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SECTION 8. Suggestions for Practice
Acceptance
Alignment
Awareness
Consistency
Crisis
Effects of Practice
Emergence
Empowerment
Freedom To Be Yourself
Increased Light.
Rapid Re-alignment.
Renewed Energy.
Intention
Looking for Results.
Maintaining Perspective
Managing Expectations
Meditation
Neutrality
Observation
Sacrifice
Sensitivity
Test the Theory
The Pain of the Moment.
One suggestion
Tracking.
Ups and Downs of Practice
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.