Gazing in the Mirror

March 16 - The Destructive Force

I think that what I'm
attracted to is people who
are wild. But the self-destructive
side comes out of the wild side.
The wildness is very different
from me. That's why I think
I like it.
~ Gus Van Sant

One of the most illuminating truths
which mysticism has revealed is that
there is no ultimate reality to evil.
No Devil, no damnation outside of
one's state of thought, no punishment
outside of that self-inflicted through
ignorance, and no salvation outside of
conscious co-operation with the Infinite.
Consequently, they have taught that
the answer to every problem is in
man's own consciousness.
~ Ernest Holmes

Today I was answering a question about whether I believe in "The Devil" and I felt as though some thoughts on that topic would make a good reflection for today. The Destructive Force is an aspect of the natural world. "Stuff" can't be continually built up without some tearing down or the world would run out of space to hold it all. I believe that due to the way matter exists at the moment, reaching a peak and then beginning to decline in functionality, it is a good thing that we have that door of death to leave a less than functional body behind and not be trapped in it forever. To be trapped truly would be hell.

The quote by Van Sant above has been and continues to be valid in my life. When I was younger there is no doubt in my mind that I was attracted to "dangerous people" and participated in "dangerous behavior". Thanking all that is good that I somehow survived that. There is a stimulation, a kind of intense energy, that some people equate with aliveness and this motivates some people to seek avenues of experiencing the thrill. My older son loves such stimulation. He thrives on it. When chaos erupts in our household with any of the other 3 of us he is quite likely to be seen "feeding" that energy in order to rachet up the intensity. From a young age he has enjoyed the power of destruction. Please do not misunderstand he is not an out of control nor is he remotely a truly difficult child.

I prefer music. I can get pretty high on the intensity of hard rock n roll jams and listening to this kind of music always allows energy to arise within me and thankfully it is not a destructive practice. There's no morality in energy. It's all in how you use it. Still we see sometimes cruelty in human expressions. Predators and prey are a reality of nature. We don't see a wrongness or cruelty in the ways of nature but as conscious, thinking individuals, we do see such behaviors as cruel when expressed by humans. As much as such things do sadden my own peace-loving and tolerant heart I cannot deny an understanding at some level of awareness that although these may seem regrettable Life uses these less pleasant aspects to accomplish some kind of necessary work.

Nature uses some pretty intense forces to accomplish the work of destroying the existing structure from which new structures will arise. Examples of these are tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, drought and hurricanes – to name the most quickly recognizable. We do not consider Nature cruel because of the existence of these destructive forces even though the impacts and effects of these can certainly be cruel to human beings and affect our ability to live a good quality of life. We apply a different set of values to human behavior but is it true that some people are evil or is there a more mature explanation ?

What causes some people to treat other people as if they were mere objects ? What if we could radically shift our perception by turning the focus away from evil as a reality and instead look at circumstances from an empathetic perspective ? Unlike the concept of evil which can be argued to leap a bit into illusory realms, empathy has a down-to-earth, explanatory power. Putting the concept of empathy under a mental microscope, one thoughtful person discovered 4 basic concepts to facilitate the ability of an individual to express empathy. First of all he believes that we all lie somewhere on an empathy spectrum, from high to low, from six degrees to zero degrees. Wow !! 0 degrees of empathy actually seems possible if one considers the more horrific of our human stories. Secondly he believes that deep within the brain lies the 'empathy circuit'. How this circuit functions determines where any given person can be considered existing on the empathy spectrum. Thirdly that empathy is not only something we learn to express or have been damaged from feeling but that we actually have genes associated with empathy. And fourth, while a lack of empathy leads to mostly negative results there arises a question of whether that outcome is always negative ? And in questioning these other person's insights, I sense that Life may use such factors for Its own purposes. Does Life spare some people the emotional fall-out from having to commit some horrid act that for reasons beyond our own understanding is somehow necessary ?

Then in 2008, I was exposed to the concepts of Eckhart Tolle. He seems to have seen what I believe I saw so long ago and Tolle says it is an ancient entity. He has named it "The Pain Body" and he describes its activities of aligning with and operating through human beings exactly as I have seen it occur myself before I had his words to describe it in that way. He speaks of it needing to "feed" and what it feeds on is negative human emotions. I call it a cunning Lucifer (for it is disguised as friends and loved ones and of course strangers) and it is a type of teacher for any of us who experience It. I do believe that It is another aspect of the All That Is though that may be difficult for some to comprehend. Of course, as Ernest Holmes notes, it is not more powerful than we are within our individual expressions and we DO have total control over ever experiencing this expression – a point that Eckhart Tolle makes as well.

~ perspective

I see clearly even the more
difficult aspects of Life when
they come into my view or awareness.
I accept the wholeness inherent
in the natural cycle of Life and
its physical manifestations.
And going beyond even that realization
I intuit a wholeness that encompasses
changes to physical matter even as
there is some other aspect that
maintains some integrity on
an energetic level.
I seek to remain consciously aware
that the reality of Life includes
predators and I strive for a balance
that keeps my own self from
becoming prey.
I seek to maintain emotional
control/balance to block access to
my physical capabilities by a
non-physical entity that feeds on
negative human energy.

#chaos #cruelty #danger #death #emotion #empathy #escape #intensity #negative #power