dirt), ether or air (creative energies) and wood (activisation of growth and development processes) are useful at this stage. (see Chapter 5 and Appendix 5). We return from albedo in the same way through the silver tunnel on the reversed count from 10 to 1. And finally, during the travel to rubedo we visualize a golden tunnel full of bright sun light. The music should be intensive, rythmic, loud associated with maximum activity, an impuls of will. In this travel it is very important not to lose the control over the energiesb and allow them to flow freely and discharge in the active way. Earth (stabilization, control) and fire (source of energy and active behavior) are helpful in rubedo. We leave rubedo in the same way as two previous worlds. It is good to do some excercises balancing subtle body energies after the travel in three alchemic worlds (see Appendix 5). As we elaborate life situations the fractal principle may be used. At first we elaborate the whole problem in three worlds and them make separate altered state travels for elaboration problems conected with it or some local questions. For example, first we analyse how your life will develop if you change your work and then if your decision is made how to succeed with it and get a better place.
© Evgueny Faydysh. 1999. |
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