Polarity (Blog)

[Neblasian]

One of the clearest and most concise information on the LOA. It clearly fills in where other books and movies about this same topic left out. Now I have a better picture of how to approach this stuff.

Thanks

[Adam]

Steve, I have a quick question: How did you learn this? Was it experiments with different methods of manifesting, with this bringing the best results, or is this information also available in a book?

Now, I'm certain that you did experiment with it, otherwise you wouldn't recommend it... but what about the first time that you found the idea?

I'm asking more out of curiosity, than anything else... I guess what I'm really wondering is at what point does our individual work become new research.

[Steve Pavlina]

How I came upon the idea of polarity is a long story that dates back to some August 2002 journal entries I wrote, trying to understand the nature of the universe and especially the role of thought. So I've been living with these ideas for 4.5 years now -- it seriously took that long for me to test them, and to trust them to the point where I felt I could explain them to others (aside from Erin).

Polarity goes way beyond the LoA, so I have a lot more to write about this.

[Still Growing]

This consise way of thinking about polarity is new to me and I loved the article. From it I have some thoughts that I want to share and to see what others think of....

Steve seemed to suggest that one should focus on one polarity or the other to conduct oneself. He said we should focus on one or the other he didn't get too deeply into the aspect of switching between both at different times. Maybe he will address this on a future article.

It seems to me that to maximize results one should harness both sides and not just focus on one in our lives. Of course the optimal results is to focus on one polarity at a given time since energy cannot flow both ways at the same time.

Steve used the anology of breathing. The inhale is one polarity and the exchale is the other polarity. Although you cannot do both at the same time however you have the capacity to exhale more after you have inhaled more.

At stevepavlina.com, Steve's inhale would be to intake or digest enormous amounts of information and the exhale would be his expression through his own interpretation or new conclusions he can devise. Which in my opionion, he's the best out there (to suit my taste at least)

This commandment of both polarities but harnessing the proper polarity and focusing on that polarity in a given time gives the ultimate outcome it seems.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:
Steve, you have many points of interest and much to contribute on a broad array of subjects but this particular subject touches on matter not being addressed in our society. In my mind's eye I can see you speaking on National TV about this subject within 6 months. You have a lot to contribute and so many people can benefit by what you offer. I think this subject could be a medium towards you reaching an even broader audience. I'm sure your loyal readers feel the same.

[eternomi]

When you focus on the outflow, then that reflects in your own reality as other beings trying to outflow to you as well so long as you don't have a belief that says "Oh I can only give, but I cannot receive because receiving is evil!"..

You focus on the outflow, and do not worry about the inflow because you already know if you are truely outflowing (helping, contributing, etc), then you will get that reflected back to you. Obviously, you have to be genuine. If you are still thinking your own well being in the back of your mind, then that will surely reflect in your reality. You can't deceive "the universe". Easier said than done for sure.

I am saying this to clarify the fact that you don't have to pick inflow vs. outflow. You don't have to say to yourself "I've been outflowing for a while, now I need to inflow". Since your world is a reflection of who you are on the inside, I don't think you want to focus on inflow much. That will reflect to the other beings in your world and you will experience competition, fighting, scarcity, etc. to the extent you focus on inflow.

[babuji]

I have a quick question..

What if you're working with a group of people, for example 4 people starting their own business and the polarities are split between the group 2 and 2??

Would that mean the members of the group are cancelling each other out? Or does one person's polarity act independently to the rest, not being affected by the others?

Would be interesting to hear your take on it.

[Henry Mayor]

Steve,

Your article is great and helps me a lot. I have been meditating and visualizing for years with great results but the points you make on this posting are certainly valid. I will certainly focus my energy in a more efficient way from now on. Thanks again

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by babuji

I have a quick question..

What if you're working with a group of people, for example 4 people starting their own business and the polarities are split between the group 2 and 2??

Would that mean the members of the group are cancelling each other out?

Yes, they'd cancel. Progress could still be made, but it would be nothing compared to what would happen with a strong polarity. I've been in this situation myself, and it's definitely problematic to say the least.

In the early days of running my games business (mid 1990s), I took on a game designer who was largely motivated by the desire for money, status, personal gain, recognition, high sales, and the coolness factor of creating a hit game. However, the rest of my team, including me, were far more motivated by the joy of creating something new and original. This team never managed to complete a project together. In fact, we attracted problem after problem, including $150K of debt and lots of broken promises. Working together sometimes felt like moving through sludge.

I tried everything I could think of to help the team gel, including a group role-playing session. But the energy mix was all wrong. After many months of struggle, I finally let this designer go, and we parted ways. It took each of us a while to get our bearings again. But I was still making the mistake of partnering with publishers who had the opposite alignment to my team, so we internally worked well but externally we just didn't fit into the industry. Finally I opted to switch to a direct sales model (shareware), and that worked extremely well for us. We went on to develop a very successful puzzle game (Dweep) that was a joy to create and eventually to publish many other games from small developers.

Meanwhile this other designer went to work for a major game publisher and ended up producing some successful titles (mostly violent ones I think). We couldn't succeed together because our energies were incompatible, but we did just fine after we split up.

That was a major business lesson for me. Some people say that profits must come before the love of creativity, but in my experience you can succeed either way, as long as you know which side you're on and build a team that's congruent. As for me I value creativity and contribution far more than money, sales, and status, so it's important to me to work with people who feel the same.

[tekart]

Originally Posted by CeciL

Thought Energy + Same Action Energy = Manifestation

YES. I believe it is all about action. NOTHING happens (unless by random chance) without the ACTION part of that equation.
Of course you do have to be motivate enough to take action right?

You can look at this from many different directions. We all process information differently. Some like more spiritial approach, some a more scientific approach (my favorite).

Bottom line, I have control of my thoughts AND actions. Where this energy comes from and where it is going...eh...I am not too concerned about. Fun to think about, though it can sometimes be an exercise in artifical complexity.

[tekart]

Originally Posted by CeciL

Thought Energy + Same Action Energy = Manifestation

Yes, I agree. Nothing happens without ACTION.
I might expand on that equation:
Thought and Emotional Energy + Motivation Energy + Action Energy = Manifestation

We all process things in different ways don't we? Some more spiritial, some more scientific (my preference). I can't help but think that this is really just an exercise in Artifical Complexity.

Bottom line for me 1)know what you want (the hardest part for me), 2)motivate yourself, 3)take action.

How it all works...eh...fun but not that important for me. As long as I understand how it all works for me.

[dsmoke]

Steve, this seems like a helpful post but I'm confused about one thing: what do you do when your intent requires you to both receive and give? For instance, beating a serious illness will require both active intent (implementing diet changes, exercise) and receiving intent ("universe, please help me find a way to overcome this medical issue that no one seems to know anything about").

Judging by your post, you seem to be saying that in this case, you'd focus on one aspect of intent at a time? This seems like it would go very slow, and I wonder about those who do not have the luxury of time.

I hope you will address these kinds of issues soon, since others appear to be having them, too. Thanks for the great, thought-provoking post.

[edwardmills]

Hi everyone. Is this a good sign that my first post in the forum is going to express some strong disagreement with Steve? We'll see.

While Steve's concept of polarity clearly has very powerful applications, I believe there are some significant problems with his assertion that energy flow can only be in one direction.

Steve says that the polarity of every thought is either inward, outward or neutral. A thought can't have both an inward and outward flowing energy at the same time. I'm willing to accept this assertion.

However, he immediately shifts to a discussion of the polarity of energy, bringing the same assertion - that energy can be EITHER in-flowing or outflowing but not both.

This I do not agree with. As an energy medicine practitioner, 12-year martial arts practitioner and long-time meditator my experience and observations lead me to the exact opposite conclusion. Namely that our energy is ALWAYS flowing in both directions.

In fact, I believe that increasing consciousness takes us closer to the centerpoint where the inflowing and outflowing energy is perfectly balanced.

Some of the more obvious examples that support this belief include the Flow state experienced in creative expression, the energetic state of unity experienced in sexual practices such as Tantra and Taoist sex, and the expanded awareness states attained by martial arts masters.

I have experienced brief moments of each of these states and feel that they are reflective of a simultaneous state of inflowing and outflowing energy.

I've written a more detailed response to Steve's post on my blog. I won't link to it here since I don't want this to be considered spammy. But you can find it if you're interested.

Now, I absolutely do believe that there is much to be gained from a heightened awareness of the polarity or directionality of your energy flow. Applying this awareness with consciousness can absolutely empower your intentions.

However, I also find it very difficult to agree with the assertion that each of our intentions has just one direction. I believe that we can focus the directionality of individual steps on the path of manifesting our intentions. But each intention must include both inflowing and outflowing energy in order to manifest in this physical world.

I look forward to continuing this discussion. It certianly is a topic that is full of possibilities for exploration.

[Brad]

WOW!

Steve, thanks for your efforts, time and vision. Words can't describe how grateful I am to have found (been led to) your site.

A couple of my AH HA's from this blog:

It's OK to receive. In fact, becoming a great receiver is just as important as becoming a great giver. More often than not our thoughts about inflow are jaded because of our embedded false beliefs about ourselves and the receiving of a "gift", especially when we are new to the LoA. Becoming a grateful, deserving, appreciative, empowering receiver is actually a practice of giving. Giving the giver, if you will, the results or feelings that are associated with the gift of giving. Therefore, you allow the energy flow to continue and grow. To quote Stephen King, "Ka is a wheel".


Polarity is clarity. We've always heard things like: know your why, know the outcome of each event or intention, plan the work and work the plan. Finally, the why behind the why. Polarity! Makes too much sense.

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

OK, that's a great post, and a HAHA moment for me.

Still, there's one point I am confused with :

What I want :

-Be a light worker, therefore definitely polarizing on the outflow.
-Have some girlfriends, have some sex etc. (which is more inflow)

what should I do?
-about the girls :
1) focus more on giving love to the girls, and not caring at all about receiving some love, and having some good sex. Or :
2) Just change my flow direction and focus on receiving love and having good sex?

I should chose option 1) to stay in alignment with my inner feeling of prefering the 'light side", but if I am honest, I WANT to receive love and have some good sex.

So there is a third option :
Chosing option 2), focus on inflowing energy, until I have satisfied my desires, then I can come back to what I prefer : outflow energy. But isn't it "dangerous" that I can be seduced by the "dark force"?

Or maybe there's a fourth option : honestly change what I want about the girls and focus on option 1), until finally I get love and good sex in return, but that wouldn't be the main intention.

What do you think?
Actually, by writing it i realise i prefer the fourth option, but it is hard to honestly change what I want with the girls. I am doing something wrong or what?

[siamesesilk]

Thank you Steve for that much needed clarification. I have been trying to focus on the LOA, sometimes it seemed to work for me and other times not so much. Your clarification of polarity and how it's involved with the LOA explains so much more to me. I now have some shifting of energy to do. Thanks!

[nvictor]

Allow me to add my personal opinion. If Steve has written about it, I can also Energy is something I've been thinking of. I called it silent energy. It contains everything. It's not about good or bad. It's not about doing or not doing. It's there.

Since I got my concepts from cartoons, I was afraid to talk about it. I've realized the importance of it after reading Steve's article.

The first concept is that of Aura. Aura is the representation cartoons give to energy. Remember Dragon Ball Z? Well that's it. People perceive aura. It's self-perceptible. Everything, even nature percieve it. Have you ever seen a dog bark at someone with bad thoughts? Or a cat never approach the same person? A kind of bird which sound announces misfortune? Nature perceive it.

Now, the second concept of energy. Energy is not good or bad. I can't define where good or bad come from but energy directs our actions.

In one episode of shaolin showdown, the master told the xiaolin warriors to try to steal a little pig made of crystal from him. They were four against the master. When the master knew that they were winning, he broke it. They became speechless. He told them an important lesson[from memory] : My focus was greater than yours, I was focusing on not to lose while you guys were focusing on winning.

I personally think that his energy was higher, that's what directed his actions from I must win to I must not to lose.

[judge45]

Polarity makes it sound like opposites, but it's actually a circuit.

You consistently intend with feeling, answers are presented, you take action, results manifest.

Steve are you saying that you can only focus energy on giving or getting?

That doesn't seem to make sense as the intention is the getting (what do you see yourself getting) the method that presents itself makes you take action which is the giving, then you get something in return.

So you get, then give, then get? Wouldn't that mean that the flow is in/out/in?

Your emotion is one of want, then it's one of providing, then it's one of receiving.

Maybe I'm not 'getting' it, but I always thought it was a circular thing, not back and forth or just one way.

Jeff

[Athena]

So what do you do then with energy that you recieve?

If, for instance, you are focused on an outflow goal,
and people along the way are giving you resources to help you get to your goal (material energy) and also giving you many compliments (thought energy),

Is it okay to recieve that material energy and enjoy that thought energy? it seems like it's all eventually being channeled back to the outflow anyways. I always thought of flow as a river-- I understand that the target is the destination, in outflow, but also think that there should be appropriate inflow, and think it feels unnatural to block that inflow.
For instance, it feels much better to accept compliments rather than ignore them or try to cancel them out, and I think gratitude is itself a powerful affirming energy.

So, if you are still always consciously focused on the giving, isn't it okay to enjoy the recieving as well?

[Steve Pavlina]

Yes, there's always a circular flow of energy.

However, the following two situations are very different in terms of the energy flow:

1) Focusing your attention and actions primarily on giving and then gratefully receiving the energy and results that flow back to you as a consequence

vs.

2) Focusing your attention and actions primarily on receiving and then feeling the flow of energy back outward as a consequence

[Holistic Star]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Yes, there's always a circular flow of energy.

However, the following two situations are very different in terms of the energy flow:

1) Focusing your attention and actions primarily on giving and then gratefully receiving the energy and results that flow back to you as a consequence

vs.

2) Focusing your attention and actions primarily on receiving and then feeling the flow of energy back outward as a consequence

This is something I'm really struggling with. I posted in a new thread here and would really appreciate some advice from the forum.

I have a health problem and feel much better for focusing inwards, yet my natural tendency is to give. My question is how can I improve my health using an outwards polarity as I was doing this in the past yet it completely drained me. When I was giving I wasn't feeling much energy flow back to me even though I was grateful when it did.

Please would you forum peeps read my thread and help me with my polarity questions?

[TheColonel]

You know, edwardmills raises a good point. Couldn't this be viewed as AC versus DC?

Steve would seem to be saying that for IM to work, you must use direct current. edwardmills is saying that alternating current also works.

[TheColonel]

One more question...

Is gratitude an emotion that can apply to either polarity?