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on being directedFrom: Steven
Subject: Philosophy
Date/Time 2009-10-04 11:05:36
Remote IP: 76.251.213.191
Message>>>So basically you are saying that the personal self
>>>is being directed to do certain things by the
>>>collective self, but the personal self is unaware of it.
That's exactly right.
See the thing is, is that the larger self does not operate
in linear time like the smaller self does, so it has
a global perspective. It can see what the smaller self is
going to do, before it does it, and it also acts to pre-plan
the activities.
The thing that the larger self is lacking is the direct
experience, which is the reason for the smaller self's
existence.
What the larger self fails to appreciate--
or maybe from its perspective considers irrelevant--is
just how darn long some of the experiential things take
for the smaller self to do.
The smaller self, stuck in linear time, often does not
want to play out certain dramas or go through certain
recurring patterns over and over again at the time rate
that is occurring through a "normal life". This, in
my opinion, is the purpose of alchemy. It allows the smaller
self TO SPEED UP LINEAR TIME with respect to itself, so
that it can still satisfy all the requirements of the
larger self and unfold all of its preplanning, but to
do so at a faster pace.
I'll use a math analogy, since that's my forte'.
Suppose you are told you have to learn calculus.
You have NO choice in the matter whatsoever.
You are given a calculus book, and told to get to work.
What you are not told, is how long it should take you.
Maybe, for whatever reason, you don't relish the idea
of spending a year learning calculus. Thus *your freedom*
is in working really hard and intensely, acting as a
really good student, and progressing through the book
at a faster-than-usual pace. You finish the book
in less than half a year. "This is the alchemical process."
The larger self says "good job" and "here's your next task".
The process continues.
The benefit to the larger self is the experiential knowledge
which deepens the theoretical knowledge it already has. The
benefit to the smaller self is the training/evolution it is
receiving so that it can eventually be immortal like it's
big brother. To do so, it must prove itself to be a good student,
working hard and speeding up linear time through alchemy in
order to reach this goal in a single lifetime.
>>>My answer is mostly speculation, but this is how I feel it:
>>>Instead of the collective self saying "you need to play tennis",
>>>we get an impulse that might say "you need to complete
>>>the experience of expressing yourself through sports",
>>>and we can choose tennis, basketball, boxing or
>>>competition snowboarding, or even which tennis club
>>>to attend. The process of choosing, of saying "I like
>>>this sport but not that one, or this club but not that
>>>one" is the process of balancing the lifestream so that
>>>we achieve a feeling of completeness or balance in our
>>>need to express something. So there is direction in a
>>>sense but not specific direction, and we can choose to
>>>do it or not.
No I completely understand your opinion and respect it, but
I JUST DON'T AGREE. I could once again counter by arguing
that the lifestream does not need balancing, and that the
free will you think you have is just an illusion, but I'd
just be repeating myself over and over again like a broken
record. I think you know where I stand here ;)
My only question/response to you here is:
Why does it bother you so much that the lower self doesn't
get the freedom to pick its own path?
It's not like the lower self gets *no* freedom. The lower self
can choose to complete the requests sooner by doing
alchemy and/or spiritual techniques to accelerate to the
next stage.
Besides, the larger self that is making the choices IS "you",
you just don't realize it. This is the "eternal you" that
bagua hopes people will be able to identify with, so that
they can know "who they really are".
Best,
Steven
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