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Emotion, Three Types of Energy, and the Self Function of the Mind

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)In this blog, we continue to search for the self within the mind. Neuroscience suggests that the answer may lie within the emotional energy of the brain which is a function of the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. I am suggesting that the answer lies in “the mind within the mind” that I have been referring to as the higher self, or what others may refer to as soul or spirit. The question we have to ask is, “What is the energy source that drives the mental functions of the mind?”.  I believe that this is probably the most important question we can ask ourselves. When we discover the source of this energy, we can then develop a paradigm that will direct all our beliefs and subsequent actions.

According to neuroscience, the flow of brain or mind energy is generated by the hind brain and mid brain which then flows through the thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala. It is then regulated by the orbitofrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate which direct the flow of energy to various neural networks that manifest as states of mind. Importance at any point in time is assigned through emotional intensity thereby regulating the number of neurons that fire and the amount of neurotransmitters released. In essence, this energy then attaches meaning, focuses attention, and activates the appropriate mindset to deal with a given situation, thus creating consciousness. With each new experience the energy is directed into combining this new information into the mind state through an increase in complexity, or an expanded neural network. In other words, this flow of energy directs the self, or it is, in fact, the “self” itself.

This flow of energy through and in the mind is known as emotion. The first type of emotion is primary emotion which regulates arousal and controls the flow of information. The second type of emotion is called categorical. It is what we commonly recognize as the typical emotions like fear, anger, joy etc. These emotions are now at the conscious level and we can name them and describe their associated feelings. We can categorize all the emotions as positive of negative. They seem to operate on a continuum. For example, at one end you may have despair, at the middle primary emotion, and then at the opposite end joy.   The negative emotions involves the sympathetic system which activates the hormones of the body, chief of which are adrenaline and cortisone. The inability to regulate the emotions through the activities of the brain is the source of most of our mental and physical problems.

This takes us to the question of the nature of mind energy itself. The negative energy that comes from negative categorical emotions is destructive and paralyzing. The positive energy that comes from primary and positive categorical emotion is enjoyable and constructive. According to neuroscience, these two sources of energy control and regulate all the other functions of the brain. We seek the positive (joy) and avoid the negative (pain). On first glance, this seems preposterous, that brain energy, the mere transfer of electrochemical impulses, could be the essence of self.  I am suggesting that this emotional energy based function of self does indeed exist within the mind sets of the brain, but it does not function on its own. I believe there is an third type of energy that controls this energy.

Recent scientific studies using space age technology have identified  a low frequency electromagnetic energy (similar to light and sound waves) that emanates from the whole body.  I believe that this energy is the essence of life itself. I believe that this energy controls the electrochemical processes of the brain including the flow of emotion and information. I believe it is the mind within the mind  that activates the conscious state of mind that seems to control and regulate the other states of mind. Above all, this flow of energy is the essence of “will”, the desire and ability to choose. It is not just the brain combining states of mind to forge new pathways, it is the energy of self directing the brain to choose new courses and to make new choices that the brain can then encode in the neural pathways for future reference.

Now the question is, “Why is this so important?’ if we believe that the self is merely an electrochemical flow of energy and information then we are extremely limited in our ability to expand. The idea of self then is a bottom up approach. We are a result of our previous experiences and resulting mindsets, which become rigid and limited over time. We have to battle with those previous mindsets and hope for semi-random combinations regulated by emotion to expand and grow. However, if we believe that we have an energy based spiritual self beyond the confines of the brain then the sky is the limit. We now have the ability to create new neural pathways and to make choices based on our  highest feelings and dreams.

My five applications to bisexuality:

1. Our brains are definitely influenced by past states of mind, many of them containing negative reactions to our gender realities. These reactions have tended to control our ability to a accept ourselves the way we are and to expand and grow. We now have an opportunity to bring our higher self into the picture for healing. We attune with our higher self which is always gentle and supportive.

2. We ask our bodies and our minds to bring up old issues. We then call upon and ask for the support of our higher self. We rest there until we feel the positive energy flow into those memories thus rewiring them with positive feedback. We keep doing this over and over again until those old vibrations of negative energy disappear and are replaced by the positive energy of our higher self.

3. We dream new dreams. We plan a life that will fulfill all our hopes and desires. We make this plan real by providing the minute details of what this life will look life.

4. With the help of our higher self, we allow ourselves to feel what this life will feel like. We hold that feeling and rehearse it daily until the dream becomes a reality.

5. We but aside the old patterns of the brain. I am powerless becomes I am powerful.  I am a worthless failure becomes I am am a beautiful being and I deserve to live the life I want. And above all, I loathe and hate myself becomes I love, and yes, I even like myself. We keep reminding ourselves that we deserve to live the life of our dreams.

Self-Reflection as a Function of the Human Mind

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)Much to my chagrin, I have discovered that science has coined a name or term for my way of thinking, and here I thought I was being creative and original. They call it the homunculus, or the mind within the mind, or by definition, the ghost within the machine. Not a very flattering term, but rather than being insulted, I have chosen to take this opportunity to do some “self” reflection.

According to neuroscience, this process of third thought, which I refer to as the higher self, results from the construction of states of mind that continually evolve according to the nonlinear principle of the Complexity Theory. It is believed that the human brain has constructed a wide variety of saved and stored states of mind. Once a collection of these states are activated by triggers in the environment, they interplay with one another in a random series thus creating new patterns of thought. According to the emergent and recursive principles of complexity, these states are then regulated by a system of internal and external constraints which allows the brain to evaluate, sort, and choose significant elements to build more complex structures within that state. The brain then rebuilds the state by forging new links within the billions of neurons of the brain with its trillions of possible connections. In other words, it is continually refiring and rewiring thus creating greater complexity of thought. The self then is merely a continuous shift in states of mind at any one moment in time. According to these theories, my belief of a higher self is merely an interplay of my own brain’s states of mind fueled by my desire to find purpose beyond the constraints of my brain. There is no overall me, it is just a collection of me’s that are responding simultaneously to my environment. I am not real; I am merely the ghost in the machinery of my brain.

And that is the age old question, isn’t it? Am I merely a biological computer employing a collection of programs simultaneously to somehow arrive at biological intelligence, or am I something more than that? Is every thought I think and every action I undertake merely a response by my brain to the environment? Is it merely creating a state of mind that is seeking for something beyond the horror of living a meaningless life ending in a complete and final death? Honestly, I have to admit – “maybe”. You see, I cannot be positive that I have a spiritual higher self because the scientific evidence is just not there. If I am honest, I have to admit that it is really only a theory. However, if the neuroscientists are honest, they have to admit that all of their intellectual gymnastics can only produce a theory as well. Then we both have to do what all theories require and that is look for evidence to support the theory.

I am suggesting that there is more evidence to support the existence of a pure energy higher self than there is for the brain theory of complexity. There is something inside of me that screams, “I am not just a ghost in the machine!” I am real. I am the presence, the being inside of but also beyond the neural pathways. I can feel me there when I put my brain to rest. I am not a state of mind because I exist outside the mind. I am a powerful energy-based, spiritual being in complete control of my life and yes, to all the naysayers, I am the presence within my brain.

My five applications to bisexuals (and everyone else for that matter):

1. We believe. I am not speaking of a religion; I am referring to believing in and experiencing the power of the energy within us. Whenever we feel that the pressures of this life are overwhelming our tired brain, we just stop the madness of the mind for a moment and just feel the power of that presence within us. We will sense a powerful peace-filled entity there that is the “me”, the “self”.

2. We allow the inner me to be present in our life. We awaken it during meditation each morning, and acknowledge its presence there throughout the day.

3. When we feel an anxiety based tension, we know it is our brain or mind overworking to solve make-believe problems. This is different from the energy tension we need to accomplish the necessary life and work tasks. It is a restlessness. It is the brain that is searching for meaning and purpose. It does not matter how hard we try, the brain cannot solve the problem that itself has created. It will just keep on building more and more complex states of mind. We now simply turn this feeling of restlessness over to the higher self and wait for a response. It will be in the form of a feeling of peace and contentment.

4. If we are struggling with our gender issues, this is merely the brain working over previous states of mind and trying to reconnect them with other mind states that may be stored in implicit or explicit memory. There are no brain based answers to these problems. We merely refer them to our higher self. The gender issues will dissolve immediately. We will feel the contentment of knowing that our bodies need for sexual gratification is merely a biological urge. We can either ignore or act upon it. We do not have to process our actions through the judgment of previous states of mind. That one just goes round and round through the brain without a solution.

5. We seek like-minded sexual partners or mates with whom we can interact without the constraints of states of mind related to blame and shame. We meet the biological needs of our bodies and allow our minds and higher selves to mingle and enjoy each other and allow the positive feelings, and yes, love, to enfold us.

Mindsight, and the “Self” Function of the Mind

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)According to Daniel J. Siegel in his book The Developing Mind, there are two ways of thinking. I think there are three. He concludes that the self is created by the neural activities of the right hemisphere of the brain. I believe that there is much more to the self than just the activities of the neural pathways.

In his chapter on Representations, he states that there are  two ways of thinking due to the activities of the left and right brain. He prefaces this with the caution not to be too dogmatic about left and right because neural activity involves the two hemispheres working together. However, he makes a strong case for the duality of the mind. We are indeed bilateral beings. We have a left hand and a right hand, a left eye and a right eye, and we also have a left brain and a right brain. Our brain makes sure the two sides are coordinated through the corpus callosum and by having the left brain operate the right side of our bodies and vise versa.

One way of thinking evolves from the left brain. The left hemisphere creates words to categorize objects and combines these concepts to form abstract ideas. It uses these linguistic representations so that we can experience a logical and higher order of consciousness. It allows us to create new combinations in our mind and in the world. It breaks down reality into small symbolic chunks that allow us to communicate in social situations. As we noted in the last blog, there is power in the word.

On the other hand (pun intended), the right brain gives us our second way of thinking. The right brain approaches life holistically. It perceives patterns within the whole in the form of sensations and images, ties them together with emotions, and is able to relate these patterns through a holistic sense of awareness or consciousness. It has a great deal more interregional links than the left side which gives it the ability to combine information to construct its own visual and abstract reality. This ability of the mind to create gives us a sense of our own mind that we can refer to as mindsight. Therefore it forms the basis of the self. It is able to relate to other minds through its sense of self relating to another person’s right brain with its own sense of self. We can then share thoughts through the left side and humor, painting and poetry through the right.

I believe there is a third way of thinking. The brain is merely a tool that we use to experience and process the environment in which we live. The brain by itself is like a very sophisticated robotic computer, but it does not operate itself. The functions of the brain in a sense do create mind but we are more than the mind depicted by science as a product of the functions of the right brain. By some fluke of nature or some divine plan from an infinite being, we have soul. Our soul or self, is an entity composed of pure energy that functions beyond the processing components of the brain. It is the substance of thought and the substance of life. In fact, it is the energy that controls and employs the brain to carry out the functions of living.

I believe that the part of us that is pure energy has the potential to grow into something beyond the confines of the left and right brain. Whether we are eternal beings or not is insignificant brain noise. We simply are. We have this moment to be whatever we want to be. We are beautiful powerful creatures in the here and now. We create and we live and milk whatever we can from this period of time we call life. We have a wonderful brain that we employ to make sense of our world, but it is limited to those areas that involve reasoning and ordering of thoughts and other brain functions. In order to find meaning and purpose the answers exists in the energy of the soul.  The purpose is to live, experience, expand, and enjoy. The rest will be revealed (or not) the moment these brains cease to function.

Here are my five applications for bisexuality:

1. Let’s not fall into the left brain trap. We do not need labels. We are simply individuals who enjoy sexual experiences, period. It can be with either men or women. We are led to sex by the biological urges of our bodies. Sex is sex. Enjoy it.

2. We are also sentient beings. Our right side of our brain wants to get involved. It wants to feel the sensations of the body, create emotion, and turn them into perceptions of something greater. We should listen.

3. If we just have sex, and for some of us bisexual men this can be an anonymous encounter, we are often left with a hollow feeling. Where the body ends the mind is just getting started; it feels left out. The left side of our brain wants to turn the sexual experience into an opportunity to relate on an intellectual level. It wants to form a physical/mental bond.

4. Where the mind ends, the soul is now just getting started. It wants to linger in this exchange of positive energy. It wants to form an energy or spiritual bond. It wants to create and enjoy the resonating vibrations of one being uniting with another.

5. When we engage in sexual activities let’s go for the touchdown. Let’s not be satisfied with encounters. Let’s look for relationship. We may discover that there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The Creative Function of the Mind

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SHIRT & TIE w.out white background (final)In exploring the functions of the mind, I had it all backwards. We do not start with the simplest and go to the more complex (from the bottom up) we start at the top and work down. In everything in life, we do not start at the bottom and think upwards, we start at the top. I am beautiful. I am powerful. There is greatness in me. I have a gifted mind that can create what it desires.

During meditation this morning, instead of just trying to remain silent without thought, I allowed the universe, or if you prefer, my god (perhaps my higher self), to speak to me. I opened up my soul and asked whoever is out there (or in here) to speak. The message was loud and clear; it was to create, to employ the power of my thoughts to create. Instead or completing my book on developing virtues, it was to show the power of virtues. Instead of intellectual prose, I was to use creative prose and the power of poetry.

But the power of creation has to be more than just writing poetry. So what is the intrinsic nature of creativity and how is it manifested by the human mind? What immediately came to mind was the moment my son was born. My wife had gone into labor and we had hurried to the hospital for the delivery. The doctor arrived, examined my wife, and proclaimed that the baby was turned the wrong way, and it would be several hours before he was born. He said he was going home to sleep and would come back in the morning. Feeling the guilt of putting my wife through this incredible sequence of unending pain, I placed my hands on her abdomen and asked god to turn the baby. At that exact moment, the baby turned. The doctor had just enough time to return to the hospital and cut the umbilical cord.

So what had happened? Out of the power of extreme emotion came the thought and then the words. The words had the power to create, to change the physical world around me. Words bring thoughts into clarity and therefore in reality. Words have power. Where does this power come from? I could go into the neurobiology and explain how the activities of the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate create energy which we refer to as primary emotion, and how these emotions then are regulated by the prefrontal cortex to create the categorical emotions we know as fear, sadness etc., and these emotions then give the power to put these thoughts into action. But we do not need to know all that; we just need to know that when we add feeling to our thoughts, we can change the world. This is what I mean by the creative function of the mind.

The Power of thought is much more than the few amps of electrochemical energy produced by the brain. All the combined energies of brain, body, and heart do not have the power to create things in our environment. Even if we add the electromagnetic waves that emanate from the whole body, which researchers suggest is evidence of an aura or a human soul, we still do not have enough energy to turn on a light bulb, let alone cause a baby to turn in the womb. So then where does this energy come from? It has to be that we are more than just brain/mind and that we must have an additional dimension of mind/soul that serves as a link to the life power around us. We need this infinite source of power to turn a baby or cause the Red Sea to part.

This power of thought/word/life energy is the power of creation. We have the power to create by thinking with emotion and purpose. We can heal our minds and bodies. We can dream dreams and make those dreams become reality with the power of emotional thought put into words that then are turned into action.

My five applications to bisexuality:

1. Be creative. If we do not like our present circumstance, all we have to do is think the right thoughts, put our full power of emotion into them, and speak them into reality. I am a hopeless failure becomes “I am a beautiful powerful being.” We keep saying it louder and louder until we feel the enormous power of our thoughts.

2. We believe in the power of our thoughts. We look for evidence that our thoughts are being manifested. The world will begin to change one small step at a time. The key is to look for and find the evidence of that change. This will reinforce our belief, which in turn will energize our emotions, which in turn will enhance our ability to create.

3. As bisexuals, we will begin to believe in ourselves. We will design the life we love and we will begin to love the life we live. We will not be satisfied until we actualize the full power of our dream.

4. We will visualize the perfect mate and bring that person into our lives.

5. We will use our sexual energy to build our relationships and enhance all our sensory experiences, including enjoying great sex.

The Three functions of the Mind and Sex

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)Throughout the study of the virtues one glaring fact repeated itself over and over again – all our sorrows are centered in our human mind. The exciting and expanding study of neurobiology has led to some interesting insights into the human brain and how it develops into the human mind. Coupled with psychology and psychiatry we are just beginning to understand how the mind develops and how it functions. Keeping in mind the neurology, we will focus on the psychology as we look at the – count them – the ninety-six known functions of the mind. We will also focus on how the mind relates to what we call soul and spirit by attempting to solve the mystery of if and where the mind ends and the soul or spirit begins.  We will then apply these findings to our sexuality with special attention given to bisexuality and to the sexuality of our fellow members in the LGBQT community.

According to studies by Dr.’s Linda and Richard Elder[1], the simplest way to look at the functions of the mind is to consider it as a three function organism – thinking – feeling – wanting. They suggest that the mind doesn’t just think; it also feels and wants. They conclude that feelings are influenced by powerful emotions or desires that result in egocentric tendencies that function automatically and unconsciously. This results in what they call ego-centered reality that sees the world from a narrow self-serving perspective. The Elders suggest that egocentric thinking is responsible for negative feelings such as anger, depression, defensiveness, apathy, and indifference. According to the Elders the one saving grace is our capacity for reasoning which frees us from self-delusions. They suggest that rational tendencies arise only from active self-development resulting in bringing thought and desire into consciousness. However, I believe that reasoning cannot be relied upon because thought and reasoning themselves are governed by what we feel and desire.

First of all let’s look at thinking. According to the Elders “thinking is the part of the mind that figures things out. It makes sense of life’s events. It creates the ideas through which we define situations, relationships and problems. It continually tells us: This is what is going on. This is what is happening. Notice this and that.” They appear to be referring to the conscious mind which uses its array of memories of past events to make decisions about the present. But to look at the rational or conscious mind in isolation leads to a whole nest of errors. We have to face the fact that we are not rational animals.  We are indeed emotional and controlled by our desires. Without considering that the schemas are there to achieve our desires, we find ourselves with the false hope that our reason can solve all our problems. Reason in merely the tool of our desires.

Now let’s consider feelings. According to the Elders “Feelings are created by thinking — evaluating whether the events of our lives are positive or negative. Feelings continually tell us: ‘This is how I should feel about what is happening in my life. I’m doing really well.’ Or, alternatively, ‘Things aren’t going well for me.’ “  I believe that feelings are not really a part of the thinking process; they are an entity in themselves. They come from the old brain, specifically from the reticular and limbic systems. They are natural pre-thought-responses to our environment. They are the rooted in our fears and our sexual desires long before our frontal cortex even gets involved (just speaking figuratively – it only takes a few nanoseconds before the frontal cortex is activated). Most of these fears originate from implicit memory formed during our infancy which directs the workings of the subconscious mind. The brief time between feeling and thought makes all the difference. From that point on our fears and desires take over and the frontal cortex merely rationalizes what is already in place.

This takes us to the third function, desire. According to the elders, desire occurs when we “allocate energy to action, in keeping with what we define as desirable and possible. It continually tells us: ‘this is worth getting. Go for it!’ Or, conversely, ‘This is not worth getting. Don’t bother.’ “. This is the same blind alley. Desire and feelings are synonymous. They are the ends of the same construct. As soon as feelings are formed, the emotions are activated and the desires are born from the marriage of the environment and the feelings about the environment. Only after a desire is formed do we activate the frontal cortex to provide us with a plan to fulfill our desires.

When we try to separate our minds into distinct functions, we run into several roadblocks and some faulty conclusions. The major problem in relying on thought and reason is that it then becomes the focal point in problem solving. According to any form of verbal therapy, the issues we face are because of our inability to control our feelings and therefore our desires. The premise is that we can allow our feelings to express themselves through images and symbols in the form of thoughts and words. The hope is that once we understand what our feelings are telling us, we can then develop a rational plan that will achieve our new desires.  Even this form of cognitive therapy is based on a faulty premise because we do not control our feelings through thought. It is like taking a pain killer to numb the pain, thereby dealing with the symptoms without ever getting to the root cause.  We have to realize that most of our fears and desires are coming from our implicit memory which composes our subconscious mind. We cannot use the mind to control these feelings and desires because we are using the egocentric part of us to solve the problems created before the sense of self and the advent of reasoning.  This requires a paradigm shift. We have to find some way to reach the feelings coming from the subconscious mind.

So this is where the soul comes in. We have to stop relying on our mind for healing and look for something beyond the mind. I believe the soul or spirit is the instrument that can bring our feelings to a second level of consciousness. The spirit brings a counterbalance to feelings, or more accurately, embodies the feelings so that fear and sexual impulse can be momentarily neutralized for a second look to take place. This look comes not in the form of thoughts and words, but in a new feeling. It says “something is wrong with this feeling” and it provides a mirror by which we can examine our feelings in light of some universal truth. It then changes the feelings and alters the implicit memories associated with anxiety and fear to ones of peace and well-being. I am worthless and I fear the present” can become “No! I am beautiful and I welcome the present.” Only with the advent of this new feeling can the human mind come under the influence of the second level of spiritual consciousness and heal the implicit memories and reroute the self-defeating neurological patterns. This is the function of the human soul. The mind’s desire to fight or flee becomes the spirit’s desire to stay, understand and to do something to make a difference for ourselves, the ones we love, and to contribute to the universal source of life and love. Healing then becomes a function not of the mind but of the soul.

My five applications to bisexuality:

  1. As expressed in previous blogs, we have a genetic predisposition towards both men and women with no built in aversions to either one. According to research, the predisposition may also contain a prenatal stress factor absorbed from our mothers during pregnancy and accentuated during infancy. This may have resulted in anxiety filled implicit memories and subconscious mental states.  If we fall into these categories we usually need inner healing before we can enjoy our sexuality.  In order to deal with the implicit subconsciousness we have to seek out our higher self before we can find peace.
  2. We can get in touch with our higher self by seeking a state of peace during meditation or nature baths. Once we capture that feeling we can tuck it into our memory banks and recall it whenever we have a sense of low self-esteem.
  3. Implicit memories usually result in a continued feeling of being unattached or separated  during our developing years thus causing additional stress and anxiety. This usually affects our explicit memory experiences and our sense of self. We therefore have a conscious issues  which can be dealt with through cognitive therapy once our subconscious self has been addressed. We can work on our explicit and autobiographical sense of self by constantly repeating “I am better than that,” every time we feel a self-defeating wave of anxiety.
  4. We recognize our freedom to choose any life styles we wish and deal with self-criticism by saying to our egocentric self, “I understand your concerns but I choose to enjoy this experience.”
  5. We do not accept any feelings of guilt. We simply say “I chose to have that experience and I have a right to enjoy the pleasures associated with my choices.”

[1] Elder, Linda and Elder Richard. The Human Mind. https://www.criticalthinking.org/TGS_files/SAM-TheHumanMind.pdf

 

Self-Actualization, Sex, and the Virtues

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SHIRT & TIE w.out white background (final)We have come to the end on our study of the virtues, and we have developed our body, mind, and soul to the point that we can truly say that we are on the path to self-actualization. The journey is not complete, only because it is never complete; self-actualization is a process, not a destination. Each of the virtues are to be visited over and over again as our knowledge and wisdom spirals ever upward and onward towards self-actualization.

The first stage to self-actualization is the cluster of five virtues involved in grounding. First we become aware of our higher self. We are aware of the power and beauty of our bodies, minds and souls. We accept ourselves just the way we are, and we love ourselves because of the endless capacity, power, and beauty within. We are able to listen to the voice of our higher self as our source of truth. We have learned to feel when something is right or wrong for us. We have learned to appreciate our self, others and the path we are on. We now have a bridge between our physical (body) and spiritual (soul) parts of our being. It enables us to connect our physical and spiritual strengths and energies. It opens up the door to virtuous living.

The second stage is centering. One of the definitions for centering is “a temporary framework for supporting a masonry arch during construction until it is able to stand by itself”. I like this one for two reasons. First because we are indeed building a framework for virtuous living, and secondly, it is part of a process for a higher and majestic structure that often has connotations of spiritual holiness (I use the term spiritual to denote our human spirit which in itself is sacred). As we build these virtues, they are not an end in themselves but a platform on which we can live a higher life. The first of these is assertiveness. It is the ability to express our thoughts and feelings from that inner strength which we all potentially possess through our higher self. This leads to fortitude which is the virtue that allows us to overcome fear and to remain steady in the face of all obstacles – physical, mental, and spiritual.  This leads to the virtue of contentment.  We are not just hopeless victims of our body and ego desires, nor do we have to let go of all desires. We simply have to understand where they are coming from, consciously analyze them through our higher self, and either let them go or indulge and enjoy. This leads to gratitude. We are thankful for everything that comes into our lives. We remind ourselves that there is always something good if we look for it. We see difficulties as opportunities to learn.

We are now ready to reach out to others from a solid base of self-love. We enter what the Greeks called agape love. Agape love is a feeling that comes from the higher self. It is the love energy, or universal positive energy, or the god energy that flows through us when we are interacting positively with other human beings. This takes us to the love virtues. The first love virtue is forgiveness. Forgiveness is an act of love, mainly for the self, but also for others. We merely acknowledge that these things have happened and that we wish to acknowledge the past but live in the present. Next is kindness. Kindness comes from the heart. It flows from and is rooted in love. It involves a three way resonance of vibration from the higher self, another’s higher self, and the external universal flow. This leads to passion. We get to a new kind of love-pleasure based on the energy flow of our combined body, mind, and spirit energies. We are fully charged and motivated to indulge in what we feel is good and right. As we walk solidly along the path of love, we now become aware of the needs of others which leads to empathy. This is the ability to experience the emotional, mental, and spiritual vibrations of another. But we go beyond empathy to compassion which ushers us into the desire to experience life together and to assist others in finding their own true path. It is about overcoming the sources of pain and then sharing this knowledge with others.  When we are  living a life of love,  we seek pleasure through our senses for no other reason than the pleasure itself. We intuitively know whether the pleasure is in harmony with our higher self and we can sense when we are sharing these pleasures with others.

Grounded, centered and living in the universal flow of love, we are now ready to move on to true self-actualization. This begins with trust. First of all, real trust is not about anyone else; it is about the interaction between the ego-self and the inner or higher-self.  We trust ourselves to know, understand and live according to a blend of the ego and the spiritual self. We live in harmony with ourselves. We have sensitivity. We have awakened our natural sensitivity and developed and perfected it so that we can use our feelings for guidance. We are gentle. We realize that positive interactions are part of the flow of universal love and negative ones come from a person’s body of pain. We react to love with love and to pain and anger with gentleness. We embrace uncertainty. We live each moment as if it were the last. We seek the truth and the joy that life presents to us every moment of every day. And finally, we live a life of joy. The virtue of joy is wrapped up in the feeling of expansion. It is living a life each day where all basic and mental needs are essentially fulfilled and our full personal potential takes place. This includes being fully alive and finding our own personal true meaning in life.

My final five applications to bisexuality.

  1. We are grounded in the beauty and power of our higher self. We can choose the life we want to live and live it in harmony with our inner self without having to worry about what others think of us.
  2. We are centered. We know who we are. We have a two-spirit or rather a whole spirit approach to life. We understand our feminine and masculine qualities.
  3. We are not afraid to love. We seek true relationship with other people who are also aware of their higher self. Our sexuality becomes part of the higher function of  making love and living a truly caring and loving life.
  4. We seek self-actualization. We are more than just sexual beings; we also have a spiritual presence that we can share with others.
  5. And finally our bisexuality is meant to be enjoyed. It includes good clean sex, and loving relationships with both or either men or women. We live to enjoy.

A Song of Appreciation

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img_1394-1            Forest Bath

Life as a bisexual can be tough sometimes. We have to know when and how to recharge our batteries and get our minds off sex and gender issues. A forest walk does that for me.

(written after another delightful walk through the old growth rain forest)
The rains are back.
After a long dry season the creeks that have all dried
Are running again and the salmon are returning
To sacrifice their bodies to bring new life.
The forest walk is soft and sweet
As my hiking shoes sing into
The moss that has turned green again,
Empowering the fallen firs with new life and purpose,
Adorning the mighty maples with green lips
That sings the song of life.
I hear the murmuring of the streams,
As they wend their way to the resurgent rivers,
Bringing a new song to the quiet of the forest.
The hot days of summer are over
And the memories stored and treasured.
And I am content to walk these paths once more
As the forest bath washes off the dust of summer.
I am ready for a new autumn
A new chapter in this wonderful book of adventure
That I am living.

The Virtue of Living a Life of Joy

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)

 

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” [1]

The virtue of joy is wrapped up in the feeling of expansion. It is living a life each day where all basic and mental needs are essentially fulfilled and our full personal potential takes place. This includes being fully alive and finding our own personal true meaning in life. It is an emotion but it is more than an emotion; it is a feeling but it is more than a feeling; it is a state of being where we are constantly growing and expanding. Jack London in The Call of the Wild expresses this beautifully when Buck claims his true wild nature: “He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars.” It is the ultimate sense of power, beauty and freedom we experience when we are who we were meant to be.

Like Buck, we have to escape the bonds of civilization to experience our true nature. Maslow in this hierarchy speaks about reaching our human potential in what he calls self-actualization. He associates this with using our gifts as in art or music, or perhaps rising to the top of our career choices, or perhaps excelling due to some major achievement. But all these things are merely an extension of our egos. It is striving for and reaching a goal set and achieved in the mind. It is an expansion of the mind which is a good thing but only part of true self-actualization. As Buck experienced his true animal nature, in order to achieve a state of joy, we have to experience our true human nature which means existing beyond the confines of the mind.

Our personal potential is much more than what we achieve or what we do. It is coming to terms with our true nature as powerful and beautiful human beings with body, mind, and soul. Like Buck, it is learning to be in and enjoy our bodies, the movements of our muscles, exploring the treasures to be experienced through our senses, experiencing the pure joy of each breath. It is using our minds as an extension of our bodies to plan and enjoy our achievements, to being in control of our life path, and using it to provide experiences where we are constantly expanding.  But it is still much more. It is living by the heart, choosing to love and connect with others for the pure joy of knowing them and experiencing their lives with all their joys and sorrows.

But it is till more than just mind and heart, it is spiritual, which means we sense the energy patterns that surround us and learn to flow with them, soaring and expanding on the lifts of pure clean energy. We experience our own energy as something that contains the threads of eternity that hold us and bind us to life itself. We then become aware of the energies of others and can feel and experience their vibrations, helping them when there is need and simply enjoying them when they, too, are full and whole.

The virtue of joy is bliss and ecstasy with and within ourselves. It is being at peace with ourselves and learning to just be ourselves without striving to be something else. It is the ability to be completely content with who we are and to enjoy the life we live. This is the purpose and meaning to life. It is expanding in vibrational energy, love energy, and body energy until the day we die. Our true purpose is just to live, expand, and enjoy. In the words of Percy Bysshe Shelly, it is being able to say when each day is done “I have drunken deep of joy,/And I will taste no other wine tonight.”
My five applications to Bisexuality:

  1. We simply enjoy our bodies and our sexual experiences as a true expression of ourselves. It is celebrating the animal in us.
  2. We explore the full circle of masculinity and femininity allowing ourselves to experience our full range of potential sensations and feelings.
  3. We seek sexual partners and life partners with whom we can experience the gifts of the mind, where we can share our life path and expand in knowledge and wisdom.
  4. We seek soul mates where we can share the gifts of the heart including love and compassion. We strive to continuously expand and grow our relationships.
  5. We seek kindred spirits where we can sense their love vibrations and life vibrations and the joy of combining their vibrations with ours to experience, expand, grow, and vibrate with pure joy.

 

 

[1] ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

The Virtue of Discernment and Human Sexuality – Revisited

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)Fear is the chief emotion that keeps us from reaching for self-actualization. It creates coping mechanisms that are subconscious in nature. These fears and mechanisms eventually become ingrained to form our belief systems. These are extensive neural pathways that subconsciously are activated by stress that impede our natural body and soul desires. To live with fear we create group and individual stories to make sense of our chaotic world. Once we understand our own story and how we use that story to survive, we can begin to understand how everyone else is living in their own illusions and fears. Thriving is this environment is not easy, but once we master the virtue of discernment, we can actually enjoy living in the chaos.

Animals are so lucky.  They mainly live in the moment through instinctual reactions to their senses.  They have some memory, particularly for smells, faces, and some rudimentary signs, but they simply respond according to their instincts. They do not have to evaluate and judge before making a decision. We humans, however, have a control mechanism in the frontal cortex that we can refer to as the administration center, the mind, or the ego. The mind directs the brain to create neural pathways in our amazing cerebral cortex, linking new sensory information with past memories to create a platform for interpretation of the information coming from the senses. Important new information that is needed for survival or excelling is then linked to emotions and stored in memory.  The accumulation of information leads to the forming of concepts which we link together to create beliefs, attitudes and values. In our own reality, every thought is grounded in a collection of experiences and memories that create a story and as such is more like a fantasy novel than a real life experience. This has been a good thing for surviving and avoiding saber-toothed tigers, but too much of a good think can become a bad thing, and perhaps even a curse.

In a sense, we are no better than the animals in that we automatically respond through our subconscious beliefs. Because we live in a complex society with complex relationships and feelings, the mind is forever on the alert, always judging and deciding the best route to avoid danger, and forging the best path to becoming alphas in our pack. Because of the immense anxieties related to our new roles, we have lost the ability to act and adapt. We are stuck in the circle of thought that is governed by our beliefs; we are living in an on-going fiction novel. We no longer have the ability to perceive reality naturally, let go of the mind, and just experience life through our senses. We now have to find ways to do this consciously while avoiding the saber-tooth tigers in our minds.

The hardest part about discernment is being able to discern between the truth and the fiction coming from our own minds.  The only way we can do this is through developing the powers of discernment. In order to live contented and peaceful lives we have to stop the insanity of the never ending story. To do this we simply stop the mind and open up all our senses without judgement or the need to react.  We just let ourselves relax into the moment. Only then do we begin to perceive reality.  Only then do we begin to see ourselves as beautiful creatures endowed with tremendous physical, mental, and spiritual power and beauty. Only then are we able to decipher between the chaos of the story and the order and peace of reality, and only then are we able to judge and make decisions based on this true reality.

The key then is to use the power of discernment to become aware of these negative feelings and vibrations coming from within, and from others, and take measures to understand and counter balance them with positive vibrations from our higher self. The rational mind cannot be trusted as it will inevitably channel its decisions through the emotions and through memory of past experiences.  We cannot trust our emotions. When we are branching out to new territory there will always be an element of uneasiness and even fear. At times like these, we have to rely on the tools of the higher self which are imagination and intuition or discernment. We can learn to trust our “gut feeling” by listening to our feelings.  Our feeling are always binary in nature. We will either have a positive or negative feeling about a situation. If it is negative we should examine it to be sure that it is not just the work of our mind and its emotions. We subdue our emotions then ask our higher self for clarity, empty our mind, and wait for a response. If it is still negative we stop or put the decision on hold. If it is positive we forge ahead with power and confidence thereby setting out with our whole being (body, mind, and spirit), towards the next challenge in our never-ending process towards self-actualization.

Discernment and Sex.

Once we have mastered control over our own story, we can begin to understand our sexuality and our sexual relationships. But before we do that, we have to realize that we are also a part of a group story.  Society is composed of group stories and fears resulting in a group mind-set designed to desperately hold onto the safety of the status quo. To maintain the status quo, society depends on control and power exercised through the institutions of family, church, education, the media, and the government. When our sexual desires threaten these basic structures of society, we can expect a negative reaction in the form of prejudice and discrimination. Fear will turn to shunning, marginalizing, or anger and hate for anyone that threatens that security.

There are two views coming from society and neither is true or healthy.  Society’s views on sex, especially from the media is one of sexual freedom regardless of the effect on the soul. We are encouraged to explore sex just for the pleasure without seeking deeper levels of intimacy. Having multiple partners is not only accepted but held up as the natural standard of human behavior. This sexual freedom suggests that all forms of pleasure can be indulged in without thought of consequence. This includes pornography, prostitution and the wide range of fetishes. If we use our power of discernment and rely on our gut feeling, most of us would feel uneasy in indulging in some of these behaviors.

The second comes through family and religion and is based on the need to control sexual behavior for the good of the group. It is based on the concept that sexual freedom is dangerous and unhealthy. It relies on the church to establish guidelines that we can refer to as mores or morals. The key is to restrict sexuality which usually becomes the responsibility on women to control where and when sexual relationships are allowed. The idea is often conveyed that sexual behavior is somehow dirty and should be reserved for human procreation and preferably under the confines of family values. If we use the power of discernment, we realize that human sexual experiences are also the property of the mind and soul as well as the body. There is an element of pleasure for the body, happiness from the heart, and intimacy from the spirit. These forms of joy may be experienced in isolation or together. There are no restrictions from the body on the number of relationships or experiences; however, we only arrive at true bliss through a combination of all three.

Because society’s obsession with sexuality, members of the LGBQT still face discrimination and hate. Because hate has now been stifled by popular opinion, it has gone underground and resurfaced in inappropriate humor, indifference, or even pity, all of which contribute to our feelings of isolation and helplessness. We are even willing to accept the label of “queer” out of defiance and misplaced pride. The gay movement, however, has made huge inroads in the basic institutions, to the point where the external fight appears to be basically over. Most families have accepted their gay children, most of the churches have welcomed us back into their folds, the media is trying to exorcise its demons by giving us special treatment, and the laws have been changed. However, the suicide and depression rates are actually increasing.  We have won the right to marry but our divorce rates for lesbians (gay men seem to do better than heterosexuals but there is some controversy about the results) are twice that of the heterosexual population [1].  We are still suffering from extreme loneliness and many (and perhaps most) of us feel or have felt some degree of helplessness and hopelessness. Why?

I think it is probably because we are being tolerated and not really accepted by society. The fear often turns to indifference and even pity, both of which tend to make us feel isolated and misunderstood. This includes those we love the most.  Our loved ones tend to avoid the issue of our gay or lesbian side or they question us as if they are trying desperately and unsuccessfully to understand our behavior. The uneasiness, intricate voice tones, and the body language that we perceive subconsciously are wearing us down. In one article I read, our mental-emotional state is being compared to soldiers who are suffering from PTSD.  Subconsciously we are in a battle for survival. It is not one big trauma but a lifetime of small traumas that have worn us down. We are constantly receiving negative vibrations from our heterosexual friends and family, and even from our own tortured gay and lesbian companions. These vibrations wear on our nervous systems until we crash.

Here are my five steps on developing the power of discernment:

  1. We take time to build up our self-image and self-esteem before going to work, or church, or visiting members of our family. We take time to stay physically and emotionally healthy through diet, exercise, and scheduled quiet times. A healthy body and mind will make discernment and clarity mush more likely.
  2. We have to be 100% sure that we are indeed beautiful and wonderful spiritual human beings. This provides a constant flow of positive energy that can balance the negative energy coming our way throughout the day.
  3. If we have trouble changing the story, we persist. We use repetition until the new story replaces the old story. We need time to do this. After mediation I like to take time (while my mind is at rest and my spirit is active) to contemplate, challenge, and change, if necessary, my belief systems.  I like the mornings. I simply review my  experiences and beliefs of the previous day. I then set a new course for the new day.
  4. It is usually not a good idea to ask others about our beliefs as they will respond from their own mind set. It is better to trust our inner self which will respond to our own needs out of genuine self-concern and self-love.
  5. We seek knowledge. We become a student of life, especially our own life. If there is an area of concern, we find reliable information from books and other programs. We learn to discern where the authors are coming from with their own traits and biases. We try to integrate this information into our own new belief systems.

Here are my five suggestion for discernment and sexuality:

  1. We acknowledge that our sex drive is a good thing. It is healthy and natural. No ifs or buts. No blame or shame. If we do not have a healthy and enjoyable sex life it is probably because we do not have a good healthy story. We do not destroy the story; we simply rebuild it with checks and balances. In other words we control it; it does not control us.
  2. We seek those who are like-minded and like-souled for intimate relationships. It can be sexual or nonsexual, but it has to be within the higher self, beyond the urges of the body and the sorrows of the ego.
  3. We shut down the control center to step outside the story and just respond to the beauty and the energy of our sex drive. We set out to deliberately live an active and satisfying sex life.
  4. W realize that sex  is not just the sensuous pleasures of the body  but also includes the oxytocin bonding that forms the happiness feeling from the heart, and those wonderful spiritual feeling s of joy that we can feel as we lie in close contact with our lover after orgasm.
  5. And finally, we enjoy! The purpose of life is to enjoy, to be spontaneous.

 

Here are my five suggestion on discernment for the LGBQT community

  1. We are not just “queers”; we are  beautiful people. We are the ones who can see both sides of the equation. We are the ones with answers to some of life’s most difficult questions. We are the ones with the genes that need to be passed on to the next generation if this species is to survive.
  2. We have to see and understand the reality of our sexuality. It is a biological process of copulation and reproduction, and yes, if we take our cues from the animal kingdom, that includes same sex attraction. But we have made it part of our story. We have created theories of orientation and gender. We don’t need it and if we employ the powers of discernment we will come to the conclusion that we don’t want it. It robs us of our ability to be spontaneous and to enjoy the wonderful senses associated with sex and relationship.
  3. As members of LGBQT community, we have developed a very complex story in order to survive. We can stop the story. Whenever we hear the cues like, “I will never be good enough”, or, “it’s no use”, or, “it’s all my fault”, we stop the story immediately, recognize the belief or lie, and then state the true reality: “I am a magnificent human being”, “I am always good enough”, “I can do anything worth doing”, “there is no fault, there is only trial, error, and the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom”.
  4. Because our sex drives are different, the straight population will experience some degree of uneasiness when we are around them or their children.  We must understand that their uneasiness is based on fear and is subconsciously a threat to their beliefs and mindset, and therefore to their ego’s sense of survival. We must recognize their struggle and conflict of beliefs and emotions. We accept the uneasiness and try to eliminate the fears. We send our positive energy to them in the form of love to balance the negative energy of fear. We continue our relationships and perhaps even increase the time we spend with them. We use the time to naturally express our own feelings and encourage them to express and unconditionally accept theirs, while maintaining the positive flow of love energy from the higher self. Eventually the fears will break down allowing genuine bonds of love.
  5. If we are bisexual with a heterosexual partner, we have to understand they may be struggling to understand and accept us just the way we are. We have to be patient with their struggles and realize they are trying to settle some of their subconscious fears. We respond gently and lovingly. Sometimes we or they may break down because of the triggers that may reopen old wounds. We have to accept that these will happen and that they are an opportunity to heal and even to go deeper in the relationship.

Bisexuality and the Spirit of Adventure Virtue

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SHIRT & TIE [small] (final)As Joseph Conrad states in Heart of Darkness, “‘I went a little farther…then still a little farther—till I had gone so far that I don’t know how I’ll ever get back.” Life is learning not only to be comfortable with uncertainty but to welcome it as an opportunity to expand as a human being. It is not looking back, not wanting to go back, but to be pushing the envelope until the last day of our lives. It is dreaming and then making those dreams come true by the sheer power of our will.

The spirit of adventure is the desire and openness to experiencing something new. It is accepting uncertainty and welcoming it as an opportunity to explore, to expand our range of knowledge, and to bring new sets of sensations and feelings into our life portfolio. It is taking a holistic and creative approach to experiencing what each day has to offer. It is living in the now with passion and vitality.

One of the key ways to grow our spirit is to find our place in this universe.  We explore nature realizing our humble place in the unity of all living thing, to the point where we stand in awe of life itself. We indulge ourselves in a forest bath, letting the gentleness of the forest path caress our bodies as we silently absorb its sights, smells, and sounds into our inner sanctuaries. It is taking a mindful ocean walk at low tide where we take off our shoes and feel the hard moist sand peeling off the dead skin from the souls of our feet and the dead thoughts out of the graveyards of our minds. We let nature’s negative ions collide with our positive ones, neutralizing them, and restoring our chemical balance and our spiritual energies.

We seek the truth, not in rational thought, but in the knowing of our higher self. We search for the answers to the question of our souls. We seek to know who we are, where we are going and how we will know when we get there. We understand that when we arrive at that place it will be just one more step in the never-ending journey to self-actualization. We see success and failure as “twin imposters”[1]. We know that success is just temporary and not an end it itself; it is the journey that counts not our worldly achievements. We know there is no such thing as failure, just opportunities for reassessment, clarity, and the selection of new paths.

We learn the most when we fall the hardest; we seize the opportunity to show ourselves what we are made of, not to define ourselves by the thoughts and actions of others. In the process,  we arrive at the  an understanding that all things are possible. There is no looking back. There is no past. There is only the present that is just waiting for us to open it up and enjoy.

We avoid and despise labels. We are beyond labels. We are free to be whatever we want to be and then to reverse and redefine ourselves day by day. We are not limited by what anyone else thinks. We choose to not only think, but to live, outside the box. We avoid the limitations of Religion. We do not live to reach heaven and avoid hell. We do not seek the escape offered by Nirvana but choose to experience life in the here and now with all its flaws and treasures. We never get old; we just get older and wiser. We never stop enjoying the pleasures of our bodies and the wonderment of our minds. We just bring them into harmony with the source of all life and power. We never let go of life. We live it.

My five applications to bisexuality:

  1. Our bisexuality is not a curse or a burden. It is a gift that allows us to experience life from both the feminine and masculine sides of life.
  2. We know who we are and who we want to be. We do not allow others to shape us. We are proud to be who we are.
  3. Even though we live life from our own personal perspective, we seek out a partner who is like-minded to share the journey with us. We do not try to shape them and we do not allow them to shape us. If our life paths separate, we are prepared to let them go.
  4. We dare to dream. We allow our inner self to speak its truth about who we are and where we want to go. We then build on that truth and set a course to greater self-actualization.
  5. We share who we are with others and engage in two way communication that includes the expressing and living of our deepest desires.

[1] Rudyard Kipling. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spirit-adventure-7-ways-thrive-2017-linda-mccall/