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#8, A More Modern Way Of Prying Yourself Loose.
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#8, A More Modern Way Of Prying Yourself Loose.
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#8, A More Modern Way Of Prying Yourself Loose.
The traditional yogic approach of "netti-netti," as we discussed (#5,) is like a sword of truth. What makes it traditional or "classical" is that it is still fundamentally confrontational in nature. It is no longer the preferred approach but you have to BE ABLE to use this approach because the strength or intensity of the ego-self as it attempts to convince you to continue with it's view of reality can be such that only matching that strength or "mirroring that energy" will maintain your balance.
In those times when the ego-self is at its worst, screaming at you that some ONE or some THING else is the cause (blame) for your misfortune or even your pain, an equal strength may be required to take that difficult next step toward the new reality (new manifestation or intention or desire.).
The more modern approach lies in withdrawing your confrontation while maintaining your "presence."
The Magical Power Of Listening.
If you haven't tried it before experiment a little with controlling a group conversation by only listening and saying virtually nothing at all. Simply give whichever speaker you choose your full attention. The speaker will notice this and actually like it very much and be empowered to say many things that he or she wishes to say.
You will notice that the group in a more or less unfocused way will tend to also give this speaker "the listening" following your lead. It may only last a few seconds but soon enough another person will want to speak, likely two or three. Clearly and with focus take your attention away from the first speaker and place it on your next speaker of choice (or unwaveringly keep your attention on the first speaker if you choose) and watch what happens.
Depending on many factors of course, the most important being your own clarity about "who has the floor," it is possible to lead a group conversation in the precise direction that you wish to take it without having said a word!
You may do this so well that at some point the current speaker may ask YOU a question or ask you for your opinion! Or you may simply "steer" the conversation by nodding your head to indicate that the speaker is to continue or by shaking your head VERY subtly to withhold agreement if the speaker tries to be too convincing. Don't DIS-agree just "non-agree!" And we can define "non-agreeing" as a simple neutral suspension of agreement. Sort of like saying a "no, not yet" or a "no, not quite" while still remaining interested.
Your Internal Dialogue
You can probably already guess what is next, right? The voices in your head are a lot like an unfocused group conversation at a party. J And you, yourself are a full-on participant at THIS party. You're talking one minute, laughing the next, maybe crying, maybe arguing, maybe hiding, maybe even yelling or fighting, all with your own voices at your own party in your own internal group conversation. You feel empowered one moment, perhaps totally disempowered the next, spaced-out into some fantasy another moment or are remembering some event in a different moment. There seems to be feelings, half-feelings, weird feelings, explanations for feelings, arguments about the explanations and a non-stop commentary happening along with all of it.
Trying to enjoy life or stay focused or just get some things done seems way more difficult then it should be and so, of course, this is one reason why "stopping the internal dialogue" has such appeal.
Now without getting too technical about things like the exact direction of your intent (which is kind of like a vector) or the difference between emotions and feelings (which is kind of like inner and outer sensation) or the difference between "now time" and what we can call ego-time (which you can begin to explore with painful past and fearful future) here is the way to stop the internal dialogue.
This is the one-liner on stopping the internal dialogue.
iTurn the dialogue into a monologue through "just listening" and "non-agreement!"
You see, of course, it takes TWO to dialogue. The internal dialogue is composed of TWO participants your ego-voice and YOU. If you withhold your participation through just listening and non-agreement then the ego-voice is all that is left and the dialogue becomes a monologue.
The Voice
Without your participation, just like the speaker at the party, the ego-voice will say what it says, the words and sentences will have a beginning and an end and that will be that. The fundamental intention of an ego-self is simply to maintain itself. If you just listen and maintain respectful yet silent non-agreement then it will be satisfied that it is heard and slowly quiet down. Unlike humans in general, the intention of an ego-self is actually quite narrow and,setting intensity (which can be horrendous) aside, it is relatively simple to satisfy. (Simple is not the same as easy!)
Since YOU have stopped participating in the dialogue you are literally half-way to the goal. As the ego-voice slowly quiets down, your inner stillness will slowly grow. At a certain point you can experience what has been called, "that peculiar feeling of entering the silence."
Some Practice
When you accurately start to hear your "voices" you will not be bored!
Close your eyes for a few seconds and listen to what the voice says.
....................................
....................................
Did the voice say: "What voice?"
Did the voice say: "I don't hear any voice! What voice is he talking about?"
Did the voice say: "I heard this already."
...................................
If you did not do this, did the voice say: "I don't have time."
If you did not do this, did the voice say: "I don't want to." Or, "I'm tired." Or, I gotta go." Or, "What time is it?"
.....................................
If you DID do this, did the voice comment or say something about this email or say something about greg?
Or, did the voice comment or say something about someone else?
Or did the voice comment or say something about youself?
Or did the voice say: "Wow, that's interesting."
Or, "This could be good."
Or, "What a waste of time!"
Or, "Hey that's kind of cool!"
Or, "That's wierd."
If you read all of these possibilities and weren't able to say a simple 'yes' or 'no" to them then you went too fast. Try it again.
The overriding challenge here is that if you do not listen to your voices then you risk becoming them. For example, you may get a little annoyed at some time with your boyfriend. If the voice says, "He's a jerk!" and you just listen with non-agreement then you can simply blow off a little steam and the voice is just a "venting." If you DON'T just listen, or worse, AGREE with the voice then you are starting to manifest a life with a jerky boyfriend! AND, if you DON'T just listen and you DISAGREE with the voice then you are left fighting or arguing within yourself! Notice that you are caught in the ego whether you agree OR disagree!
Have fun!
Thanks for listening! :-)
much love and much peace .... greg
The Master Game Primer
