Psychology and Physics to Ontology
Decoding Energetic Medicine
Around the 8th century in China and India, a pattern was proposed within meditative practices in which a moment of enlightenment was associated with a perceived change in one's self. More recently, this pattern has been extended to all modalities of energetic medicine, theoretically broadening the effects on one's self to further include a client, others or the environment.
Whether exclusive to one's self or applicable in a broader sense of Self, the pattern was proposed as a method of arranging oneself in specific order to participate in seemingly acausal relatively synchronous events, or what some might call dynamic state changes, reorganizations or conversions within a proposed unifying singular media or state of reality. Describing the pattern is simple (3-1-4-2-5), but explaining potential mechanisms within abstract causality requires a review of current terminology and probably new terminology with a new, nuanced or refined ontological paradigm.
In the initial discussion, we will be moving concepts similar to Tao or Brahman from Eastern to Western thinking. As such, the Collected Works of Dr. Carl G. Jung are helpful, as are select Eastern writings. Many elements in Jung's Collected Works suggest less discrete borders between self and other, facilitating a functional model of energetic medicine that might be expandable beyond therapeutic applications.
Dr. Jung's published Five Stages of Consciousness will be conceptualized as ten stages in which the uncharted portions create a cyclic rather than linear model. Lowercase "self" will refer to a discrete individual in the conventional sense, while uppercase "Self" will describe an augmented entity, often incorporating elements typically referred to as "other."
In the text to follow, various ontological models have been critically reviewed for a proposal pertaining to integration. Related criteria and experimental pattern proposals are offered for consideration, pending proof of concept.
Whether exclusive to one's self or applicable in a broader sense of Self, the pattern was proposed as a method of arranging oneself in specific order to participate in seemingly acausal relatively synchronous events, or what some might call dynamic state changes, reorganizations or conversions within a proposed unifying singular media or state of reality. Describing the pattern is simple (3-1-4-2-5), but explaining potential mechanisms within abstract causality requires a review of current terminology and probably new terminology with a new, nuanced or refined ontological paradigm.
In the initial discussion, we will be moving concepts similar to Tao or Brahman from Eastern to Western thinking. As such, the Collected Works of Dr. Carl G. Jung are helpful, as are select Eastern writings. Many elements in Jung's Collected Works suggest less discrete borders between self and other, facilitating a functional model of energetic medicine that might be expandable beyond therapeutic applications.
Dr. Jung's published Five Stages of Consciousness will be conceptualized as ten stages in which the uncharted portions create a cyclic rather than linear model. Lowercase "self" will refer to a discrete individual in the conventional sense, while uppercase "Self" will describe an augmented entity, often incorporating elements typically referred to as "other."
In the text to follow, various ontological models have been critically reviewed for a proposal pertaining to integration. Related criteria and experimental pattern proposals are offered for consideration, pending proof of concept.
|
|
“All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena.”
– Nikola Tesla, Man’s Greatest Achievement, 1907 |
|
Niu Hosken Criteria Set Proposal
Monism Not Otherwise Specified, possibly coined here alongside blockchain monism, asserts that there are no relevant distinctions nor practical differences between the ontological models of physical monism, mental monism, neutral monism, non-dualism, panpsychism, or any other singular media or substrate theory, including any paradigm suggesting or supporting an initial or ongoing shared state or intermediary substrate intended to describe the whole of existence, particularly when the following criteria are met:
A. all physical phenomenology (particles, waves, space, location, time, trajectory, gravity, density, etc) - as well as all cognitive phenomenology (thoughts, feelings, zen stillness, non-thought, intuition, introspection, sensation, non-sensation, experience, non-experience, etc) - and any other phenomena or phenomenology (real, imaginary, theoretical, undiscovered or undiscoverable) - can be conceptualized as direct manifestations of the same singular underlying media, whatever that media is conceptualized to be [ … ]
B. in which all permutations, manifestations or states of said singular media can be conceptualized collectively to interact and interchange with one another to some extent (in theory if not in commonly observable practice) with the possibility [for example] of a thought directly transforming to matter or a particle/wave form directly transforming to emotion, etc [ ... ]
C. in which the conversation from any one state or permutation can be conceptualized as a change in features, functions, associated characteristics or qualities from one state of said singular media to another [ ... ]
D. in which all expressions or states of said singular media can be conceptualized as real (manifestations or states of reality) and not illusory or, at a minimum, all states and permutations of said singular media can be conceptualized collectively as real, collectively as imaginary or collectively as both real and imaginary [ ... ]
E. in which no particular state can be conceptualized as requiring grounding in any other state (beyond specific permutations or simple relational, functional or theoretical connections permeating every state of said singular media) [ ... ]
F. in which no particular state can be conceptualized as fully independent from any other state (despite differing characteristics or properties pertaining to any given state) [ ... ]
G. in which information can be conceptualized as fluent and accessible in and among all states, including but not limited to matter and mind, etc [ ... ]
H. in which the proposed model can be conceptualized as inherently allowing all points in space-time-consciousness-state to be directly connected with all other points in space-time-consciousness-state (in theory, if not in commonly observable practice) [ ... ]
I. in which all proposed criteria within this set can be conceptualized as having been met regardless of whether any given state is experienced or perceived by one or more individual observers [ ... ]
J. in which all proposed criteria within this set can be conceptualized as still having been met when presented in a paradox [ … ]
Monism Not Otherwise Specified can be likened to Dynamic State Monism which is similar to Dynamic Monism, at times referred to loosely as Dynamicism, or the belief that reality is a dynamic, changing process rather than a set of static facts or deterministic chains of causality. However, in Dynamic State Monism the possible reality of Static Monism is not denied, but rather incorporated as paradox. And while beyond the scope of this initial work, it is worth mentioning that paradox appears a probable core feature of reality. Whether any given element or state of reality is considered - dynamic or static, physical or mental, real or imaginary - likely has more to do with participation or focus than reality itself. Ontological theories or models that fit some, but not all, of the above criteria may align with one or more Dialectical Monisms.
A. all physical phenomenology (particles, waves, space, location, time, trajectory, gravity, density, etc) - as well as all cognitive phenomenology (thoughts, feelings, zen stillness, non-thought, intuition, introspection, sensation, non-sensation, experience, non-experience, etc) - and any other phenomena or phenomenology (real, imaginary, theoretical, undiscovered or undiscoverable) - can be conceptualized as direct manifestations of the same singular underlying media, whatever that media is conceptualized to be [ … ]
B. in which all permutations, manifestations or states of said singular media can be conceptualized collectively to interact and interchange with one another to some extent (in theory if not in commonly observable practice) with the possibility [for example] of a thought directly transforming to matter or a particle/wave form directly transforming to emotion, etc [ ... ]
C. in which the conversation from any one state or permutation can be conceptualized as a change in features, functions, associated characteristics or qualities from one state of said singular media to another [ ... ]
D. in which all expressions or states of said singular media can be conceptualized as real (manifestations or states of reality) and not illusory or, at a minimum, all states and permutations of said singular media can be conceptualized collectively as real, collectively as imaginary or collectively as both real and imaginary [ ... ]
E. in which no particular state can be conceptualized as requiring grounding in any other state (beyond specific permutations or simple relational, functional or theoretical connections permeating every state of said singular media) [ ... ]
F. in which no particular state can be conceptualized as fully independent from any other state (despite differing characteristics or properties pertaining to any given state) [ ... ]
G. in which information can be conceptualized as fluent and accessible in and among all states, including but not limited to matter and mind, etc [ ... ]
H. in which the proposed model can be conceptualized as inherently allowing all points in space-time-consciousness-state to be directly connected with all other points in space-time-consciousness-state (in theory, if not in commonly observable practice) [ ... ]
I. in which all proposed criteria within this set can be conceptualized as having been met regardless of whether any given state is experienced or perceived by one or more individual observers [ ... ]
J. in which all proposed criteria within this set can be conceptualized as still having been met when presented in a paradox [ … ]
Monism Not Otherwise Specified can be likened to Dynamic State Monism which is similar to Dynamic Monism, at times referred to loosely as Dynamicism, or the belief that reality is a dynamic, changing process rather than a set of static facts or deterministic chains of causality. However, in Dynamic State Monism the possible reality of Static Monism is not denied, but rather incorporated as paradox. And while beyond the scope of this initial work, it is worth mentioning that paradox appears a probable core feature of reality. Whether any given element or state of reality is considered - dynamic or static, physical or mental, real or imaginary - likely has more to do with participation or focus than reality itself. Ontological theories or models that fit some, but not all, of the above criteria may align with one or more Dialectical Monisms.
Experimental Design Proposal
There are a few observations worth elucidating early. These need not be taken on faith, but challenges, experience, reflection, experimentation or being may confirm or refute:
• Physical matter and energy have been conceptualized to be interchangeable within physical phenomenology and time and gravity further conceptualized as relative, aligning with portions of the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Physical matter continues to be reduced, leaving much of what we refer to as particles and waves undefined, but interchangeable within physical phenomenology, moving closer to full alignment with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Neither-cognitive-nor-physical phenomenology, rarely referred to as anything, in this instance referred to as Tao or in select applications suggestive of collective physical and cognitive phenomenology, may constitute one or more specific states of reality, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Para-cognitive phenomenology, occasionally referred to as spirit, may constitute a specific state of reality pertaining to elements within or without cognitive or physical phenomenology, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Cognitive phenomenology, often referred to as thought or mind or used loosely in association with the more comprehensive term consciousness, may constitute a specific state of reality that is as real or imaginary as any other state within a singular unifying media, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Archetypes, or emotional phenomenology, often referred to as emotion, may constitute a specific state of reality pertaining to elements within or without cognitive or physical phenomenology, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Physical phenomenology, often referred to as matter or brain, may constitute a specific state of reality that is as real or imaginary as any other state within a singular unifying media, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
While brilliant individuals and teams in various fields continue to converge on unravelling the mysteries of how space, time, matter, energy, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, memory, identity, experiences, etc - all interact, within or without any given phenomenology, for experimental purposes the singular unifying media may initially be referred to as original consciousness or Consciousness (in a sense that is not specific to any given state or phenomenology). Said singular unifying media could also be referred to as Matter (in a sense that is not specific to any given state or phenomenology). The terms Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, Nascent Ontological Stratum (NOS), or _____ could all suffice, and indeed may at some point be used interchangeably, or replaced with a more specific term for the singular unifying media once parameters are clarified and likely to align with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
This work will propose a functional five-tiered concept of self and other for the purposes of describing a possible formula governing the flow of information between one's psyche and perceived material world that fully aligns with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set:
• Physical matter and energy have been conceptualized to be interchangeable within physical phenomenology and time and gravity further conceptualized as relative, aligning with portions of the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Physical matter continues to be reduced, leaving much of what we refer to as particles and waves undefined, but interchangeable within physical phenomenology, moving closer to full alignment with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Neither-cognitive-nor-physical phenomenology, rarely referred to as anything, in this instance referred to as Tao or in select applications suggestive of collective physical and cognitive phenomenology, may constitute one or more specific states of reality, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Para-cognitive phenomenology, occasionally referred to as spirit, may constitute a specific state of reality pertaining to elements within or without cognitive or physical phenomenology, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Cognitive phenomenology, often referred to as thought or mind or used loosely in association with the more comprehensive term consciousness, may constitute a specific state of reality that is as real or imaginary as any other state within a singular unifying media, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Archetypes, or emotional phenomenology, often referred to as emotion, may constitute a specific state of reality pertaining to elements within or without cognitive or physical phenomenology, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
• Physical phenomenology, often referred to as matter or brain, may constitute a specific state of reality that is as real or imaginary as any other state within a singular unifying media, aligning with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
While brilliant individuals and teams in various fields continue to converge on unravelling the mysteries of how space, time, matter, energy, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, memory, identity, experiences, etc - all interact, within or without any given phenomenology, for experimental purposes the singular unifying media may initially be referred to as original consciousness or Consciousness (in a sense that is not specific to any given state or phenomenology). Said singular unifying media could also be referred to as Matter (in a sense that is not specific to any given state or phenomenology). The terms Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, Nascent Ontological Stratum (NOS), or _____ could all suffice, and indeed may at some point be used interchangeably, or replaced with a more specific term for the singular unifying media once parameters are clarified and likely to align with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set.
This work will propose a functional five-tiered concept of self and other for the purposes of describing a possible formula governing the flow of information between one's psyche and perceived material world that fully aligns with the Niu Hosken Criteria Set:
|
1. Metal
2. Water 3. Wood 4. Fire 5. Earth |
Physical
Emotional Mental Spiritual Collective |
Body, Brain
Feelings Mind, Thought Imagery Original |
Breathing
Archetype Perceiving Being Self/Other |
Real within the apparent
Mutual integration Apparent within the real Coming from within the real Unity |
Furthermore, this work does not seek to support or refute any particular monisms or dualisms, but is rather offered as an evolving paradigm, or a merging of paradigms, within which the aforementioned formula and extension of developmental stages have been conceptualized. The excerpts and passages below form a foundation for further expansion.
|
|
This process is theorized to occur through a singular media unifying an individual with the whole of existence. It is what we refer to as 'the Tao' for simplicity. In Stage 6 we observe points of unity between the psychic and material worlds. Psyche may be observed to manifest as non-psyche through depsychization. By “depsychization,” I mean the reverse of what Jung called psychization. While psychization has been described as the process by which information comes into the psyche from the previously defined “non-psychic,” or unknown, material world, depsychization is used to describe the process by which information is sent out of the psyche and into the material world. Rather than using the term depsychization, we may refer to such events colloquially as “manifestation." Applications of Self are not limited to psychization and depsychization, but these are worth highlighting as multi-directional processes.
|
|
From Psychology to Ontology, Chapter 13
Throughout the development of psychology in the West, therapists have proposed various models of self-evolution. Each of these models is designed to assist in our understanding of how an individual becomes what he or she appears to be in the present. These are useful tools intended as a frame of reference for what someone may be able to attain in his or her lifetime and in which behaviors someone might get stuck. Depending on the facet of identity that is being addressed, each model has its own areas of insight, focus, and personality theory suggesting mechanisms that correlate to the observations of those that founded them. Through an understanding of these models, therapists try to guide their clients to the highest standard of that particular model. While excellent models have been proposed by a number of renowned therapists, I would like to review Carl Jung’s “Five Stages of Consciousness” in particular as it is a model of the individual within the context of a more distributed Self. It is a combined model of personal psychology and ontology, of the self and the Self.
C.G. Jung was a brilliant existential psychologist who, through his writings, helped move the study of human behavior from its conventional focus on thought and action towards a larger scope of spirituality, for lack of a better term. Traditional psychologists focus on human behavior as mental and emotional experiences and an individual in the context of a group, family, society, or culture. Existential psychology, on the other hand, focuses on human experiences in the context of "everything else that exists" and, in its most peripheral applications, the Tao is just such a context. Jung’s writings detailed five stages of consciousness, which we will review and build upon in the next chapter. These five stages are as follows:
Stage 1 – Participation mystique – Tacit unity of consciousness
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to an internal locus of control
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self – Awareness of an extended context of being
The quotes that will follow pertain to Stages 1 through 5 and suggest additional stages. These came from Murray Stein’s text, “Jung’s Map to the Soul.” I am indebted to Dr. Stein for his simple, concise, and contemporary presentation of Dr. Jung’s original work. After a brief review of Jung’s official 5 Stages, I will continue his stages through to the Tao by proposing Stages 6 through 10. All stages will be relevant for a full discussion of Stage 6, Applied Self, which is a tangent on the Tao, as well as the practical focus of this book. Applying the Self, is in essence, how practitioners of Shikido crossed the collected unconscious.
Relative to the first five stages of Jung’s Map to the Soul, as Dr. Murray called it, Jung observed that people could remain in any one of these 5 Stages for the entirely of their lives or move about them. They were never intended as static states, and someone can be in several states at the same time relative to different experiences. It is also important to know that an individual can be fully functional without ever progressing beyond Stage 1, which begins in our infancy. Stages 1, 2, and 3 do seem to generally proceed in order as a human being advances in age, emotional maturity, and cognition. Likewise, Stage 4 seems a necessary precursor to Stage 5. This is where C.G Jung left his work. He later theorized stages 6 and 7, which we will also discuss. As a general rule, Stages 6 through 10 follow the same rules as 1-5 and are attainable in relative order. Having stated these guidelines, we begin with Stage 1.
Stage 1 – Participation mystique – Tacit unity of consciousness
This stage describes identification between an individual’s consciousness, in this case a human being, and the surrounding world. The knowledge of being in this stage is tacit, meaning that the individual is involved in a process of which he or she is unaware. Arguably, we cannot directly perceive what an infant is or is not aware of, but fortunately for us, we can discuss the matter with adults in Stage 1. In this stage, the consciousness of an individual and any object that the individual identifies with are viewed as the same by that individual. This is the first stage as suggested to occur in infancy.
Most people are connected to their families, at the beginning of life at least, by participation mystique, which is based on identification, introjection, and projection. These terms describe the same thing: and intermingling of inner and outer contents. The infant is at first literally not able to distinguish where it leaves off and where mother begins. The infant’s world is highly unified. (1, p.179 JMttS)
As Jung noted, this stage can persist through to adulthood and over the entire course of an individual’s lifetime. Dr. Stein provides this example of the experience of an element of Stage 1 in adulthood.
"There is an absence in the awareness of the difference between oneself and one’s perceptions on the one hand and the object in question on the other. To some extent, people stay in this state of participation mystique all their lives. For example, many people identify in this way with their cars. They experience all kinds of self-feelings about their cars. When the car develops a problem, its owner feels sick, comes down with a cold, or gets a stomachache. We are unconsciously united with the world around us. This is what Jung called participation mystique."
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
"This is the stage in which we come to appreciate distinctions between self and other not previously understood. Projections as to the definition of one’s immediate self are reigned in from the previously indiscriminate and singular ontological model of self as everything, but projections of self still continue in a more localized fashion. While the infant learns that certain objects or people do not bend to its will or get out of its way, it collides with them and begins to understand them as not self.
Some objects in the world are clearly now more important and interesting that others, because they carry projections and are the recipients of libidinal investment. Mother, favorite toys, bright moving objects, pets, father, and other people become special and singled out as distinct. So as consciousness development proceeds, differentiation takes place and projection becomes fixed on specific figures. And since projections fall on the unknown, the world offers plenty of opportunity to continue the process of projecting throughout one’s entire lifetime.
Like the first stage, the second is one that no one leaves behind completely. As long as one is able to be enchanted, feel the stir of adventure and romance, to risk all for a mighty conviction, one continues to operate out of projections onto concrete objects [or people] in the world."
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
"This is the stage in which an individual further discriminates between what is self and non-self. Furthermore, alliances are made between the person and abstract projections that convey an implicitly external locus of control. This may also occur as a result of overwhelming externality.
If conscious development does continue to occur, which can begin when a new phase of cognitive development leads to the ability to reach a new level of abstraction that is relatively free of concretism, one becomes aware that specific projection carriers are not identical with the projections they carry. The persons who have carried the projections can step out from behind the projections, and as a result they often become de-idealized. At this stage, the world loses much of its naïve enchantment. The projected psychic contents become abstract, and they now manifest as symbols and ideologies. Omnipotence and omniscience are not longer granted to human beings, but such qualities are projected onto abstract entities such as God, Fate, and Truth. Philosophy and Theology become possible.
The spontaneous empathetic response to suffering among creatures in the world is decreased to a considerable extent when the self/other dichotomy has reached this point. To many this does not seem to be an advance but rather a decline in consciousness. However, it must be recognized that the emotional reactions of empathy that manifested in the earlier stages are largely based on projection and have little to do with an objective evaluation of what is happening to the object.
God really does exist somewhere; He or She is a distinct personality, and so on. As long as one believes that an actual God will punish and reward one in the afterlife, this indicates a Stage 3 level of consciousness. The projection has simply become transferred from the parent to a more abstract, mythological figure."
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to internal locus of control
I think of this as crossing the abyss, and it is indeed where many of us are right now. Stage 4 can be full of emptiness and despair. We lose our faith, so to speak, in that which is explicitly external to us. We may begin to take full responsibility for ourselves, and sometimes this means that we are tempted to allow our own ego to take on the role we previously assigned to God. As we are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, bad things can happen as a result. However, if we can refrain from accepting divinity in this stage, we can let go of many assumptions and beliefs that hinder us and have the option of moving on to Stage 5.
"The fourth stage represents the radical extinction of projections, even in the form of theological and ideological abstractions. This extinction leads to the creation of an 'empty center,' which Jung identifies with modernity. This is the modern man in search of his soul. This sense of soul – of grand meaning or purpose in life, immortality, divine origin, a 'God within' – is replaced by pragmatic values. 'Does it work?' becomes the primary question. Humans come to see themselves as cogs in a huge socio-economic machine, and their expectations for meaning are *called* down to bit sized chunks. One settles for moments of pleasure and the satisfactions of manageable desires. Or one becomes depressed. Gods no longer inhabit the heavens, and demons are converted to psychological symptoms and brain chemical imbalances. The world is stripped of projected psychic contents… The modern stance is relativistic.
The Stage 4 person is no longer controlled by societal conventions related to either people or values. Consequently, the ego can consider unlimited possibilities of action. This does not mean that all modern people are sociopathic, but the doors for such a development are wide open. And the worst cases might be those that look the most reasonable, the 'best and the brightest' who think they can calculate an answer to all questions of policy and morality."
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self - Awareness in an extended context of being
Dr. Stein talks about this being the stage in which we approach the psyche as an entity in its own right. We can also approach all contents of the psyche, including archetypes, and relate to them consciously and creatively. This is considered the centerpiece in the process of individuation. Appropriately, it is the also the center of our expanded Jungian model on our course to the Tao.
"The first four stages in the development of consciousness have to do with ego development in the first half of life. The person who has achieved the self-critical and ego reflective characteristic of Stage 4 without falling into megalomania has done extremely well in developing consciousness, and is highly evolved in Jung’s assessment. But further development in the second half of life is reserved by Jung for a fifth stage … which has to do with approaching the unification of conscious and unconscious. In this stage there is a conscious recognition of ego limitation and awareness of the powers of the unconscious, and a form of union becomes possible between the conscious and the unconscious through what Jung called the transcendent function and the unifying symbol. The psyche becomes unified, but unlike Stage 1, the parts become differentiated and contained within the conscious. And unlike Stage 4, the ego is not identified with the archetypes: the archetypal images remain 'other,' they are not hidden in the ego’s shadow. They are now seen as 'in there,' unlike in Stage 3 where they are 'out there' in metaphysical space somewhere, concretely, and they are not projected onto anything external."
Some emersion in Stage 5, as Jung and Stein described it, would have been required for any practitioner attempting feats that could be considered action-at-a-distance. It would be inaccurate to say that Stages 1 through 4 were in any way less advanced or developed than Stage 5, because they are merely different. Each serves it’s individual in facilitating certain goals of the psyche. However, the focus of Stage 5 lies beyond the perceived emptiness or self-centeredness of Stage 4, as well as the reliance of Stage 3. Stage 5 facilitates travel across the collective unconscious. Before leaving the recognition of the Self, we should note something Jung wrote about the boundaries of the psyche. This is followed by Stein’s expansion. (p. 98)
"What I am trying to make clear is the remarkable fact that the will cannot transgress the bounds of the psychic sphere: it cannot coerce the instinct, nor has it power over the spirit, in so far as we understand by this something more than the intellect. Spirit and instinct are by nature autonomous and both limit in equal measure the applied field of the will." (Jung)
"The psychoid boundary defines the gray area between the potentially knowable and the totally unknowable – the potentially controllable and the totally uncontrollable – aspects of human functioning. This is not a sharp boundary, but rather an area of transformation. The psychoid thresholds show an effect that Jung calls 'psychization:' non-psychic information becomes psychized, passing from the unknowable into the unknown (the unconscious psyche) and moving toward the known (ego-consciousness). The human psyche, in short, shows the potential to psychize material from the somatic and spiritual poles of nonpsychic reality." (Stein)
Jung’s observations of this boundary to the psyche are consistent with most of our daily observations. Yet, experiences such as those of synchronicity or an acasual connecting principle suggest otherwise. Indeed, they suggest the next 5 stages. Jung’s unaltered 5 stages are worth extending as they serve as a foundation to a model of ontology that describes, coordinates, and has the potential to explain select ritual practices. I have proposed the next 5 stages as an extension of Jung’s intended process, which was documented through his references to a possible Stage 6 and 7. Given the highly complex nature that we ascribe to ourselves, we needn’t assume that any of these stages were ever intended to represent discrete levels of achievement, but rather that they were more likely designed to represent a continuum between cognitive differences experienced between birth and death, some might say our incarnation as human beings. Some might not say that. Regardless, the next five tiers are, in this sense, no different. As a reflection of the first 5 stages, it is assumed that a sequential progression would be the most common approach, but not necessarily the rule.
C.G. Jung was a brilliant existential psychologist who, through his writings, helped move the study of human behavior from its conventional focus on thought and action towards a larger scope of spirituality, for lack of a better term. Traditional psychologists focus on human behavior as mental and emotional experiences and an individual in the context of a group, family, society, or culture. Existential psychology, on the other hand, focuses on human experiences in the context of "everything else that exists" and, in its most peripheral applications, the Tao is just such a context. Jung’s writings detailed five stages of consciousness, which we will review and build upon in the next chapter. These five stages are as follows:
Stage 1 – Participation mystique – Tacit unity of consciousness
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to an internal locus of control
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self – Awareness of an extended context of being
The quotes that will follow pertain to Stages 1 through 5 and suggest additional stages. These came from Murray Stein’s text, “Jung’s Map to the Soul.” I am indebted to Dr. Stein for his simple, concise, and contemporary presentation of Dr. Jung’s original work. After a brief review of Jung’s official 5 Stages, I will continue his stages through to the Tao by proposing Stages 6 through 10. All stages will be relevant for a full discussion of Stage 6, Applied Self, which is a tangent on the Tao, as well as the practical focus of this book. Applying the Self, is in essence, how practitioners of Shikido crossed the collected unconscious.
Relative to the first five stages of Jung’s Map to the Soul, as Dr. Murray called it, Jung observed that people could remain in any one of these 5 Stages for the entirely of their lives or move about them. They were never intended as static states, and someone can be in several states at the same time relative to different experiences. It is also important to know that an individual can be fully functional without ever progressing beyond Stage 1, which begins in our infancy. Stages 1, 2, and 3 do seem to generally proceed in order as a human being advances in age, emotional maturity, and cognition. Likewise, Stage 4 seems a necessary precursor to Stage 5. This is where C.G Jung left his work. He later theorized stages 6 and 7, which we will also discuss. As a general rule, Stages 6 through 10 follow the same rules as 1-5 and are attainable in relative order. Having stated these guidelines, we begin with Stage 1.
Stage 1 – Participation mystique – Tacit unity of consciousness
This stage describes identification between an individual’s consciousness, in this case a human being, and the surrounding world. The knowledge of being in this stage is tacit, meaning that the individual is involved in a process of which he or she is unaware. Arguably, we cannot directly perceive what an infant is or is not aware of, but fortunately for us, we can discuss the matter with adults in Stage 1. In this stage, the consciousness of an individual and any object that the individual identifies with are viewed as the same by that individual. This is the first stage as suggested to occur in infancy.
Most people are connected to their families, at the beginning of life at least, by participation mystique, which is based on identification, introjection, and projection. These terms describe the same thing: and intermingling of inner and outer contents. The infant is at first literally not able to distinguish where it leaves off and where mother begins. The infant’s world is highly unified. (1, p.179 JMttS)
As Jung noted, this stage can persist through to adulthood and over the entire course of an individual’s lifetime. Dr. Stein provides this example of the experience of an element of Stage 1 in adulthood.
"There is an absence in the awareness of the difference between oneself and one’s perceptions on the one hand and the object in question on the other. To some extent, people stay in this state of participation mystique all their lives. For example, many people identify in this way with their cars. They experience all kinds of self-feelings about their cars. When the car develops a problem, its owner feels sick, comes down with a cold, or gets a stomachache. We are unconsciously united with the world around us. This is what Jung called participation mystique."
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
"This is the stage in which we come to appreciate distinctions between self and other not previously understood. Projections as to the definition of one’s immediate self are reigned in from the previously indiscriminate and singular ontological model of self as everything, but projections of self still continue in a more localized fashion. While the infant learns that certain objects or people do not bend to its will or get out of its way, it collides with them and begins to understand them as not self.
Some objects in the world are clearly now more important and interesting that others, because they carry projections and are the recipients of libidinal investment. Mother, favorite toys, bright moving objects, pets, father, and other people become special and singled out as distinct. So as consciousness development proceeds, differentiation takes place and projection becomes fixed on specific figures. And since projections fall on the unknown, the world offers plenty of opportunity to continue the process of projecting throughout one’s entire lifetime.
Like the first stage, the second is one that no one leaves behind completely. As long as one is able to be enchanted, feel the stir of adventure and romance, to risk all for a mighty conviction, one continues to operate out of projections onto concrete objects [or people] in the world."
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
"This is the stage in which an individual further discriminates between what is self and non-self. Furthermore, alliances are made between the person and abstract projections that convey an implicitly external locus of control. This may also occur as a result of overwhelming externality.
If conscious development does continue to occur, which can begin when a new phase of cognitive development leads to the ability to reach a new level of abstraction that is relatively free of concretism, one becomes aware that specific projection carriers are not identical with the projections they carry. The persons who have carried the projections can step out from behind the projections, and as a result they often become de-idealized. At this stage, the world loses much of its naïve enchantment. The projected psychic contents become abstract, and they now manifest as symbols and ideologies. Omnipotence and omniscience are not longer granted to human beings, but such qualities are projected onto abstract entities such as God, Fate, and Truth. Philosophy and Theology become possible.
The spontaneous empathetic response to suffering among creatures in the world is decreased to a considerable extent when the self/other dichotomy has reached this point. To many this does not seem to be an advance but rather a decline in consciousness. However, it must be recognized that the emotional reactions of empathy that manifested in the earlier stages are largely based on projection and have little to do with an objective evaluation of what is happening to the object.
God really does exist somewhere; He or She is a distinct personality, and so on. As long as one believes that an actual God will punish and reward one in the afterlife, this indicates a Stage 3 level of consciousness. The projection has simply become transferred from the parent to a more abstract, mythological figure."
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to internal locus of control
I think of this as crossing the abyss, and it is indeed where many of us are right now. Stage 4 can be full of emptiness and despair. We lose our faith, so to speak, in that which is explicitly external to us. We may begin to take full responsibility for ourselves, and sometimes this means that we are tempted to allow our own ego to take on the role we previously assigned to God. As we are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, bad things can happen as a result. However, if we can refrain from accepting divinity in this stage, we can let go of many assumptions and beliefs that hinder us and have the option of moving on to Stage 5.
"The fourth stage represents the radical extinction of projections, even in the form of theological and ideological abstractions. This extinction leads to the creation of an 'empty center,' which Jung identifies with modernity. This is the modern man in search of his soul. This sense of soul – of grand meaning or purpose in life, immortality, divine origin, a 'God within' – is replaced by pragmatic values. 'Does it work?' becomes the primary question. Humans come to see themselves as cogs in a huge socio-economic machine, and their expectations for meaning are *called* down to bit sized chunks. One settles for moments of pleasure and the satisfactions of manageable desires. Or one becomes depressed. Gods no longer inhabit the heavens, and demons are converted to psychological symptoms and brain chemical imbalances. The world is stripped of projected psychic contents… The modern stance is relativistic.
The Stage 4 person is no longer controlled by societal conventions related to either people or values. Consequently, the ego can consider unlimited possibilities of action. This does not mean that all modern people are sociopathic, but the doors for such a development are wide open. And the worst cases might be those that look the most reasonable, the 'best and the brightest' who think they can calculate an answer to all questions of policy and morality."
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self - Awareness in an extended context of being
Dr. Stein talks about this being the stage in which we approach the psyche as an entity in its own right. We can also approach all contents of the psyche, including archetypes, and relate to them consciously and creatively. This is considered the centerpiece in the process of individuation. Appropriately, it is the also the center of our expanded Jungian model on our course to the Tao.
"The first four stages in the development of consciousness have to do with ego development in the first half of life. The person who has achieved the self-critical and ego reflective characteristic of Stage 4 without falling into megalomania has done extremely well in developing consciousness, and is highly evolved in Jung’s assessment. But further development in the second half of life is reserved by Jung for a fifth stage … which has to do with approaching the unification of conscious and unconscious. In this stage there is a conscious recognition of ego limitation and awareness of the powers of the unconscious, and a form of union becomes possible between the conscious and the unconscious through what Jung called the transcendent function and the unifying symbol. The psyche becomes unified, but unlike Stage 1, the parts become differentiated and contained within the conscious. And unlike Stage 4, the ego is not identified with the archetypes: the archetypal images remain 'other,' they are not hidden in the ego’s shadow. They are now seen as 'in there,' unlike in Stage 3 where they are 'out there' in metaphysical space somewhere, concretely, and they are not projected onto anything external."
Some emersion in Stage 5, as Jung and Stein described it, would have been required for any practitioner attempting feats that could be considered action-at-a-distance. It would be inaccurate to say that Stages 1 through 4 were in any way less advanced or developed than Stage 5, because they are merely different. Each serves it’s individual in facilitating certain goals of the psyche. However, the focus of Stage 5 lies beyond the perceived emptiness or self-centeredness of Stage 4, as well as the reliance of Stage 3. Stage 5 facilitates travel across the collective unconscious. Before leaving the recognition of the Self, we should note something Jung wrote about the boundaries of the psyche. This is followed by Stein’s expansion. (p. 98)
"What I am trying to make clear is the remarkable fact that the will cannot transgress the bounds of the psychic sphere: it cannot coerce the instinct, nor has it power over the spirit, in so far as we understand by this something more than the intellect. Spirit and instinct are by nature autonomous and both limit in equal measure the applied field of the will." (Jung)
"The psychoid boundary defines the gray area between the potentially knowable and the totally unknowable – the potentially controllable and the totally uncontrollable – aspects of human functioning. This is not a sharp boundary, but rather an area of transformation. The psychoid thresholds show an effect that Jung calls 'psychization:' non-psychic information becomes psychized, passing from the unknowable into the unknown (the unconscious psyche) and moving toward the known (ego-consciousness). The human psyche, in short, shows the potential to psychize material from the somatic and spiritual poles of nonpsychic reality." (Stein)
Jung’s observations of this boundary to the psyche are consistent with most of our daily observations. Yet, experiences such as those of synchronicity or an acasual connecting principle suggest otherwise. Indeed, they suggest the next 5 stages. Jung’s unaltered 5 stages are worth extending as they serve as a foundation to a model of ontology that describes, coordinates, and has the potential to explain select ritual practices. I have proposed the next 5 stages as an extension of Jung’s intended process, which was documented through his references to a possible Stage 6 and 7. Given the highly complex nature that we ascribe to ourselves, we needn’t assume that any of these stages were ever intended to represent discrete levels of achievement, but rather that they were more likely designed to represent a continuum between cognitive differences experienced between birth and death, some might say our incarnation as human beings. Some might not say that. Regardless, the next five tiers are, in this sense, no different. As a reflection of the first 5 stages, it is assumed that a sequential progression would be the most common approach, but not necessarily the rule.
Extending Jung’s Map to the Tao, Chapter 14
Stage 1 – Participation mystique – Tacit unity of consciousness
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to an internal locus of control
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self – Awareness of an extended context of being
Stage 6 – Applied Self – The world of our design
Stage 7 – Fluent Self – Dissolution of Other
Stage 8 – Enlightenment – The world beyond our design
Stage 9 – The Tao that can be named – Dissolution of Self
Stage 10 – The Tao that cannot be named – Participation mystique
C.G. Jung’s 5-stage model has been used in analytical psychology as a map for human consciousness in the developmental sense, within the confines of a dual mind/matter paradigm. Stages 6 through 10 are the fringes of that map, as it is extended in a dynamicist paradigm. All 10 stages map the interface of our inner and outer worlds, but in Stages 5 and 6 we begin to cross the boundaries of psychology into alchemy and ontology. Stage 5 is a crucial point of recognition as it presents seemingly infinite new applications of our consciousness. Indeed, in recognizing the Self we open the door to the world of our design.
Stage 6 – Applied Self – The world of our design
I define this stage as being that level of cognitive development and awareness at which the individual is able to begin experimenting in abstract causality, or loosely with what Jung called synchronicity. It is not limited to the observations of Stage 5. An individual becomes a more active participant in altering currents in the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____ (whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media). This is the Stage of the Applied Self. You will recall that in Stage 2, the infant learned that certain objects or people do not bend to its will or get out of its way; it collided with them and began to understand them as not self, but as other. Stage 6 is just the reverse recognition. As a function of ritual, modified coincidence, or sheer force of will exerting an influence beyond the immediate psyche, an individual becomes capable of applying his or her connection through a Self-archetype.
This process is theorized to occur through a singular media unifying an individual with the whole of existence. It is what some refer to as 'the Tao' for simplicity or as the most relevant term at the time. In Stage 6 we observe points of unity between the psychic and material worlds. Psyche may be observed to manifest as non-psyche through depsychization. By “depsychization,” I mean the reverse of what Jung called psychization. While psychization has been described as the process by which information comes into the psyche from the previously defined “non-psychic,” or unknown, material world, depsychization is used to describe the process by which information is sent out of the psyche and into the material world. Rather than using the term depsychization, we may refer to such events colloquially as “manifestation." Applications of Self are not limited to psychization and depsychization, but these are worth highlighting as multi-directional processes.
"Officially, Jung stopped at Stage 5, although in several places he indicates that he contemplated further advances beyond it… For Westerners, who are fundamentally conditioned by a materialistic attitude, this is still a possible developmental option. Stage 6, then, could be seen as a state of consciousness that recognizes the unity of psyche and the material world to at least some extent. Jung moved with caution in exploring such territories, however, because here he was clearly passing from psychology as we have known it in the West into physics, cosmology, and metaphysics, areas in which he did not feel intellectually qualified and competent.” (Stein)
In my opinion, Jung was both qualified and competent to continue his model. His choice to limit his presentation to the first 5 Stages was probably one of politics. Stage 6 is characterized by the recognition and manipulation of points of direct unity between psyche and the material world, and further characterized by seemingly acausal or synchronistic events. I also followed Jung’s lead on Stage 7.
Stage 7 – Fluent Self – Dissolution of Other
As Jung suggested, this is the stage at which we as individuals begin to develop a degree of fluency when participating in acausality. We begin to do things we shouldn’t really be able to do in our current paradigm of dualistic or limited monistic reality, in which the psychic and material worlds cannot intermix, at least not routinely. We attain Stage 7 by moving beyond the concept of “other” and influencing things by understanding them as a part of our Self. Stage 7 is the further evolution of one’s own spirit and spiritual path, again for lacking better terms. This can take many forms and is correlated with a variety of difficult to explain phenomenon.
“[In] his Kundalini Yoga Seminar, given in 1932, Jung clearly recognizes the attainment of states of consciousness in the East that surpass what is known in the West. While he is dubious about the prospects for Westerners to achieve similar states in the foreseeable future, he nevertheless does grant the theoretical possibility of doing so and even describes some of the features such stages would have. The type of conscious revealed in Kundalini could be considered a potential Stage 7.”
Jung’s skepticism of the Westerner’s ability to pursue stages beyond the 5th stage, or to apply the Self, was simply based on his observations. His Western clientele, while quite talented in some cases, were all products of a younger culture with more material values. A more recent shift in Western thinking towards Eastern philosophical inquiries is interesting, indeed. Perhaps, this trend represents a resurgence of older more meditative arts in the West.
Stage 8 – Enlightenment – The world beyond our design
This stage is characterized by the direct experience of unity, in its fullest sense, without embodiment of the singularity and beyond traditional applications of the Self. It is enlightenment as the aim of meditation or a side effect of applications. Applications are still possible, but Stage 8 moves beyond the mere conscious fluency of Stage 7 and the individual begins to see the wisdom in allowing the Tao to apply itself more consciously through him or herself, rather than applying the Self through the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____ (whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media). At this stage, the Self-archetype, as we might come to know it, stands at the threshold of dissolution. We have a glimpse of the singularity of existence, beyond any paradox or contradiction. We have attained or maintained satori, moksha, and nirvana (states of enlightenment).
I will offer the last two Stages, 9 and 10, as theoretical tiers designed to bring this model full circle. I suspect that not too much beyond stage 8 will be of much interest to humans while this book is in print so I won’t spend too much time on them.
Stage 9 – Dissolution and Resolution – The Tao that can be named
This is the last dance of our Self, so to speak. It is the climax of final paradox before unity is attained. The paradox is characterized by simultaneous dissolution of the Self and resolution into a new entity, which is the whole of existence, including but not limited to the former Self. This is a segue, of sorts, to Stage 10 in much the same way that Stage 4 was the abyss between Stages 3 and 5. It might be difficult to embody this stage in a corporeal form, such as our bodies. Theoretically, were we to exist at this level, it would be as a paradox. We could clearly see the singular unity of all things knowable and unknowable. I hear it’s a nice view.
Stage 10 – Participation mystic – Unity attained – The Tao that cannot be named
Stage 10, as I will present it, differs only from the participation mystique of our infancy, or Stage 1, in that it incorporates conscious awareness of unity, while Stage 1 was tacit. This is the Stage in which we would exist and not exist simultaneously beyond and including all paradox. We would exist wholly as the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____
(whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media), both far removed from our human existence and intimately interconnected with it.
Stage 2 – Concrete projections – Experiments in concrete causality
Stage 3 – Abstract projections – Formalization of an external locus of control
Stage 4 – Cessation of projections – Shift to an internal locus of control
Stage 5 – Recognition of Self – Awareness of an extended context of being
Stage 6 – Applied Self – The world of our design
Stage 7 – Fluent Self – Dissolution of Other
Stage 8 – Enlightenment – The world beyond our design
Stage 9 – The Tao that can be named – Dissolution of Self
Stage 10 – The Tao that cannot be named – Participation mystique
C.G. Jung’s 5-stage model has been used in analytical psychology as a map for human consciousness in the developmental sense, within the confines of a dual mind/matter paradigm. Stages 6 through 10 are the fringes of that map, as it is extended in a dynamicist paradigm. All 10 stages map the interface of our inner and outer worlds, but in Stages 5 and 6 we begin to cross the boundaries of psychology into alchemy and ontology. Stage 5 is a crucial point of recognition as it presents seemingly infinite new applications of our consciousness. Indeed, in recognizing the Self we open the door to the world of our design.
Stage 6 – Applied Self – The world of our design
I define this stage as being that level of cognitive development and awareness at which the individual is able to begin experimenting in abstract causality, or loosely with what Jung called synchronicity. It is not limited to the observations of Stage 5. An individual becomes a more active participant in altering currents in the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____ (whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media). This is the Stage of the Applied Self. You will recall that in Stage 2, the infant learned that certain objects or people do not bend to its will or get out of its way; it collided with them and began to understand them as not self, but as other. Stage 6 is just the reverse recognition. As a function of ritual, modified coincidence, or sheer force of will exerting an influence beyond the immediate psyche, an individual becomes capable of applying his or her connection through a Self-archetype.
This process is theorized to occur through a singular media unifying an individual with the whole of existence. It is what some refer to as 'the Tao' for simplicity or as the most relevant term at the time. In Stage 6 we observe points of unity between the psychic and material worlds. Psyche may be observed to manifest as non-psyche through depsychization. By “depsychization,” I mean the reverse of what Jung called psychization. While psychization has been described as the process by which information comes into the psyche from the previously defined “non-psychic,” or unknown, material world, depsychization is used to describe the process by which information is sent out of the psyche and into the material world. Rather than using the term depsychization, we may refer to such events colloquially as “manifestation." Applications of Self are not limited to psychization and depsychization, but these are worth highlighting as multi-directional processes.
"Officially, Jung stopped at Stage 5, although in several places he indicates that he contemplated further advances beyond it… For Westerners, who are fundamentally conditioned by a materialistic attitude, this is still a possible developmental option. Stage 6, then, could be seen as a state of consciousness that recognizes the unity of psyche and the material world to at least some extent. Jung moved with caution in exploring such territories, however, because here he was clearly passing from psychology as we have known it in the West into physics, cosmology, and metaphysics, areas in which he did not feel intellectually qualified and competent.” (Stein)
In my opinion, Jung was both qualified and competent to continue his model. His choice to limit his presentation to the first 5 Stages was probably one of politics. Stage 6 is characterized by the recognition and manipulation of points of direct unity between psyche and the material world, and further characterized by seemingly acausal or synchronistic events. I also followed Jung’s lead on Stage 7.
Stage 7 – Fluent Self – Dissolution of Other
As Jung suggested, this is the stage at which we as individuals begin to develop a degree of fluency when participating in acausality. We begin to do things we shouldn’t really be able to do in our current paradigm of dualistic or limited monistic reality, in which the psychic and material worlds cannot intermix, at least not routinely. We attain Stage 7 by moving beyond the concept of “other” and influencing things by understanding them as a part of our Self. Stage 7 is the further evolution of one’s own spirit and spiritual path, again for lacking better terms. This can take many forms and is correlated with a variety of difficult to explain phenomenon.
“[In] his Kundalini Yoga Seminar, given in 1932, Jung clearly recognizes the attainment of states of consciousness in the East that surpass what is known in the West. While he is dubious about the prospects for Westerners to achieve similar states in the foreseeable future, he nevertheless does grant the theoretical possibility of doing so and even describes some of the features such stages would have. The type of conscious revealed in Kundalini could be considered a potential Stage 7.”
Jung’s skepticism of the Westerner’s ability to pursue stages beyond the 5th stage, or to apply the Self, was simply based on his observations. His Western clientele, while quite talented in some cases, were all products of a younger culture with more material values. A more recent shift in Western thinking towards Eastern philosophical inquiries is interesting, indeed. Perhaps, this trend represents a resurgence of older more meditative arts in the West.
Stage 8 – Enlightenment – The world beyond our design
This stage is characterized by the direct experience of unity, in its fullest sense, without embodiment of the singularity and beyond traditional applications of the Self. It is enlightenment as the aim of meditation or a side effect of applications. Applications are still possible, but Stage 8 moves beyond the mere conscious fluency of Stage 7 and the individual begins to see the wisdom in allowing the Tao to apply itself more consciously through him or herself, rather than applying the Self through the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____ (whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media). At this stage, the Self-archetype, as we might come to know it, stands at the threshold of dissolution. We have a glimpse of the singularity of existence, beyond any paradox or contradiction. We have attained or maintained satori, moksha, and nirvana (states of enlightenment).
I will offer the last two Stages, 9 and 10, as theoretical tiers designed to bring this model full circle. I suspect that not too much beyond stage 8 will be of much interest to humans while this book is in print so I won’t spend too much time on them.
Stage 9 – Dissolution and Resolution – The Tao that can be named
This is the last dance of our Self, so to speak. It is the climax of final paradox before unity is attained. The paradox is characterized by simultaneous dissolution of the Self and resolution into a new entity, which is the whole of existence, including but not limited to the former Self. This is a segue, of sorts, to Stage 10 in much the same way that Stage 4 was the abyss between Stages 3 and 5. It might be difficult to embody this stage in a corporeal form, such as our bodies. Theoretically, were we to exist at this level, it would be as a paradox. We could clearly see the singular unity of all things knowable and unknowable. I hear it’s a nice view.
Stage 10 – Participation mystic – Unity attained – The Tao that cannot be named
Stage 10, as I will present it, differs only from the participation mystique of our infancy, or Stage 1, in that it incorporates conscious awareness of unity, while Stage 1 was tacit. This is the Stage in which we would exist and not exist simultaneously beyond and including all paradox. We would exist wholly as the Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____
(whatever term is chosen for said singular unifying media), both far removed from our human existence and intimately interconnected with it.
Currents in the Tao, Chapter 15
Subject to future editing, conceptualization of the singular media will be referred to as the Tao. With an appreciation of our interconnectedness within the Tao, we can now turn to currents in the Tao to expand the lexicon for this topic. A current in the Tao is slightly different than a tangent on the Tao. Currents represent any institution in motion, any belief or practice, including any action-at-a-distance practice. Action-at-a-distance is generally not an accepted doctrine in the West, despite effective ephemeral medical practices that are regarded with curiosity. However, in Eastern medicine and philosophy, distance is a construct, not a factor of reality, per se. Some additional terminology and conceptual groundwork is still needed for the lay Westerner to appreciate this perspective and what it might offer.
We often hear the term balancing used when discussing acupuncture meridians or yogic chakras. In homeopathy, which is different from herbology, practitioners focus on finding the exact vibrational remedy that will realign the patient, thus, restoring health. In Reiki, practitioners lay hands on a patient or send healing energy from a distance by silently reviewing or reciting mantras called kotodama, while visualizing symbols. There has been some discussion of the practitioner’s intention aiding in the healing effects experienced by a patient, but there are certain lineages in which intent is reported to play no significant role. Meditation can also be considered a form of energetic medicine. This is one in which a psychological mechanism has most often been ascribed, as the health effects occur within the practitioner.
A discussion of energetic medicine would not be complete without considering counseling itself. In a counseling session, words may or may not serve as a mechanism of action. Perhaps they mediate healing, as would a touch. Perhaps memories are revisited with new information and recoded emotionally. It may be that in counseling, a patient is essentially instructed in healing, or it may be that a mind-body connection is made between participants. In any event, counseling is an immediate intentional therapy and while it has elements of energetic medicine, particularly the epiphanies, it is not considered to be action-at-a-distance.
Our ability to measure evermore-subtle "energies" increases through the development of new technology. As it stands, we can measure brainwaves, but we cannot measure thoughts. We can observe changes in heart rate, diaphoresis, and skin conduction, but we cannot measure emotions. Even physical tissues evade the finest of reductions until new tests or instruments are designed. The very sciences of physics and chemistry have themselves paused at the edge of electrons, quarks and hadrons. Each new theory waits for technology to validate or refute it. So it is with ephemeral therapies. In the meantime, we can make use of clinical data, experience, and the recognition of patterns to aid in our understanding of the mechanisms of energetic medicine.
We began with a treatise on the Tao, as an established set of concepts for understanding the proposed mechanisms of energetic medicine. While metaphysical thought in the West often has a monotheistic character, recognizing a creator God, there are still bastions of philosophical ubiquity in the East that refer to an impersonal, or omni-personal, self-sustaining divine state known as the Tao. The existence of or belief in one does not preclude the existence of the other. As a result, observers of Shinto practices were able to maintain additional belief systems such as Buddhism and more recently Christianity. The Kami of any given clan might transcend in character to angels, bodhisattva, ancestors, or elementals, as necessary for congruity. This was possible, because a governing deity, or God, has an associated identity that varies depending on the religion describing this singular consciousness. The Tao, on the other hand, has no single identity, nor can it be identified as separate in quality to anything else. These are merely two ways of defining a total-state of existence, or divinity, overlapping fully.
Such texts as the Tao Te Ching could have been written from either perspective, as a decree from a deity or as a pattern defining chaos. By cultural and philosophical convention, writings on the Tao naturally align with Tao-theory. In doing so, they circumvent a wide array of emotional reactions that go hand in hand with a named divinity. Were someone to read slowly through the following list: Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Kwan Yin, Krishna, Shiva, et cetera - that individual might experience each name eliciting a different feeling ranging from intensity to impartiality. Any one of these designations of divinity could be ascribed to the Tao, but that isn’t what the Tao Te Ching is about. It is about you and your relationship with all others. More than that, the Tao Te Ching is one of several texts that pose the possibility of a functional pattern existing in the Tao, allowing links between one's self and seemingly others to be made conscious and maintained.
Granted, any given pattern could be quite obscure, becoming evident only after reviewing many fields of arts and sciences or investing many years in meditation; Perhaps, more intuited than observable. I have come to think of one such pattern as a defining current of the Tao, at least as it flows through human consciousness. One crucial chapter of the Tao Te Ching emphasizes this idea in that it alludes to a method of corresponding with the Tao. Chapter 37 suggests a pathway for the reader to do impossible things, change core elements within himself, and create tangible forms of imagination.
I would advise that you to read as many versions of the Tao Te Ching as you can, if you are to read any version. Familiarize yourself with the wealth of paradox and contradiction it has to offer, but don’t become frustrated with it. Paradox is your friend, because it means that you have to change the way you look at something. Each translation reveals and obscures various insights over the entire course of the text. The Tao is a particularly challenging concept to grasp, let alone dissect, which is probably why many masters would prefer you invest in simply cultivating the meditative techniques necessary to directly experience it.
I will refer to two versions of the Tao: the Tao that can be named and the Tao that cannot be named. In summary, the Tao that can be named is everything that can be named, or what Chinese Taoist literature refers to as the ten thousand things. There are a potentially infinite number of things in existence, but at the time ten thousand was sufficient. All things, including our named selves, you and I, fall under the category of the Tao that can be named. It is existence, as we know it, up to and possibly beyond the point of final duality, paradox and contradiction. It is the self-sphere, which includes all physical and psychic matters, as well as the Self-sphere, the singularity, or divinity as perceived by an individual. Reality remains relative.
The Tao that cannot be named is a little less specific and more ubiquitous than the named Tao’s everything. The unnamed Tao permeates all named and namable things, as well as fills the voids in between things. It is this matrix that allows practitioners to link, the glue of existence, so to speak, that which binds us all together. It exists in addition to and includes all named things, whether those things are objects or ideas, real or imaginary, physical or psychic. This concept evades us, because the Tao that cannot be named is more than the sum of all obvious components of reality. It connects us all. It’s an idea that doesn’t fit well with Western reductionist thinking, because it simply cannot be reduced. Eastern philosophers over two thousand years ago realized that once something was named, it was also reduced, or compartmentalized. The name given to a thing comes to denote its identity. Therefore, when it was theorized that a quality of the Tao defied such reduction, it was coined as “unnamed.” It is most often this unnamed quality of the Tao that is spoken of in meditative literature. Please consider the following translations of chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching, or Te-Tao Ching by multiple authors. I have chosen this chapter for it’s pivotal position in the overall text. To many scholars it is the climax.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by John C. H. Wu
Tao never makes any ado, And yet it does everything. If a ruler can cling to it, All things will grow of themselves. When they have grown and tend to make a stir, It is time to keep them in their place by the aid of the nameless Primal Simplicity. Which alone can curb the desires of men. When the desires of men are curbed, there will be peace, And the world will settle down of its own accord.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Way never does anything, And everything gets done. If those in power hold the Way, The ten thousand things Would look after themselves. If even so they tried to act, I’d quiet them with the nameless, the natural. In the unnamed, in the unshapen, is not wanting. In not wanting is stillness. In stillness all under heaven rests.
Te-Tao Ching, Chapter 37, by Robert G. Henricks
The Tao is constantly nameless. Were marquises and kings able to maintain it, The ten thousand things would transform on their own. Having transformed, were their desires to become active, I would subdue them with the nameless simplicity. Having subdued them with the nameless simplicity, I would not disgrace them. By not being disgraced, they will be tranquil. And Heaven and Earth will of themselves, be correct and right.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Stephen Mitchell
The Tao never does anything, Yet through it all things are done. If powerful men and women Could center themselves in it, The whole world would be transformed by itself, in its natural rhythms. People would be content With their simple everyday lives, in harmony and free of desire. When there is no desire, all things are at peace.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Michael LaFargue
Tao invariably Does Nothing, and nothing remains not done. If the princes and kings can watch over it, The ten thousand things will change by themselves. If they change and become desirous and active, I will restrain them with the nameless One’s Simplicity. Restraining them with the nameless One’s Simplicity Will cause them no disgrace. Not being disgraced, they will be Still. The world will order itself.
There are now a few sources of this text, including the recent discovery of the Ma-Wang-Tui scrolls on which Robert Henricks based his translation. Overall, the texts have the same message, encrypted in poetic verse. I will offer another interpretation paraphrasing only the English versions. To a practitioner of a meditative art, it might have read like this:
The Tao never acts, for acting would suggest that cause preceded effect. If (a sentient creature, man or woman) understood the Tao, then they would observe seemingly impossible things to occur in alignment with their will. If they lost their perspective, due to desire or distraction, Then the Tao would escape their understanding. They would return to the mundane sensory and cognitive world. Whether one aligns the Tao to his (or her) will, Or opens oneself to direction from the Tao, All is ordered.
“Seemingly impossible things” include miraculous healing, remote viewing, dream travel, or any other action-at-a-distance practice for which the mechanisms have not previously been adequately discoursed in a non-reductionist context. These phenomena are possible because the Tao connects us all. In Tao-theory, we face oneness. There is no one else.
We often hear the term balancing used when discussing acupuncture meridians or yogic chakras. In homeopathy, which is different from herbology, practitioners focus on finding the exact vibrational remedy that will realign the patient, thus, restoring health. In Reiki, practitioners lay hands on a patient or send healing energy from a distance by silently reviewing or reciting mantras called kotodama, while visualizing symbols. There has been some discussion of the practitioner’s intention aiding in the healing effects experienced by a patient, but there are certain lineages in which intent is reported to play no significant role. Meditation can also be considered a form of energetic medicine. This is one in which a psychological mechanism has most often been ascribed, as the health effects occur within the practitioner.
A discussion of energetic medicine would not be complete without considering counseling itself. In a counseling session, words may or may not serve as a mechanism of action. Perhaps they mediate healing, as would a touch. Perhaps memories are revisited with new information and recoded emotionally. It may be that in counseling, a patient is essentially instructed in healing, or it may be that a mind-body connection is made between participants. In any event, counseling is an immediate intentional therapy and while it has elements of energetic medicine, particularly the epiphanies, it is not considered to be action-at-a-distance.
Our ability to measure evermore-subtle "energies" increases through the development of new technology. As it stands, we can measure brainwaves, but we cannot measure thoughts. We can observe changes in heart rate, diaphoresis, and skin conduction, but we cannot measure emotions. Even physical tissues evade the finest of reductions until new tests or instruments are designed. The very sciences of physics and chemistry have themselves paused at the edge of electrons, quarks and hadrons. Each new theory waits for technology to validate or refute it. So it is with ephemeral therapies. In the meantime, we can make use of clinical data, experience, and the recognition of patterns to aid in our understanding of the mechanisms of energetic medicine.
We began with a treatise on the Tao, as an established set of concepts for understanding the proposed mechanisms of energetic medicine. While metaphysical thought in the West often has a monotheistic character, recognizing a creator God, there are still bastions of philosophical ubiquity in the East that refer to an impersonal, or omni-personal, self-sustaining divine state known as the Tao. The existence of or belief in one does not preclude the existence of the other. As a result, observers of Shinto practices were able to maintain additional belief systems such as Buddhism and more recently Christianity. The Kami of any given clan might transcend in character to angels, bodhisattva, ancestors, or elementals, as necessary for congruity. This was possible, because a governing deity, or God, has an associated identity that varies depending on the religion describing this singular consciousness. The Tao, on the other hand, has no single identity, nor can it be identified as separate in quality to anything else. These are merely two ways of defining a total-state of existence, or divinity, overlapping fully.
Such texts as the Tao Te Ching could have been written from either perspective, as a decree from a deity or as a pattern defining chaos. By cultural and philosophical convention, writings on the Tao naturally align with Tao-theory. In doing so, they circumvent a wide array of emotional reactions that go hand in hand with a named divinity. Were someone to read slowly through the following list: Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Kwan Yin, Krishna, Shiva, et cetera - that individual might experience each name eliciting a different feeling ranging from intensity to impartiality. Any one of these designations of divinity could be ascribed to the Tao, but that isn’t what the Tao Te Ching is about. It is about you and your relationship with all others. More than that, the Tao Te Ching is one of several texts that pose the possibility of a functional pattern existing in the Tao, allowing links between one's self and seemingly others to be made conscious and maintained.
Granted, any given pattern could be quite obscure, becoming evident only after reviewing many fields of arts and sciences or investing many years in meditation; Perhaps, more intuited than observable. I have come to think of one such pattern as a defining current of the Tao, at least as it flows through human consciousness. One crucial chapter of the Tao Te Ching emphasizes this idea in that it alludes to a method of corresponding with the Tao. Chapter 37 suggests a pathway for the reader to do impossible things, change core elements within himself, and create tangible forms of imagination.
I would advise that you to read as many versions of the Tao Te Ching as you can, if you are to read any version. Familiarize yourself with the wealth of paradox and contradiction it has to offer, but don’t become frustrated with it. Paradox is your friend, because it means that you have to change the way you look at something. Each translation reveals and obscures various insights over the entire course of the text. The Tao is a particularly challenging concept to grasp, let alone dissect, which is probably why many masters would prefer you invest in simply cultivating the meditative techniques necessary to directly experience it.
I will refer to two versions of the Tao: the Tao that can be named and the Tao that cannot be named. In summary, the Tao that can be named is everything that can be named, or what Chinese Taoist literature refers to as the ten thousand things. There are a potentially infinite number of things in existence, but at the time ten thousand was sufficient. All things, including our named selves, you and I, fall under the category of the Tao that can be named. It is existence, as we know it, up to and possibly beyond the point of final duality, paradox and contradiction. It is the self-sphere, which includes all physical and psychic matters, as well as the Self-sphere, the singularity, or divinity as perceived by an individual. Reality remains relative.
The Tao that cannot be named is a little less specific and more ubiquitous than the named Tao’s everything. The unnamed Tao permeates all named and namable things, as well as fills the voids in between things. It is this matrix that allows practitioners to link, the glue of existence, so to speak, that which binds us all together. It exists in addition to and includes all named things, whether those things are objects or ideas, real or imaginary, physical or psychic. This concept evades us, because the Tao that cannot be named is more than the sum of all obvious components of reality. It connects us all. It’s an idea that doesn’t fit well with Western reductionist thinking, because it simply cannot be reduced. Eastern philosophers over two thousand years ago realized that once something was named, it was also reduced, or compartmentalized. The name given to a thing comes to denote its identity. Therefore, when it was theorized that a quality of the Tao defied such reduction, it was coined as “unnamed.” It is most often this unnamed quality of the Tao that is spoken of in meditative literature. Please consider the following translations of chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching, or Te-Tao Ching by multiple authors. I have chosen this chapter for it’s pivotal position in the overall text. To many scholars it is the climax.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by John C. H. Wu
Tao never makes any ado, And yet it does everything. If a ruler can cling to it, All things will grow of themselves. When they have grown and tend to make a stir, It is time to keep them in their place by the aid of the nameless Primal Simplicity. Which alone can curb the desires of men. When the desires of men are curbed, there will be peace, And the world will settle down of its own accord.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Way never does anything, And everything gets done. If those in power hold the Way, The ten thousand things Would look after themselves. If even so they tried to act, I’d quiet them with the nameless, the natural. In the unnamed, in the unshapen, is not wanting. In not wanting is stillness. In stillness all under heaven rests.
Te-Tao Ching, Chapter 37, by Robert G. Henricks
The Tao is constantly nameless. Were marquises and kings able to maintain it, The ten thousand things would transform on their own. Having transformed, were their desires to become active, I would subdue them with the nameless simplicity. Having subdued them with the nameless simplicity, I would not disgrace them. By not being disgraced, they will be tranquil. And Heaven and Earth will of themselves, be correct and right.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Stephen Mitchell
The Tao never does anything, Yet through it all things are done. If powerful men and women Could center themselves in it, The whole world would be transformed by itself, in its natural rhythms. People would be content With their simple everyday lives, in harmony and free of desire. When there is no desire, all things are at peace.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, by Michael LaFargue
Tao invariably Does Nothing, and nothing remains not done. If the princes and kings can watch over it, The ten thousand things will change by themselves. If they change and become desirous and active, I will restrain them with the nameless One’s Simplicity. Restraining them with the nameless One’s Simplicity Will cause them no disgrace. Not being disgraced, they will be Still. The world will order itself.
There are now a few sources of this text, including the recent discovery of the Ma-Wang-Tui scrolls on which Robert Henricks based his translation. Overall, the texts have the same message, encrypted in poetic verse. I will offer another interpretation paraphrasing only the English versions. To a practitioner of a meditative art, it might have read like this:
The Tao never acts, for acting would suggest that cause preceded effect. If (a sentient creature, man or woman) understood the Tao, then they would observe seemingly impossible things to occur in alignment with their will. If they lost their perspective, due to desire or distraction, Then the Tao would escape their understanding. They would return to the mundane sensory and cognitive world. Whether one aligns the Tao to his (or her) will, Or opens oneself to direction from the Tao, All is ordered.
“Seemingly impossible things” include miraculous healing, remote viewing, dream travel, or any other action-at-a-distance practice for which the mechanisms have not previously been adequately discoursed in a non-reductionist context. These phenomena are possible because the Tao connects us all. In Tao-theory, we face oneness. There is no one else.
Mandala of Correspondence, Chapter 16
Alchemy could be considered the underpinning of energetic medicine. There is, however, a better term. The Mandala of Correspondence has been coined to describe a dialog between one's self and the Tao through one's Self, often resulting in a reflective, very specific change to existence. These typically begin in Stage 6, mentioned in previous chapters, in the context of the Applied Self. It is important to note, however, that Stage 6 need not be the predominant stage of the individual.
For this, we move our discussion to include Chinese Five Element Theory, as well as a few models of the self. The whole of Five Element theory would require volumes and is well beyond the scope of this text. Suffice it to say for our purposes, from the singularity came Yin and Yang before the Five Elements (5E). It is these Eastern Five Elements that align well with portions of Eastern and Western models of the individual self. Furthermore, there are patterns in the Five Element system that highlight how each element (or state of being) influence the others.
Tao-theories use symbols to describe phenomena of reality. Each of the Five Elements represent an aspect of a dynamic process and phases of change. In this sense, Wood is not only the actual wood of a tree as defined by the substance, but describes the character, the dynamic state, or (later in this chapter) an ascribed physical or psychological state.
Metal - sinking, contraction, declining, condensed
Water - contemplation, calmness, (re-)consideration, observation, reflection
Wood - rising, development (of an action), impulse, expansion, decampment
Fire - embodiment, definition, action, dynamic phase, design
Earth - alteration, transformation, transmutation, change, conversion
There are some basic patterns for context, traditionally termed generative or productive cycle, weakening cycle, controlling cycle and insulting cycle. In particular, the insulting cycle will be referred to as the recoding cycle for its alignment with the 3-1-4-2-5 pathway. Each cycle arranges the five elements in a circle and traces either the circumference (forward or backward), or interior segments (forward or backward). To highlight each pattern, the five elements will be given numbers corresponding to how they are typically arranged in a circle.
For this, we move our discussion to include Chinese Five Element Theory, as well as a few models of the self. The whole of Five Element theory would require volumes and is well beyond the scope of this text. Suffice it to say for our purposes, from the singularity came Yin and Yang before the Five Elements (5E). It is these Eastern Five Elements that align well with portions of Eastern and Western models of the individual self. Furthermore, there are patterns in the Five Element system that highlight how each element (or state of being) influence the others.
Tao-theories use symbols to describe phenomena of reality. Each of the Five Elements represent an aspect of a dynamic process and phases of change. In this sense, Wood is not only the actual wood of a tree as defined by the substance, but describes the character, the dynamic state, or (later in this chapter) an ascribed physical or psychological state.
Metal - sinking, contraction, declining, condensed
Water - contemplation, calmness, (re-)consideration, observation, reflection
Wood - rising, development (of an action), impulse, expansion, decampment
Fire - embodiment, definition, action, dynamic phase, design
Earth - alteration, transformation, transmutation, change, conversion
There are some basic patterns for context, traditionally termed generative or productive cycle, weakening cycle, controlling cycle and insulting cycle. In particular, the insulting cycle will be referred to as the recoding cycle for its alignment with the 3-1-4-2-5 pathway. Each cycle arranges the five elements in a circle and traces either the circumference (forward or backward), or interior segments (forward or backward). To highlight each pattern, the five elements will be given numbers corresponding to how they are typically arranged in a circle.
|
1 - Metal 2 - Water 3 - Wood 4 - Fire 5 - Earth |
|
|
The Productive Cycle (circumferential clockwise) 1-2-3-4-5
Metal (1) produces Water (2) - through condensation
Water (2) produces Wood (3) - nourishment for trees
Wood (3) produces Fire (4) - as fuel
Fire (4) produces Earth (5) - as ash
Earth (5) produces Metal (1) - as minerals
The Weakening Cycle (circumferential counter-clockwise) 1-5-4-3-2
Metal (1) weakens Earth (5) - by parting it
Earth (5) weakens Fire (4) - by extinguishing it
Fire (4) weakens Wood (3) - by burning it
Wood (3) weakens Water (2) - by absorbing it
Water (2) weakens Metal (1) - as rust
The Controlling Cycle (segmental clockwise) 1-3-5-2-4 (2-4-1-3-5)
Metal (1) controls Wood (3) - by chopping it
Wood (3) controls Earth (5) - by constraining with roots
Earth (5) controls Water (2) - by directing it
Water (2) controls Fire (4) - by extinguishing it
Fire (4) controls Metal (1) - by melting it
The Recoding Cycle (segmental counter-clockwise) 1-4-2-5-3 (3-1-4-2-5)
Too much Metal (1) insults Fire (4) - by suffocating it
Too much Fire (4) insults Water (2) - by evaporating it
Too much Water (2) insults Earth (5) - by eroding it
Too much Earth (5) insults Wood (3) - by burying it
Too much Wood (3) insults Metal (1) - by dulling it
It is worth mentioning here that another way of thinking of "recoding" could be undoing and "too much" could be viewed as intensity or transient focus.
When these five sequential integers are factored for all possible non-repeating combinations, there are 120 variations (5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120). Of these, there are ten patterns that cycle segmentally (meaning every other value when placed in a circle). And of these, there are two patterns ending in 5, one that follows the controlling cycle and one that follows the recoding (insulting or undoing) cycle.
The Mandala of Correspondence (segmental counter-clockwise) is the one that follows the recoding cycle. The pattern of wood-metal-fire-water-earth, or 3-1-4-2-5 as it is abbreviated, can be found in all ephemeral healing practices today. It has moved far beyond the limitations of Eastern medical applications. Though it has most directly been proposed as a theoretical mechanism for action-at-a-distance applications, it might be better understood as a context that might allow a ritual to make something happen that was previously thought not to be possible without more immediate intervention. It is a pattern mentioned in part in the 1959 translation of the Secret of the Golden Flower written by Richard Wilhelm, the forward and appendix of which were written by Dr. Carl Jung.
Note: Archetypes (future topic) - Jung mentioned that feelings (or emotions) for the most part are not things we experience internally. They are things that happen to us by interacting with archetypes within the collective unconscious. There is more and it is a lot to unpack, so let's press on for now.
The string of five numbers does not have full meaning without first tying it to models of the self. Thus, we will review a few other texts. There are many excellent essays in the book, “The Psychology of Awaking.” Gay Watson in his essay titled, “I, mine, and views of the Self,” writes:
“Our view of the self will also affect our view of the world. Changes in contemporary views of the self not only move away from the punctual self [the point of self-awareness in abstraction] to a more distributed one, but also display a shift away from the separation of epistemology from ontology, of how we know from what we know, so that the stance we take towards knowledge and reality becomes in time a feature of that very reality.”
The author then goes on to write about the five psychosomatic aggregates of the self as defined in the Buddhist view. I have arranged these to parallel Shikido writings.
1. Rupa (material form or appearance)
2. Vedana (feelings)
3. Samjna (perceptions)
4. Samskara (determinations)
5. Vijnana (consciousness)
“The self therefore arises from the interplay of these rather than existing as a permanent ontological entity.” A few pages later he writes on the concept of “name” as the entire conceptual identity of an individual:
“…the Buddha said that name was comprised of the five factors of:
1. Manasikara (attention)
2. Vedana (feeling)
3. Samjna (perception)
4. Cetana (intention)
5. Sparsa (stimulation or contact)
”These same five factors [of the name] were given as the five constant factors of consciousness in the Theraveda Abhidharma, and again in the Mahayana by Asanga. Thus they are the foundation for a working sense of self.”
A “working sense of self,” as stated by Watson, is the foundation of energetic and ephemeral medicine. It is also likely a primary mechanism in conventional psychological counseling. With these psychosomatic aggregates and factors, we can correlate a paradigm of ourselves that allows us to interact directly with the Tao in order to facilitate a transient awareness of our own original, collective, or archetypal Self. This awareness is a sense of alignment with or by the Tao. This is referred to correspondence with the Tao, or linking. Such correspondence is the key to understanding the mechanisms of ritual.
Isshu Miura in the book, “Zen Koans,” wrote about five steps taken toward seeing the Tao. These are referenced in the Goi Koans and they are ordered exactly as they appeared in the original text. These are as follows:
1. The apparent within the real
2. The real within the apparent
3. The coming from within the real
4. The arrival at mutual integration
5. Unity attained
“It is of the utmost importance to pass through the five ranks, to attain penetrating insight into them, and to be totally without fixation or hesitation.”
This terminology relates well to the method of koan education, in that it is fairly cryptic and obscure. However, it too parallels other writings on entering or corresponding with the Tao. Penetrating insight may have included determining the order of meditative stages through which to pass to “attain unity,” but that was left up to the monk to figure out either consciously or intuitively. Manuals such as this were forbidden a few hundred years ago.
Finding solutions to many of the koans were not necessary, as they tended to initiate the fire meditation as previously discussed in the ritual of autumn leaves. Attempting to solve riddles that made no sense, or draw conclusions without having enough information had the effect of eventually stopping thought. Once the fire meditation was initiated, knowledge in the form of words was of secondary interest, distinguishing master from adept. That being said, I’m not going to throw any koans at you. I did not like the practice back in the day and I’m certainly no fan of it now.
There are two ways to proceed from this point. We can either parallel the five ranks and the five factors to the five archetypal elements in Eastern medicine or we can rename these hierarchical sets of aggregates for contemporary Western consumption. In both cases, we would find the following five-tiered model that doubled for both the personal self and the transpersonal or collective reality, Self:
1. Physical being = Metal
2. Emotional being = Water
3. Mental being = Wood (or wind)
4. Spiritual being = Fire (connection to divinity)
5. Original consciousness = Earth (divinity or the Tao)
The model immediately above now parallels each previously mentioned set, as indicated by numerical order. It is this model that was used to chart ritual dynamics for instruction in action-at-a-distance pursuits. Excusing the redundancy, please observe that each set further aligns as follows:
1. Physical being = Rupa = Metal = Manasikara = attention
2. Emotional being = Vedana = Water = feeling
3. Mental being = Samjna = Wood (wind) = perception
4. Spiritual being = Samskara = Fire = Cetana = intention
5. Original consciousness = Vijnana = Earth = Sparsa = the ubiquitous Tao
These correlates have not been concisely drawn in mainstream texts on meditative arts. Nor have the formulae through which one might be able to move through the various states of being “in order to effect change both within the punctual (immediate/personal) self as well as in the more distributed self” (the seemingly external universe). One possible reason for these deficiencies include emotionality as a central pathway for archetypes, which will be touched on in future chapters. Another possibility is that some of the concepts required are just too bizarre, which Jung clearly appreciated. Moving from Psychology to Ontology is not for the faint of heart nor really anyone that wants to maintain academic credentials.
In any event, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung each considered parallel versions of these above sets:
1. Pre-consciousness (physiology)
2. ID (the unconscious self and the language of archetypes)
3. Ego (the self-aware self)
4. Super-ego (the higher Self)
5. Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____
Freud focused on the middle three tiers, probably because the first and fifth didn't make much sense as forms of consciousness at the time. Jung, on the other hand, justified tiers 2 through 5 by his observations of what he called synchronistic events, or patterns of meaningful coincidence. These meaningful coincidences can be thought of as predictable coincidences in occurrences without any obvious connection. There were a variety of these that Jung qualified. When occurrences with no quantifiable connection display the characteristics of reliability and repeatability, or when astonishingly unlikely coincidences occur discretely, they begin to warrant a model. This was synchronicity. However radical and astute his observations were, no causative pattern was noted in his writings. He merely wrote what he observed. Jung claimed not to be privy to how these occurrences could be engineered. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t want to write about it, but he did suspect it was facilitated by a collective unconscious that was shared by all.
Having formulated a five-tiered, or five-element, model that doubles for both ourselves and a collective or shared reality, as well as having instituted the initial terminology required to discuss ourselves in relationship to the Tao, and thus, in relationship to each other, we can return to the working-sense-of-self idea. Our working sense of self will facilitate a model of ourselves that includes all five layers. We will need to consider our physical (metal), emotional (water), mental (wood/wind), spiritual (fire), and collective selves (earth).
Of all the sets noted above, only one passage so far suggests any sort of syntax to the five factors, or realms, that theoretically compose each of us. We are indebted to the Tozan Goi, for while the order is not readily evident, the idea that an order exists is suggested. At face value, the process could be seen to begin at step one and end at step five. When we study the ritual process of Zen meditation, we see the following pattern. When a monk rests intent on meditating, he has already decided to engage in meditation. He is mentally focused (wood). He then seats himself and remains still (metal), allowing thoughts to float in and out until his mind comes to rest (fire) as well as his body. If he is to glimpse enlightenment, this state will be associated, accompanied or preceded, by a rather intense feeling (water). This emotional manifestation is often one of elation or euphoria. Finally, transient enlightenment occurs (earth).
Syntax of these five realms, or levels of consciousness, was discussed in the 1959 translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower. This is a rewriting of an eight-century Chinese alchemical manuscript that instructs the meditative practitioner on the correct pattern, or circulation, of consciousness that is required to crystallize Light (manifest thoughts and feelings as perceivable or physical events). In both the 1959 translation by Wilhelm and the 1991 translation by Cleary, Light is equated with consciousness. However, in the next literary quote, Light refers to spectral light, both seen and unseen, a physical phenomenon.
“Only as the Universe began to expand and cool were the elementary particles of matter created. In this respect matter may be thought of as ‘crystallized’ light; energy that has taken on the form and qualities of matter prescribed by Einstein’s equation E = MC2.”
These two ideas are intriguing when viewed side by side. The first text refers to light (photons) being able to crystallize into matter as a naturally occurring universal quantum-physical phenomenon, while the second text refers to Light (consciousness) crystallizing into matter as a side effect of (or concurrent with) meditation. There are over a thousand years between these writings with minimal other mentioning of light crystallizing. Interestingly, the paradoxes faced by physicists today are resulting in the same observations that meditative adepts and magicians or ritualists arrived at millennia ago.
Yin and Yang are concepts that are central to Eastern energetic medicine. They are two opposing, complimenting, and archetypal energetic forces, through which the five elements of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth are created. These five elements partially define the meridian system in Chinese acupuncture. The five elements also correspond to the above sets representing self and the Tao, between which the expanded Self is positioned. This detour back into the five elements is where we find the syntax to apply ourselves in energetic medicine. Again, the terminology will need some updating. Please review the following passages:
“The great One is the term given to that, which has nothing above it. The secret of the magic of life consists in using action in order to achieve non-action. One must not wish to leave out the steps between and penetrate directly. The maxim handed down to us is to take in hand the work on the essence. In doing this, it is important not to follow the wrong road.” p.23
This passage implies a wrong course, road, or pattern. It also mentions steps, as did the Tozan Goi Koan. In these two statements we have suggestions of a pattern.
“The work on the circulation of the Light depends entirely on the backward-flowing movement, so that the thoughts are gathered together…” p. 24 “…the space of former Heaven. The heavenly heart is like the dwelling place, the Light is the master.” You may note that this next excerpt from the 1959 translation reads similarly to chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching. It also suggests syntax to how one might order oneself in meditation in order to attain satori, or transient enlightenment.
“Therefore, when the Light circulates, the powers of the whole body arrange themselves before its throne, just as when a holy king has taken possession of a capital and has laid down the fundamental rules of order, all the states approach with tribute; or, just as when the master is quiet and calm, men-servants and maids obey his orders of their own accord, and each does his work… Therefore, you only have to make the Light circulate: that is the deepest and most wonderful secret. The Light is easy to move, but difficult to fix. If it is allowed to go long enough in a circle, then it crystallizes itself: that is the natural spirit-body.” p. 24
Wilhelm adds this interpretation: “The way of the Elixir of Life recognizes as supreme magic, seed-water, spirit-fire, and thought-earth: these three. What is seed-water? It is the one true power of former Heaven. Spirit-fire is the light. Thought-earth is the Heavenly Heart of the middle house. Spirit-fire is used for effecting, thought-earth for substance, and seed-water for the foundation. Ordinary men make their bodies through thought… By means of [the Light’s] circulation, one returns to the creative. If this method is followed, plenty of seed-water will present itself, the spirit-fire will be ignited, and thought earth will solidify and crystallize.”
We find a similar description in the cyclical patterns of the five elements in Chinese medicine. Earth produces metal, which condenses to (seed-)water, which feeds wood, which ignites (spirit-)fire, which returns to the earth. I will clarify here that thought is associated with wood, not earth. However, in Shikido texts, the pattern of 3-1-4-2-5 places thought (wood) and Tao (earth) at two poles of a linear model that was more commonly depicted as a circle. In the circular pattern, wood initiates what ends in earth. Perhaps, that was what was meant by thought-earth.
Arranged in a circle, as they appear in Chinese medicinal manuscripts, these elements generate the next element in a repeating clock-wise pattern of 5-1-2-3-4-5...
A five pointed star-like structure, or pentacle, in a clockwise pattern within the circle depicts the controlling cycle, or the order in which each element is destroyed. Wood breaks earth (3-5), earth absorbs water (5-2), water extinguishes fire (2-4), fire melts metal (4-1), metal chops wood (1-3). There is no mention of a counter-clockwise pattern, per se, but there is mention of backward-flowing movement, so that the thoughts are gathered together and Light is crystalized.
It has been posited that successful rituals are based on the reverse of the cycle that controls or destroys each element. Thus, the recoding or undoing cycle mentioned above might have paralleled the producing or generating cycle as another form of crystallization, creation, or manifestation cycle. Were the cycle of destruction reversed it would read (3-1), (1-4), (4-2), (2-5), and (5-3), or 3-1-4-2-5.
Metal (1) produces Water (2) - through condensation
Water (2) produces Wood (3) - nourishment for trees
Wood (3) produces Fire (4) - as fuel
Fire (4) produces Earth (5) - as ash
Earth (5) produces Metal (1) - as minerals
The Weakening Cycle (circumferential counter-clockwise) 1-5-4-3-2
Metal (1) weakens Earth (5) - by parting it
Earth (5) weakens Fire (4) - by extinguishing it
Fire (4) weakens Wood (3) - by burning it
Wood (3) weakens Water (2) - by absorbing it
Water (2) weakens Metal (1) - as rust
The Controlling Cycle (segmental clockwise) 1-3-5-2-4 (2-4-1-3-5)
Metal (1) controls Wood (3) - by chopping it
Wood (3) controls Earth (5) - by constraining with roots
Earth (5) controls Water (2) - by directing it
Water (2) controls Fire (4) - by extinguishing it
Fire (4) controls Metal (1) - by melting it
The Recoding Cycle (segmental counter-clockwise) 1-4-2-5-3 (3-1-4-2-5)
Too much Metal (1) insults Fire (4) - by suffocating it
Too much Fire (4) insults Water (2) - by evaporating it
Too much Water (2) insults Earth (5) - by eroding it
Too much Earth (5) insults Wood (3) - by burying it
Too much Wood (3) insults Metal (1) - by dulling it
It is worth mentioning here that another way of thinking of "recoding" could be undoing and "too much" could be viewed as intensity or transient focus.
When these five sequential integers are factored for all possible non-repeating combinations, there are 120 variations (5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120). Of these, there are ten patterns that cycle segmentally (meaning every other value when placed in a circle). And of these, there are two patterns ending in 5, one that follows the controlling cycle and one that follows the recoding (insulting or undoing) cycle.
The Mandala of Correspondence (segmental counter-clockwise) is the one that follows the recoding cycle. The pattern of wood-metal-fire-water-earth, or 3-1-4-2-5 as it is abbreviated, can be found in all ephemeral healing practices today. It has moved far beyond the limitations of Eastern medical applications. Though it has most directly been proposed as a theoretical mechanism for action-at-a-distance applications, it might be better understood as a context that might allow a ritual to make something happen that was previously thought not to be possible without more immediate intervention. It is a pattern mentioned in part in the 1959 translation of the Secret of the Golden Flower written by Richard Wilhelm, the forward and appendix of which were written by Dr. Carl Jung.
Note: Archetypes (future topic) - Jung mentioned that feelings (or emotions) for the most part are not things we experience internally. They are things that happen to us by interacting with archetypes within the collective unconscious. There is more and it is a lot to unpack, so let's press on for now.
The string of five numbers does not have full meaning without first tying it to models of the self. Thus, we will review a few other texts. There are many excellent essays in the book, “The Psychology of Awaking.” Gay Watson in his essay titled, “I, mine, and views of the Self,” writes:
“Our view of the self will also affect our view of the world. Changes in contemporary views of the self not only move away from the punctual self [the point of self-awareness in abstraction] to a more distributed one, but also display a shift away from the separation of epistemology from ontology, of how we know from what we know, so that the stance we take towards knowledge and reality becomes in time a feature of that very reality.”
The author then goes on to write about the five psychosomatic aggregates of the self as defined in the Buddhist view. I have arranged these to parallel Shikido writings.
1. Rupa (material form or appearance)
2. Vedana (feelings)
3. Samjna (perceptions)
4. Samskara (determinations)
5. Vijnana (consciousness)
“The self therefore arises from the interplay of these rather than existing as a permanent ontological entity.” A few pages later he writes on the concept of “name” as the entire conceptual identity of an individual:
“…the Buddha said that name was comprised of the five factors of:
1. Manasikara (attention)
2. Vedana (feeling)
3. Samjna (perception)
4. Cetana (intention)
5. Sparsa (stimulation or contact)
”These same five factors [of the name] were given as the five constant factors of consciousness in the Theraveda Abhidharma, and again in the Mahayana by Asanga. Thus they are the foundation for a working sense of self.”
A “working sense of self,” as stated by Watson, is the foundation of energetic and ephemeral medicine. It is also likely a primary mechanism in conventional psychological counseling. With these psychosomatic aggregates and factors, we can correlate a paradigm of ourselves that allows us to interact directly with the Tao in order to facilitate a transient awareness of our own original, collective, or archetypal Self. This awareness is a sense of alignment with or by the Tao. This is referred to correspondence with the Tao, or linking. Such correspondence is the key to understanding the mechanisms of ritual.
Isshu Miura in the book, “Zen Koans,” wrote about five steps taken toward seeing the Tao. These are referenced in the Goi Koans and they are ordered exactly as they appeared in the original text. These are as follows:
1. The apparent within the real
2. The real within the apparent
3. The coming from within the real
4. The arrival at mutual integration
5. Unity attained
“It is of the utmost importance to pass through the five ranks, to attain penetrating insight into them, and to be totally without fixation or hesitation.”
This terminology relates well to the method of koan education, in that it is fairly cryptic and obscure. However, it too parallels other writings on entering or corresponding with the Tao. Penetrating insight may have included determining the order of meditative stages through which to pass to “attain unity,” but that was left up to the monk to figure out either consciously or intuitively. Manuals such as this were forbidden a few hundred years ago.
Finding solutions to many of the koans were not necessary, as they tended to initiate the fire meditation as previously discussed in the ritual of autumn leaves. Attempting to solve riddles that made no sense, or draw conclusions without having enough information had the effect of eventually stopping thought. Once the fire meditation was initiated, knowledge in the form of words was of secondary interest, distinguishing master from adept. That being said, I’m not going to throw any koans at you. I did not like the practice back in the day and I’m certainly no fan of it now.
There are two ways to proceed from this point. We can either parallel the five ranks and the five factors to the five archetypal elements in Eastern medicine or we can rename these hierarchical sets of aggregates for contemporary Western consumption. In both cases, we would find the following five-tiered model that doubled for both the personal self and the transpersonal or collective reality, Self:
1. Physical being = Metal
2. Emotional being = Water
3. Mental being = Wood (or wind)
4. Spiritual being = Fire (connection to divinity)
5. Original consciousness = Earth (divinity or the Tao)
The model immediately above now parallels each previously mentioned set, as indicated by numerical order. It is this model that was used to chart ritual dynamics for instruction in action-at-a-distance pursuits. Excusing the redundancy, please observe that each set further aligns as follows:
1. Physical being = Rupa = Metal = Manasikara = attention
2. Emotional being = Vedana = Water = feeling
3. Mental being = Samjna = Wood (wind) = perception
4. Spiritual being = Samskara = Fire = Cetana = intention
5. Original consciousness = Vijnana = Earth = Sparsa = the ubiquitous Tao
These correlates have not been concisely drawn in mainstream texts on meditative arts. Nor have the formulae through which one might be able to move through the various states of being “in order to effect change both within the punctual (immediate/personal) self as well as in the more distributed self” (the seemingly external universe). One possible reason for these deficiencies include emotionality as a central pathway for archetypes, which will be touched on in future chapters. Another possibility is that some of the concepts required are just too bizarre, which Jung clearly appreciated. Moving from Psychology to Ontology is not for the faint of heart nor really anyone that wants to maintain academic credentials.
In any event, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung each considered parallel versions of these above sets:
1. Pre-consciousness (physiology)
2. ID (the unconscious self and the language of archetypes)
3. Ego (the self-aware self)
4. Super-ego (the higher Self)
5. Tao, Consciousness, Matter, Media, Information, NOS, or _____
Freud focused on the middle three tiers, probably because the first and fifth didn't make much sense as forms of consciousness at the time. Jung, on the other hand, justified tiers 2 through 5 by his observations of what he called synchronistic events, or patterns of meaningful coincidence. These meaningful coincidences can be thought of as predictable coincidences in occurrences without any obvious connection. There were a variety of these that Jung qualified. When occurrences with no quantifiable connection display the characteristics of reliability and repeatability, or when astonishingly unlikely coincidences occur discretely, they begin to warrant a model. This was synchronicity. However radical and astute his observations were, no causative pattern was noted in his writings. He merely wrote what he observed. Jung claimed not to be privy to how these occurrences could be engineered. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t want to write about it, but he did suspect it was facilitated by a collective unconscious that was shared by all.
Having formulated a five-tiered, or five-element, model that doubles for both ourselves and a collective or shared reality, as well as having instituted the initial terminology required to discuss ourselves in relationship to the Tao, and thus, in relationship to each other, we can return to the working-sense-of-self idea. Our working sense of self will facilitate a model of ourselves that includes all five layers. We will need to consider our physical (metal), emotional (water), mental (wood/wind), spiritual (fire), and collective selves (earth).
Of all the sets noted above, only one passage so far suggests any sort of syntax to the five factors, or realms, that theoretically compose each of us. We are indebted to the Tozan Goi, for while the order is not readily evident, the idea that an order exists is suggested. At face value, the process could be seen to begin at step one and end at step five. When we study the ritual process of Zen meditation, we see the following pattern. When a monk rests intent on meditating, he has already decided to engage in meditation. He is mentally focused (wood). He then seats himself and remains still (metal), allowing thoughts to float in and out until his mind comes to rest (fire) as well as his body. If he is to glimpse enlightenment, this state will be associated, accompanied or preceded, by a rather intense feeling (water). This emotional manifestation is often one of elation or euphoria. Finally, transient enlightenment occurs (earth).
Syntax of these five realms, or levels of consciousness, was discussed in the 1959 translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower. This is a rewriting of an eight-century Chinese alchemical manuscript that instructs the meditative practitioner on the correct pattern, or circulation, of consciousness that is required to crystallize Light (manifest thoughts and feelings as perceivable or physical events). In both the 1959 translation by Wilhelm and the 1991 translation by Cleary, Light is equated with consciousness. However, in the next literary quote, Light refers to spectral light, both seen and unseen, a physical phenomenon.
“Only as the Universe began to expand and cool were the elementary particles of matter created. In this respect matter may be thought of as ‘crystallized’ light; energy that has taken on the form and qualities of matter prescribed by Einstein’s equation E = MC2.”
These two ideas are intriguing when viewed side by side. The first text refers to light (photons) being able to crystallize into matter as a naturally occurring universal quantum-physical phenomenon, while the second text refers to Light (consciousness) crystallizing into matter as a side effect of (or concurrent with) meditation. There are over a thousand years between these writings with minimal other mentioning of light crystallizing. Interestingly, the paradoxes faced by physicists today are resulting in the same observations that meditative adepts and magicians or ritualists arrived at millennia ago.
Yin and Yang are concepts that are central to Eastern energetic medicine. They are two opposing, complimenting, and archetypal energetic forces, through which the five elements of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth are created. These five elements partially define the meridian system in Chinese acupuncture. The five elements also correspond to the above sets representing self and the Tao, between which the expanded Self is positioned. This detour back into the five elements is where we find the syntax to apply ourselves in energetic medicine. Again, the terminology will need some updating. Please review the following passages:
“The great One is the term given to that, which has nothing above it. The secret of the magic of life consists in using action in order to achieve non-action. One must not wish to leave out the steps between and penetrate directly. The maxim handed down to us is to take in hand the work on the essence. In doing this, it is important not to follow the wrong road.” p.23
This passage implies a wrong course, road, or pattern. It also mentions steps, as did the Tozan Goi Koan. In these two statements we have suggestions of a pattern.
“The work on the circulation of the Light depends entirely on the backward-flowing movement, so that the thoughts are gathered together…” p. 24 “…the space of former Heaven. The heavenly heart is like the dwelling place, the Light is the master.” You may note that this next excerpt from the 1959 translation reads similarly to chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching. It also suggests syntax to how one might order oneself in meditation in order to attain satori, or transient enlightenment.
“Therefore, when the Light circulates, the powers of the whole body arrange themselves before its throne, just as when a holy king has taken possession of a capital and has laid down the fundamental rules of order, all the states approach with tribute; or, just as when the master is quiet and calm, men-servants and maids obey his orders of their own accord, and each does his work… Therefore, you only have to make the Light circulate: that is the deepest and most wonderful secret. The Light is easy to move, but difficult to fix. If it is allowed to go long enough in a circle, then it crystallizes itself: that is the natural spirit-body.” p. 24
Wilhelm adds this interpretation: “The way of the Elixir of Life recognizes as supreme magic, seed-water, spirit-fire, and thought-earth: these three. What is seed-water? It is the one true power of former Heaven. Spirit-fire is the light. Thought-earth is the Heavenly Heart of the middle house. Spirit-fire is used for effecting, thought-earth for substance, and seed-water for the foundation. Ordinary men make their bodies through thought… By means of [the Light’s] circulation, one returns to the creative. If this method is followed, plenty of seed-water will present itself, the spirit-fire will be ignited, and thought earth will solidify and crystallize.”
We find a similar description in the cyclical patterns of the five elements in Chinese medicine. Earth produces metal, which condenses to (seed-)water, which feeds wood, which ignites (spirit-)fire, which returns to the earth. I will clarify here that thought is associated with wood, not earth. However, in Shikido texts, the pattern of 3-1-4-2-5 places thought (wood) and Tao (earth) at two poles of a linear model that was more commonly depicted as a circle. In the circular pattern, wood initiates what ends in earth. Perhaps, that was what was meant by thought-earth.
Arranged in a circle, as they appear in Chinese medicinal manuscripts, these elements generate the next element in a repeating clock-wise pattern of 5-1-2-3-4-5...
A five pointed star-like structure, or pentacle, in a clockwise pattern within the circle depicts the controlling cycle, or the order in which each element is destroyed. Wood breaks earth (3-5), earth absorbs water (5-2), water extinguishes fire (2-4), fire melts metal (4-1), metal chops wood (1-3). There is no mention of a counter-clockwise pattern, per se, but there is mention of backward-flowing movement, so that the thoughts are gathered together and Light is crystalized.
It has been posited that successful rituals are based on the reverse of the cycle that controls or destroys each element. Thus, the recoding or undoing cycle mentioned above might have paralleled the producing or generating cycle as another form of crystallization, creation, or manifestation cycle. Were the cycle of destruction reversed it would read (3-1), (1-4), (4-2), (2-5), and (5-3), or 3-1-4-2-5.
If one applies this model to meditation and makes reference to the pattern suggested in “The Secret of the Golden Flower,” then the following two possibilities present. These five factors of consciousness, or Light, can be traced externally as a circle or internally as a star. To reverse the cycle of control, as above, we would follow the internal star in a counter-clockwise pattern, a counter-clockwise circulation of the Light. If we review the process of meditation again, beginning with an idea, then the starting point would be:
(3) Mental being, Wood, The coming from within the real
Following the guiding idea, we sit and let our bodies rest, engaging a physical process.
(1) Physical being, Metal, The apparent within the real
Focusing on breath to the point that our language thoughts stop, we enter into Spirit.
(4) Spiritual being, Fire, The arrival at mutual integration
In mental stillness we attract an archetype, and experience a strong emotion, facilitating a moment of enlightenment.
(2) Emotional being, Water, The real within the apparent
Through an archetype, we connect with the collective in satori, moksha, or nirvana... entering Earth.
(5) Original consciousness, Earth, Unity attained
Beyond the archetype, we must release. Through our Self, we momentarily consciously merge with, or glimpse a reflection of, the entirely of existence that we experience as a feeling.
Each correlate step "taken towards seeing the Tao" is presented in the original order by Isshu Miura, though a case could still be made for either 1-2-3-4-5 or 3-1-4-2-5. Therefore, both will be compared.
1. The apparent within the real - the body (1) or the idea (3)
2. The real within the apparent - the archetype (2) or the body (1)
3. The coming from within the real - the idea (3) or the spirit (4)
4. The arrival at mutual integration - the spirit (4) or the archetype (2)
5. Unity attained - the Tao named (5) or the Tao unnamed (5)
When determining whether the steps as presented by Miura should be taken as 1-2-3-4-5 or rather as 3-1-4-2-5, we focus on Water and Fire. This is the point in the pattern where time as perceived by the practitioner can seem to break down, because the connection between Fire and Water has been known to blur subtle boundaries as unity is attained, even if only for a moment. This might account for seeming inconsistencies in the order of "seed-water will present itself, the spirit-fire will be ignited, and thought [through] earth will solidify and crystallize."
3. The apparent within the real - perception, cognition, thought (step 1)
1. The real within the apparent - body, breathing, physical (step 2)
4. The coming from within the real - stillness, undoing, spirit (step 3)
2. The arrival at mutual integration - archetyping, integration, mutual (step 4)
5. Unity attained - the nameless Tao, where words cannot follow (step 5)
In this, we are simply clarifying procedural steps with order of operation. The procedure follows steps 1 through 5, but the order of operation is 3, 1, 4, 2, 5.
Revisiting the energetic or ephemeral medical theme, I will offer this reference to homeopathy, or the applied science of using increasingly dilute preparations of a substance to effect medicinal cures. These dilutions are alleged to be effective despite having been diluted beyond having any physiological effects. Vithoulkas wrote that the homeopathic practitioner could never be successful without a fervor or fanaticism with regards to his remedy of choice. He must be deeply emotionally invested in the cure. When a homeopathic physician takes a case, his or her attention is focused in the mental realm (3). Repertoirizing then occurs as an extensive review of remedy lists (1). At some point in the process, the exact remedy is selected, which (if it is to be effective) silences the practitioner's mind (4). A connection is then made to the symptom picture of the patient, and the remedy is prescribed with full confidence and conviction (2). All that remains is for the patient to take the pill (5), or the transcendent function. Some practitioners have written that the taking of the pill is only a formality, while others insist it is essential. This pattern does not invalidate the need for an exact remedy. It does, however, shift the emphasis of effect to the ritual of the prescription, which this pattern suggests is neither placebo nor purely counseling in nature.
A Reiki practitioner accepts a client and discusses the course of the treatment (3). The treatment is conducted by a series of hand placements (1) in which the practitioner focuses on internal chants and visual symbol patterns. These symbols and sounds have the effect of crowding out all other thoughts and images from the practitioners mind, as would a koan (4). A deep sense of love is associated with the Kami or archetypal states that facilitate healing energies. And while the practitioner and the patient may alternate through a variety of other feelings throughout the treatment, strong emotions are typically elicited (2). The transcendent function (5) becomes the natural last step, closing the cession. There are additional sub-patterns to Reiki in the attunement process that are beyond the scope of this text. It is also interesting to note in Mikao Usui's writings that Reiki was conceived as a system of self-alignment through meditation and not as a modality to heal others.
(3) Mental being, Wood, The coming from within the real
Following the guiding idea, we sit and let our bodies rest, engaging a physical process.
(1) Physical being, Metal, The apparent within the real
Focusing on breath to the point that our language thoughts stop, we enter into Spirit.
(4) Spiritual being, Fire, The arrival at mutual integration
In mental stillness we attract an archetype, and experience a strong emotion, facilitating a moment of enlightenment.
(2) Emotional being, Water, The real within the apparent
Through an archetype, we connect with the collective in satori, moksha, or nirvana... entering Earth.
(5) Original consciousness, Earth, Unity attained
Beyond the archetype, we must release. Through our Self, we momentarily consciously merge with, or glimpse a reflection of, the entirely of existence that we experience as a feeling.
Each correlate step "taken towards seeing the Tao" is presented in the original order by Isshu Miura, though a case could still be made for either 1-2-3-4-5 or 3-1-4-2-5. Therefore, both will be compared.
1. The apparent within the real - the body (1) or the idea (3)
2. The real within the apparent - the archetype (2) or the body (1)
3. The coming from within the real - the idea (3) or the spirit (4)
4. The arrival at mutual integration - the spirit (4) or the archetype (2)
5. Unity attained - the Tao named (5) or the Tao unnamed (5)
When determining whether the steps as presented by Miura should be taken as 1-2-3-4-5 or rather as 3-1-4-2-5, we focus on Water and Fire. This is the point in the pattern where time as perceived by the practitioner can seem to break down, because the connection between Fire and Water has been known to blur subtle boundaries as unity is attained, even if only for a moment. This might account for seeming inconsistencies in the order of "seed-water will present itself, the spirit-fire will be ignited, and thought [through] earth will solidify and crystallize."
3. The apparent within the real - perception, cognition, thought (step 1)
1. The real within the apparent - body, breathing, physical (step 2)
4. The coming from within the real - stillness, undoing, spirit (step 3)
2. The arrival at mutual integration - archetyping, integration, mutual (step 4)
5. Unity attained - the nameless Tao, where words cannot follow (step 5)
In this, we are simply clarifying procedural steps with order of operation. The procedure follows steps 1 through 5, but the order of operation is 3, 1, 4, 2, 5.
Revisiting the energetic or ephemeral medical theme, I will offer this reference to homeopathy, or the applied science of using increasingly dilute preparations of a substance to effect medicinal cures. These dilutions are alleged to be effective despite having been diluted beyond having any physiological effects. Vithoulkas wrote that the homeopathic practitioner could never be successful without a fervor or fanaticism with regards to his remedy of choice. He must be deeply emotionally invested in the cure. When a homeopathic physician takes a case, his or her attention is focused in the mental realm (3). Repertoirizing then occurs as an extensive review of remedy lists (1). At some point in the process, the exact remedy is selected, which (if it is to be effective) silences the practitioner's mind (4). A connection is then made to the symptom picture of the patient, and the remedy is prescribed with full confidence and conviction (2). All that remains is for the patient to take the pill (5), or the transcendent function. Some practitioners have written that the taking of the pill is only a formality, while others insist it is essential. This pattern does not invalidate the need for an exact remedy. It does, however, shift the emphasis of effect to the ritual of the prescription, which this pattern suggests is neither placebo nor purely counseling in nature.
A Reiki practitioner accepts a client and discusses the course of the treatment (3). The treatment is conducted by a series of hand placements (1) in which the practitioner focuses on internal chants and visual symbol patterns. These symbols and sounds have the effect of crowding out all other thoughts and images from the practitioners mind, as would a koan (4). A deep sense of love is associated with the Kami or archetypal states that facilitate healing energies. And while the practitioner and the patient may alternate through a variety of other feelings throughout the treatment, strong emotions are typically elicited (2). The transcendent function (5) becomes the natural last step, closing the cession. There are additional sub-patterns to Reiki in the attunement process that are beyond the scope of this text. It is also interesting to note in Mikao Usui's writings that Reiki was conceived as a system of self-alignment through meditation and not as a modality to heal others.
As a last word from the “Secret of the Golden Flower:”
“If one wants to protect the primordial spirit [the power and wisdom of true essence], one must first not fail to subjugate the knowing spirit. The way to subjugate it leads through the circulation of the Light. If one puts the circulation of the Light into practice, one must forget both body and heart. The heart [avarice, desire, folly, lust] must die, the spirit live. When the spirit lives, the breath will begin to circulate in a wonderful way. This is what the master called the best. Then the spirit must be allowed to dive down into the abdomen (solar-plexus). The power then mixes with the spirit and the spirit unites with the power and becomes crystallized. This is the method of putting the hand to it.” p. 33
One method of "putting the hand to it" is the mandala of correspondence. It is the counter-clockwise (backward-flowing) circulation of the Light. Subjugating the knowing spirit, mentioned above, is where most of us fail. Terminology aside, one must stop all thoughts occurring as language, as these inhibit the transition from mentality to spirituality, breaking the undoing cycle that appears to be associated with depsychizing or manifesting. The full cycle reflects moving from the Tao that can be named to the Tao that cannot be named, a "place," state or fail-safe where words cannot follow.
“If one wants to protect the primordial spirit [the power and wisdom of true essence], one must first not fail to subjugate the knowing spirit. The way to subjugate it leads through the circulation of the Light. If one puts the circulation of the Light into practice, one must forget both body and heart. The heart [avarice, desire, folly, lust] must die, the spirit live. When the spirit lives, the breath will begin to circulate in a wonderful way. This is what the master called the best. Then the spirit must be allowed to dive down into the abdomen (solar-plexus). The power then mixes with the spirit and the spirit unites with the power and becomes crystallized. This is the method of putting the hand to it.” p. 33
One method of "putting the hand to it" is the mandala of correspondence. It is the counter-clockwise (backward-flowing) circulation of the Light. Subjugating the knowing spirit, mentioned above, is where most of us fail. Terminology aside, one must stop all thoughts occurring as language, as these inhibit the transition from mentality to spirituality, breaking the undoing cycle that appears to be associated with depsychizing or manifesting. The full cycle reflects moving from the Tao that can be named to the Tao that cannot be named, a "place," state or fail-safe where words cannot follow.
3
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
5
|
