Quote:
Originally Posted by edwardmills  This really gets to the heart of my disagreement. I don't think that breathing, or any dualist, on/off, in/out, light/dark analogy can accurately describe the flow of energy.
A better analogy from our physical world, in my opinion would be the human heart. With each beat, blood flows in AND simultaneously flows out. (It's more complicated than that of course, but for the sake of this discussion, you get the point).
This morning, during my meditation, I did some experimenting with this idea. And, while it was difficult to consciously hold the perception of inward flowing and outward flowing energy simultaneously, the experience for brief moments, was exquisite.
I've got to tell you that if that feeling I started to connect with this morning is an indication of inefficiency, I'll take a whole lot more of it!
Now, once again, I will reiterate that agree with Steve that there are times when focusing your energy in one or the other direction can absolutely empower your actions.
And I continue to respectfully disagree that it's a polarity.
The easiest way I can say it is that the physical component of our existence is about Either/Or, while the energetic component is about Both/And. |
I agree with your first and second post as well and also disagree with Steve on this one. However, since I largely agree with Steve's model of a subjective reality, it could simply be that in Steve's reality he's right and in our reality we are right. In his, energy can only flow in one direction at one time, whereas in ours we might have the ability or intention for it to flow in both directions at the same time.
Also being a martial artist like yourself, I've seen where PUSH/PULL energy can be twice as powerful as PUSH/PUSH or PULL/PULL energy. I think the innacuracy might lie in Steve's assumption that if you have 2 units of energy going in one direction and 2 units of energy going in another opposite direction that there is a 0 net effect. That is NOT true. If you believe that, take your fist and punch someone elses fist really hard and you tell me if there was 0 energy at the point of impact.
Maybe my analogy is not the best, but I think that all energy is positive and negative at the same time just depending on what we pay attention to about it. For example Steve might say that writing a book is an OUTFLOWING energy, but in my opinion it could be INFLOWING. If Steve disagrees with me on that, then his subjective reality model must be flawed. Either he's right in this article and wrong in the subjective reality one, or vice versa. He can't have it both ways.
In my reality, lets say I wanted to put energy towards 4 endeavours at one time. Lets say that Steve consider 2 of those endeavours OUTFLOW and 2 of them INFLOW. In Steve's opinion he would say that my energy would cancel itself out and I would achieve very little. In my REALITY though I could simply CHOOSE to label all 4 of them as either INFLOW or OUTFLOW and achieve results since my subjective reality is mine and I can do whatever I want with it.
SO, having said that, if I wanted to WRITE A BOOK and WIN A CONTEST which Steve labeled in his article as "OUTFLOW" and "INFLOW" energies, I can still do it by CHOOSING to align the INFLOW/OUTFLOW energy of both things in one direction. Meaning, I believe that writing a book is equally INFLOW and OUTFLOW energy. *I* choose which energy to focus and make real. The same thing with WINNING A CONTEST. So all I have to do is to CHOOSE to believe that WRITING A BOOK and WINNING A CONTEST are both OUTFLOW or both INFLOW and I'll be able to achieve both at the same time.
If Steve is right, then it would be impossible (or at least very difficult) to WIN A CONTEST for WRITING A BOOK. It would also be hard to WRITE A BOOK and GET A CAR at the same time. Give me a break, can you imagine how complicated life would be if we had to consult a universal book of judgements to see if the intentions we're trying to acquire are OUTFLOWING or INFLOWING so that we don't accidentally cancel our energy expenditure?
What's more probable is that if you BELIEVE that one thing you're doing like WRITING A BOOK is interfering with something else you're doing like GETTING A CAR, then that is what you will create. If, however, you believe that WRITING A BOOK and GETTING A CAR are aligned in the same direction (Positive), then they will help each other out.
The only way I can see INFLOW/OUTFLOW energy canceling itself out is within the same intention. For example if I create an intention of "I want to get a new car." and at the same time I also have an intention of "I don't want a new car" then those two intention will cancel eachother out. Don't laugh, a lot of people including me have done that before. You might be thinking "I want to win a million dollars in the lottery." but then you also think "If I win the lottery my friends will only love me for my money." or "Someone might try to kill me for my money." etc. That kind of alignment I think is imperative, but I really don't think one intention of WRITING A BOOK and another intention of WINNING A CONTEST really create problems of cancelled energy, unless of course we BELIEVE that they are interfering with eachother.
Anyway, just my 2 bits, but I do agree with you Edward.