FOREWORD
The physicist, David Bohm, once explained, “…the entire universe has to be thought of as an unbroken whole.” The structure of reality as implied by twentieth century physics shows us that the universe is indeed a vast tapestry of interdependent energetic fields in which we are active participants—not merely observers.
The energies that stream into our local galaxy are circulated through its magnetic field, touching our heliosphere (solar system’s magnetic field) and then touching our earth and then each of us, like a subtle shower of light. There will be no place to hide or avoid the incoming energetics. All will be touched by these new energies that have journeyed such vast distances to activate us into the collective intelligence we are designed to be.
It will not come to us like a switch turning on one day and then it is gone the next. Rather, it will occur over time and remain as long as we redistribute it amongst ourselves. Its influence will astonish us in terms of the degree in which our human family changes in our relation to time, space, religion, government, leadership, purpose, and our abilities to unite as a collective race focused on a mission of transcendence through unity.
There will be no Armageddon. Nor will we be swept up into the ascensionary wings of extraterrestrials. What awaits us is the higher order intelligence of our natural birthright pressing itself upon the field of earth. Humanity must unravel itself energetically to expose its natural purpose, not only upon earth, but upon the stars as well.
Our skin is not the boundary of ourselves. The space between us is precisely what connects us, and as we move into the next dimension of our selfhood we earn the opportunity to experience a new transparency into wholeness and a new accessibility to our heart’s intuitive guidance. These new faculties demonstrate our collective intelligence and creative will to expand our minds into the regions from whence we came.
All things ride upon the energetic substrate that unites us. As time originates out of timelessness, space originates out of unity. We originate out of both timelessness and unity. We have traveled to this planet for a reason—all of us—without exception. For those of us incarnated in these times, we will be rewarded by participating in the most profound shift in human history, and this shift will occur over the next five years.
What was presumed impossible 10 years ago will be proven possible in half that time. And this accelerated shift from disbelief to knowledge will require leaders who are able to adapt and thrive in the new definitions of time, space, energy and matter, and understand that the intelligent relationship we share amongst ourselves and other beings is the most important quality to the unfoldment of our purpose as a spiritual race.
The approaching shift is a little like coming out of the jungle and being introduced to the Internet. We, as a species, are being introduced to the universal field and our participation as co-creators therein. Everyone on the planet, over the next five years, will feel this overture from the universe to deepen and expand their relationship to the higher order intelligence, but it will be up to the individual as to whether they connect via an intermittent dial-up modem, a 24/7 broadband connection, or simply turn away in the assumed comfort of separation.
As I suggested earlier, our world will not transform in a sudden burst of awakening, but rather it will undergo a sustained and vibrant trajectory of awakening over the next five years. It will require us to be balanced and coherent in our hearts and minds in order to extract the meaning of this transformative time on planet earth and create the new culture that embodies it.
The flow of the universe is configured through a higher order of intelligence than we can imagine. As it steps down into our three-dimensional world, it activates our heart and mind to synchronize—to work together as a flowing system of intelligence that opens the door to our soul or higher self.
Those who are able to synchronize their heart-mind system and sustain an energetic coherence while the dimensional shift is occurring will be able to lead and advance the opportunities for the generations to follow. Many of the fundamental, inherited paradigms of humanity will be cast off in favor of a dynamic information grid that infuses our hearts and minds and informs an emergent culture of humanity based on emotional self-mastery and direct spiritual insight.
You can choose to believe a dimensional shift is occurring and experience it with your full senses awake and tuned to its earthly bloom, or you can deny it right up to the instant in time when it cannot be denied any longer. However you choose, this shift or transformation will demand your coherence emotionally and mentally, which is precisely the purpose behind the when-which-how practice and the Event Temples website.
Co-emergent with this dimensional shift, and inseparable from it, is your spirit. It is emerging with an empowerment it has never before expressed into this reality. This is your ego’s time to step aside and defer to the higher spirit within you that flows through the assertions of your energetic heart. The practice of when-which-how is a method of bringing your mind, emotions, and ego-personality into coherent alignment with your heart’s intuitive guidance.
The when-which-how practice is a vital technique of Lyricus. This is because the energetic heart is the key instrument that enables the human family to grow together through relations of coherence, compassion, care, and virtue. The when-which-how practice is a method that helps the individual express their higher self through quantum or energetic activities. The flow of energy, directed by the coherent and virtuous heart-mind system, is what we are here to experience and learn, and it is this that will ultimately bond humanity in Oneness.
The when-which-how practice is a comprehensive system that—among other things—retrains the subtle nervous system and cleanses the subconscious and cellular stresses and accumulations which can obscure alignment to one’s spirit-consciousness. As we move into the next five years the quickening pulse of life will continue to escalate, leaving us with an uneasy sense of time-deprivation. If left unchecked, time-deprivation creates a continuous state of overwhelm, which inhibits the alignment of your human instrument with the spirit within you. This alignment is a core value of the practice and is the foremost reason to apply it in your life.
Another aspect that the when-which-how practice supports is the dispersion and elimination of old densities and their dysfunctional perceptions. Today I received an email from an individual who wrote: “How, when it is still happening, can people of color just throw off all that abuse, and ‘Love’ all regardless of the atrocities leveled at them? Something else has to come into this equation.” That “something else” is the individual taking responsibility for their personal coherence through the active practice of the heart virtues, and allowing the higher intelligence (Creator, First Source, Common Origin, God, etc.) to bestow its fairness to all.
We live in a fair and just universe where sacrifice is acknowledged, though this acknowledgement may not be in the same domain in which the sacrifice occurs. It is usually displaced in time and space, which obscures the wholeness of equity, but it is always acknowledged and it is always fair and equitable because First Source is fundamentally aware of all things, as unimaginable as that may seem to us.
In this scope of fairness, we, as individuals, do not need to consume ourselves with vengeance, envy, anger, resentment, victimhood, or suffering. We do need, however, to forgive injustice; and understand why it exists in our world; and appreciate the wisdom we can gain from it; and express compassion to those who are entangled in its web; and be humble in our understanding so judgment does not befall us; and radiate valor to sensibly share our understanding to the headwaters of injustice, intolerance, and fanaticism in all its forms.
Whether your emotional incoherence is attributed to perceived injustices served to you as an individual or group, your incoherence diminishes your natural gift to apply the when-which-how practice, and therefore it impedes your abilities to access the higher channels of communication that are opening to all of us as a result of the dimensional shift we are undergoing.
The practice of when-which-how is a natural way to live one’s life amid the changing energetics of the next half decade, and sustain an alignment to your spirit. The practice itself is both simple and complex, but it is essential that you learn the foundation of the practice before you attempt the more complex techniques that the Event Temples website will disclose over the coming years. This is why this particular guide exists; it is the primer for the practice.
When I first approached John Berges to write this guide, he was full of questions, as one would expect. How long should it be? What is its focus? Will it need diagrams? Should it be entry-level or advanced? I assembled my responses into a single concept: The guide is already written; you simply need to access it—to birth it from the energetic domain into the physical. John has succeeded skillfully in this endeavor, making these teachings more accessible to all who are inspired to read and practice them.
John’s writing coalesced into an impressive guide that is richly textured with ideas, inspirations, and recommendations. If you read and study it, you will certainly expand your understanding of how the six heart virtues can be applied in your daily life and why it is important to do so. I appreciate John’s willingness to share his perspective, time, and energy on the when-which-how practice and for bringing this important e-book into materialization. His writing is but one shining example of the practice. I look forward to those that will follow from each of you.
James, October 2, 2007
PREFACE
It is an honor and a privilege for me to bring you this guide. Writing this guide for practitioners has been a heart expanding and mind enlightening experience for me. I have learned much and felt much. Nevertheless, anything I have gained by this opportunity is only meaningful and significant if it adds to the understanding of those who read it.
I could not have recorded these words without the inspiration of those who have preceded us in their own spiritual evolution. At the same time, I could not have written these words without the aid of my own higher self and my connection to the energetic heart, with its six virtues. If our teachers have come forward at this time for anything, it is to teach us how to contact our deeper, immortal self that lovingly, wisely, and patiently waits for us to use the spiritual gifts it has placed in our hearts.
These gifts are the six virtues of appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, and valor. These potent spiritual energies are ready to assist us if we but turn to them with a heartfelt desire to help those in need of love, light, and healing.
I say “we” because this is fundamentally a group endeavor. The differences in our body types, our languages, our cultures, our nationalities, and our religions are the product of the spacetime environment. For millennia they have been important factors in the spiritual evolution of our planetary population. But now, a new era is opening before us and we can transcend the differences of our forms, by bonding as a lighted network of human souls. This is the beginning of a renaissance of the human spirit. It is a time like no other—a time of great spiritual opportunity. If you feel the call, if you hear a tiny voice within, urging you to wake to the moment, then join us in a great adventure of the human spirit.
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to James for helping to make this guide possible through his inspiring leadership. My loving appreciation also goes out to my wife, family, and co-workers who also helped to bring this guide to the practitioners of when-which-how.
John Berges
October, 2007
INTRODUCTION
The heart stands as the temple of humanity. One cannot conceive of the unity of humanity by way of the brain or the Kundalini, but the radiance of the heart can bring together the most seemingly varied organisms, even across remote distances. This experiment, of the unification of hearts across distance, awaits its workers. (Agni Yoga, Heart)
Overview
The core purpose of Event Temples is to provide educational tools for individuals to use in the art and science of emotional self-mastery. As many people reading this guide may know, the most unique and dynamic component of the Event Temples website is the Event Temple session. This consists of registered members around the world gathering at the website at a preset time to transmit heart energetics to a pre-selected crisis target somewhere in the world. Yet, as powerful as this gathering of the quantum community is, the success of the transmission of positive emotions is very much dependent on the skills attained in the when-which-how practice, which is the primary skill needed for working toward emotional self-mastery.
Event Temples—Group Practice
The when-which-how practice operates at the individual level and at the group level. The focus of this guide is at the individual level. Unfortunately, almost all of us love to work and play in a group environment, but we often fall short when it comes to working by ourselves. Getting together for a group meditation or workshop is stimulating and exciting, but by Monday morning the glow soon recedes and our desire to work on ourselves loses its luster.
Therefore, before we enter into the details of this practice, I want to address the group level of work because this is where individuals tend to place the greatest value. This is only natural because we humans are social animals. We enjoy getting together to support each other, as well as those in need. This is not only a good thing; it is a necessary thing, especially in today’s world.
Yet, what if we were a group of amateur musicians who had the chance to perform a great symphony to raise money for victims of some catastrophe? If we simply looked forward to the thrill and honor of the performance, to be the center of attention, but were unwilling to spend the necessary hours of individual practice to perfect our skills, what kind of symphony do you think we would produce? The answer is obvious. The individual, day-to-day practice is not glamorous compared to the group performance, and yet a beautiful and inspiring performance cannot succeed in the absence of daily practice.
Worldwide events such as meditations for peace, world prayer days, Harmonic Convergence-like activities, etc., generate lots of energy and enthusiasm in individuals who want to gather in groups to alleviate suffering and injustice. However, almost all the enthusiasm and most of the energy evaporates when these events come to a close and individuals return to their everyday lives. But, it is precisely here, in the routine of daily living that we must do the work of mastering the emotional disorder in our lives. Without developing our skills in emotional self-mastery at the individual level, the vast majority of group gatherings for meditations and visualization activities might send some good vibes into the emotional atmosphere; might make us feel good in the moment; might provide us with some entertainment; but will be largely ineffective in reducing the dense emotional toxicity hanging over our planet.
Despite this, a great majority of these group meditation endeavors are a good thing. Their overall effectiveness, however, is severely diminished if, at the end of these group service meditations, the participants return to personal lives filled with emotional chaos. In other words, group work must go hand-in-hand with individual work. The work we do to help others in all such worldwide meditation efforts will be increasingly more potent and effective if we are able to put energy and persistent effort into the when-which-how practice at the personal level.
Getting back to the group level activities of the Event Temples, we might ask, “Who participates in this activity?” They are people from different races, nations, religions, and cultural backgrounds. They may appear different on the outside, but they are identical on the inside because they share at least one thing in common—they desire to help their fellow human beings. And although there are thousands of humanitarian organizations around the world working day and night to relieve human suffering, the quantum community gathered at Event Temples represents the extension and expansion of humanitarian effort into the subjective realm of the emotions.
This work is not like the psychological counseling offered to victims of tragedies such as accidents, violent crimes, or natural disasters. The work of Event Temples consists in training individuals to subjectively transmit specific aspects of love. This work employs techniques that utilize terms more familiar to physicists than theologians or psychologists—terms like fields, entanglement, resonance, coherence, and non-locality. These terms imply a fundamental, underlying field of unity that energetically connects all humans worldwide—connecting not only humans, but all life-forms throughout our planet.
Event Temple participants (practitioners) are also not praying to God for intercession. Practitioners, as a coherent quantum community, are learning to focus, direct, and transmit positive emotions. These positive emotions are the sub-energies of universal love. It is in this word “love” where the practice of the Event Temples brushes up against the field of religion. This is mainly due to the religious teachings of our past, in which humans have been taught that God is Love. God IS Love, but God is not just a loving, religious Being. God is also a loving scientist, a loving artist, a loving educator, a loving administrator, a loving economist, and a loving architect.
The point is that religion need not have a monopoly on the definition and uses of love. The same holds true for the word “spiritual.” This notion is rooted in the culture of the past and became even more pronounced when, in the Age of Reason, religion claimed the heart and emotions, while science claimed the mind and thought. Religion claimed the spiritual domain and science claimed the physical domain. Thus, religion and science imposed their own interpretations of reality on Western civilization and much of our present global civilization.
The concept behind Event Temples shatters this unnatural separation between the heart and the mind. It is not the purpose of this guide to explore the detailed complexities of the heart and mind, but as we explore the when-which-how practice, the heart and mind will be viewed more and more as partners—designed to work as a unified and integral team.
In this new psychology, the word “spiritual” is liberated from the confines of the religious domain. Thus spiritual can be thought of as that transcendental and transformational power that relieves undue suffering and restores wholeness. Consequently, the individuals participating in the intentional transmission of universal love are performing a spiritual service by re-integrating the heart and the mind. This work is spiritual because it aims to restore wholeness, calm, and coherence where there has been separation, fear, and chaos.
The When-Which-How Practice
The fundamental skill needed for the energetic transmission of universal love is the when-which-how practice. “Living from the Heart” is the foundational text that lays the groundwork for training in emotional self-mastery.
The Event Temples (EVT) concept forms the group application of when-which-how. More important, however, is the day-to-day practice of when-which-how at the individual level. It is here, at the point of our daily personal lives, that we need to engage this practice—this is where we begin our journey in emotional self-mastery.
Our skills as transmitters in the EVT sessions are dependent on and a reflection of our skills in daily practice of when-which-how. It should be emphasized here that we are not speaking of perfection in practice as a prerequisite of participation in the EVT. No, but we are definitely emphasizing the necessity of effort in one’s daily personal practice. Without this effort and persistence, our contributions to the quantum community’s service to humanity will be at a minimum. In effect, this is the reason for this guide. It is an effort to provide a supplemental resource for anyone who wants to optimize their “skill in action.”
In the emotional self-mastery of small, everyday details, comes the opportunity to extend self-mastery to larger matters. Our increased capacity for emotional self-mastery amid our circle of family, friends, and associates will surely increase the strength and quality of our contributions to the Event Temple sessions where the quantum community serves our brothers and sisters in crisis.
So, the bottom line is this: the Event Temple sessions are a potent, vital, and important service of the quantum community, but the increasing effectiveness of the sessions are dependent on our increasing effectiveness in emotional self-mastery at the individual level. And this increasing effectiveness can only be achieved through persistently engaging the when-which-how practice in our daily lives.
The Energetic Heart and Its Six Virtues
The energetic heart is the servant of the soul. The soul is the receiving and distributing agent of divine love. Permeating and circulating throughout the sub-quantum field, divine love is the lifeblood of God that interconnects the entire multiverse.
This divine love is intelligent and operates in the human world through six basic qualities. These are the six (energetic) heart virtues of appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, and valor.
Consequently, when we work with the six heart virtues, we are drawing the intelligence of love from the sub-quantum field of the soul, through the portal of the energetic heart and “outward” into our individual energy field in the form of the six virtues. Further, we can transmit these virtues into the fields of those around us and ultimately into the collective energy field of earth. In the “Living from the Heart” paper these two fields are identified as the Individual Human Energetic Field (IHEF) and the Collective Human Energetic Field (CHEF).
All human beings have this capability, but very few use it. Knowledge, training, and disciplines to access these spiritual energies emanating from the soul, via the heart, have been given to humanity by past sages and teachers. These teachings have taken the form of religious, philosophical, and psychological systems. Such training could only be given to a few because of the isolation of individuals, the difficulty of traveling, and the generally harsh conditions of human living in the past.
Unfortunately, today many of these same conditions exist for billions of people around the world, but there are also many millions who have the capability of helping those still living in conditions comparable to the Middle Ages. The difference between today and yesterday is that we now have the power of the internet through which thousands of people can be trained as a community to direct their collective heart energetics to millions of people in need.
So, we humans have this capability, we are being given the resources for our training, and we have a global communications system at our disposal. As for the six heart virtues, they have always been with us, and have been patiently waiting to serve us. The remaining element that is the key to activating this system is our choice to use these resources for the betterment of ourselves and humanity.
APPROACHING THE PRACTICE
Let us stand firmly upon the foundation of the heart, and let us understand that without heart we are but withered husks. (Agni Yoga, Heart)
A When-Which-How Story
A few days before beginning this guide, my wife and I were driving to the grocery store. As I drove through the parking lot, I saw two women walking across our direction of travel. Naturally, I slowed down to allow them time to get to the sidewalk. As I slowly passed them, one of the women turned and gave me a dirty look, as if to say, “What’s your big hurry?”
I said to my wife, “What was that look for?” My wife had no idea, but we suddenly realized that this was the time to practice the when-which-how exercise. So, I felt that I needed understanding in this situation. After all, I could have given her an angry look in return, as if to say, “What are you staring at?”
As most readers of this guide may know, understanding is one of the six heart virtues of the when-which-how practice. The others are appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, and valor. More on all these shortly.
So, why did I choose the virtue of understanding? Because I believed I needed to understand this woman’s position. I needed to put myself in her shoes (maybe literally). Maybe from her perspective I should have stopped my car until she and her friend got safely past us, instead of merely slowing down. Perhaps this person has issues relating to being a victim, low self-esteem, or prejudice. In this particular instance, I did not have that information. The point is not for me to psychoanalyze her, but merely to understand that these could be possibilities and that I should not condemn this person because of “that look.”
My wife agreed. We basically let it go through forgiveness, another heart virtue. Consequently, in this incident we agreed to use understanding and forgiveness. You may have noticed however, that we did not transmit any virtues to the woman in question. This is true. It seems as if we were so self-centered in our own reaction to her that we never even thought about sending her energy.
I did not realize this until several hours later and I was rather stunned that I had overlooked what, at that point in time, appeared so obvious. Now here is where I believe the true power of the when-which-how practice comes into play. This is the quantum physics part. Because we are dealing with entanglement (this woman and ourselves), a field (the emotional grid), and non-locality (non-spacetime), I connected with her at that moment of realization and sent her understanding and forgiveness.
Granted, this may appear to be a very trivial event, but many of these ordinary, mundane, and apparently innocuous encounters in our daily lives are all grist for the mill of the when-which-how practice. It may not be exciting, or dramatic, or glamorous, but this is the level of practice. Naturally, some of our encounters will be more demanding than others. Some will be real points of crisis, but they all require attention and as described in “Living from the Heart,” they are all approached with the following considerations as to:
• when you apply the heart virtues (or any subset therein) to a particular life situation;
• which one(s) you apply; and
• how you express the virtues into that situation.
Thus, our everyday lives are the content and the context of our practice. We are not going to a meditation retreat. We will not withdraw from the world. The monastery is not the place of our practice (although it could be). We work within the field of human living. We work within the temple of human events and the relationships that give them birth.
Summing up our when-which-how story, this particular event prompted us to make a decision that this was an instance when we could engage the when-which-how practice. This is the when stage. We next agreed on which of the six virtues to apply to this encounter. This is the which stage. Finally, we decided on how to apply the two virtues we chose. This is the how stage.
Explaining it like this may appear simplistic, but I want to show how straightforward this process can be. But as we shall learn, simplicity does not mean there is a lack of depth to emotional self-mastery. As we gain experience in the practice, we will increase our skill and artistry in the when, the which, and the how of our encounters with life’s events and situations. At deeper levels, we may even wish to explore the “why” of our emotional patterns. Each of us can choose the level of work we feel comfortable with. The most important thing is to stay alert to any situation in which we can apply the when-which-how practice. In fact, the ability to remain present amid the routine of daily living is vital key to all practice. More on this later.
When Do We Practice?
The first stage of our practice concerns WHEN we activate one or more heart virtues. As I began to think about this stage, however, it suddenly seemed that I should be transmitting the heart virtues all the time. I asked myself, “Shouldn’t the divine love in our hearts be flowing from us all the time?” The answer came almost immediately, “Yes, but it needs to be detected, accepted, and passed on for the energy circuit to be completed, otherwise the energy is never put to use.” We may have all the electrical power we need, but if we never turn on the switch, no one receives the benefit of light.
Naturally, this brought up the next question of why I was not always in touch with these heart energetics. I won’t go into the details here, but I will say that generally speaking, my reasons are probably quite similar to your reasons. They have to do with our egos and the defense mechanisms that often set us at odds with those around us. Examining the deeper issues of our ego shortcomings is beyond the scope of this guide, but some of these difficulties will most likely come to the forefront of our awareness as we engage the when-which-how practice.
This, in fact, is the core issue of emotional self-mastery—we should be receiving the energetics of the heart and transmitting them to everyone (including ourselves) all the time, but we don’t for many reasons. We may feel that we are unworthy, that we are sinners, or that we are not meant to. As an agent of the soul, the heart continuously transmits divine love in the form of the six heart virtues, but we are not receiving and transmitting the signals. And if we are, the energetics are too often distorted and/or diluted by our ego-personality filters. This is not something to blame ourselves or others for, but is simply our current situation. We should acknowledge this without blame and work to correct the deficiencies.
The point for now is to realize that the goal of emotional self-mastery is to reach a state of continuous loving outflow. This state of consciousness represents a stage of development and this stage and state are that of the soul. Here are two quotes from “Living from the Heart.”
This is the goal of the when-which-how practice: to draw your soul into the experience of the body-mind, and enable it to lead the expression of your life in the domains of timespace.
It is not an exaggeration to say that if you possess emotional self-mastery, you live as soul upon the earth with minimal distortion from your physical body and mind.
Here, at the beginning of practicing when-which-how, this may seem like an ideal beyond our reach, but I believe we can not only reach it, but that we are meant to reach it—we are in fact, designed to reach it. This is our destiny.
Remembering to Practice
Alright, so we know that the ideal state of consciousness is to radiate the divine love of the soul through the energetic heart in a continuous flow. Well, you know what? I went to the supermarket last week and I don’t recall doing this one time. But this morning, during our shopping trip, I actually remembered to do this twice. This is far from perfect, but it is progress. I think you get my point. It’s all about remembering to initiate the practice.
Why do we have so much difficulty remembering to apply the virtues through the practice of when-which-why? The reason is not complicated. We are so mesmerized by the world of the ego-personality that we don’t even know we are in a trance. This is not a new concept. It has been known and taught in many spiritual schools for hundreds of years in both the East and the West. It has been metaphorically described in the world’s religions and mythologies and it is explored today in such movies as The Matrix. The sad truth is that we are partly unconscious for most of our lives.
Moment-to-Moment Awareness
This may sound strange to some people, but we are not practicing emotional mastery, we are practicing emotional self-mastery and as long as we are unconscious of our daily routines, there is no self present. There is a collection of memories and habits—learned behaviors operating on auto-pilot—but are YOU present in the moment, from moment-to-moment? This is a question to ask yourself, study and resolve, but most importantly, do not let it interfere with or delay your efforts to practice the six heart virtues. You can practice while investigating your degree of presence in daily activities.
This issue of being present in the “here and now” is not new. In fact, many books have been written about it and perhaps the most influential thinker on this topic was the philosopher and teacher, J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986). Whether or not the concept is new does not reduce the subtle importance of staying in the present moment. The point is that the heart’s sensitivity is of little or no value if there is no individual present to detect the signals and initiate an action, such as the when-which-how practice.
I am sure many of you have had the experience of sitting across from someone who is telling you about an incident of some kind and you suddenly realize that for the last minute or more you have no idea what he or she has been saying. This can become even more embarrassing when your friend asks you what you think about the incident. Or have you ever gone on an errand, reached your destination and had no memory of traveling there?
Where were we on these occasions? We were running on automatic pilot, but we have little information about what happened during our absence. Have you ever had your spouse or significant other suddenly say, “Are you listening to me?” And you reply, “Oh yes.” And then the challenging question, “Then what did I say?” Your answer: “Hmmm…I’m not sure.”
These examples bring up a startling realization. Namely, that we are often asleep—even when we are supposedly awake. We simply are not really “here” even when we think we are. We are mainly operating in a self-maintained, mentally-constructed hologram of our own reality. This is the ego filter through which the outside world flows into our brains. As we have just seen, apparently we don’t even have to be present in order to perform our daily routines. However, we can be operating with much more efficiency and alertness if we can learn to be present in the now.
In the popular science fiction television series, Star Trek, the starships have at least two types of propulsion systems. The impulse engines operate in “normal” spacetime, but the warp engines allow faster-than-light speeds, transcending the limits of space and time. In addition, instantaneous communication in Star Trek takes place through sub-space (quantum, non-local), thus overcoming the tremendous distances between worlds and the time it takes to send messages back and forth.
We are like an impaired starship from the sci-fi universe of Star Trek, only operating on our spacetime restricted impulse engines and never taking advantage of our faster-than-light warp engines. In this analogy, our ego-personalities are impulse engines and we communicate via the time lags of spacetime. (Recall news reporters whose conversations are confusing due to the time delay of communication satellites.) Living from the heart through emotional self-mastery is incorporating warp drives and sub-space communications into our everyday lives. These take us beyond the limiting spectrum of third-dimensional ego-personality living and extend our range of living into the higher dimensions of the energetic heart and soul.
Returning to our main discussion, our psychological space is filled with so much content that the field of our awareness is blocked by all the “stuff” of our constructed reality. We are so preoccupied and distracted by our own psychological content that we cannot see, hear, and feel the individuals we encounter every day. So, as Krishnamurti often pointed out, we never actually come into contact with others. We only contact our constructed thoughts and feelings about others. In order to avoid absolutes, I will say that most of the time we come into contact with the past image of people, not the present reality of people. We often tap into and communicate with the image we want people to be, not the image projected by those people in the present moment. This is the double irony of the situation. We are all, for the most part, communicating with each other through false images, images too often frozen in the prejudices of past judgments.
Hopefully, you can see the implications of all this on the practice of when-which-how. Our task involves working from the consciousness level of the soul and energetic heart. Otherwise, we are acting from our ego-personality’s constructed idea of who and what others (and the world in general) should be. Recalling the Star Trek analogy, the ego-personality is using an impulse engine that is spacetime-based. In order for us to be truly effective in our practice we must operate from outside spacetime even while living within spacetime. This is not about excluding an “inferior” spacetime world, but about expanding and extending the range of our conscious living into unexplored dimensions beyond our dominant third-dimensional reality.
Simply put, we are awake, present, and focused in the moment and not lost in thoughts about where we have been, where we want to go, or where we would rather be. We are not dwelling in the past or escaping into the future. We are simply present and attuned to what is before us.
Observation
This means that we must clear an area of our psychologically cluttered ego-personality space so that we can detect the signals coming from the energetic heart. The key to doing this is observation. When we are lost in thought, when we are not present, we are immersed in and identified with our thoughts and feelings. Well, as many of you may already know, we are not our thoughts and feelings. These are the contents of consciousness, not consciousness itself. These are holographic memory imprints recorded in our minds through routine contact with the third-dimensional world. These imprints are the junk drawers and storage closets of our psychological space. We don’t necessarily need all this stuff! And we certainly do not need to be laying it all out on the floor of our consciousness each day, only to put it all back again.
If you make the decision to step in and observe your next habitual reaction to something you see on television or something a co-worker does or says which causes you to react, STOP and observe your reaction. Do you make your “usual” comment? Do you laugh or complain without a thought as to why? Does an unkind thought and negative emotion enter your mind? Whatever occurs—OBSERVE IT. Bring your attention to these “knee-jerk” reactions. Interrupt the automatic flow of habitual thought and emotion. This is the “stuff” we keep accumulating and storing in our closets. This is the material blocking the light of the soul from entering your field of awareness. This is the “noise” drowning out the inner voice of the energetic heart.
If you put enough effort into interrupting the chain reaction thoughts and emotions of the ego-personality, you will disrupt them to the point where you will have created sufficient silence for the voice of the energetic heart to be heard. This does not happen overnight. It takes perseverance, but it can be achieved. It should also be pointed out that the complete silencing of the mind and emotions is not possible or even necessarily desirable. It is natural for these subjective instruments to record and respond to the environment. Simply learn to see them in their proper perspective. These thoughts and feelings are your servants. They serve you—the soul, the higher self. You are the artist creating your life expression, your work of art. Your thoughts and feelings are your brushes and paints.
Our goal is to restore order to our inner lives so that we can bring the six heart virtues into our own lives and the lives of others. Think of the mind and emotions as an appliance, like a washing machine. When we want to wash clothes we operate our washing machines. When our wash is completed our washing machines stop operating and remain off until we need to wash more clothes. Our problem is that we leave the washing machine of the mind operating all the time, even if we have no clothes to wash. Emotional self-mastery means that we are in charge of the washing machine. We are not the machine; we are the machine’s operator. We learn how to use it efficiently and for the right reasons, thus avoiding unnecessary stress and wear on the parts, costly repairs, and downtime.
If we observe the continuous operation of the mind and emotions as they habitually react to the encounters around them, we will soon learn that most of this activity is needless and even harmful to our well-being. The ego-personality is habituated to the noise of the social order. This third-dimensional noise impairs and reduces the sensitivity of our emotional and mental energy fields. This insensitivity to the transmissions of the energetic heart severely limits our abilities to practice when-which-how, to say nothing of gaining emotional self-mastery. If we cannot get in touch with our own heart energetics, how can we expect to help others? Recall, the exhortation: “Physician, heal thyself.”
One cautionary note before moving on—observation is not self-absorption. We are observing our internal processes with an impersonal attitude. This means that we have compassion for ourselves, but we are not attached to the thoughts and feelings that we have. We are like the surgeon who has diagnosed a disease and can correct the problem without any feelings getting in the way of the procedure that must be performed. If you suddenly find yourself identified with the thoughts and feelings you are observing, stop and refocus as the observer, the one who will determine the quality and nature of these contents of your consciousness. As the observer, you are the wise and compassionate judge who determines how your thoughts and feelings are contributing to your practice. Are they positive or negative effects?
If we observe negativity in the mind, we can take action and stop it. We create a psychological space from which we can step in and restore positive thoughts and feelings based on the virtues. However, we need to be present in order to take charge. When we begin to do this, even for five seconds, we have begun a process that will lead to even more control, and ultimately, self-mastery. This is the beginning of effective practice of when-which-how. This is the beginning of increased awareness and sensitivity to the transmissions of the energetic heart.
Sensitivity
It is said that the heart is the primary organ of sensitivity that links the human instrument to the non-physical dimension of the higher self. If we accept this idea as a working hypothesis, then it becomes obvious that we must learn to tune into the signals detected by the heart if we want to be effective in our practice. The energetic heart is “wired” into what the Lyricus Teaching Order (LTO) calls Underivative Information Structures.
Across all dimensions of space there exists a primary field of vibration or quantum primacy. This field is non-physical but informs the physical. It exists independent of the physical structures of existence, and is known among Lyricus teachers as the Underivative Information Structures (UIS).
UISs are sub-quantum and represent the primary blueprint for living systems and inorganic matter. It is UIS that gives rise to the quantum fields that interpenetrate planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe at large. It is the communication field of life that connects the nonlocal and the local, the individual and the collective, the one and the infinite. The energetic heart is the non-physical component of UIS that is the entryway or portal from UIS to the intuitive and intelligence centers of the soul carrier or human instrument. In a sense, it is the subquantum blueprint of the physical heart.
As this extract explains, the energetic heart is the primary detector of incoming signals from outside the spacetime world of our third-dimensional reality. Most of our waking hours are spent with concerns coming from the outside, third-dimensional plane. The “noise level” of the objective world, however, overpowers the “sound” from the subjective world being detected by the energetic heart.
Simply stated, the sounds generated by the higher frequencies (often called spiritual) are steady and continuous, but our human third-dimensional equipment does not easily detect them. Our human instruments are designed to pick up signals coming from many of the higher frequencies as well as those of the spacetime dimension. However, because our dominant learning environment as a species is based in a third-dimensional spacetime world, we (except for a few), have not focused on developing the sensitivity to access the higher frequencies and dimensions that surround and interpenetrate our world.
Ironically, our existence in the spacetime dimension has, in part, created the very situation we are now working to correct because it has given birth to the separated ego-personality with all of its blocking filters. Emotional self-mastery is part of the process of infusing the separated ego-personality with the spiritual energy of the soul via the energetic heart. In effect, we are spiritualizing matter and materializing spirit.
Returning to our main point, there is a dimension, frequency, plane, or world of the emotions that we are immersed in every day. We detect these frequencies as feelings of happiness or sorrow, anger or contentment, fear or love. We take such feelings for granted. They are the normal moods of our daily existence. But what if we could develop a sensitivity by which we could detect the actual energy flows of these emotions? This valuable feedback would allow us to “see and hear” in a new way and open up a vast field of study and learning that would facilitate our mastery of these powerful forces within us.
“Living from the Heart” suggests that these higher senses may be close to emerging in us as the next stage of our species’ evolution. The when-which-how technique may be one of the methods by which we develop these higher senses. Through our practice of when-which-how, a new sensitivity develops in us that allows us to work intelligently with the six heart virtues. This sensitivity enables us to detect the absence or lack of any heart virtues that are needed for healing, rebalancing, and revitalizing any situation. The sensitivity of the heart to the habitat of soul is the key to our future spiritual evolution.
We simply have to learn how to make the connection between it and our waking consciousness. Therefore, we need to develop our natural emotional sensitivity to the heart, just as the heart is naturally sensitive to the soul. In this way we can develop an unimpeded line of transmission between our higher self in non-spacetime and our personality self in spacetime via the energetic heart. The first step for accomplishing this great work is through the practice of when-which-how.
The sensitivity we need to enhance has nothing to do with being sensitive to criticism. It has nothing to do with being “thin-skinned” or easily upset by people or events. It is not about being sentimental, teary-eyed, or effusive. No. This sensitivity means that we are insightful, aware, and in-touch with any encounter that crosses our path. This is a sensitivity that can instantly detect the need for love within ourselves or others when that love is being closed off, blocked out, or obscured by the dense clouds of habit, ignorance, ego, and fear. The sensitivity of the heart detects the inflowing of the soul’s love as it radiates outward from the multi-dimensional planes of the all-pervasive universal energy field of God.
Our practice will open this flow for all of us as our human instruments develop their sensitivity to the energetic heart and sense when, which, and how to apply the six heart virtues.
Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation
One of the exercises given in “Living from the Heart” is the Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation. According to the meditation, through persistent and steady practice, we can actually create an energy grid of the six virtues around ourselves wherever we go. This meditation is performed in real time. That is, we do this meditation at the scenes of our daily encounters, in contrast to the traditional morning meditation session. Our success in building this grid within our energy field is a major step in practicing when-which-how because it strengthens our sensitivity to ourselves, to those around us, and to the energetic heart and higher self. At this stage, this means that we have our tools present and mobilized to act in any encounter. We can be compared to battlefield physicians who carry their medical kits with them at all times. When the need arises, their healing medications and supplies are within their reach.
You might be asking why there is a need to practice when-which-how if we deliver these virtues wherever we go? This is a good question. The answer lies, I believe, in the physician/healing metaphor just described. Our six heart virtues matrix is similar to preventive medicine. Through the steady generation and maintenance of this grid, we practice emotional hygiene. Most of us know the importance of keeping our physical bodies and living spaces clean, of maintaining a balanced diet, of getting enough exercise. As adults, we know how to avoid potentially dangerous situations by following common sense safety rules.
By creating the heart virtues grid in our infield we are maintaining a healthy emotional environment that is an extension of the healthy physical environment many of us value so highly and maintain as a normal part of our everyday lives. Just as unhealthy physical living lowers the power of our immune systems, leaving us vulnerable to illness and disease, unhealthy emotional living (emotional chaos), also reduces the power of our immune systems. Thus, it is obvious that coupling the energy grid’s emotional hygiene to the physical hygiene of modern living can have a tremendous positive effect on every aspect of our lives.
I think it is fair to state that the vast majority of human beings live in emotional chaos and lack control over their emotional lives. Because of this condition, we live in a stormy sea of emotions in which the vessels of our journey are vulnerable to the hazards of over-stress, irritability, low energy and consequent susceptibility to illness and disease. Therefore, even though we have created the heart virtues grid, our systems can still be overwhelmed by the emotional turmoil around us. As a result, we still need the when-which-how practice.
In other words, the energy grid will go a long way toward helping us maintain our emotional hygiene, but there will still be many occasions when we need to send specific energies to ourselves or others in order to aid in crisis situations. By analogy, although we may be fortunate enough to live in a relatively healthy physical environment, there are many occasions in life when we require specific medical help due to sickness or emergencies. Overburdened health systems around the world attest to this.
The act of building the heart virtues grid creates a state of consciousness that facilitates our ability to initiate the practice because we have gained the skill to shift into the dimensions of the heart and soul. This ability makes it possible for us be alert to the calls of those in need.
Alertness to the Call
Alertness to the call means that we are aware in the moment and we have developed a capacity for sensitivity to the call for help. Granted this is a skill to be learned and mastered, but all efforts we make are never lost. Our efforts are cumulative and every time we remember to practice when-which-how we increase our ability and capacity for service, moving steadily forward toward emotional self-mastery.
Recognition of a call for help is the when stage. The call is simply a way of describing any living energy field in need of the six heart virtues.
1. A lack of appreciation is a call.
2. A lack of compassion is a call.
3. A lack of forgiveness is a call.
4. A lack of humility is a call.
5. A lack of understanding is a call.
6. A lack of valor is a call.
Who is calling? It could be your ego-personality, it could be another human being or group of human beings, it could be a call from the natural world. It could be a call from all three. No matter from where the call is coming, the vital elements that require development are the ability to stay present in the moment, observation, and an increasing sensitivity to the heart and its six virtues.
Before continuing to our next subject, I want to reiterate that the practice of when-which-how is not dependent on first achieving perfection in being present in the moment, observation, and perfect sensitivity to the heart’s transmissions. We can work on all these elements simultaneously. These various pieces will fit into their natural places in the bigger picture of the when-which-how technique as we become more adept in our practice.
We need to remember what was stated earlier, that although the techniques of emotional self-mastery can be quite sophisticated, the core practice of when-which-how is simple. The practice “is not judged by its perfect expression, or its analytic virtuosity, but is performed and guided by intent.”
Know Thyself—Track-Treat-Transform
In the previous section we saw that knowing when to engage our practice involves developing sensitivity and a simple awareness of ourselves and those around us. The which stage requires knowledge about ourselves, about others, and about our relation to the six heart virtues. And obviously, it also entails learning about the six heart virtues themselves. After all, once we have determined that a situation warrants our attention, we must choose which virtue or virtues to apply. At the least, it is essential to have a basic knowledge of the six heart virtues.
Even when a situation relates to others, we are intimately involved the instant we choose to transmit heart energetics into the encounter. We can say that quantum entanglement is occurring. Consequently, it is crucial that we learn as much about ourselves as possible. In doing so, we gain invaluable knowledge about our attitudes and behaviors, and our strengths and weaknesses. This is a learning process on the path of emotional self-mastery. The “Living from the Heart” paper explains this with three words: track, treat, and transform.
• Track means that the individual can self-report their progress on the six heart virtues over time and track their ups and downs, and see their self-mastery growing against the backdrop of time.
• Treat means that the individual – while tracking their progress – can see when they hit a snag or vexing problem that takes them off course and then treat this issue like a physician treats a wound or illness. The treatment, in this case, is not a reward, but rather a solution or remedy to a problem or emotional misstep.
• Transform is the result of tracking and treating along this journey and seeing how you are transformed into a self-empowered, spiritually vibrant person.
From this description it is interesting to note that the when-which-how practice is nested within the Treat portion of these three steps. When we identify a need for applying the heart virtues, and choose which virtues to apply, and we finally decide how to apply them, we are actually treating a situation or encounter. Over time, we can track our progress and observe our transformation. (A dynamic tracking system is available to you when you register at eventtemples.org.)
Note that although this system is concentrated on our own progress, it is also a gauge of our effectiveness in treating others. Ultimately, you and “the others” are linked because we are all swimming in the same pool of emotions. This is the basis of our individual human energetic field’s (IHEF) contribution to the collective human energetic field (CHEF). The sliding scale of our individual practice, inevitably affects the sliding scale of our contribution to the collective.
Before taking a closer look at the six heart virtues, I want to give a simple example of how we can work with the virtues in relation to our own life situations. We can perform a simple exercise by asking ourselves two questions:
1. Which virtue do I feel most attuned to?
2. Which virtue do I feel least attuned to?
The answers to these two questions can be thought of as the establishment of a baseline in the initial stage of tracking. For example, if you feel most attuned to appreciation, how do you interpret this in relation to your life experience? Appendix A provides brief descriptions of the six virtues. Appreciation is described in two ways. The first description is at a global, collective level and the second is at a personal level.
Applying the first description suggests a deep sense of connection to all things and a decentralized sense of self. We can look at the world around us and experience a feeling of awe and wonder at the beautiful and intricate interaction of life at myriad levels, from microscopic atomic particle to galaxies spinning in the vastness of space. There is a feeling of joy in the very fact that all of this is happening at this very instant and that we are conscious, alive, and experiencing it.
At the personal level we feel a deep resonance with family and friends. There is a warm and loving feeling brought to mind and heart of the multi-faceted personality traits we enjoy so much about the souls who share this time and space with us. There is a mystery about why we have been brought together, where we came from, and, if one believes in reincarnation, how we have known one another in the past. In all this lies an appreciation of a larger design of soul connection beyond our ability to comprehend, but wondrous in its own way.
Continuing our example, let’s say that the virtue we feel least attuned to is forgiveness. What do we feel when this word comes into our minds and hearts? It is here, in the “areas of lesser connection” where we must be honest with ourselves. We must be able to bring our feelings and thoughts into awareness and examine the reasons particular virtues are “weaker” than others. We can learn much about ourselves in this way.
Forgiveness is related to time. It doesn’t require much brainpower to figure out that when we fail to forgive, we are freezing all the persons involved (including ourselves) in a timeframe at the point where we were wronged. We are creating a personal spacetime reality that we lock ourselves (and the images of others) into every time we reenact the incident in which someone wronged us.
As mentioned earlier, the soul and heart operate outside spacetime, so as long as we cannot forgive, we cannot access the heart, and by default, cannot contact the soul and tap into its wisdom. We are locking ourselves out. Often, if we examine this situation more deeply, we may discover that we actually enjoy jumping in our time machines and revisiting these holograms of the past. We may, in fact, be addicted to the negative emotions attached to these past occurrences.
The main point of this exercise is to identify our strengths and weaknesses in relation to the six virtues because they are metaphorical barometers of our accumulated life experiences. They signal the lines of least resistance in our ego-personalities. If a particular virtue creates a sense of blockage or discomfort in your mental/emotional field, it is a valuable clue that can lead you back to the initiating cause of the blockage. On the other hand, you may feel a deep resonance for a particular virtue and this line of least resistance can also be traced back to its roots and yield important information that can shed light on your entire practice.
Our internal reactions to these six virtues can be tracked over time giving us an overview of our ego-personality landscape. Tracking this subjective landscape reveals attitudinal and behavioral patterns that contribute to the unbalanced and chaotic world of the ego-personality. Tracking gives us the information we need to treat and transform these restricting patterns. When-which-how are the landscaping tools we use for cultivating, sculpting, and beautifying our subjective territory; transforming it into a harmonious and healing environment. The experience and knowledge we gain from working at our own transformation will, in turn, aid us greatly in helping others. Obviously, we must be able to help ourselves before we can help others.
The best way to learn about the six virtues is to work with them. We don’t have to be perfect masters in order to begin our practice. It is called a practice because we learn through practice itself. We don’t have to pass a test to begin our work because the “passing” is in the “doing.” Keeping this in mind, we still require some understanding of the six heart virtues to initiate the when-which-how practice. To this end, let’s look more closely at the definitions of the virtues given to us in “Living from the Heart.”
The Six Heart Virtues, a Closer Look
When we place our attention on these virtues we are beginning to practice their expression even as we think about them. When we imagine their fullness–their energetic structures–we are practicing them at a new, more potent level. The practice is not just expression; it is contemplation and study as well.
It should be obvious by now that we are really laying the emphasis on practicing the heart virtues, not sitting in meditation for hours contemplating their complexities. However, the material being offered to us is rooted in a balanced approach. Yes, we need to be pro-active in our expression of the heart virtues because the “house is on fire” and action is essential. Later, when the emergency is over, we can turn our attention to deeper issues if that is the direction we want to take. So, we are urged to take our practice into the routines of our living, but we are also asked to spend some time learning our craft. And this requires that some quiet time be set aside for meditation and study.
It is not my responsibility to tell you how often you should study or meditate. If you are sincere about this work and feel it is important to apply, you will attend to those areas of your practice that need improvement. Self-observation and your heart’s inner voice will guide you in the details of adjusting your practice to allow the light of the soul to shine with greater clarity and power in your life and in the lives of your fellow humans.
The paper, “Living from the Heart” contains a meditation exercise called, “The Virtuous Cycle Technique.” I highly recommend it as an effective method of deepening your understanding and connection to the six virtues. Keeping a notebook within reach as part of this practice is important for recording any insights you may receive. I can tell you from my own experience that many an insight rapidly fades from the “meditative” mind soon after the session ends. This is similar to how so many of our dreams rapidly dissipate after we awaken in the morning. Therefore, keeping a journal is invaluable in any type of subjective exercise. You can also take advantage of your personal journaling space at the Event Temples website if you want to keep your notes together. Either way, an emotional self-mastery journal is an important tool to consider.
In “Living from the Heart” James writes:
“I have resisted the temptation to define the six heart virtues in detail, but I will provide a starting point for their definition so you can embroider them according to your own experience and insight.”
James has provided valuable insights into the deeper meanings of the virtues. His descriptions give us a wider perspective on these words; words that I believe are familiar to most people. They are not technical terms, but are common in the sense that most people understand them in the context of their own lives. This is why they are so useful in emotional self-mastery—they are accessible and approachable to most anyone. In a way, their meanings are the backbone of morality and ethics across most cultures, religions, and philosophies. They are ingrained in us both consciously and subconsciously. And because of this, for the most part, we feel comfortable spending time with them.
While these titles or names are like shells of their true meaning (from the energetic perspective) they approximate the manner in which each of us is enfolded with the spirit of First Source.
In fact, my own words now lead me to point out a fascinating characteristic of these six “ordinary” words—they are intelligent fields of energy. Each one of us has been given a complete set of these intelligences as part of our soul’s equipment. These intelligent energy fields are our link to God, or what Lyricus refers to as First Source.
These fields are the energetic equivalents of First Source’s imprint upon the individual soul.
This linkage has existed as long as you have existed. It is not newly created. Perhaps, instead, it is newly forgotten.
Consequently, our desire to interact with these “words” can be seen as a re-acquaintance with good old friends we forgot we had. From the start, they are welcoming, warm, and approachable. In point of fact they are—
Appreciative, Compassionate, Forgiving, Humble, Understanding, and Valorous.
But as we get to know them, to spend more time with them, we discover that they also possess a deep, wise, and loving intelligence. We might even consider them to be guides, mentors, or counselors to our souls.
Part of this practice is to see your understanding and comprehension of these names or descriptions expand and shift as you practice and exercise your imagination.
Holding this attitude in heart and mind, I have extracted portions of James’ definitions of the six virtues. A careful reading of them reveals a different interpretation than the traditional definitions most of us would recognize. I believe his ideas provide a vital clue to the attitude and view we must take in order to achieve emotional self-mastery. This does not mean that we must adhere to the exact definitions given by James. In fact, I believe he would never want that. More to the point, this isn’t so much about the definitions, as much as it is about living our lives as soul-personalities instead of ego-personalities.
Ultimately, it all comes down to contacting, integrating, and transmitting the light of the soul—which is the light of love. The energetic heart is the gateway to the reception and integration of this light into our own human energy field, the human instrument. And the energetic heart, with the aid of the mind, is the combined instrument of distribution and transmission of the light of love into the world around us.
I believe this will become clearer as we examine the definitions of the six virtues more closely. After we have gained an overview of them, we can scale them down to the measure of our own lives as we develop our skills in practicing when-which-how.
When the essential definitions of the six virtues are brought together, a picture emerges of a backdrop or framework for our practice. I have assembled these definitions into a table for easier reference.
Virtues Definitions
Appreciation
• First Source (Higher Intelligence) surrounds our fellow beings as a field of consciousness…
• This consciousness unifies us…
• This awareness, or even belief, shifts our focus from the small details of our personal life to the vision of our purpose as a species.
• At a more practical level, appreciation expresses itself in the small gestures of gratitude that support relationship loyalty and bonding.
Compassion
In the context of the new intelligence that is seating itself on our planet, compassion is an active desire to assist others to align with the new fields of intelligence that are manifesting in the three dimensional world, aware that their desire and ability to align is distorted by their social enculturation; it does not accurately reflect their intelligence, spiritual inclinations, or purpose.
Forgiveness
• Forgiveness is really the outward expression of understanding and compassion without the heavy sentiments of duality (i.e., good and bad) that typically introduce the presence of judgment.
• It is a neutral expression without design or purpose other than to release yourself from the clutches of time.
• When a person operates from the heart virtues and the rich textures of its authentic frequencies, forgiveness is a natural state of acceptance.
Humility
• Humility is the realization that the heart, mind and soul co-mingle in the grace of a Higher Intelligence or Designing Force, and that their very existence is upheld through this connection of unconditional love.
• Humility is the expression of this love frequency knowing it derives from what already exists in a higher dimension.
Understanding
Understanding is the aspect of heart intelligence that recognizes [that] this dissociation from love is a necessary design component of the larger blueprint that is occurring on the planet. (See A Universal Blueprint.)
Valor
Valor is the aspect of your love that defends its presence in the face of injustice as measured in the social order.
A close inspection of the definitions in this table clearly shows an interconnection between the six virtues that underlies their outer meanings. The definitions reveal an inner common source, a source of which they are the outcome. In effect, the six heart virtues can be viewed as the unpacked components of a universal pattern or blueprint.
A Universal Blueprint
The ideas related to a universal blueprint can be found in “The Blueprint of Exploration.” This is the third philosophy paper of the WingMakers. This is not the place for an in-depth examination of that paper, but at the same time, it is not easy to explain in a sentence or two. In order to place the six heart virtues in the proper context, I believe we must go into this in some measure.
The essential idea in relation to our practice is that we are immortal cosmic entities participating in a blueprint of exploration conceived by God or First Source. Our roles are to explore the spacetime worlds, the dense dimensions of the multiverse. This descent into matter requires separation from our unity with First Source. The individuation, separation, and struggle for survival creates uniqueness in each individual—the embodied personality of the soul.
The key factor to remember here is that we have never been abandoned by our souls or First Source. The energetic heart has been with us from the beginning of our explorations, but it lies below the threshold of consciousness until the incarnated ego-personality has gathered many experiences in its explorations of spacetime. At a certain point, the soul, through the energetic heart, begins to awaken the lower self to its (the soul’s) presence. This is the stage where the energetic heart, the soul’s agent, introduces itself to the ego-personality. The world’s religions and mythologies each have their own general descriptions and allegories related to this stage in the life of the soul. It most often entails the inner stirring of an individual, who suddenly wakes to the realization that he is far from home and needs to undertake a journey back to his source. These are actually journeys in consciousness leading to a reunion between the fully conscious soul in its “higher” non-spacetime dimension, and the embodied fragment of consciousness in its “lower” spacetime dimension.
So, how does this fit into the definition of understanding? This big picture blueprint reminds us that all the individuals we encounter in our day-to-day activities are fellow explorers. We are all part of this exploration plan. In other words, we can use this description of reality to view the world and its people from the standpoint of the soul. At this level we can understand the human situation, feel compassion, and forgive. (See definition of Forgiveness.)
Consequently, when we become irritated, frustrated, or angry at the behaviors and opinions of others, we are challenged to view the larger picture and to realize that we are all ultimately working toward contributing our unique discoveries to the grand plan of First Source. But due to the difficulties imposed by the very conditions of the spacetime environment, almost all explorers get lost, develop problems, misunderstand missions, make mistakes, and cause harm to themselves and others. All of this contributes to the overwhelming sense of chaos and confusion in the world. The ability to stand back and understand this as the soul understands it is to practice emotional self-mastery. When we can approach the six virtues from the higher perspective of the soul, they form a new reality. Using the definitions given, let’s explore them as a whole.
We have just seen that understanding is based on the blueprint of exploration set in motion by First Source. Seen in this context, the remaining five virtues fit into a wonderful pattern modeled after the vantage point of the soul—transcendent of space and time.
The soul understands that each of us is on a journey of exploration and that we are at different points along the way. As the soul, we must show compassion toward ourselves and others, as we grope in the darkness of our journeys. We know that sometimes the darkness is a necessary incentive, forcing us to develop the skills and resources for our survival and growth. But too often, our darkness is self-created through ignorance and selfishness. Consequently, we have compassion for these shortcomings and can extend forgiveness to ourselves and others. In the light of forgiveness we hold no grudges; we liberate ourselves and our brothers and sisters from the suffering imposed by time. Restricted by the burdensome weights and restricting shackles of guilt and shame, who can advance in the journey? Forgiveness lives in the light of the soul’s neutrality, which knows that justice is meted out as part of the harmonizing principle of the multiverse.
Knowing all this, we come within the moderating influence of humility. This virtue adjusts our sense of proportion in relation to all things. If forgiveness liberates us from time, humility liberates us from space. It gives us the freedom to adjust our attitudes and positions toward all things. We are free to experience right relationships in all matters. Humility in this sense can be compared to the Chinese art and philosophy of Feng Sui. Humility is the Feng Sui of the heart. To know one’s place in the divine scheme of things is to be free to move to the next level. It is the knowledge granting a sense of direction because we know where we stand in relation to life.
All of this gives us an appreciation for the vast unified reality in which we live, move, and have our being. We are filled with gratitude for the knowledge of all this. We appreciate the fact that we can understand, that we can be compassionate, that we can forgive, and know the important part we play in relationship to the souls we travel with on our journey through space and time.
Knowing all this, through the meaning of these five virtues, we have the valor to stand up to those forces which thwart our efforts to stand in the light of the soul. We realize that our own ego-personality is most often the force blocking the radiance of love flowing from our hearts. We are courageous because, like the heroes of the world’s great traditions, we too have been given gifts of power for our adventurous journey into the spacetime worlds of the multiverse.
This awareness, or even belief, shifts our focus from the small details of our personal life to the vision of our purpose as a species.
First Source is Divine Love. This love along with its six virtues can be pictured saturating and penetrating the Underivative Information Structure at every scale of the multiverse. I have made a feeble attempt to illustrate this scale below. Simply stated (if at all possible), our individual practice of the six heart virtues is a microcosmic reflection of the macrocosmic expression of divine love by First Source Intelligence.
Consequently, whenever we practice when-which-how, we are activating heart energetics on our individual, microscopic scale in resonance with other vast cosmic processes of energetic transfers occurring continuously throughout the multiverse. Thus, we play our part and contribute to the greater good.
In summary, the definitions of the heart virtues provided in “Living from the Heart” are guidelines for living within the blueprint of exploration. If we base our actions and behaviors on these simple and direct precepts, our hearts will speak to us in the voice of the soul, and we will be guided by the intelligent light of love throughout our spacetime odyssey.
That inner voice sounds from a dimension of reality enfolding our spacetime dimension. This all-inclusive reality is an ocean of love that expresses itself through the six virtues. We might imagine these virtues as the waves created by the ocean’s encounter with the shores of the three-dimensional islands of spacetime. Imagine this occurring at all scales of the multiverse. The important thing to remember is this—the power expressed by these waves is the same; the only difference is the size of the island and its placement in the sea.
If God is the ocean, then we are the drop. As such, we carry the frequency of love in us at all times. When we consciously engage this practice, we deliver a minute drop of First Source to the world in the form of the heart’s virtues. When we practice when-which-how, we are like the waves of the ocean of love breaking on the shores of every “island” we encounter.
THE PRACTICE OF WHEN-WHICH-HOW
This is the goal of the when-which-how practice: to draw your soul into the experience of the body-mind, and enable it to lead the expression of your life in the domains of timespace
It is the heart’s intention to be the enabling force for this goal.
The Framework
At the end of the last section, we discussed the definitions of the six heart virtues from the angle of the blueprint of exploration. This is the big picture viewpoint that places living from the heart, emotional self-mastery, and its practices within the context of the soul’s journey through the multiverse. One of the stops on this journey is planet Earth. This is a place where we are experiencing separation from the soul and its unified state with First Source. Learning to live from the heart is the process of integrating the higher, unified experience of the soul with the unique, individuated personality we have evolved in spacetime. This might be called the ultimate framework and it forms the transcendental background for all our experiences.
The paper, “Living from the Heart,” mentions another framework that is more directly connected to our practice. This is the fundamental structure in which we conduct our practice of when-which-how. The practice rests on the foundation of coherence.
The art of the genuine is the practice of coherence between the deeper awakening of the heart virtues within each of us, and their faithful expression in the worlds of form. Those individuals who are awakened to the frequencies of the energetic heart within and practice–to their best ability in the moment–the expression of these frequencies in their behavior and actions are practicing their highest purpose
[They are] seeking to increase the degree of coherence between what they understand their heart virtues to be and how they can express those heart virtues with genuineness.
This is a straightforward process. We read or hear about these six virtues. We recall their meanings as we have understood them from our social upbringing. We begin to think more deeply about them in relation to the suggestion that these virtues are aspects of divine love; that they originate in the immortal spiritual soul; and that they are contained in our energetic body at the place of our heart. Based on all this, we begin to create our own ideas about these virtues. These make a deeper impact on us and we begin to apply these to our own behaviors and attitudes. We move from an intellectual level to a practical level. The critical factor is that we are using our intention to activate what is in our hearts and minds by expressing these six heart virtues in our lives. This is coherence based on authenticity and genuineness. This entire process is based on a framework.
There is an ascending spiral process to this practice….One must be grounded in the framework, and this can be done by studying the free e-paper “The Art of the Genuine: A Spiritual Imperative” and then contemplating its meaning.
The diagram I have supplied here (following page) is a summary, from my perspective, of the basic “framework” described in “The Art of the Genuine: A Spiritual Imperative.” However, that paper should be studied in order to gain a more complete understanding of the art of the genuine. The process described in the diagram is not a perfect, “air-tight” model, but I believe it can help us understand the framework well enough to begin practicing when-which-how. "The Art of the Genuine" paper should be studied, however, in order to gain a more complete understanding of the art of the genuine.
The top of the diagram depicts the soul receiving divine love from the Domain of Unity. It then passes this on to the energetic heart in the form of six fields of intelligence, which are called the six heart virtues.
The middle portion of the diagram indicates the subjective mental-emotional dimension where we create our thoughts and feelings. In this section of the diagram, the heart represents our emotional state. If we are oriented toward social enculturation, the heart is weakened relative to the soul and the six virtues. If we are oriented toward the soul, the heart is strengthened relative to the soul and the six virtues.
The thoughts and emotions generated by social enculturation create the ego-personality and consequent incoherence and chaos in one’s Individual Human Energetic Field (IHEF). This contributes to the overall chaos and incoherence in the Collective Human Energetic Field (CHEF). As illustrated in the diagram, practicing the social order interferes with the reception of the six heart virtues emanating from the soul via the energetic heart. Also notice, that in this case the mind is the transmitter of thought to the emotions. Here, the ego-mind transmits thoughts and ideas to the non-heart-based emotions, creating a vicious cycle that reinforces the ego-personality structure.
The right side of the diagram shows a different scenario. Here the six heart virtues are transmitted to the emotional field without interference (ideally). This creates the soul-personality and consequent coherence in our Individual Human Energetic Field (IHEF). This contributes to the accumulation of coherence in the Collective Human Energetic Field (CHEF). This coherence is maintained through the artistry of expressing the six heart virtues. This is the practice of when-which-how. Now the heart-based emotional field is transmitting its energetics to the mind. (Notice also, that the situation is reversed relative to the mind and emotions.) And the mind, in tandem with the heart-based emotions, is now able to create thoughts and ideas expressive of the soul, and mediated by the energetic heart. This creates the virtuous cycle that reinforces the soul-personality structure.
The bottom section of the diagram simply shows the objective, third dimensional results of our expressions—derived from our habituation to the social order, or derived from our awakening to the soul’s Domain of Unity. At the left side of the diagram we are practicing the social order and on the right side, we are practicing the art of the genuine (no symbolic pun intended). I would also point out that practicing the social order is not necessarily bad or unethical. It’s practicing the social order exclusively—without the spiritual dimension of the energetic heart and soul—that creates conditions of materialism, separatism, mistrust, and fear.
The “opposites” of the six virtues are my own interpretations. I may want to spend a little time pondering on my own interpretations of the virtues’ opposites because their presence, either in yourself or others, is an indicator of when to apply the appropriate heart virtues. Probably most of us are already familiar with the polar opposites of the virtues and therefore, they can serve as bridges to the virtues themselves. Rather than seeing these opposites as “bad,” we might compare them to malnourished trees metaphorically deprived of the nurturing sunlight of the soul’s rays by a polluted emotional atmosphere. By intentionally shining the light of the soul on these weakened and stunted trees, we can clear the atmosphere and restore these trees to health.
Practicing the Six Heart Virtues
One can experiment with the six virtues and learn how to deepen their understanding—not at an intellectual level, but rather a practical application level.
Practicing the art of the genuine is magnetically attracting these fields of intelligence into your consciousness and then expressing them in your behavior and actions to all forms of life that cross your path every moment in time and every centimeter in space to the best of your ability.
The paper, “Living from the Heart” states that there are “too many variables to assign clear-cut guidelines” to the when-which-how practice. Consequently, it recommends maintaining a high state of internal coherence so that our intuition can guide us in the practice. With this in mind, I have created a typical day in the life of a practitioner. I have tried to include encounters and situations that most people can identify with. The “solutions” to these scenarios are simply examples of applying the heart virtues to the common, day-to-day routine of living that we all experience. The examples provided here are glimpses into the process of the practice. They are my experiments with the six heart virtues and are not meant to be set rules. They are examples that may be common to the experiences of many practitioners in general, but are not similar in detail. Your application of when-which-how will be different than mine, even though we are all applying the same virtues, and have the same goal—contributing positive emotions to the CHEF.
In order to provide practical examples of practice, I have had to calibrate the definitions of the six virtues as described in listed earlier. Calibrating does not mean we change the virtues’ fundamental definitions; it means that we adjust their resonant meanings in proportion to our world of daily living. The idea is similar to a musical note. The note C has higher and lower frequencies or pitches. They all resonate to the same note, but have different sound frequency expressions. In the case of the heart virtues, for example, appreciation of the blueprint of exploration is at the universal scale, while appreciation of one’s family is at an interpersonal, human scale. We are still feeling appreciation, but the scales are different because they are adjusted in proportion to their application. This is an example of how to apply the virtue or virtues that have been chosen for each encounter and situation.
A Day in the Life of…
6 AM. Alarm clock rings. Time to wake up. Oh no, time to get up for work already. Where did the night go? I can’t wait for my day off, or my vacation, or my retirement. Maybe another job would be even better. I still feel tired and I’m uncertain about the day.
6:30 AM. Breakfast. My wife is already reminding me about the after-school soccer match I must attend, while I am already stressing over the project I have going on at work. Meanwhile, my two children are arguing about something and I discover that the morning newspaper is lying in a puddle of water.
Unable to read the paper and avoiding the arguing kids, I turn on the TV only to learn that my taxes are going to be raised once again because the government doesn’t have enough money. Next there is a report that torrential rains somewhere in the world have destroyed hundreds of homes and have left thousands of people without shelter. I quickly switch channels again, in order to get the sports’ scores.
7:30 AM. I ponder the meaning of life as my car crawls along at the usual slow morning pace. Suddenly all traffic comes to a dead stop and I realize there has been an accident up ahead and I may be late for work. Frustration soon leads to irritation, and then anger.
8:30 AM. I get to work just in time for my project meeting and I immediately find out that something has gone wrong with the project. I know it’s not my fault, but is obviously the fault of some idiot in another department.
10:30 AM. My boss calls me into her office to inform me that it wasn’t an idiot from another department who screwed up, but it was, in fact, me. I am the idiot who screwed up. What’s more, she now tells me that I better stay late tonight to correct the problem. I’m too afraid to tell her I can’t because of a game my kid is in after school. My stress level has just doubled. Just before 5 PM, too fearful of telling the truth about the soccer game, I fake illness and inform my manager that I have to go home. “Okay,” she says, “but you better get this corrected before the weekend.”
12:00 Noon. I am too stressed out to eat lunch, so I try to take a nap to forget my troubles.
5:30 PM. I arrive at the soccer game, but have missed the beginning and my wife wants to know why? I dare not say a word. Halfway through the game, my son’s team is losing and no one is happy. Meanwhile, I’m thinking about that damned project at work. My son’s team pulls through and wins the game, but my momentary happiness is quickly shattered when I realize that I locked my keys in the car in my rush to not miss the start of the game, which, by the way, I did anyway. My wife must drive home to get the spare keys while I wait by the car for her return. Dinner will be delayed tonight. We could go out for dinner, but we went out last night and our budget can’t handle it.
8:00 PM. We are finally eating dinner and my wife is telling me about the chores that must get done this weekend. I am nodding in agreement, but I haven’t heard a word because I am worried about correcting the mistake I (the idiot) made at work, which has delayed the project’s launch date. Meanwhile, another argument has broken out between the two kids and I scream at them to shut-up and go to bed. Having solved that problem, I decide to watch television and ignore the family problems.
10 PM. Bedtime, and I look forward to a “restful” night in order to be ready for another day.
Question: Did you identify any point in this person’s day when he could have applied the heart virtues? If you answered yes to any particular portion of this day, then you know what the when-which-how practice is all about—reducing stress by reducing the emotional chaos created by practicing the social order exclusively—in other words, without integrating the spiritual dimensions of the heart and soul into your dominant third-dimensional life.
So we need to shift our dimensional focus from exclusively centering on the third dimension by incorporating a fourth dimension and maybe even a fifth dimension. This shift is not about abandoning one dimension in favor of another. It is about shifting to a greater bandwidth of perceptions and awareness, to a wider range of frequencies that include the heart and soul.
Granted, your typical day may not be exactly like the day described here and there are many millions of people in this world who have much worse days than this; people who have no alarm clocks, no cars, and no televisions. Worse yet, they may not have breakfasts and dinners, jobs, or families. But generally speaking, if you are reading this guide, then you not only have most of the things mentioned in this scenario, but you also have a computer and Internet access.
According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we are on a rung of the ladder in which many of our physiological, safety, and belonging needs are being met and we have the opportunity to focus on our psychological and spiritual needs. Consequently, we are fortunate enough to be in a position to work at emotional self-mastery, to improve our individual energetic fields and, in turn to improve the collective human energetic field (CHEF). We should take advantage of this opportunity not only for our own sakes, but also for the sake of humankind—for what we contribute to the whole, we contribute to ourselves.
Keeping all this in mind, let’s rewind this person’s typical day and play it back as if he had decided to apply the when-which-how practice to his everyday encounters. We are going to follow this man’s activities to see how the application of when-which-how affects the quality of life for this individual and for those who cross his path.
A New Day in the Life of…
If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it. Attributed to Vladimir Horowitz
6:00 AM. Alarm clock rings. Time to wake up. Oh no, time to get up for work already. Where did the night go? Although I still feel tired, I feel a new meaning to my life. It might be due to that email message I got from my friend about three months ago, telling me about a website called, Event Temples. I downloaded and read the website’s primary article, “Living from the Heart” and liked it. There was something about it that just resonated with me.
6:30 AM. A 5-minute time of reflection on the six heart virtues. I have been doing the Virtuous Cycle Technique from the “Living from the Heart” paper. Some days I feel too tired or I’m in a bad mood, and I just can’t seem to do the meditation. Some days, even when I meditate, it doesn’t seem very effective. But I’m trying my best to do it as often as possible and for the past couple of weeks I have been steadier in the practice.
6:50 AM. Breakfast. My wife is already reminding me about the after-school soccer match I must attend, while I am already stressing over the project I have going on at work. It’s getting close to the critical launch. Meanwhile, my two children are arguing about something and I discover that my morning newspaper is lying in a puddle of water.
I am getting irritated and am bordering on anger when I suddenly realize that this past year I have become callous and thankless in relation to my family because of the stress and anxiety of my job. I have been avoiding the guilt associated with this and feel ashamed of myself.
I don’t know what comes over me, but I spontaneously decide to try the Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation that I read about in “Living from the Heart.” I visualize myself as a point of divine love with the six heart virtues surrounding me and encompassing the kitchen. I had read about this in the paper I downloaded from Event Temples, but except for one attempt, I haven’t tried it because I’ve had my hands full just trying to do the Virtuous Cycle Technique. So I breathe the virtues through my system and into the energy fields of my family. At first this feels kind of weird and airy-fairy, but I finally admit that it actually feels kind of nice. (I remember trying it for the first time at work last week, but I felt embarrassed and self-conscious about it, so I stopped.)
Aware of my insensitivity I realize that I need to show more appreciation for my family, I also realize that I need to apply understanding and compassion to my own shortcomings. This may take a while, but at least I have made a start. Who knows, maybe I will even be able to overcome my guilt and eventually forgive myself.
There is too much confusion right now to express any of this to my wife, but at least I feel better inside knowing that I have become sensitive to the problem. This, in and of itself, gives me energy and my stress level actually feels like it has gone down a little bit.
The arguing kids are too much to deal with now and I don’t know what to do about the irritation I feel because of the wet newspaper. All I can do right now is observe this irritation and feel it in my gut.
7:30 AM. I ponder the meaning of life while slowly driving in the morning traffic jam. Suddenly all traffic comes to a dead stop and I realize there is an accident ahead and I may be late for work. I notice my frustration and anger building up as it usually does in these situations. I decide to apply the virtues of humility and understanding to this situation, but to my surprise I cannot seem to activate these feelings.
Wondering what is going on, I realize that it isn’t easy to activate the virtues when negative emotions have gotten into my system and are running riot. It takes a while for me to allow these negative emotions to subside before I can focus on bringing forth the feelings of humility and understanding.
Humility allows me to deflate my own self-importance. After all, I’m not the only person in this mess. I’m in this traffic jam along with other people who will probably be late for work just like me. Besides there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.
This attitude actually helps the virtue of understanding emerge. It seems natural to me in this situation because understanding implies a combination of knowledge and reason, leading to meaning. I know there is a large volume of traffic at rush hour and therefore it’s just common sense that accidents are more likely to occur under these conditions.
Now I feel better. The pain of frustration has subsided and I feel so much better that I decide to send this same combination of humility and understanding to my fellow prisoners of the highway. I try my best to visualize the heart virtues grid around my body and imagine these two virtues flowing out to those around me.
8:30 AM. I get to work just in time for my project meeting and I immediately find out that something has gone wrong with the project. I know it’s not my fault, but is obviously the fault of some idiot in another department.
Observing the thoughts and feelings that come into my mind, I cannot avoid the fact that I have just condemned someone for making an error even though I have no evidence to back it up. My heart tells me that this is not the right attitude. Despite my certainty that it isn’t my error, I need to practice forgiveness and not condemn another person. After all, if I cannot forgive someone for a mistake, the resentment I feel toward them will only create unhealthy, negative emotions that create more stress on the job. I imagine the virtue of forgiveness flowing outward to that “someone” in another department.
A couple of months ago, I would have been irritated at least all day over an incident like this one. Comparing that feeling of irritation with this new feeling of forgiveness is like a breath of fresh air. Instead of feeling locked into an irritable and uncomfortable emotional state, by contrast, I feel liberated, able to let go of this emotional discomfort. Ordinarily, I would have been drained of energy all day, but now I feel energized and somehow more empowered.
10:30 AM. My boss calls me into her office to inform me that it wasn’t an idiot from another department who screwed up, but it was, in fact, me. I am the idiot who screwed up. I am suddenly in a state of shock! How can this be possible? Here I am, sending forgiveness to someone who made this huge mistake and all along it was me. I was nice enough to take the time to send forgiveness to somebody and they didn’t even need it! I AM an idiot. Not only that, I am a conceited, egotistical idiot, for I automatically assumed that because I am such a superior person the mistake could not possibly have been mine. For some bizarre reason, Carly Simon’s song, “You’re So Vain” began playing in my head.
What’s more, my manager now informs me that I better stay late tonight to correct the problem. I’m afraid to tell her I can’t because of the soccer game my son is in after school. My stress level has just doubled.
12:00 Noon. Sitting in my office at lunchtime, I reflect on the morning’s events. I have recovered enough from my emotional reactions to look at the attitudes and behaviors I expressed as a result of this crisis. First of all, from the beginning of this incident I was so into my own ego that I automatically believed someone else caused this crisis. I was able to practice when-which-how by centering in my heart and sending forgiveness to this individual.
That part was fine, but when my manager informed me that the crisis was my fault, I lost it and condemned myself to idiot status and even resented the fact that I sent forgiveness to someone who didn’t even earn it. To be honest, that’s pretty bad. Not only am I egotistical, but in my anger, I actually resented sending someone a heart virtue!”
Okay, enough wallowing in what has already been done. All I can do now is realign to my energetic heart. Immediately, I close my eyes and visualize myself as a point of divine love surrounded by the six virtues. After some effort to calm down, I see and feel appreciation in front of me and compassion behind me. I am aware of forgiveness to my front left and humility to my front right. Behind me on the left is understanding and behind me on the right is valor.
The simple act of performing this exercise, allowing the energies of these virtues to flow through my being, somehow renews my spirit. Yes, I screwed up, I lost control, but now I can feel the healing energies of the virtues restoring my balance—giving me the strength and insight I need to move ahead.
This crisis is turning into a breakthrough. I now see that my heart has led me to the soul itself. I feel uplifted and shifted in consciousness to a state of serenity and unity. From this higher and wider vantage point, I can observe my ego-personality and pour love into it. I feel compassion for all the mistakes and needless suffering it has created and endured. I allow this compassion to flow into my awareness. I surrender to the inflow of love. Compassion leads to understanding. The light of understanding reveals how I have been denying the flaws and imperfections of my personality structure. I have donned the armor of war and protection, and built a fortress to hide within.
The ego needs these devices for protection, but the soul does not. I can understand this now and I can release myself from the burden of deception. I can remove the restricting mask of the social order and show my true face. This release, this liberation, is the result of self-forgiveness.
I feel so good I want to pour these feeling out on everyone. So without even thinking about it, I spontaneously send a wave of heart virtues out to my family, friends, co-workers, and the entire world.
When I come out of this meditative state, I am a little embarrassed because the experience seemed so out of proportion to the event that triggered it. But then I recall stories I’ve heard about Zen Buddhist monks who became enlightened so suddenly and without warning that it was like being struck by lightning. I think the word they used was Satori.
1:00 PM. Feeling confident about this heartfelt experience, I do something that I never would have dreamt of before today. I go to my boss’s office and ask to talk to her. I apologize for my emotional outburst and the mistake I made on the project. I am especially sorry for blaming someone else for it before the evidence showed the true source of the error. I think to myself how great it feels to admit my true position in all this—to not have to defend a false position. The virtue of humility has lifted this burden from my shoulders.
I then find the courage to tell my manager that I really can’t stay overtime today to correct the problem because my son is playing in a soccer match after school. To my utter astonishment, she understands. For the first time since I have worked for her, she is sharing information about her personal life. She relates that her daughter also plays soccer and that she always tries to attend her daughter’s games. She knows how important it is to her daughter when she makes the effort to get to her games. So my boss tells me that she doesn’t really care when I get this problem resolved as long as I get it done by the weekend.
I leave work this afternoon amazed at how smoothly everything seems to be going. Reviewing all that has happened today, I realize that I expressed compassion, understanding, forgiveness, humility, and valor. I now have an enormous appreciation for the powers of the energetic heart and the emanating love of the soul standing behind it. Amazing. I have utilized every virtue without even realizing it. Looking back on it, they just seemed to flow naturally and effortlessly from my heart. Simply making the effort to turn my attention to them was the key to their transforming power. I make a quick mental note to remember to do this more often because, up until today, I have only remembered to apply the technique once in a while. If I can discipline myself to be more aware of my interactions, I can increase my opportunities to apply the virtues to the small difficulties of life and prevent them from growing into major problems, like the crisis today.
5:30 PM. I arrive at the soccer game, but have missed the beginning and my wife wants to know why? At first, this sarcastic question annoys me and ordinarily I would just let it go, but after the events of today, I decide it is time to express my feelings about these irritating remarks. Now I understand how letting things like this build up can lead to greater difficulties later on.
I ask her to please not be so sarcastic because I tried my best to get to the game on time, but traffic was unusually heavy today. I immediately sense her surprise that I have actually given a response to her question. I continue by saying that I realize that I haven’t been very appreciative and sensitive to her and the kids the past months and therefore maybe I bear some of the responsibility for her unkind reactions to me. While relating all this to her, I am doing my best to send her understanding and compassion. She suggests that we talk about it later. I agree.
Halfway through the game, my son’s team is losing and no one is happy. Meanwhile, I’m thinking about this whole concept of competitive sports and how it fits in with emotional self-mastery. Should I be sending the heart virtues to anyone right now? What if I send valor to my son’s team, but not the opposing team? That’s similar to people praying to God for victory over another team. Or worse yet, praying to God for victory in war. This is a deeper moral issue and too complicated for me right now. How can a person send courage to one team and withhold it from another? Where is the compassion in that? Doesn’t the sun shine on the good and bad alike? I decide that I should be neutral in terms of the current soccer game. To me, it’s just common sense. So, I decide to send both teams valor. Why not, aren’t sports really supposed to be about how you play the game and not about winning or losing? I laugh to myself seeing how naive that idea has become.
As it turns out, my son’s team pulls through and wins the game and we head home for dinner.
8:00 PM. We are finally eating dinner and my wife is telling me about the chores that must get done this weekend. I am nodding in agreement, but I haven’t heard a word because I am thinking about how I am going to straighten out the mess at work.
I then realize to my dismay that I haven’t been present. My mind has drifted off and I am not giving my wife the attention she deserves (that anyone deserves). This occurrence is not a major catastrophe, but I am beginning to realize how insidious it actually is. The vast majority of people find this state of mind perfectly acceptable, but I am increasingly seeing this as a real impediment to practicing when-which-how. If I cannot hold my focus on a simple dinner conversation with a member of my own family, what does that tell me about self-mastery in general, let alone emotional self-mastery? I need to give this some serious thought later on, but for now I need to focus on the moment.
I apologize for not paying attention to our discussion and we settle our plans for the weekend. We then get back to our earlier discussion at the soccer game. Apparently, the virtues of understanding and compassion have had an effect on her because she is not defensive at all about her edginess over the past few months. Through valor, I am able to honestly express my situation at work and explain the reasons for my callous and thankless behavior of late. She appreciates my forthrightness and I express to her how appreciative I am of her efforts to support the family in so many ways. I express my understanding for how she must have felt during this stage of our relationship. Turning within, I put myself in her position and can feel compassion welling up in me, and I send it to her.
Meanwhile, another argument has broken out between the two kids in the next room and instead of screaming at them to shut-up and go to bed, I inform them that my wife and I will help resolve their argument in the morning. Having temporarily resolved that problem, we decide to listen to some music before going to bed. As the music is playing I picture the six virtues energy grid surrounding me and enveloping most of the rooms in our home. A new atmosphere of harmony descends upon our family…at least for a while.
10:00 PM. Bedtime, and I look forward to a “restful” night in order to be ready for another great day.
As I drift to sleep, I am aware that my efforts to apply the heart virtues are turning out very well. I have a lot to learn about how to use them more skillfully, but I am pleasantly surprised at how effectively they work, even for a novice like me.
COMMENTS ON THE PRACTICE
“There is an eye of the soul which. . . is more precious far than ten thousand bodily eyes, for by it alone is truth seen.” Plato, The Republic
In this section we will examine key elements of our practitioner’s day. I have repeated the important aspects of each timeframe for easier reference.
Meditation
6:30 AM.
• A 5-minute time of reflection on the six heart virtues.
Naturally, each person is free to meditate for the length of time they feel is appropriate. In most cases though, 5-10 minutes is a nice compromise between brevity and lengthiness. These energies are very potent and the quality of the work is more important than the quantity of time spent in each session.
As explained elsewhere, the practice of when-which-how lays the emphasis on practice over the more traditional concept of sitting for long periods of time in meditation. Nevertheless, meditation and times of reflection still play a role in emotional self-mastery.
Need for Consistency
• I have been doing the Virtuous Cycle Technique from the “Living from the Heart” paper. Some days I feel too tired or I’m in a bad mood, and I just can’t seem to do the meditation.
Most people would agree that consistency is important in any discipline, whether it is working out at the gym, attendance at work or school, or dieting. Spiritual practice is also a discipline in which consistency is important. At first, it is a difficult adjustment to set aside time to meditate, especially in the morning when we are usually rushing around to get ready for work or school. But, if we really want to work with when-which-how, we will find a way to adjust our schedules to accommodate the practice.
Like anything else, once you get past the initial week or two, the daily rhythm of practice will become a normal part of your day. Consistent meditation will reward you with deeper insights into the virtues. This wisdom of the virtues adds increased depth to your daily practice of when-which-how in your everyday encounters.
Looking for Results
• Some days, even when I meditate, it’s doesn’t seem very effective. But I’m trying my best to do it as often as possible and for the past couple of weeks I’ve been steadier in the practice.
Don’t worry about results. Remember that the concrete lower mind (“lower” in contrast to the higher, more abstract mind) is predominantly responsive to the outer world and its phenomena. Meditation practice is oriented in the opposite direction, toward the quantum and sub-quantum densities. Consequently, the lower, ego-personality mind is not very sensitive to the inner, subjective energetics of the six heart virtues. This is not to say that the transmissions are not being received. They are, but the conscious, lower mind has difficulty detecting them in the presence of all the “chatter” it is receiving from the external world.
Eventually, your mind will become more sensitive to the presence of these new energetics in the form of deeper insights into their meanings (as mentioned previously). It is likely that any “results” of your daily practice will not be apparent for the first few weeks or months, but of course, there are always exceptions. In the majority of cases, it takes time for the lower mind to adjust and become sensitive to the subtle, but powerful presence of the new energetics.
So, looking for results is like pulling a seedling out of the soil each day to see how the root system is developing. Exposing the young, delicate roots too soon only interferes with a process that nature is quite capable of handling at the beginning stages of growth. Later, the results will be obvious.
Emergence
6:50 AM. Breakfast
• I am getting irritated and am bordering on anger when I suddenly realize that this past year I have become callous and thankless in relation to my family because of the stress and anxiety of my job. I have been avoiding the guilt associated with this and feel ashamed of myself.
This is an example of the emergence of the virtues into the consciousness of the practitioner. The consistent practice of when-which-how opens us to the sensitivity of the heart, and as a result, the virtues begin to emerge in our awareness. These intelligences will emerge if we do the needed work. In this case, compassion and appreciation emerge in response to our practitioner’s awareness of his callousness and thanklessness. This is because compassion and appreciation are the polar opposites of callousness and thanklessness.
In the section on meditation, we discussed results. This sudden emergence of an awareness of a deficiency in compassion and appreciation is the effect of the meditation and his effort in applying when-which-how. Without getting too technical or complicated, it should be noted that meditation and application of when-which-how are two forms of practice. In actuality, meditating on the virtues and applying the virtues are practicing emotional self-mastery. Meditation is a pro-active subjective or internal form of practice and applying the virtues in our daily encounters is a pro-active objective or external form of practice. Both are valuable and support one another.
It’s like a feedback system. We meditate on the virtues, keep some notes in a journal and during the day we suddenly realize a deficiency in our application of the virtues. We take action and apply when-which-how. During our next meditation session, we may recall subtle details leading to deeper insights concerning the objective aspect of the previous day’s work with the virtues. These insights now become integrated into our overall store of wisdom in emotional self-mastery.
This practice is different from many spiritual disciplines of the past in that more emphasis is placed on objective practice (applying when-which-how in daily encounters) than on subjective practice (long hours spent in meditation). Again, both are necessary, but with a new emphasis.
• I don’t know what comes over me, but I spontaneously decide to try the Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation that I read about in “Living from the Heart.”
This continues where we left off above. As you can see, our practitioner decides to do the grid meditation. The interesting part of this is that he is performing the meditation in the kitchen, at breakfast, with his wife and kids scurrying around getting ready for the day’s activities.
So, even though he is not performing his usual meditation session, he is still essentially actively engaged in a subjective form of practice. In other words, he is performing an active meditation.
Test the Theory
• So I breathe the virtues through my system and into the energy fields of my family. At first this feels kind of weird and airy-fairy, but I finally admit that it actually feels kind of nice.
Many people who are drawn to the Event Temples website and spend some time reading the material, may feel that all this stuff is weird and airy-fairy. One of the main points of Event Temples, however, is to demonstrate that this “stuff” is not weird and airy-fairy—that, on the contrary, it can be scientifically proven to be practical and effective—if people will give it a fair trial. We must simply give it a try, just like our practitioner, who had to admit that once he did the visualization, it felt kind of nice.
Awareness and Sensitivity
• Aware of my insensitivity, I realize that I need to show more appreciation for my family…
Perhaps for many people who have done work on themselves in the area of interpersonal relationships, this remark does not seem extraordinary. Nevertheless, in the context of practicing when-which-how, it signals an important moment because this individual is experiencing an increased awareness and sensitivity involving when to apply the virtues and which virtues to apply. Prior to this moment, he has been unconscious of any negative actions or feelings directed toward the family.
This is an example of the effects of opening the meditative heart-mind system to the virtues by practicing the Virtuous Cycle Technique each day. Eventually an awareness of the lack of a virtue (in this case, appreciation) bubbles to the surface of consciousness amid the activities of daily life. This is a sign of increasing sensitivity because the detection of the absence of a virtue can only occur if there is the awareness of that virtue already. Meditating on these virtues imprints these virtues on our heart-mind system. As a result, we become sensitive to their absence in the environment. This triggers our memories and we realize that the “when-which-how moment” has arrived.
Observation
• The arguing kids are too much to deal with now and I don’t know what to do about the irritation I feel because of the wet newspaper. All I can do right now is observe this irritation and feel it in my gut.
Part of this entry pertains to the pain of the moment. This is discussed in the next entry, but here we will focus on observation. This ability was discussed in the last section and I have brought it up once again because of its significance. This individual is developing the power to observe his environment. On the surface, this may appear to be insignificant, but in a practice such as emotional self-mastery, the ability to observe one’s own actions and reactions is paramount to effective practice.
We must develop the capacity to be present in the moment as often as we can. We must learn to be present to our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. This sense of presence gives us the power to manage these three areas of our lives with more efficiency. When we think, feel, or act unconsciously we are little more than robots performing our programmed functions throughout the day.
You are the entity using the human instrument of thought, feeling, and activity. Without your conscious presence, the instrument—through the conditioning of the social order—carries out its duties with almost no input from you, the supposed manager of the instrument. So there is no way to practice when-which-how unless YOU are present, consciously aware, and able to direct, manage, and observe the results of your self-initiated expressions of the heart virtues. So, the statement: “All I can do right now is observe this irritation and feel it in my gut,” is not such a futile activity as it first appears. If our practitioner was unable to observe the presence of irritation, how could he even begin to remedy this lack of emotional self-control?
This does, however, bring up another more subtle issue. This is the initial difficulty of increased sensitivity without the ability to be present and observe it. Through our work with the virtues, our individual energetic bodies (human instrument) are being imprinted with more intense energetics. Therefore, we need to try our best to observe this increased sensitivity of our individual energetic fields to these incoming forces.
A simple analogy might be that of parents with a newborn baby. While the baby is still an infant it requires care and an increased sensitivity on our part. The infant can be placed in a playpen or crib and it will be relatively secure and will require less observation than a two year old. The two year old is walking and climbing. It requires not only sensitivity, but a greatly increased amount of observation on the parents’ part. A more sophisticated, mobile, and curious child requires increased observation so that we can manage the child’s higher, more intense energies. The parents’ conscious presence becomes of prime importance.
The same holds true for our practice. Our responsibilities increase as the power of our energetics increase. We must be consciously present to observe and manage their use.
The Pain of the Moment
7:30 AM. Morning Traffic Jam
• I realize that it isn’t easy to activate the virtues when negative emotions have gotten into my system and are running riot. It takes a while for me to allow these negative emotions to subside before I can focus on bringing forth the feelings of humility and understanding.
Honestly speaking, it’s easy to send someone compassion or forgiveness when we are in a secure and comfortable mood. When our emotions are calm and we are in a state of well-being, it’s not too difficult to practice when-which-how. In fact, this is the whole point of emotional self-mastery—to create an individual human energetic field (IHEF) that is firmly rooted in the energetics of the soul—the solid platform of the energetic heart. This firm foundation brings us emotional control, strength, and serenity in the midst of chaos, which gives us the opportunity to serve others (and ourselves) in distress.
Have you had the chance to practice when-which-how in the midst of your own emotional turmoil? Try recalling your state of mind and emotion at the instant of sharp dispute or stubbing your toe. What emotion were you feeling? Love and peace, or anger and pain? If someone had asked you at the moment you stubbed your toe, what is 96 + 47, what would your answer have been? You probably see my point.
When we are in the midst of a personally emotional situation, it is highly likely that we will not be able to initiate the when-which-how practice in a timely way. In such situations, we are probably in much pain, and as our previous examples showed, when we are in any kind of pain it is difficult, if not impossible, to think and feel clearly.
Here is a personal example that will probably appear insignificant to most people, but the wonderful practicality of when-which-how is that we can even use it for the most seemingly trivial incidents of our lives. Let’s remember, though, that this practice is not about the events or contents themselves, but about how we react to them. With this in mind, here is my example. When I first began to practice when-which-how, I was watching a baseball game. My favorite player was at bat and he was hit in the hand with the baseball, by the opposing team’s pitcher. It turned out that the batter’s hand was broken. He was the best hitter on the team and he was disabled for a month with a broken bone in his hand.
I was angry and frustrated, yet immediately remembered when-which-how. I thought to myself, “This is the time to engage the practice.” Do you know that I was so upset and irritated that I could not begin the process? In fact, believe it or not, I was having a difficult time recalling the names of the six virtues! I was doubly shocked. Not only couldn’t I think straight, but I couldn’t feel straight either. I was trapped in an emotional whirlpool of pain and frustration and had no hope of engaging the heart virtues.
On an intellectual level, I knew the pitcher had not injured the batter on purpose, but yet I couldn’t express understanding, compassion, or forgiveness into the situation. This, I believe, is an example of how the pain of the moment affects our ability to practice when-which-how.
In our example here, our practitioner has sensed his lack of appreciation for his family, but he is soon overwhelmed by his irritation with the wet newspaper and the larger issue of his arguing children. He is in too much emotional pain and turmoil to engage the practice. The ability to overcome this impediment comes with experience in the practice. At the beginning stages, if you are overwhelmed with a situation, don’t blame yourself for your inability to express the virtues. Be patient and wait for your emotions to subside and later, when you have some time to spare, do the work of sending what you feel to be the appropriate virtues. Remember that the energetic heart and higher self operate in a non-spacetime, non-local manner. This means that you can perform your service later (in time) if you are unable to engage the practice when the situation is occurring.
The Ups and Downs of Practice
8:30 AM. At Work
Blame
• I get to work just in time for my project meeting and I immediately find out that something has gone wrong with the project. I know it’s not my fault, but is obviously the fault of some idiot in another department.
This initial reaction is obviously a low point and is a normal reaction under the circumstances. It’s normal to be defensive in a situation like this one and many of us usually look to shift the blame for mistakes to others rather than ourselves. Nevertheless, practicing when-which-how demands that we have the valor to face situations with honesty and this especially pertains to our own attitudes and behaviors. Although this is a low point, he soon recovers from this reaction.
Rapid Re-alignment
• Observing the thoughts and feelings that come into my mind, I cannot avoid the fact that I have just condemned someone for making an error even though I have no evidence to back it up. My heart tells me that this is not the right attitude.
Still able to observe his thoughts and feelings, our fellow practitioner has unconsciously drawn from the energy of valor to admit to himself that he is condemning some unknown individual for a major mistake on this important company project. This is obviously a high point. He comes to terms with his selfish reaction and desires to send an apology to this other person. He does this by sending the virtue of forgiveness to the unknown individual he has falsely accused for the foul-up. In this case, he is not only forgiving the other individual, but asking this individual’s forgiveness for his unfair judgment. This is an instance of how a virtue is used. This is an example of releasing oneself and others from a negative and energy draining thought pattern.
Just as important, this is a good example of how rapidly we can recover from a negative emotional state when we align with the energetics of the heart virtues. Our ability to quickly regain our positive emotional state becomes stronger the more consistently we practice when-which-how.
Renewed Energy
• A couple of months ago, I would have been irritated at least all day over an incident like this one. Comparing that feeling of irritation with this new feeling of forgiveness is like a breath of fresh air. Instead of feeling locked into an irritable and uncomfortable emotional state, by contrast, I feel liberated, able to let go of this emotional discomfort. Ordinarily, I would have been drained of energy all day, but now I feel energized and somehow more empowered.
Now that he has been able to forgive, he is suddenly aware of how energized he feels. This is one reward of working from the heart—we have the strength to break free from the burdens of guilt and shame associated with our inability to face our internal shortcomings. To paraphrase a description from Lyricus, surrendering these iron weights of the ego to the gold of the heart is the beginning of liberation and a sense of renewed energy.
Crisis
10:30 AM.
• My boss calls me into her office to inform me that it wasn’t an idiot from another department who screwed up, but it was, in fact, me. I am the idiot who screwed up. I am suddenly in a state of shock!
Our practitioner has just come off a high point in his practice and now, out of nowhere, he is hit with this shocking news. I am not championing the experience of shock in our lives, but the rapid appearance of unexpected news is a real opportunity to move forward in emotional self-mastery. A life crisis is almost always accompanied by pain at some level. Life is filled with turning points that are like forks in the road of living. They represent signposts by which we can change the direction of our lives. Sometimes we make these decisions on our own and sometimes they are made for us through some unexpected news. In any case, they are unavoidable. In our example here, a crisis has broken out in this practitioner’s life and in the first instance, he did not have the practice of when-which-how to fall back on. In the second instance he does. Spiritual crises are often difficult and painful experiences, but they are invaluable lessons in psychological and spiritual development if we take advantage of them. Change is going to happen to all of us anyway, so why not prepare ahead of time. If that change does contain pain, we can lessen it considerably through practicing emotional self-mastery. More importantly, we will learn something new about ourselves and the world, thus giving us valuable knowledge to apply the next time a crisis emerges in our lives.
Increased Light
• Here I am, sending forgiveness to someone who made this huge mistake and all along it was me. I was nice enough to take the time to send forgiveness to somebody and they didn’t even need it! I AM an idiot. Not only that, I am a conceited, egotistical idiot, for I automatically assumed that because I am such a superior person the mistake could not possibly have been mine.
Our friend is really beating himself up over this mess. Not only is he in shock, but he is ashamed of himself for being so egotistical. Even though this self-flagellation appears to be a down situation, it is actually an up situation because our practitioner is experiencing his ego-personality in the light of his own soul. This light is powerful and once activated in the consciousness shines brightly on the “good and bad” of our egoic self. Without this feedback, how are we to practice when-which-how? Pain in the physical body is a necessary and self-protecting feedback system for alerting us to health problems. The same holds true for emotional pain. As long as we don’t feel the mental and emotional pain we cause ourselves and others, we have no ability to improve our relationships or harmonize the inner chaos and turmoil we live with everyday.
The energetic heart is the open window through which the blazing light of the soul shines into our consciousness. If we have the valor to examine the contents of our consciousness that are revealed in this higher light, we will make rapid progress in our journey. We simply have to take the time to look.
Reflection and Review
12:00 Noon
• Sitting in my office at lunchtime, I reflect on the morning’s events. I have recovered enough from my emotional reactions to look at the attitudes and behaviors I expressed as a result of this crisis.
Although not explicit, our practitioner is communing with his higher self through the energetic heart. He is turning within and examining the day’s events through the clear lens of the soul, instead of the ego-personality (which always must create excuses for defending its temporal existence). The mind is playing an important role, now that it is free from the influence of ego’s defense mechanisms. Working within the unbiased light of love, the mind is able to use its power of reason to clearly judge and decide the best course of action. From this, the mind and heart can formulate a plan. This plan consists of using when-which-how to bring healing, harmony, and order to the situation.
These reflection and review periods might be thought of as counseling sessions with the higher self that take place in the hallowed chambers of the heart. In many ways, this is similar to that place in consciousness described as the chamber of self.
Acceptance
• Okay, enough wallowing in what has already been done. All I can do now is realign to my energetic heart. Immediately, I close my eyes and visualize myself as a point of divine love surrounded by the six virtues.
After replaying the events, he decides that he has spent enough time on self-pity. Often times we cannot help feeling sorry for ourselves and marveling over the apparent fact that everything always seems to happen to us. It’s almost an instinctual reaction, like when something gets too close to your eye and it blinks. Or when the doctor tests your reflexes by tapping your knee. Our sense of victimization is so ingrained in our energy fields that we have trouble consciously intervening and powering down these reactions. Don’t worry about it. If you find yourself in self-pity, wallowing in your misfortune, accept it for what it is, but move on. Acknowledge it without conditions or excuses and get back to the work of realigning with the heart, so that the higher energetics can start to flow through your energy fields once again. Naturally, all crises are not created equal and therefore, each one will subside in its own timeframe. Nevertheless, initiating the grid meditation—visualizing yourself as the center of divine love, with the six heart virtues surrounding you—will eventually restore your alignment and open your connection to the network of spiritual energetics.
Alignment and Insight
• The simple act of performing this exercise, allowing the energies of these virtues to flow through my being, somehow renews my spirit.
• This crisis is turning into a breakthrough. I now see that my heart has led me to the soul itself. I feel uplifted and shifted in consciousness to a state of serenity and unity.
When we seek alignment with the energetic heart, we are also aligning with our higher self. The more we make the effort to align ourselves with the spiritual aspect of life (instead of the material, form side only), the more insights we will receive. If we have the will to persist in practicing when-which-how, we discover that our lives and our practice merge into one expression of living. This comes later on, but it does no harm to mention the goal of our work.
First we live the life of unity—unity with the world of material living. We are practicing the social order. Next we discover a spiritual teaching that resonates with us. As we engage the new practice, we begin to live a dual life. One is the ordinary life of material living and the other is the life of spiritual living, such as learning to live from the heart. This marks the dual stage. Eventually, this stage is superseded by the integration and fusion of the material and spiritual pathways. Your two life expressions become indistinguishable as they combine to form one life expressing emotional self-mastery. These uplifting moments, often born of crisis, foreshadow that future day when the two become one.
Empowerment
1:00 PM.
• Feeling confident about this heartfelt experience, I do something that I never would have dreamt of before today. I go to my boss’s office and ask to talk to her. I apologize for my emotional outburst and the mistake I made on the project. I am especially sorry for blaming someone else for it before the evidence showed the true source of the error. I think to myself how great it feels to admit my true position in all this—to not have to defend a false position. The virtue of humility has lifted this burden from my shoulders.
Here we see that our practitioner has found the courage to be honest with his boss. He expresses humility through his apology and regret for acting so egotistically. This humble and honest admission is powered by valor. In this case, even though he has brought the virtue of humility into his life experience he has not expressed it openly. Valor is the energetic power source for driving the virtues into expression. Expression can happen two ways, internally to ourselves and externally in our relationships to family, friends, and co-workers.
Of all the virtues, humility is probably the one that is most repugnant to the ego-personality because the ego must feel itself to be in a superior position in relation to others. Interestingly, of all the virtues, humility has this negative connotation attached to it and its cognates. For the ego, to be humble is humiliating. This virtue is interesting in this sense and warrants deeper thought for those who want to investigate it further.
Freedom to Be Honest
• I then find the courage to tell my manager that I really can’t stay overtime today to correct the problem because my son is playing in a soccer match after school.
Due to his new sense of freedom from the heavy ego mask, he feels comfortable with being himself, without all the defensive walls in place. It actually feels good to be upfront and not feel the need to make false excuses for himself.
Energetic Transfers
• For the first time since I have worked for her, she is sharing information about her personal life. She relates that her daughter also plays soccer and that she always tries to attend her daughter’s games.
As a result of this practitioner’s efforts to practice when-which-how, he has affected his relationship with his manager in a positive manner. His valor and humility have freed him from his ego’s defense mechanisms and allowed him to be honest about his son’s soccer game.
It appears that his manager may have been affected by the radiatory effects of this practitioner’s earlier distribution of the six heart virtues into the energy fields of his co-workers.
Remembering To Practice
• I make a quick mental note to remember to do this more often because, up until today, I have only remembered to apply the technique once in a while. If I can discipline myself to be more aware of my interactions, I can increase my opportunities to apply the virtues to the small difficulties of life and prevent them from growing into major problems, like the crisis today.
As he reviews the day, our practitioner marvels at the difference in the outcomes of these events, compared to his previous defensive lifestyle. Despite all the problems he encountered today, he learned much from them and had the power to work through them with much less emotional turmoil. His energies weren’t drained and he feels “right” with himself. Not self-righteous, but aligned with a more genuine center of being than his ego-personality. He is now heart-centered and receiving the spiritual energy and guidance of the higher self in the form of the six heart virtues.
Realizing all this, he resolves to remember to apply the when-which-how technique more often. Remembering to practice is obviously vital to living from the heart. The problem is that we are so habituated to our emotional reactions that they have already occurred before we notice them—if we notice them at all. At least noticing these reactions is a good start.
So, we have come full circle in knowing when to initiate the practice.
• First we have to be present in the moment, aware of what is happening around us.
• Second, when we are present in the moment, we can observe our internal state and the external activities around us.
• Third, our awareness and observation allow us to detect the absence or deficiency of the virtues. Clues to this can often be found in the presence of their opposites.
• Fourth, we must then remember to apply the virtues to the situation. Thus, remembering to practice is a composite of awareness, observation, and sensitivity to an encounter.
We forget to engage the technique when we lose our self-awareness and become identified with the unfolding situation. It’s like being sleepy and telling yourself that you must remain awake. Several seconds, minutes, or even hours later you realize that you fell asleep and never knew it. Our entire life we have been asleep in relation to our higher self. Our encounter with Living from the Heart is like an alarm clock waking us up to our real world. Our difficulty stems from our sleep habit. We wake up for a second or two, but fall asleep without even knowing it has happened.
The crisis experienced by our practitioner is analogous to a family member shaking us out of our dreams and urging us to wake up because we are going to miss an important appointment. In order to improve our practice of when-which-how we must discover how to maintain wakefulness in our daily encounters. Experiment to find the best way for yourself. No matter what technique you use, the more you interrupt the ego’s sleep habit, the less influence it will exert in your day-to-day encounters.
Neutrality
5:30 PM. The Soccer Game
• Halfway through the game, my son’s team is losing and no one is happy. Meanwhile, I’m thinking about this whole concept of competitive sports and how it fits in with emotional self-mastery. Should I be sending the heart virtues to anyone right now? What if I send valor to my son’s team, but not the opposing team? How can a person send courage to one team and withhold it from another? Where is the compassion in that? I decide that I should be neutral in terms of the current soccer game…. So, I decide to send both teams valor.
Although this soccer game is not a critical issue, it brings up some deeper issues such as, personal attachments, vested interests, conflicts of interest, and prejudice, to name a few.
Our practitioner is faced with a dilemma—should he send valor to his son’s team, so they have the strength to win the game? Ordinarily, this is not a problem. We see this every day in sports all over the world. There is nothing inherently wrong about wanting our team to win a game, but how can we send heart virtues to one team and not the other? If everyone is playing by the same rules, either team has the right to winning. Excuse the pun, but there has to be a level playing field when working with the virtues of the heart. In fact, we have to raise the level of the playing field while keeping it level. In the case of this soccer game, sending valor to both teams appears to be the right choice. Either send it to no one or send it to everyone, but don’t choose sides.
This example is a form of neutrality in the practice of when-which-how. When we recognize when to send the virtues, we cannot withhold the energy transfer because we judge the recipient to be unworthy. If this happens it means that we have slipped back into the sleep of the ego-personality and we are judging the situation, person, or group in terms of the duality of good and evil. The bottom line is that in our encounters with our fellow human beings it is best to be neutral in our distribution of the virtues.
Experience Comes with Practice
8:00 PM. Dinner
• We are finally eating dinner and my wife is telling me about the chores that must get done this weekend. I am nodding in agreement, but I haven’t heard a word because I am thinking about how I am going to straighten out the mess at work. I then realize to my dismay that I haven’t been present. My mind has drifted off and I am not giving my wife the attention she deserves (that anyone deserves).
We have already discussed the importance of being present in the moment and of being aware of our surroundings and the people in our lives. The point of mentioning it here is not only to reiterate its importance, but to use this as an example of how quickly our practitioner is remembering to engage the practice. He quickly wakes up to the fact that he hasn’t been present and therefore has not given his wife the attention she deserves.
This is an example of the cumulative effect of performing when-which-how as often as possible. The more we practice it, the more experience we gain, and this experience adds to our skill and ability to build in the habit of living from the heart instead of from the ego-personality. Below are more examples of the snowballing momentum that we can build into our lives through practicing when-which-how. All of these realizations are born from the virtues of the heart.
• I apologize for not paying attention to our discussion.
• Through valor, I am able to honestly express my situation at work and explain the reasons for my callous and thankless behavior of late.
• I express to her how appreciative I am of her efforts to support the family in so many ways.
• I express my understanding for how she must have felt during this stage of our relationship.
• Turning within, I put myself in her position and can feel compassion welling up in me, and I send it to her.
• Meanwhile, another argument has broken out between the two kids in the next room and instead of screaming at them to shut-up and go to bed, I inform them that my wife and I will help resolve their argument in the morning.
• As the music is playing I picture the six virtues energy grid surrounding me and enveloping most of the rooms in our home. A new atmosphere of harmony descends upon our family…at least for awhile.
Maintaining Perspective
10 PM. Bedtime
• As I drift to sleep, I am aware that my efforts to apply the heart virtues are turning out very well. I have a lot to learn about how to use them more skillfully, but I am pleasantly surprised at how effectively they work, even for a novice like myself.
There is much to learn, but we grow into this work. As long as we maintain our perspective, our practice will unfold according to the intelligence of our heart. Through the virtue of humility we don’t overestimate ourselves nor underestimate ourselves. We recognize ourselves for where we are in the practice. In this case, our practitioner knows that he is a novice and he is comfortable with knowing where he is because his intuition tells him that he is headed in the right direction.
Summation
You may already have noticed that much of this work has to do with honestly facing ourselves and admitting that we too often ignore the problem areas of our emotional lives, or that we become insensitive to these areas due to our denial of their existence. A large part of the when-which-how practice is opening ourselves to these shadow areas of our ego-personalities. Therefore, a great deal of this work is speaking truth to the power of our own egos.
Our practitioner has admitted to himself that he has been insensitive to the needs of his family. He has acknowledged that his ego has gotten in the way of his attitudes to his co-workers. He recognizes that many of the difficulties he faces are self-created.
His relatively brief experiment with the practice of when-which-how has yielded positive results. He can feel them and experience the difference in the quality of his life. His decision to align with the heart virtues has helped him make objective observations of his life and relationships. Living from the heart has increased his sensitivity to his inner and outer life, and the virtue of valor has played an important part in this unfolding process.
SCENARIO EXAMPLES OF
WHEN-WHICH-HOW
The following scenarios provide examples of people from various walks of life who discovered the when-which-how technique, made a decision to practice it, and improved the quality of their lives, as well as the lives of those around them.
Nurse at a Hospital. A nurse at a busy hospital is under continuous stress from the overload of patients and the overtime hours required to meet the demand. Before discovering the when-which-how technique, the pressure of her job had been affecting her health and her family life. In fact, her husband had developed cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy and yet she did not have the time to devote to his care because of her responsibilities at work. She couldn’t take a leave of absence or quit her job because they needed the income. Consequently, she was even more resentful toward her patients because it seemed to her that she was giving more care to her patients than to her own husband.
Now, having discovered when-which-how and practicing the technique for a few months, she feels somewhat better at every level of her life. She has more energy, she is more alert and efficient, and most importantly, her emotional life is less chaotic and anxiety-filled. Now her emotional state is positive, stable, and manageable. Her new-found positive emotional stability has spread to her co-workers, for they are less irritable. She wonders if this is because her emotional attitude and behavior are reducing the stress and irritation in her co-workers’ energy fields.
Prior to her work with emotional self-mastery, she had become irritable toward her patients, often treating them as objects rather than as people. Because her negative emotions were so entrenched, it took some effort for her to align with the energetic heart. The line of least resistance for her was through the virtue of compassion.
At first she felt ashamed of herself for becoming so callous and cold toward her patients, but the virtue of understanding allowed her to see that she really was a good person, but due to a combination of complacency and stress she had simply lost her way. Through her work with the heart virtues she has restored her balance, aligned with the energetic heart and can now apply when-which-how to her patients, co-workers, and family.
Small Family Farms Threatened by Large Corporation. A man who is a third generation farmer is worried about the recent takeover of family farms in his region. A large, international food corporation is buying all the farms around him and he doesn’t understand what is happening to his world.
He turns to the six heart virtues for guidance, and it is the virtue of understanding that brings some light to his mind. He begins to read about world affairs and economics, topics that have never interested him. As he takes a deeper interest in these matters, he begins to see the larger picture. Although he does not agree with what is occurring to him or his farming neighbors, at least he comprehends the reasons for these upsetting changes.
Somehow, he finds it within himself to send forgiveness to the executives of this large consortium, for he realizes that they are under pressure from stockholders to increase the value of the corporation’s stock. It is all so complicated and there does not seem to be any one individual person to blame for this terrible situation.
As a result of the insights granted by understanding and the freedom given by forgiveness, he feels compassion for himself and everyone involved in this problem. He sends compassion to everyone. This may not have solved the problem, but at least he no longer feels angry, bitter, and hopeless. He can now think clearly because he is more positive and understands the challenge. He now applies valor to facing the situation knowing he has the energetic heart virtues to light his way forward.
Autistic Child. A couple has two children, one of whom is autistic. During a family birthday celebration the autistic child suddenly loses control due to all the stimulation. The mother immediately seeks to calm the child by holding him and externally expressing compassion and understanding in calm, soothing words. At the same time, the father visualizes the virtues grid expanding outward into the room, encompassing all the guests.
The mother’s loving response to her child is the same as it has always been, except for the addition of the when-which-how practice. Ever since she and her husband began working with emotional self-mastery, they have noticed a vast improvement in their emotional responses to everyday situations, especially in regard to their autistic child.
Now that they are working from the heart, they have more strength and energy to deal with their child. They are confident in the power of love because they have observed the calming effects on their son (as well as their daughter) through their work with the heart virtues.
Businessman Coping with Unhappy Employees. The owner of a small business is negotiating with his employees for an increase in wages and better working conditions.
In the past, he would have eliminated the employees who initiated this “trouble,” and mollified the rest with an inconsequential increase in pay, explaining that this was better than losing one’s job.
After discovering the practice of when-which-how, he now has a different outlook on these matters. Although he must keep costs down to stay competitive, he now realizes that he has been too stingy toward his employees. Managing the costs of doing business is only one aspect of running an efficient enterprise. The other aspect involves the experience and skills of the workers who produce the goods and services he offers. Without these he could not compete in the marketplace at all.
When he first began practicing when-which-how he found himself focused on appreciation. The virtue of appreciation came to his attention immediately. As he worked with this virtue, he realized that much of the trouble he had with his business involved his lack of appreciation for his employees. As he examined this attitude more closely, he realized that he had taken his employees and their skills for granted. He had not appreciated their value to his enterprise. When he braided appreciation with understanding, he came to realize the importance of his employees. This allowed him to adjust his relationship with them through humility. As he internally outflowed these three virtues to his employees and learned to work with the other virtues, as well, he eventually instituted the when-which-how practice on the job and taught it himself.
Now, whenever the time comes for hearing grievances or negotiating wages and benefits, humility allows each party to respect one another’s position and status within the company. Understanding allows them to grasp one another’s interests and concerns. And appreciation allows them to value each other as members of one team competing in the marketplace.
Racial Prejudice. A black man is walking to his car and notices a white couple staring at him. He senses that they are afraid of him because of his race. Ordinarily, he would be feeling anger, resentment or disappointment by their negative reaction to him, thereby contributing his own negative emotions to the situation (and to the CHEF).
Now, however, he focuses on his energetic heart and sends them understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. By doing this, he eliminates any negative emotions he might produce and, simultaneously, sends positive emotions to the couple.
Although he cannot single-handedly change everyone’s attitudes, he knows that practicing the six heart virtues has changed his attitudes and behaviors toward others. It just seems sensible, that by reducing his own negative emotions, he generates a presence that is essentially positive and non-threatening to others.
Through the virtue of understanding and compassion, he grasps the wider picture, the sad history of human prejudice throughout the ages. He even recognizes that, as a human being, he too has practiced prejudice. At least now, through the practice of when-which-how, he has greatly reduced his negative contributions to the CHEF.
Woman Commuting Home. After an exhausting day at work, a woman finds herself sitting close to four teenagers on her commuter train. These young people are noisy and are all talking at once. To add further chaos to the encounter, at least one of them is also playing a video game because she can hear the weird noises it is producing.
She has children of her own and realizes that these teens are simply enjoying each others’ company, albeit in a rather boisterous and irritating manner. So, she realizes that this is the perfect time to apply her newly discovered technique of practicing the heart virtues. But how should she approach this situation?
She decides to use valor, so she turns to them and politely asks them to talk a little more quietly. While she is making this request, she is also sending them understanding and appreciation. She feels appreciation is needed because she wants them to feel her respect for them as young people. She wants them to feel her understanding and appreciation of their youthful spirit and abundant energy—their enthusiasm for life.
These feelings resonate with the teenagers. They sense her respect for them and they express their apologies and try to tone down their conversation.
Financial Stress. A young, single mother is running late picking up her daughter at daycare. She can hardly afford to pay for daycare, but she has to work in order to pay her rent and keep food on the table. If she does not get to the daycare center in the next ten minutes, she is going to be charged an additional $20.00, an amount her tight budget cannot cover.
Suddenly, an elderly man pulls out in front of her car and is driving far below the speed limit. She is very frustrated and angry, asking the universe why this has to happen to her. Doesn’t she have enough problems already? Then she remembers that she is supposed to be practicing emotional self-mastery. And, to be honest, at this moment she really doesn’t want to.
Nonetheless, somehow she manages to calm down enough to realign with her heart. She visualizes herself as divine love with the six heart virtues radiating outward in a field around her. She sends forgiveness to the elderly man in front of her, for understanding has shown her that this man may be financially strained like herself. He may be on a fixed income. He may not see too well, but still must get to the store to buy his groceries. He is probably driving slowly to avoid causing an accident. Should he be forced to give up driving?
Suddenly, she feels enormous compassion for this person, after all he could be her own father. How would she feel if someone was cursing at her father or mother because they were driving too slowly? At this point, the virtue of humility entered her energy field and she accepted her situation as just part of the overall circumstances of living in this twenty-first century. She thought to herself, “We’ve all got problems; we’re all in this mess together so why add to the negativity of humanity, when I have an opportunity to send out positive emotional energy.” Just then, the elderly driver turned right and she was free to get to the daycare center in time. She then thought, “It’s amazing how much you can learn in two minutes.”
Difficult Decision. A middle-aged couple is faced with a difficult decision. The husband’s father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and he and his wife must decide whether to care for him in their home or to put him in a nursing home. They are torn emotionally because although they have a spare bedroom, they also have two teenaged children and they worry about the impact this will have on them.
They seek the opinions and the advice of medical professionals, social workers, and family members, but in the end it is really their decision to make. Ultimately, through their practice of when-which-how, they seek the advice of the energetic heart. Even going to this profound source of wisdom, there does not seem to be a correct answer or perfect solution to the dilemma. In addition, their father does not want to be a burden on the family, but at this stage, he is not capable of making an objective decision.
Eventually, the couple decides to try their best to keep their father at home with them for as long as they can. It is agreed that if the situation becomes too difficult for them and their children, they will place him in a nursing home. The virtue of valor gave them the courage to proceed in this direction. This decision feels right to them because they have balanced compassion with understanding. They realize that it will take much compassion and understanding for the entire family to work through this crisis. Therefore, the couple agrees to work hard at integrating emotional self-mastery, meditation, and practicing when-which-how into their lives.
Natural Disaster. People living in a village in Pakistan live in constant fear of another devastating earthquake. Their lives are continuously overshadowed by the memories of the earthquake that destroyed the few possessions they had, not to mention the loss of their small school and medical clinic. Their days are dark and hopeless.
In the meantime, several thousand individuals scattered throughout the world, but connected to the internet are beginning a group meditation at Event Temples. They have gathered in cyberspace at the same time in order to transmit the energies of the heart to all the people in that region of Pakistan where this earthquake took place.
The quantum community of when-which-how practitioners targets, focuses, directs, and transfers the virtues of the heart to this specific region in an effort to lift the emotional pall hanging in the subjective atmosphere of these people. This projection and injection of the light of love lifts the spirits of these people and gives them the needed strength to rebuild their lives.
The next day, in that small Pakistani village, the people feel a little better. Many of the people feel a new hope and regain confidence and enthusiasm for rebuilding their lives. Within a week comes word that the UN is sending them additional building supplies to aid them in their recovery.
THE HOW STAGE OF PRACTICE
“Let my heart be wise. It is the gods’ best gift.”
Euripides
In Section 3, we learned much about the virtues. We saw what a typical day was like for an individual who did not practice when-which-how. Then we repeated that typical day and saw that there was a dramatic difference when the practice of when-which-how was applied to the same situations and encounters.
It was obvious when our practitioner applied the practice and which virtues he applied, but maybe it was not so obvious how he applied them. In this section, we will examine the how stage more closely. This phase of the practice is more open-ended than the other two.
It is clear that we need to maintain our attention and stay aware from moment-to-moment during our daily encounters. With our awareness focused in the present, we increase our sensitivity to our internal thoughts and feelings as well as to the external attitudes and behaviors of those we encounter. At the same time, because we are aware and sensitive, we can observe our internal state and the external situation we happen to be experiencing. As we get into the habit of maintaining this state of being, life becomes much more immediate, rich, and full. This developed state of being is a potent platform from which to practice when-which-how.
At this point we are ready to choose one or more virtues to apply to the situation we are experiencing. Taking an instance from the example of the typical day, after lunch our practitioner goes to his manager’s office with the intention of apologizing for his negative attitude and behavior earlier in the day. He also finds the courage to tell her that he really needs to leave on time because his son is playing soccer after school. He recognized when to apply the virtues and he chose which virtues to apply to the situation, namely, valor and humility. But how did he apply them?
Aspects of the How Stage
Perhaps, the most obvious element of this how phase is that he applied those two virtues externally, by having a talk with his boss. First, he was valorous enough to go to her office and second, he was humble enough to admit his shortcomings. By simply being truthful, he used valor again, to confront the issue of staying late for work. In the past, out of fear of disapproval, he would have made up a phony excuse to get out of the situation, but by learning to stay aligned with the heart, he felt more confident about being forthright.
Another aspect of the how phase is that he applied these virtues to himself. A third factor in the how phase is the order or sequence in which the virtues are applied. Which virtues we apply is one phase, but the how phase can also include the sequence in which we apply them.
The following list includes the most obvious ways of how the virtues can be applied to an encounter.
1. To the sequence of transfer. This is the order in which we transmit the virtues we have chosen. For example, if we feel we should work with humility, understanding, and compassion we use our intuitive insight to determine the sequence of transfer. Is the sequence H>U>C, or H>C>U, or U>H>C or U>C>H, or C>U>H, or C>H>U? This looks much more complex than it is. As we learn to work with the intelligence of the heart, these details will unfold naturally with our increasing sensitivity, experience, and intuition.
2. To oneself externally. This means that we express the virtues into our physical lives through some activity. The activity, in turn, reinforces that virtue and braids others into it. For instance, we take a walk in the local park and express our appreciation to nature. The natural setting reinforces our appreciation and evokes a feeling of humility. This experience triggers a desire to return home and listen to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.
3. To oneself subjectively or internally. In this instance, we transfer particular virtues to ourselves for the particular situation in which we are involved.
4. To others externally at our physical location. We speak to others in our presence and express the particular virtues we feel are needed.
5. To others internally at our physical location. We subjectively send the virtues we believe will serve those present.
6. To others internally at a distance. We subjectively send virtues to a person or group in another part of the world.
7. To others subjectively no longer in physical life. In this case we send virtues to loved ones who have left the physical world, but who we believe are living in the next world, however you may define it.
8. To the past. We internally send virtues to encounters we have experienced or to situations that still require harmonizing.
9. To the future. We internally send virtues to encounters we may have or to situations that may develop.
10. To the activation of the Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation in any encounter or situation—external, internal, self-targeted, other-targeted, past, present, or future.
The issue of transferring virtue energetics into the past and future may seem odd from the standpoint of our existence in the spacetime dimension. Nevertheless, if the higher self is beyond spacetime, then it is possible that our current alignment to the higher self, via the heart, allows us to send the heart virtues into the past and the future.
Another consideration is the dimension of an encounter. Is it focused at the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual? It could be any combination of these. How we respond to an encounter may depend on how we have experienced it ourselves. I have included these dimensional perspectives in the examples that follow. It should be noted that these dimensional perspectives are themselves dependent upon the subjective experiences of each practitioner. Consequently, my particular choices cannot be definitive and are not meant to be.
Here are a few examples of the points listed above.
• Attending a public meeting, you work internally (5) by expressing understanding and appreciation into the meeting room. Because this is the first meeting you have attended, you don’t feel comfortable expressing these virtues at the physical level.
• Touring a World War II battlefield, you work subjectively with those killed (7) in a past war by expressing appreciation, compassion, and forgiveness into the battlefield. You feel this emotionally. You happen to notice two war veterans nearby and you physically express your appreciation for their sacrifice.
• During a prayer or meditation meeting, you visualize the future world’s people living in harmony (9) while subjectively transmitting the six heart virtues into the CHEF. This is expressed in a combination of spiritual, mental, and emotional dimensions. Afterwards, you mingle with your friends and physically express various virtues through your discussions and comments.
• Attending a university graduation, you practice number 10 in the present and also apply number 5 by expressing valor, understanding, appreciation, and humility. You then express the same virtues through the application of number 9. These transfers encompass the spiritual and emotional dimensions.
• Watching the news, you see a report about a particular group of people suffering the ravages of war. You apply number 6 by expressing compassion. This encounter is physically based, but your application is at the emotional dimension.
• Worrying about your sick child, you practice number 3 by expressing valor and understanding and numbers 4 and 5 by expressing compassion, understanding, and valor. This encounter includes the physical and emotional dimensions.
• Deciding to register for swimming lessons, despite your lifelong fear of water, you practice 2 by expressing valor. This is an expression at the mental and physical dimensions.
Recording When-Which-How Encounters
Using this list as a guide, you should be able to identify real life examples by closely observing your daily activities and encounters. In order to help identify the various aspects of when-which-how I have created a table (see the following page) in which these elements can be recorded. I have assembled the when-which-how encounters related to A New Day in the Life of scenario and entered them in this table. A blank table form similar to this example might prove valuable for recording your daily encounters and a blank table form is provided at the end of this guide. This is a form of tracking that is somewhat different than the tracking offered at Event Temples. They are similar in the sense that their purpose is to help you gain an organized overview of when, which, and how you apply the six virtues.
Following the table is a recording chart that places the various encounters of the day into their respective categories. It provides a visual overview of the daily practice of when-which-how and, in this respect, it has an advantage over the table format. This recording chart is also filled in with the encounters that are listed in the recording table. Each block is filled in according to whether the encounter was applied internally, externally, to oneself, or to others.
Each cell contains:
• the time (Not that all encounters are assumed to be in the present unless otherwise noted.)
• description of the encounter
• the virtues applied
• the encounter type
• the internal dimension, emotional, mental, spiritual
Not everyone will want to record their experiences in this style, so it is offered as an optional tool to be used if it serves your needs. The notation abbreviations are suggestions only. If you choose to make your own chart, you may want to modify these or create your own notation system.
I highly recommend recording your daily encounters in some form, even it if is only at the beginning stages of your practice. You can do this through journaling and through the recording charts in this guide.
I highly recommend recording your daily encounters in some form, even it if is only at the beginning stages of your practice. You can do this through journaling and through the recording charts in this guide.
When-Which-How Recording Table
When-Which-How Recording Chart
Follow-on Expressions
There are myriad combinations and sequences of expressing the virtues. Additionally, how they are expressed—whether internally, externally, to self, to others, present, past, or future—can only be determined by each practitioner. There may very well be other “hows” of the practice, that are not yet obvious, but which will only emerge with more experience. At this stage, we are focused on learning the basics. Before leaving this topic, there are still a few other factors to briefly discuss.
“When you express one or more of the heart virtues into an encounter you can then observe its influence on the event or participants therein. The observation can then guide your follow-on expression, its intensity, to whom it is directed, and its duration. This cycle of expression and observation enables a more fine-grained expression, and it is this adjustment that leads you forward on the path to emotional self-mastery.”
This quotation mentions a cycle of expression and observation. It then describes:
A follow-on expression
• Its intensity
• To whom it is directed
• Its duration
For example: You inform your husband that you are going to see a movie with your girlfriend this evening and that he will have to prepare his own dinner. What is your observation? Is he eager to see you go? Does he have a shocked look on his face? Is he showing signs of panic?
Okay, I’ll back up a little. Your husband comes home from work and you tell him that your girlfriend called and she wants to see a movie that is playing for the last night. You want to go with her, so he will have to prepare his dinner. This all happened unexpectedly, so you ask him to forgive the inconvenience and to please understand how much you really want to see this film. You observe his reactions to your expressed virtues.
He expresses compassion by telling you that you deserve a break because you are always sacrificing your own needs for the family. He tells you that it’s no problem, he’ll figure out something to eat.
You observe that despite his last statement, he is somewhat unsettled. To soothe his anxiety, you express compassion and understanding with great intensity and duration (about a minute), and then, to his pleasant surprise, you open the refrigerator to show him the casserole you prepared earlier, which he only has to heat in the oven. You also point out all the ingredients he needs to make his salad. He expresses his appreciation and gives you a big hug of thanks.
This somewhat playful example is meant to show how natural when-which-how can be in actual practice. We express the virtues and we observe the results. According to the situation, we adjust the “follow-on expression, its intensity, to whom it is directed, and the duration.”
The challenge is to stay present and maintain attention while engaged in the encounter. The intelligence of the heart and the six virtues will help to guide the flow of every encounter if our intention is aligned with love. If we open ourselves to the heart, the virtues will emerge and serve us, so we can serve each other.
Let’s explore one more example before continuing to our next topic. We will bring back our practitioner and his family for this example.
Recall that he and his wife decided to help their children resolve their arguments. The next day, he and his wife gathered the two children for a family meeting, something they had not done for quite a while. First, the parents expressed their appreciation to the children by telling them how much they were loved. The parents expressed humility by admitting that they probably should have called a meeting sooner and not allowed the children’s occasional arguments to reach a point of being continuous. He followed up with valor, by explaining that he was actually more at fault because he was usually the parent who helped settle the children’s bickering.
Our practitioner observed that the kids (14 year-old boy and 15 year-old girl) seemed surprised that he admitted negligence in this regard. Sensing this, our practitioner reinforced it by a follow-on expression of humility by relating that parents were not perfect and could make mistakes just like children, except that adult mistakes could have larger consequences. He extended the duration and intensity of this approach by expressing understanding.
He did this by relaying a story about his father and mother. They were strict disciplinarians and no matter what “trouble” arose in his youth, from his parents’ viewpoint, he was always at fault and they were always right. As he grew older, our practitioner realized that yes, indeed many times he was at fault, but sometimes he wasn’t, yet his parents never had the courage or humility to admit their mistakes. He did not blame them for this because he realized that his parents were brought up in a culture that maintained a strict parent-child belief system. It was part of their enculturation.
Continuing his story, he described how one day, when he was in his early twenties, his parents called him to their home for a talk. They wanted to tell him that as they looked back on their lives, they realized that they should have been a little more understanding in his upbringing. Sometimes, they realized, after the fact, that they were in error, but they had had too much pride to admit that they had been wrong; that on various occasions they had punished him despite feeling that it wasn’t the best method of teaching him right and wrong. They admitted to having made mistakes, but they had been only trying to do their best for him. From that day forward, he told his two children, his relationship with his parents was much more positive, open, and honest because of their valor and humility in admitting that they were only human.
As his story ended, there seemed to be a wonderful feeling of understanding, appreciation, and compassion in the room. He sensed that these virtues were bouncing back and forth between everyone present. The reason for their meeting got lost in this field of loving energy. Everyone was affected by the release of these virtues.
Our practitioner now observed that his children really understood that he and his wife appreciated and understood them as children who deserved a fair hearing when problems arose. Nevertheless, they also understood that he and his wife were still the parents who were there to guide them and define the boundaries of their activities and behaviors. Fully present, observing and sensing all this, he visualized the six virtues grid encompassing his entire family as he asked his children what all their arguing was about.
Several days later, our practitioner’s daughter came to him and asked about his practice of when-which-how. She had heard him explaining it to his wife and she wanted to know what it was all about. Our practitioner did his best to explain it to his daughter and then recommended that she get on the family computer and go to the Event Temples website to explore it for herself. Before doing this, she asked him what “mom” thought about these weird, but intriguing ideas. He replied that her mother was a little unsure about the practice itself, but had always believed that love was the best medicine for healing anything. So, she had also gone to the website and was now reading “Living from the Heart.” His daughter seemed satisfied with these remarks and said that she would check it out.
I haven’t inserted the virtues that were being applied in this final example in order to give you the chance to identify them for yourself. It should be mentioned here that the when-which-how procedure is not as complicated as it appears in these examples. It appears complicated because we are dissecting human conversations in order to indicate when, which, and how to apply the various heart virtues. As you persist in practicing, however, you will find that the heart energetics intelligently and seamlessly flow through your interactions and conversations. This is part of the intelligence of the heart-mind system as it interacts with the intelligence of the six virtues. The heart-mind system is designed to work as a team and this system will respond naturally to the presence and application of the six virtues, if you make the choice to apply them.
The sad fact is that so many of us fail to reach out to one another in an honest and loving manner. The power of living from the heart is effective, I believe, because loving kindness is an inborn trait of the genuine human being. The key word here, is “genuine.” The genuine “you” is the higher self existing behind the mask of the ego-personality. That higher aspect of our own being is dwelling in the energetic heart. It will open to us if we open to it. That, I believe, is part of our design.
It’s as if you had an expensive car with a high performance engine, but due to your lack of knowledge, you fed that engine low-octane, less refined fuel. Then, one day someone with a knowledge of engines informs you that you possess a high quality engine and that it will perform remarkably better if you feed it the proper fuel. Doing so will allow the engine to perform according to the specifications of the engineers who designed it. You cannot believe it, but you decide to follow this person’s advice and to try the higher quality fuel. You are amazed at the results and marvel at the enormous difference in efficiency and the overall improved quality of your driving experience.
This simple analogy shows how, with the correct knowledge, a willingness to change, and the application of the correct energetics, we can be efficient and experience an improved quality of life. Our goal then, is to pass on the knowledge that we have received in order that others may benefit, thus contributing to the overall quality of life for everyone on our planet.
More Examples
Travel Woes. You have boarded your plane for a flight home and after twenty minutes the pilot announces that there is a backup of flights that will delay take-off for at least two hours. These aggravating and frustrating situations are the right time to practice when-which-how. When we encounter a particular situation that really upsets our emotional balance, the event is our opportunity to stay present and observe what is occurring to us internally. Take the role of the observer. Separate your feelings and thoughts from you, the observer. This can minimize the frustration.
Perhaps, this problem calls for understanding and humility (although additional virtues may apply here, we will keep it as simple as possible). How do you apply these virtues to this situation? After examining your own internal state, it is time to reach out to others, either internally or externally, or both ways.
For example, if the person next to you is very upset over the situation, you may want to outwardly express your own frustration, but then talk about the problem in a positive manner through the virtue of understanding. The humility virtue could be introduced by pointing out that probably everybody on the plane has plans that are going to be disrupted by the delay. In other words, you’re communicating that everyone is stuck in the same situation.
You can then direct into the emotional field of the aircraft the virtues you feel are most suited to the event. This does two things. First, it helps to calm the situation by introducing positive emotional energy into the collective field. Second, it takes the focus off yourself and consequently reduces, or cuts off the flow of negative emotions that are present in your individual field. The point being, that if you are expressing coherence through the practice of when-which-how, you are focused on the higher self and energetic heart—not on the ego-personality. You are then part of the higher circulatory flow of the soul, rather than the lower, less refined circulation of the ego-personality world.
A Friend in Need. Often we are confronted with a situation in which a friend is in crisis and needs to talk about it. Let’s suppose that a friend has come to you to talk about a personal problem. You are lending a sympathetic ear and providing a sounding board for your friend’s situation. This is an external expression of compassion and understanding but how can you further apply the virtues to this crisis? For example, you might extend your compassion to the internal dimension by visualizing compassion outflowing from your heart into your friend’s heart. This internal activation of one or more virtues could very well be more powerful and effective than your sympathetic listening, although both are important.
A helpful point here is to realize that activating the practice of when-which-how in our daily lives runs counter to our habitual style of social interaction. For the most part, we are used to interacting with others at the physical level of life. Therefore, when we are sitting down with a friend who needs to talk about a problem, we automatically communicate (words and body language) at the physical level. We are probably feeling sympathy and maybe empathy, but we are not pro-actively engaging our friend on an internal level. Granted, much may be occurring at the sub-conscious level, but our goal is to become conscious practitioners, not to be simply passive sympathizers.
When-which-how deals with the internal, subjective emotional level in a pro-active way. We are intentionally directing specific heart virtues at our friend or at whatever the encounter happens to be. We are not in the custom of interacting with others (or ourselves, for that matter) in this way. This is why we forget to engage the practice so often and it is why we need to work hard at training ourselves to remember to be present, to observe, and to practice.
Pets. Can we apply the when-which-how practice to our pets? Of course we can and we should. How do we do this? The how aspect is really not much different than how we apply the virtues to our fellow humans. The obvious course that comes to mind is to send our pets the virtues of compassion and appreciation, although you may want to express forgiveness if they accidentally leave a mess on your carpet.
As mentioned often in this guide, when we practice when-which-how we are engaging the higher self and energetic heart. If we are alone for most of the day, pets provide a perfectly valid source for our practice. As we outflow the virtues to our pets, we are activating the flow of powerful spiritual energies in our home environment. This is a good thing. Our pets benefit, we benefit, our emotional living space benefits. It’s a win, win, win situation.
Kingdoms of Nature. When we work with pets, we are working with the animal kingdom. There is no obvious reason why we cannot practice when-which-how on all the kingdoms of nature. For instance, we can visualize the virtues of the heart extending throughout the animal kingdom of our planet. When we go into our backyards, gardens, or public parks, we can practice when-which-how by expressing appreciation and humility to the plant kingdom. The point is that we can radiate the virtues of the heart into all of the natural world. Again, our cultural conditioning can tend to limit our beliefs about radiating divine love to all the world. We believe that our fellow human beings need the virtues of the heart, but that the natural world does not. Yet, the planetary environment is suffering from humanity’s inability to live from the heart, just as we humans are suffering.
Managing Expectations
A school teacher wants to improve the relationship between himself and his students. He decides to send understanding and appreciation to them for one week, at the end of which he will assess the situation. If it has not improved, he will try another strategy.
This teacher has imposed a time limit on virtues that exist beyond the spacetime dimension. He has set up a restrictive condition for success. Whether a week is too long or not long enough is beside the point. The underlying foundation of the practice is that we are learning to work from the standpoint of the higher self, which transcends the spacetime reality of the ego-personality.
By setting a time limit, this individual is diluting the effectiveness of the virtues by imposing restrictions on them. Thus, before he even begins to outflow the virtues to his students, he is limiting the effectiveness of the virtues by setting up conditions that do not apply to them because they, like the soul, exist in a subjective state beyond the three-dimensional world of form.
A drug counselor is working with a teenager who has gotten involved with drugs at school. She has been working with young people for ten years and has now added the when-which-how technique to her counseling practice.
Because she is accustomed to imposing tough love on her young clients, the practice of transferring the heart virtues to them is a somewhat new approach. She has seen too many repeat offenses, and consequently, her application of the virtues is often accompanied by the expectation of failure. This is not necessarily her fault, but simply the result of her long experience in the field of witnessing the inability of users to overcome their drug habits.
In this case, the negative expectations of the counselor are a difficult hurdle for her to clear, due to the negative emotional miasma of drug addiction. In order to manage these negative expectations, she must work to build positive emotional energy into her life by substituting the virtues of the heart for the negative expectations of the past.
We see in both these instances that the time factor plays a large role in the practice of when-which-how. For what are expectations, but the anticipation and hope of an outcome or result that is most often the desire of the ego-personality instead of the higher self. This is why cultivating neutrality toward the work of the virtues is important.
We must be willing to place faith in the intelligence of the heart to manage the situations we encounter. We practice when-which-how and stand aside to allow the virtues to do their transformative work. We stand aside, but remain vigilant, ready to initiate any follow-on expression of the virtues if necessary.
The bottom line is that our expectations put a spacetime, ego-personality “spin” on the virtues that is unnecessary and is most likely detrimental to their effectiveness. If we expect too much or too little from the results, we are projecting our desires onto others, thus prejudicing our judgment as to when, which, and how we will practice toward this person or situation the next time.
This in all likelihood means that the next time, we will approach the encounter from the spacetime perspective of the ego-personality, with all the baggage of the past. This is not how we practice. We practice with a neutral, non-prejudiced attitude, centered in the energetic heart, and aligned with the higher self. This is that neutral, inner spiritual sun that shines its divine love on all, without the time-bound, prejudiced memory of the ego-personality.
BELIEF AND THE LARGER PLAN
“We know truth, not only by reason, but also by the heart.”- Blaise Pascal
Heart-Mind Intention Makes the Difference
At this point, you may be asking why you should believe that practicing when-which-how is any more effective than behaving in a loving and kind manner toward those you encounter in your day-to-day activities. Generally speaking, there is not much of a difference. There is no question that practicing goodwill, showing common courtesies, and practicing good manners form a solid foundation for right human relationships. Honestly speaking, however, it’s relatively easy to be nice to people when we don’t have to live with them or have to spend hours working with them each day. In fact, most of the stress and emotional negativity we experience is produced by our relationships with those closest to us, whether they are family members, co-workers, or friends. And yet, even in our closest relationships, it might be difficult to comprehend the difference between being kind and understanding and practicing when-which-how.
But there is actually a vast difference. It’s the difference between a light in a room and a light specifically directed at an object of art—displayed with appreciation. It’s the difference between the sound of an orchestra tuning its instruments before the symphony and the sound of the symphony itself—played with humility. It’s the difference between the chaotic clash of colors in a child’s finger-painting and the harmonic combinations of color and perspective in the work of a great master—created with understanding. It’s the difference between spending your paycheck on whatever you desire and spending your paycheck to take care of your family—spent with compassion. The distinguishing features of these examples are the intentional, intelligent, efficient, and virtuous uses of energy.
Here is the point. We can be kind to others and intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently transmit compassion to them. We can thank someone for holding a door open for us and we can intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently transmit appreciation to them. We can listen to our spouse’s complaints after a frustrating day at work and we can intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently express to them our understanding. In other words, practicing when-which-how does not eliminate the practice of goodwill—it strengthens it. Practicing when-which-how does not eliminate lending a sympathetic and thoughtful ear to a family member’s rough day at work or school—it eases the pain. Practicing when-which-how adds an entirely new dimension to every relationship and encounter we have in life.
Practicing when-which-how increases and strengthens the relatively small amount of positive emotional energy that already exists in the social order—that energy generated by people of goodwill. It doesn’t replace good manners, decency, morals or ethics with its own brand of behavior. On the contrary, it contributes to the established, traditional sense of good that already exists in society and at the same time, it raises the quality of goodness by bringing a new dimension of love to others—a new reality of love to the world.
• Not only do we have light in our room, but we now have a light intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently, focused on a beautiful work of art with appreciation.
• Not only do we have instruments capable of producing sounds, but we now have a collection of instruments intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently, producing a beautiful symphony of sound with humility.
• Not only do we have paints, canvas, and fingers that can express a child’s creative urge, but we now have the tools that allow us to intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently, produce beautiful paintings with understanding.
• Not only do we have the ability to earn a living, but we now can intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently, manage the fruits of our labors with compassion.
• Not only do we have the ability to be decent, kind, and good to one another, but we now can intentionally, intelligently, and efficiently transmit appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, and valor to ourselves and anyone we choose.
If your experiences in the everyday world have taught you that being decent, polite, and kind to others makes you and others feel good, reduces tensions, leads to positive social interactions, contributes to better understanding, increases the simple pleasures of living, and generally makes life more enjoyable, then how might practicing when-which-how contribute to these experiences? This is something worth thinking about. If you believe that your life is qualitatively better by being a kind and decent person, then practicing when-which-how may very likely contribute to that belief. This small step in belief can result in a giant step in experience. By adding this new reality, this new dimension to your life, you may find your life more meaningful and more satisfying than you do now. Your third-dimensional goodness may be uplifted, upgraded, and even upended by the addition of this new dimension of love. By adding this new dimension to the inherent goodness you already possess, you will have added a fourth dimension to your life. You will be living from the heart by expressing its fourth-dimensional virtues.
Belief
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
-The Buddha
These words of the Buddha are as true today as they were 2500 years ago. They are especially relevant to the practice of when-which-how because the Buddha, in his search for truth, did not adhere to any particular faith or spiritual practice. He experimented with various approaches to God or some ultimate reality, but found none that satisfied him. So, he finally sat down under the bodhi tree until he saw the truth as he understood it. He then declared the now famous Fourfold Truths and the Eightfold Path leading to the end of suffering.
The word, bodhi comes from Sanskrit root budh which means to awaken, thus the Buddha is the awakened one. Basically, this means that the Buddha awoke to his own higher self. In turn, if the practitioners of when-which-how can learn to quiet the mind, be present in the moment, and observe, they can also awaken to the higher self. Thus, in the stillness created by this practice, the sound and light of the higher self can be experienced as it is transmitted through the energetic heart. Interestingly, we could say that the Buddha was practicing the when-which-how technique of his era. His conclusions about the nature of life were essentially faith agnostic.
This path is not owned by anyone or any organization, and those who travel it are essentially faith agnostic, which is to say, they do not look upon this practice as affiliated with a particular religion, spiritual inquiry system, scientific endeavor, New Age belief system, or spiritual master. It is a framework as old as the soul itself, and its chief principle is the ongoing practice of the six heart virtues in one’s daily life. In doing this, the reality that surrounds you will assemble its own path to a higher understanding, suited specifically to you.
Technically speaking, the Buddha’s approach to truth may not be exact in every detail when compared to this quotation from “Living from the Heart.” Nevertheless, the spirit of the Buddha’s approach resonates with the spirit of when-which-how. This is evident by his enlightened re-cognition that a framework for approaching a higher spiritual reality always, already exists, prior to and independent of all religious, spiritual, philosophical, and psychological forms and systems. These systems of belief are spacetime reflections of a transcendent reality, a Source Intelligence, an Underivative Information Structure, a Domain of Unity.
Thus, as one who was faith agnostic relative to his own era, the Buddha practiced his own approach to spirit and sat under the bodhi tree in meditation until he was enlightened in regard to the cause of human suffering and how to end it. As a result of his perseverance, patience, and effort, to paraphrase the last quotation—the reality that surrounded him assembled its own path to a higher understanding, suited specifically to him.
So what is the Buddha advising us to do? He is advising us to test whatever practice we feel attracted to and then to observe and analyze the practice. If it “agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
We might conclude from Buddha’s words that:
• Observation is made possible by the quieting of the mind’s thoughts, resulting in hearing the heart’s voice.
• Analysis is the responding activity of the mind after listening to the heart’s voice.
Out of this symbiotic relationship comes the possibility that, with persistence, patience, and effort, reality will eventually assemble “its own path to a higher understanding suited specifically to you.”
If we are willing to test the theory of practicing when-which-how, then we should observe and analyze our internal attitudes and external behaviors in relation to our practice. If, through our observations and analyses, our practice seems reasonable to us and “contributes to the good and benefit of one and all,” then our confidence in the practice will grow and so will our belief. This approach agrees with the advice of the Buddha.
There are, however, two paragraphs in “Living from the Heart” which suggest that the when-which-how technique is part of a larger plan. This passage goes on to suggest that a belief in this larger plan will increase the power of our practice, thus making it more effective and of greater service to humanity. Section three of “Living from the Heart” is entitled, The Heart-Mind Intention. Here is an extract from the end of that section.
Simply practicing a new discipline doesn’t attract its full power. There must be an attendant belief—a genuineness in the practice—that what you are doing is part of a larger plan; that it is connected, like bricks in a wall, to a larger purpose.
This attendant belief often takes a while to accrue its power. It is not something you can manufacture artificially. In a sense, it is part of the learning curve and grows over time as you become more comfortable with the practice or technique.
These are interesting comments about the role of belief in the practice. At the initial stages of this work, there must be “a genuineness in the practice” based on a belief that the practice is connected to a “larger plan…to a larger purpose.” Notice that we are not being asked to believe in the practice itself, but to believe in a larger plan which contains the practice. (It must be said here that belief plays an important part in the practice, but this passage is pointing us to a wider belief.) This plan or purpose is described as an attendant belief. We will discuss this larger plan shortly.
The quotation goes on to explain, that when we begin to grasp the larger plan—the macro-vision level related to our purpose and destiny as a species—we accrue greater power to our practice at the micro-vision level as individual soul-personalities within the species. In other words, when we, as individuals, intentionally contribute our positive emotions to the collective human energetic field or CHEF, we are directly serving the fulfillment of our species’ purpose and destiny at the macro level.
If the vision of this greater plan and purpose resonates with you, if it makes you feel good inside, if it seems right to you, if it excites you and awakens your desire to involve yourself in its goals, then there is some part of you that believes it. That part is most probably your own higher self. You feel this in your heart.
If you are attracted to the WingMakers/Lyricus material, with its macro-vision of a larger plan and a larger purpose for humanity, then there must be something in this material that you believe in. If you feel this magnetic draw, then your energy field is in resonance with the energy signature set up by the WingMakers and Lyricus materials. Although we have no physical proof that this material is true, many of us have all the proof we need because we feel the rightness of it by the feelings coming from our hearts. In these feelings lie trust and recognition.
Up till now, the material has demanded little from us. Indeed, I know that many people have criticized the material because it has not seemed of practical value in helping us to solve the world’s problems. That position is debatable, but now that debate is unnecessary because of the Event Temples concept and the new materials related to emotional self-mastery. These materials take the WingMakers community to a new phase of activity that is eminently of service to humankind through the specific practice of when-which-how.
The Larger Plan and Purpose
This larger plan and purpose is a vision of our future as a species. It is a beautiful and inspiring vision that everyone practicing emotional self-mastery and the when-which-how technique can be involved in. It is our choice. If you find yourself resonating strongly to the ideas in “Living from the Heart,” then the following words should prove especially meaningful.
There is a tremendous accumulation of the third-dimensional energetics and these constrain the higher energetics born in your higher practices. But these are the very conditions or catalysts that transform or burn off the old energetics and create the shift into the higher dimensions of being. This is all part of the reason for your incarnation: To transform the accumulation of third-dimensional grids of energy into higher dimensional grids that can shift these energetics and move the planet and its “visitors” to its next incarnation within the higher octave of new energies, discoveries, and supernal destiny that supports the Grand Portal.
According to this extract, the individual practice of when-which-how and the community practice of the Event Temples are works that support the future discovery of the Grand Portal. This idea is supported by referring to the fourth philosophy paper of the WingMakers. This paper is entitled, “Beliefs and Their Energy Systems.” This paper explains that all beliefs are based on energy systems. It is fair to say that the when-which-how practice is a system of beliefs and therefore, is based on an energy system. This particular energy system, generally speaking, consists of the soul, the six virtues, and the energetic heart.
The fourth philosophy paper explains that energy systems become embedded in our DNA and that the nature of life in the three-dimensional worlds has created an energy system of survival within the human species. This has resulted in a belief system which holds that conformity to the social order is the best method of survival. Consequently, Earth’s humanity has created belief systems based on survivorship. Here is a quotation from “Beliefs and Their Energy Systems.”
Within the boundaries of the survival-based energy system are transition zones that permit a re-casting of one’s belief system in accordance to cosmological, multidimensional energy systems. Think of these transition zones as isolated portals of energy that intersect the dominant energy system of the human species not unlike energy vortexes intersecting space.
These transition zones appear similar to this description in “Living from the Heart.”
It is a fallacy to believe that the entire matrix of reality conforms to the Law of Attraction or that the mind can direct matter with precision and consistency. Nonetheless, there are pockets of reality where your intention or power of thought-belief can be influential and reality will accommodate your thought-belief, sometimes with remarkable precision. The when-which-how practice is one such place or “pocket” that you can carve out from reality’s matrix and influence with your heart-mind intention. Indeed, this is part of the broader practice.
These “pockets of reality” from “Living from the Heart” appear to be closely related to or identical to the transitions zones described in “Beliefs and Their Energy Systems.” These transitions zones are like “isolated portals of energy” or the “pockets of reality” which will “accommodate [our] thought belief,” as described in “Living from the Heart.” We can create these pockets of reality with our heart-mind intention.
If we can create these pockets of reality, then it is not too much of a stretch to believe that the Lyricus teachers can also create these pockets of reality. The pockets of reality created by the Lyricus Teaching Order are the transition zones they call Tributary Zones and the Grand Portal. We might speculate that our self-created “pockets of reality” are like mini or micro-transition zones that are resonating with the greater transition zones of Lyricus. Our practice could be based on a Tributary Zone that may lead to the discovery of the Grand Portal.
Published on the Wingmakers website in 2001, the fourth philosophy paper presented an overview of a larger plan and purpose for humanity. It describes physical Tributary Zones that will be created for our shift to a greater reality. Now, in 2007, the newly introduced concepts of the Event Temples, emotional self-mastery, the virtues of the heart, and the practice of when-which-how appear to directly support and work with one such Tributary Zone.
In any case, if our belief system is based on the energy system of the virtues of the heart emanating from the soul, it will still resonate to the transition zone of the Grand Portal. Why? Because the Grand Portal is inherently related to the soul. It’s all about the soul and its discovery by humanity. For emphasis I will repeat the quotation from “Living from the Heart.”
This is all part of the reason for your incarnation: To transform the accumulation of third-dimensional grids of energy into higher dimensional grids that can shift these energetics and move the planet and its “visitors” to its next incarnation within the higher octave of new energies, discoveries, and supernal destiny that supports the Grand Portal.
Thus, we are quite possibly working toward the Grand Portal through the Event Temple Tributary Zone. Consequently, the practice of when-which-how is not an isolated undertaking. It is a practice that will alleviate human suffering in the near term. Its long term goal, however, is rooted in revolution more than evolution because it has the potential of supporting the discovery of the human soul and the multidimensional nature of human existence; in other words—the Grand Portal.
Our participation in this Event Temple experiment and this practice of emotional self-mastery is a quantum step in the history of our planet. Do not underestimate its value. Do not lose this opportunity to be a revolutionary of spiritual consciousness. The vast majority of us have no idea where we came from before this life. We have little idea where we are going after this life. We have little idea of why we are here. Yet, one thing seems obvious: we have been drawn to something much bigger than ourselves. We have been attracted to the light like the moth to the flame, but unlike the moth, we are entities designed with free will. If we make the choice to work and live from the heart, we can make a difference in the transition of our planet from a three-dimensional world of ignorance, separation, and fear, to one of understanding, unity, and love.
A Spiritual Imperative
Our solar system has an appointment with a stream of potent new energies radiating from the center of our galaxy. We enter the height of this energy flow circa 2012. As of this writing, details of the effects of this cosmic conjunction are sketchy, but in general, we will be exposed to a new kind of light. One of the reasons we are being encouraged to work at emotional self-mastery is to soften the impact of these new forces on our energy bodies. Apparently, this new energy has a close affinity to our energetic hearts. By learning to practice when-which-how through the incorporation of the six heart virtues into our individual energy fields, we will greatly lessen the stress on our human instruments. The same holds true for the collective human energetic field, the CHEF. The closer the CHEF matches the new incoming energies, the easier it will be for humanity to adjust to the heightened frequencies of our planet. The greater the disparity, the greater the reaction between the old frequencies and the new.
This might be comparable to the weather conditions produced when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass. If the difference in temperatures between the two masses is large, then violent weather is often the result. When the differences in temperature are small, the weather conditions produced are mild or insignificant.
Assuming this analogy applies to the 2012 impact, it would be much better for the CHEF to match its emotional temperature as closely as possible to the incoming air mass in order to avoid a violent reaction. Obviously, if the CHEF is affected by this high frequency energy, then all individual human energetic fields (IHEF) are affected also.
Taking all this into account, practitioners of when-which-how have a two-fold task to perform in order to prepare for this event. First, we must increase the vibratory frequency of our own energy fields so that we can more easily mesh with the incoming energies. This means we instill positive emotional energies in our individual fields. By doing this, we increase the emotional positive energy of the CHEF by default. Second, we can serve humanity in a most practical way by transmitting the six heart virtues as often and as skillfully as we can to as many people as we can. Hence, through the practice of when-which-how, we can help raise the level of the CHEF prior to and after the impact.
In fact, our services will be needed throughout this century because these energies are transformative to our planet’s energy field. For example, when a powerful storm approaches land, it raises the level of the sea and when it departs, it allows the sea to return to its normal level. Nevertheless, such storms are powerful enough to transform the contours of a coastline. In a similar way, this cosmic energy will change the contours of our planetary environment. The only difference in the analogy is that unlike the storm’s approach to us, our planet is approaching the energy. This is not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new phase of human living.
In order to flourish in the energetics of this new world, we will have to possess energetics that are aligned with these new ones. You might wonder, “How can we gain these new energies if our planet has not yet encountered them?” It’s quite probable that the Lyricus teachers already have knowledge about the nature and the effects of the energy that we will be encountering. Therefore, they can guide us in how we can develop this energy in ourselves prior to its impact on our planet. The instructions and practices associated with the Event Temples website (and to a lesser extent, the WingMakers and Lyricus websites) are key elements in this preparation. It is quite possible that the Event Temples website is a Tributary Zone.
Hence, we have been given a template for raising our individual energy fields in advance of a major shift in the energy quality of our planet. This template is often referred to as a platform or framework for our practice of when-which-how. We now know that the platform consists, in part, of the six heart virtues. Our task is to build the frequencies of these virtues into our emotional and mental fields. Our ability to raise the quality of our fields to the point that they can sustain the conscious presence of the six virtues indicates a distinct level of coherence. This means that you can express any virtue internally and externally as the need arises. This is the art of the genuine because what you express on the outside is the same as what you feel on the inside. You are the real deal; you are genuine in your thought, feeling, and action. You are firmly aligned from soul to sole—the individuated consciousness bridging Heaven and Earth.
Apparently, the next five to seven years are going to be especially difficult for the human race. In order to minimize the effects of our passage through this galactic energy stream, it is simply common sense that we prepare ourselves and others for the impact. This is not too much different from taking precautionary steps prior to the arrival of bad weather.
Therefore, as individuals who have been attracted to this material (setting aside the question of why), we have a golden opportunity to serve the planet during this transition. In fact, the new conditions that we will be living in after the shift in energies will demand that we make the adjustment. Those of us who have a head start in this adjustment, through the practice of when-which-how, have some responsibility to pass this knowledge and practice on to others. We also have some responsibility for helping to shift the CHEF to a positive emotional state. Remember the clashing air masses. In effect, our efforts to equalize the emotional temperatures sooner rather than later is like a spiritual imperative.
One important point. This is not about proselytizing and saving the souls of those who may not make it through the passage. That is an old model of reality that is rapidly being replaced by a new model. Practically speaking, it seems only logical that those who know more about these matters than we do (the Lyricus Teaching Order), are already taking advantage of their know-ledge about this coming dimensional shift. They do this by introducing new models of reality—realities that are more suited to the new energy dimensions that we are soon going to be living in.
Thus, as practitioners of emotional self-mastery, we are engaged in a new model of reality identified as the transformation/mastership model. (Recall track-treat-transform.) The old model of reality is identified as the evolution/saviorship model and it basically taught that one could only reach God through an intermediary priesthood.
These two models are heading toward a synthesis model in which we can save ourselves through mastery and transformation. In this new model, the saving force comes from within our own being and not from some outside source. Consequently, practitioners are not saving others by convincing them to turn to emotional self-mastery. Instead, practitioners are turning negative emotions into positive ones. Practitioners are “grounding” the heart virtues in the field of human endeavor. As a result, practitioners are clarifying the emotional environment through the introduction of positive heart energetics. As practitioners save themselves, they automatically contribute positive energetics into the CHEF that others can use in order to save themselves. In turn, this gives millions of individuals the opportunity to discover these energetics for themselves because the clarified emotional atmosphere is healthy and positive. It encourages exploration by its very nature. Thus, others are eager to seek out the source of these refreshing energies that they are feeling in their own individual energy fields.
Our practice can turn the tide. But for that to happen, we must do the work. Learning to be coherent is the art of the genuine. It leads to powerful effects that can transform the negative emotional field of our planet into a positive emotional field. A positive field such as this can propel us toward the discovery of the Grand Portal. It is truly a privilege to be participating in this process. Finally, whether you are already a practitioner, are considering joining us, or are merely curious about the topic, I welcome you as a fellow explorer with appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, and valor, as we travel together on this amazing planet we call Earth.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICE
Whoever loves flowers is on the heart’s path. Whoever knows the striving to the summits is on the heart’s path. Whoever thinks purely is on the heart’s path. Whoever knows of the highest worlds is on the heart’s path. Whoever is ready for Infinity is on the heart’s path. Thus shall we summon all hearts to the realization of the Source.
The following items are factors that can aid in the practice of when-which-how. You may recognize some of them from A New Day in the Life of scenario described in section three. This list of qualities and suggestions is interesting, in that it has evolved out of the practice itself. In other words, our experience in the practice of when-which-how creates a store of knowledge and wisdom that serves as a guide to further improve our practice.
You might also think of these suggestions as a larger how of practicing emotional self-mastery. Just as we learn how to apply the virtues within the when-which-how framework, we also learn how to apply when-which-how within the larger emotional self-mastery framework. In other words, these are suggestions on how to monitor and adjust your psychological state for a more effective practice of emotional self-mastery.
Many of these suggestions and terms are found in other spiritual practices under different names. Whether these other practices are ancient or modern, Eastern or Western, religious or philosophical, they are surprisingly similar because all of these practices, including when-which-how, are based on our common human psychology. Thus, beneath the skin of our cultural conditioning lies our essential humanity with its physical, psychological, and spiritual components. Any practice aiming to integrate these components will spawn strategies for achieving this goal with a minimum of wasted energy. The fact that they have different names in different cultures does not negate their usefulness or effectiveness as long as we are dedicated to the practice.
Acceptance. This term is closely related to surrender. It represents an attitude that is willing to accept the reality of any situation. Acceptance is the relaxation of denial. It is especially powerful in the application of the virtues to oneself. Acceptance has much to do with valor, humility, and forgiveness. Even though we may have accepted various negative truths in many areas of our lives, we will still generate negative thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors that we must continuously clear. We do this by facing them, accepting them for what they are, and continuing our practice of emotional self-mastery.
The great advantage we have for overcoming negative emotions is the knowledge that we can practice emotional self-mastery through the practice of when-which-how and the various meditation exercises we have been given. In any case, eventually, our attitude of acceptance will be turned on its head when we shift from accepting our negatives to accepting our positives. Then we will be in a new stage of development when acceptance means that we face the truth of our individual dimensional shift from the third dimensional ego-personality to the higher dimensional soul-personality.
Alignment. This is the ability to stay centered in the state of openness to the energetic heart and the six virtues radiating from the higher self. When circumstances, situations, or encounters arise that bring us back into the ego-personality, that turn our emotions negative, we re-align by remembering to perform the six virtues grid visualization meditation. This will restore our alignment to the higher frequencies of the heart and soul.
Awareness. Throughout the day, make an effort to be present in the moment. This is important because it enables us to sense when to apply the virtues to an encounter. Remember that an encounter also includes yourself. This includes your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviors, habits, and reactions to the moment-to-moment experiences of your day.
Consistency. The need for consistency cannot be overstated. Great energy put into the practice of when-which-how, followed by interruptions due to other activities will not lead to effective service over the long run. The moderate, middle way is a tried and tested attitude to most disciplines, especially the subtleties of psycho-spiritual practices. Setting up a schedule and doing one’s best to maintain it is very helpful. Naturally, there are always times when schedules cannot be met, but the fact that you have a schedule to return to is a tremendous advantage in staying consistent with the practice.
Crisis. At various times of our lives we all experience crises. Although these are often very difficult situations to go through, they are also opportunities to learn the important lessons that life has to offer. Valuable information can be garnered from practicing when-which-how during these times.
Effects of Practice. Here are some of the effects of practice.
• Emergence. This is the increasing frequency with which the virtues come into our awareness. As we make the effort to engage the practice, we attract the heart virtues. This builds momentum toward emotional self-mastery and a closer connection to the higher self.
• Empowerment. We feel empowered by our increasing capacity for emotional control. Instead of being the victim of our emotional attachments and desires, we are increasingly able to manage them.
• Freedom To Be Yourself. This should probably read freedom to be your real self. As we become more aligned to the energetic heart and soul, we gain confidence and a feeling of loving unity with all life. This gives us the freedom to be ourselves and drop the masks of ego and its defensive strategies.
• Increased Light. This means that our intuitive insight is increased through our practice. This new light increases our ability to apply the six virtues more effectively. As our intuitive insight develops, our power to mobilize and transmit the virtues with precision also increases.
• Rapid Re-alignment. Whenever we find ourselves in difficult emotional encounters that generate negative emotions, our consistent work with when-which-how gives us the ability to re-align with our heart and its virtues. Rather than be thrown into the emotional turmoil of the situation, we can bounce back more rapidly because we have developed an orientation to the heart and the energetics of the higher self—the six virtues.
• Renewed Energy. Our ability to maintain alignment with the energetic heart increases our energy at all levels of our being. In addition, we recover energy more rapidly by staying aligned with our higher frequencies.
Intention. Intention is the power that drives the practice. This word is related to desire and will. “Living from the Heart” speaks to the issue of desire. In that case, desire is described as a possible impediment to the practice of when-which-how. In this case, desire relates to our thirst for meaning, our hunger for spiritual food. The desire to seek the truth comes full circle when we desire to practice the truth that we feel in our hearts. When right desire is aflame in our hearts, we use our will to apply our feelings to our actions. When we possess this desire, we activate our heart-mind intention. This intention is the force necessary for effective practice of when-which-how. Without intention we lose the laser-like capabilities of energy transfer. Intention is the directing force.
Looking for Results. The results of practice will become evident in time. There is no need to look for them because the results will find you. The effects of our efforts to practice the virtues of the heart will blossom like flowers that are nowhere to be found one day and suddenly, popping up all over our backyards the next day. Calling forth the heart virtues is a natural act of the human spirit and the effects of your heart-mind intentions will be organic and natural.
Maintaining Perspective. This is the perspective of the soul or higher self as it views the limited and limiting environment of third-dimensional reality. Take some time to study the larger framework discussed in Section 2. Even if this view seems too complex or far-out for you to believe, at least give it a fair hearing with an open mind and heart.
Briefly, the soul’s perspective is this: You, the portion of its consciousness extended into the spacetime, third dimension, are one individuated self among billions, who are participating in a grand experiment of spiritualizing matter by materializing spirit. You, the ego-personality, turned practitioner of emotional self-mastery, are now attempting to refine your energy field so that it can express the less dense energies of your higher counterpart, the soul.
This may take some time, so be patient and don’t get discouraged when you lose control and become viral negative. Re-align. Re-vision the larger picture, the broader practice, the cosmic framework from which you have come forth—to serve the grand experiment of First Source.
Managing Expectations. One of the most important aspects of practicing when-which-how is managing our expectations of outcomes. When we express the virtues into an encounter, do we send the virtues with an expectation of some pre-defined result? If we are expecting a particular response from the recipient of our energy transfers, we are not being neutral. Expectations of particular behaviors and attitudes from others as a result of our practice is the projection of our own desires onto them.
The heart virtues are not tools for imposing our personal worldview on others. The virtues are universal energies of love that we outflow to others without personal prejudice. The challenge for the practitioner is to work at neutralizing the ego’s desire to lay down the conditions for “success.”
Meditation. It is beneficial to the practice of emotional self-mastery to take some time each day to meditate. You can tailor your needs to this time of reflection and review. Daily practice with the Virtuous Cycle meditation exercise is a good way to begin. Anyone seriously interested in practicing when-which-how should work toward developing the habit of daily meditation. By developing this discipline, one is already prepared if new exercises are given for the path of emotional self-mastery.
Neutrality. Practicing when-which-how requires balance. We must learn to be neutral in the sense that we don’t reward the good and punish the bad. We don’t look down on our shortcomings and celebrate our successes. We weigh the entire situation and encounter without being for or against anyone or anything. We distribute the virtues and allow the free will of the recipients to accept or reject what is freely given. Just as the virtues are freely given to us by First Source, we pass them on to others as gifts of the heart. And in the true spirit of giving, we transmit the virtues to others as gifts of the heart. And in the true spirit of giving, we transmit the virtues to others as gifts, expecting nothing inreturn, but the joy of giving. We can do no more than this.
Observation. Our awareness is not passive, but active. We are observing what is coming into the range of our awareness. We observe internally and externally. Our internal observation includes the elements listed above: thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviors, habits, and reactions to the moment-to-moment experiences. Observe these contents of consciousness without a sense of being a good or bad person, but as the master managing energy for spiritual growth and service.
Sacrifice. This is a word that has only appeared once throughout this guide, yet it underlies much of the work performed by every practitioner of when-which-how and every seeker of emotional self-mastery. Those times when you are in the most difficult emotional situations are the times when your ego-personality will resist your efforts to initiate the expression of the virtues.
Earlier, we discussed the pain of the moment, when it is just too painful to gather your heart energies to engage the practice. There are other times, however, when you rub up against the core button issues upon which your egoic life rests. When these issues emerge in your lives, the ego-personality will use every weapon in its arsenal to prevent the encroachment of the heart upon its territory.
The emotional pain you feel in the moment of that realization involves your decision to activate the heart virtues and to do the exact opposite of what the ego-personality would dictate. Your decision to join with the forces of the heart and the higher self, is the beginning of the end of your ego’s domination of your life. The pain you feel in the course of that battle is the sacrificial tearing down of the ego’s defensive walls.
The sacrifice involves the surrendering of the ego’s resistance to change. Change is often met with resistance, and it is the ego’s resistance to change that creates the pain. Most importantly, this is not the sacrificial death of the ego, but rather the sacrifice of its defenses, which resist all perceived threats to the ego-personality’s existence. This is not the sacrificial death of the ego, but rather it’s transformation into a dedicated instrument of the immortal soul in service to First Source and It’s plan for the human species.
Sensitivity. This is the measure of our ability to sense the information coming into our awareness. The more we remain aware, the more information we can gather about a situation or encounter.
Test the Theory. Give the practice a fair hearing. In other words, if this practice and the ideas supporting it resonate with you—then practice it. Don’t read it for the excitement of a new spiritual teaching or as entertainment and, at the same time continue to practice the social order as the ego-personality. This is a critical time in Earth’s history. Why miss a golden opportunity to participate in a great event by being cynical or unduly skeptical?
The Pain of the Moment. It’s important to remember that when a particularly painful emotional encounter or situation occurs, we may be in too much pain to perform the practice of when-which-how. This is only natural and should be accepted for what it is. Once the pain subsides, we can apply the virtues we feel will be the most helpful in that particular encounter.
One suggestion. During these moments of pain, it is helpful to remain aware of what is happening and to observe the pain. This suggestion might seem strange, but by taking the psychological position of the observer, the pain is somehow reduced, or feels different than being completely absorbed in it.
Tracking. Keeping a psycho-spiritual journal of our practice can be of great value for tracking our progress. As the months go by, we can look back on our experiences and how we handled the many different encounters of our practice.
Anyone truly sincere about emotional self-mastery and practicing when-which-how should take advantage of the tracking system offered at the Event Temples website. This tracking system, along with a more traditional notebook of experiences, will serve you well by providing a record of progress through the stages of your work. If keeping two sets of records is overwhelming to you, at least consider one of them. The advantage of the tracking system at Event Temples is that you are participating in this work with a global community of practitioners. As a result, you can monitor the progress of the world group and know that your contributions form a part of this world service.
Ups and Downs of Practice. Like everything else in life, when practicing when-which-how, we have our good days and our bad days. This is especially true when working with the emotions. Some days we may spend more time in a negative state than a positive one. This is why it is good to develop an attitude of neutrality in which we don’t get too high over our successes or too low over our failures. By taking the middle path between these opposites, we avoid attachment to the outcome, or as noted earlier, looking for results. The attitude of accepting the good with the bad also helps to smooth out the emotional roller coaster we ride each day. At least now we have the tools and methods for learning to manage the ride.
An important point to remember is that we all have a center of emotional gravity. We may get buffeted around by various emotional situations during the course of a day or even a month, but our efforts to stay aligned with the virtues will help us greatly in restoring our emotional center of gravity.
JOURNAL NOTES ON THE VIRTUES
The limits of the soul you could not discover, though traversing every path.
Heraclitus.
A Selection of Meditation Journal Entries
What follows is a selection of some of my journal entries on the six heart virtues. They are a result of my daily meditation practice. These recordings are offered as examples only, but if they provide helpful insights into the six virtues, that is good. The entries are in chronological order, but I have removed the specific dates (they cover the period of the spring of 2006). You may notice that the order of the virtues here is different than the order used in this guide. This is simply because I meditated on the virtues in a clockwise direction around the diagram produced in the paper “The Art of the Genuine: A Spiritual Imperative.” Except for the elimination of personal information and the correction of grammar and spelling, these entries reflect my thoughts and feelings at the time of their recording. Each paragraph represents all or part of that day’s comments.
Appreciation
What came to mind most strongly was that appreciation is tied to awareness. And not just awareness, but a de-centered awareness. For only with this kind of awareness does it seem possible to truly appreciate one’s life and all the details that go to construct it.
Sensitivity is another factor in appreciation. How sensitive is the state of one’s awareness? Insensitivity is a big issue in today’s Western culture due to the materialistic and fragmented nature of our lives. So, sensitivity plays a role in the depth or quality of our appreciation for life. If we are physically oriented, we will appreciate the physical things of the world. If we have developed a feeling for life, our appreciation will expand to include heart-felt knowledge and memories that deepen our appreciation further.
When I feel appreciation it is due to the sense of connectivity to life and all its beauty. This must be regarded as spiritual.
Thoughts were muddled today. I became aware that I didn’t want to get stuck in the purely mental approach to contemplating “appreciation,” but wanted to feel it also. This may be important to recognize because it suggests that the “intelligence” of appreciation was impacting my consciousness.
Humility
The initial pain of being humbled is actually a liberation from the tyranny of the ego-personality and the initial humiliation is a letting go of egoism and a liberation of one’s attitudes into a new freedom of balanced relationship with others and the world.
Humility is the heart knowledge of knowing how and where one fits into the world of the soul.
Humility is a brake on egoism.
Humility feels like a relaxation into a true knowledge of one’s place in the scheme of things. It is the surrendering of a distorted, illusory image of the “form of one’s life” in relation to everything else. The surrender of a specific ego structure allows an adjustment of consciousness that is in alignment with the plan of the soul.
Today I seemed to be more with humility than thinking about it. Being with humility is a humbling experience.
Humility is not being more or less than one is. Thus, we can say that the effort to be humble is an effort to be oneself without any masks or images. Humility is to be the soul from moment-to- moment. Whether one is doing the dishes or giving a lecture, it is still the same self which is present throughout.
Just as the bodies of cosmic space are positioned in balanced relation with each other, we are in a state of humility when we are in balanced relationship with others and ourselves. Harmony of the spheres might apply to humility.
Valor
My first thought of valor was related to being brave enough to stand up for what one believes.
Today I thought about valor in the sense of fairness and justice. If valor is standing up to injustice in defense of the virtues of the heart, then justice must be reflected upon. I thought of a universal sense of fairness. It seems to me, that this sense of fairness generally transcends language and culture to some extent, except in the most restricted views of religion.
Valor is paradoxical in the sense that it is easily understood at the surface—standing up for what one believes. Thus, there are the secondary qualities of courage, bravery, heroism, etc. But, the deeper issue for me is, “How do I know that my convictions are more justified than someone else’s? Is the Christian right or the Muslim? Is science more justified than religion in defining reality? Is the state more justified in establishing the rules of reality than the individual? Is one person more valorous than another when it comes to defending one’s beliefs? Who is the most justified?
At some point valor must be turned toward one’s self as reason brings deeper understanding and lesser truths are replaced by more complete truths. If people hold to “truths” that reason and understanding prove to be incomplete (even false), then they are doing themselves an injustice.
The big question remains: How do we know that the strength of our convictions (valor) is just? It seems to me that the foundation and basis of valor must be a constant monitoring of one’s beliefs about morals and ethics, fairness and equanimity. The origin of such measures is a bit of a mystery. Do they stem from the energetic heart, which in turn generates them from the soul, which receives them directly from First Source via Source Intelligence? I believe this is true, but why do I believe it? This belief gives me valor, but how did this belief enter my mind and heart?
If I begin to form doubts about my religious beliefs, but cannot face such thoughts without tremendous guilt and fear, I am not practicing valor. But when I can face these internal changes (produced by reason and understanding) and acknowledge my transformation, then I am practicing valor.
Compassion
The first thing that struck me was that I wasn’t feeling compassion, but simply thinking about it. This alarmed me at first, but then I realized that our daily lives are flooded with scenes of human distress to the point that one becomes numb to all of it. I was thinking of compassion in terms of the mass of humanity and could not connect.
When I feel compassion, it is most often the result of recognizing that a given situation exists because of a failure to communicate, a failure to understand, a failure of strength of commitment to understand another person’s or group’s situation. The complications born from ignorance are cause for feeling compassion and sorrow over the human situation.
I associated compassion with the loss of innocence in a child. An infant comes into the world with the opportunity for a new life and a compassion born of sorrow rises up in the knowledge that this newborn soul will rapidly be overtaken by the ignorance and prejudice of its parents, society, and culture, despite everyone’s best intentions.
Compassion is the desire to relieve the suffering of others. In this sense, I noted that my life has been expressed compassionately through education. By this I mean that I have always identified strongly with the idea of bringing light to others through my writing or talks, or counsel. Thus, my sense of compassion is based on a subjective plane and not so much on the physical.
Compassion is reaching out in order to improve a condition by relieving needless suffering. Suffering here means anything that prevents the light of the soul and spirit from entering into the life of any individual. It seems to me that this can be expressed in various ways. It depends on the talents and desire of each individual.
Understanding
Understanding is interesting. For me it seems to be the most obvious of the virtues (or maybe the only one) that bridges the heart and mind. For, there are definitely at least two forms of understanding. One is understanding that 1+1=2 or understanding the meaning of a word. The second is understanding how someone “feels” about a situation or condition. This latter definition is the heart connection, while the former is the mind connection.
Understanding is also more dimensional than knowledge. I can have knowledge of something and yet not understand it, but I cannot have understanding of something without knowing (having knowledge) about it.
Understanding has depth and levels when applied to information and knowledge. In turn, the conclusions drawn from each level of understanding are relative truths. Truth is absolute relative to its own level, but ever changing as new knowledge and new understanding create truth that is more accurate relative to the previous “truth” or conclusion. The question is, “What drives the desire to seek more accurate information and knowledge?” This, I believe, is the heart or soul.
To begin to understand another person we must have knowledge about the person. As we gain more information, we can begin to understand that person better. Despite this knowledge, understanding cannot move forward without our ability to move beyond the framework of our own “position” as an individual. This is the ego-personality position. We cannot be objective if we are not able to decentralize our sense of self. Consequently, our understanding will be limited and likely distorted.
This means that our conclusions or truth about “the other” will be incomplete or even prejudiced without the heart, because it is the nature of the heart to be in contact with the “other.”
This means that our conclusions or truth about “the other” will be incomplete or even prejudiced without the heart, because it is the nature of the heart to be in contact with the “other.”
What does it mean to have knowledge as opposed to having understanding? Is “I know” the same as “I understand”?
So, we can think in the head and/or think in the heart. However, thinking is not sensing. Sensing is related to consciousness, but we don’t necessarily have to be conscious in order to sense. However, I believe sensing with full attention is a powerful mode of awareness. It is the secret of creativity and management of life experience. The question is, where should our attention be located when we are sensing? Should it be in the head or in the heart?
Forgiveness
The most obvious thing to me about forgiveness is that it is related to time—more specifically, to the past. When we are unable or unwilling to forgive, it means that we are stuck in the past, we are trapped and imprisoned by the past. Anything which prevents us from living in the present is a detriment to our experience and growth as humans.
It is obvious that we can make little progress with the other virtues if we cannot escape from our past. The ego-personality is time-bound, but the soul transcends time. Thus, the energetic heart within which the soul exists is also associated with timelessness. Therefore, forgiveness is key to accessing the other virtues, because it frees us from the slavery of time.
What is the factor that makes forgiveness possible? Part of it is the willingness to let go of the circumstances and injustices which we believe have been done to us (whether true or not).
If one is living from the heart, practicing the art of the genuine, then why would it be necessary to forgive anyone? This implies that I have blamed someone or some group for wronging or harming me. Is it, in turn, “wrong” to recognize those who have caused one harm? No, as long as we do not hold onto that sense of being harmed. It’s the attachment to hurt, the self-pity which needlessly prolongs suffering. Just as we have been harmed and caused to suffer, our attachment to this condition results in our desire to penalize, to punish, to blame whoever or whatever has caused this. We want them to suffer also.
Forgiveness neutralizes this desire for revenge. What about those who want justice done, so to speak? This involves the laws governing society and goes beyond one’s personal capacity for forgiveness. Forgiveness is more of a subjective attitude, a state of mind rather than a specific gesture. Forgiveness is ongoing. It recognizes wrongdoing, but does not dwell on it, nor seek to prolong the guilt associated with it as a “punishment” to the wrongdoer. This applies equally to one’s own feelings of wrongdoing and sense of guilt.
GRATITUDE AND AN INVITATION TO PRACTICE
This is addressed to you, the practitioner, the one who lives on the border between your higher counterpart, the soul, and your more familiar counterpart, the ego. Prior to your birth as the practitioner-self, we, the six virtues, were powerless to bring wholeness to your life. But your decision to learn the ways of the heart is greatly appreciated. Therefore, as a team, we thank you for helping us to help you. And for those of you, who are unsure of the thoughts and feelings presented here, please accept the following words as if you are practitioners of when-which-how.
I am Valor. Practitioner, before you were born my shadow presence, fear, accompanied your ego everywhere. Fear liked to masquerade as the coward or the bully—the loyal guardians of your ego. When the intense light of understanding blazed into your awareness, you realized how fear was impeding your natural inclination toward emotional self-mastery. Your awakening as practitioner has allowed me to enter your consciousness, giving you the strength and courage to face the truth of your situation and to seek a new path.
I am Understanding. Your desire to grasp the nature of your life, your relationships, and your world without the filter of your ego-personality, has brought me into your presence. The light that I bring can only truly shine when the mask of ego does not filter out my rays. I cast the light of spiritual wisdom. It will guide you with that loving understanding that radiates from the heart’s intelligence. None of this would have been possible without the help of my virtuous companion, valor.
I am Compassion. My entrance into your life is the result of your ability to feel, to think, and to live beyond the protective borders of your ego-personality. Whenever you discover that your ego has built a new defensive wall to block my entrance, do not answer by destroying what the ego cannot help but build. Call on me, and build instead. Construct an open doorway in that wall, so the light of my compassion can stream into your ego’s world. My presence allows you to understand and then to forgive, thus teaching your ego that you are not the enemy, but the practitioner. You are the one who establishes harmony by allowing the walls of sovereignty to remain in place while constructing openings that allow community with all who come your way.
I am Forgiveness. I have come into your life because of your willingness to break free of your ego’s desire for retribution. The guiding light of understanding and the mercy of compassion free me to free you. I unlock the shackles of those events that keep you a prisoner of the past, and which never allow you to live in the sacred moment that transcends time.
I am Humility. I have yearned to offer you the gift of my presence, but the ego has always blocked my entry with its walls of fear. It is very difficult for me to enter your awareness without the help of my virtuous friends. I am not welcome in the life you share with the ego. Whenever I try to enter your field on my own, in the absence of my virtuous companions, you only feel my distortion—humiliation, and you never receive my gift, the knowledge of your true self. I unburden you. I lighten your load. I allow you to surrender into my comforting arms. You can kick off your shoes and rest your tired feet, knowing that you don’t have to play the games demanded by your ego. There is no one for whom you must play a role. You can finally be your self, your beautiful, unique self because you know in your heart that you are exactly who you are meant to be from instant to instant.
I am Appreciation. Before you made the effort to discover my true nature, your concept of appreciation was rooted in what the world provided you, but now your appreciation has shifted to what you provide the world, and that is the gift of we six virtues. My purpose is to bring you the joy that comes from your full realization of the magnificence, beauty, and wonder of the multi-realities of First Source. I am born into your world by your desire to see all life in a new light, the light of loving appreciation.
We Need Each Other
Finally, for the consideration of those unsure of the ideas presented here and also for the encouragement and continued dedication of the practitioners of this important work, we declare that our function is to serve humanity—to serve you—if you will allow us. If you sincerely turn to us for the purpose of eliminating fear, hatred, prejudice, and suffering, you will be supported fully by our presence in your life. We can do great things together if you will only make the choice to join with us and allow our entry into your world.
We need you in order to fulfill our function in the multiverse and you need us so that you can fulfill your destiny as a species. Your world is in crisis and that means you have a tremendous opportunity to take a quantum leap into a new era of human living. We will soon enter a time of increased light which will give birth to a renaissance in the arts and sciences. But for that to happen with a reduced amount of unnecessary turmoil and suffering, we need individuals who are willing to train themselves in the ways of our virtuous energies—the ways of the energetic heart. We offer you aid and ask nothing in return except your willingness to live in a new way—to live from the heart.
The end.