Polarization (Blog)

[wowik]

Thank you for another great article, this one contributed to me and made me protest at the same time, which is good, but could be a sign of still being neutral and not yet polarized .

The current metaphor that came to my mind to clarify the polarization idea is a "U"-shaped crater with one slope being white, one being black and a ball at the bottom (which can be one of your intentions or you yourself). With a final goal to push the ball as high as possible (reach the maximum potential), you can push it one direction or the other, but it's better to push it one way(without changing the direction), otherwise you take a risk to be always near the bottom. Work you are doing is a work against gravity, a force which already holds all the energy and potential and which itself doesn't have any color. The difference is that when you push along the white slope you always see under your feet "white" ground, no matter whether you are standing in one place, working hard to get higher or moving down, as a result of your reduced intention.

The question is: Is it our consciousness which should decide which polarity to choose (which way to move) or is there some innate or acquired disposition to one or another? It's obvious that no matter what, we can choose both, but if there is disposition and I choose the wrong one, wouldn't I feel incongruent with it and wouldn't it be harder to polarize for me then (is it harder to push the ball one way, than the other)?

I quite agree that most readers of this blog tend to choose the love, inflow side, I tend to believe myself that in World the disposition is also in favor of light side, but it's hard to confirm for sure because for example in WoW the number of people who choose light and dark races is pretty much the same. Well anyway my personal feeling is that modern society with its capitalistic and consumeristic ideals push people towards the dark/fear side: you get education, then you get your job/duty/responsibility, you get paid for this, for earned money you get goods and services, and you get, get and so on and so forth. Seems like the modern society eagerly needs these darkworkers and does it best to enforce basic masses to use the inflow pattern, making it easier to achieve and leaving the outflow pattern as a hard, long-term and more complicated goal.

[yoopersmith]

Steve:

Since I started, I have visualized my intentions, wrapped them in a box (with a bow ) and dropped them in a stream to flow away to the Universe. I never thought about "Polarization" but you are right and this was a very insightful article. I think I will stick with the "outflow" side for now, it seems to work best for me...and as you say you giving leads to getting.

Thanks!

[siamesesilk]

Thank you Steve! You have no idea what perfect timing these articles are for me. (Also the Star Wars analogy is perfect as I love Star Wars and can pick out each scenario you are talking about and how it relates.) This makes so much more sense as to why I have been having major conflicting issues in my life's work. I have been struggling so much lately with what it is I need to choose...lightworker over darkworker. I want to be a lightworker, but as I think of more money out of initial fear based thinking, I can see how it is negating my desire to continue on the path of giving for the highest good of all...which is what I ultimately want to do in my life.

Outflow of love has always felt so much better to me in my work, as soon as the fear based thinking starts I start to panic and think I may be choosing to do the wrong thing. I get all miscombobulated. I think my initial fear based thinking comes from my ego which tells me..."if you keep giving yourself like this, you will never make a living at it"...or..."if you do what your heart desires no one else will recognise the fact that it's valuable."...or You "need" to make more money if you want to live here (which is true, but...). Are you willing to choose a job for the money that isn't for the highest good of all, out of greed for more money?" The answer to the last question, has been "No, I won't", but I have been stuck in limbo without progressing forward, out of fear. Fear has crippled me from moving forward and I didn't even realize that, until you started to explain more how polarization works.

I think this is where some deep soul searching comes in for me. I am having trouble still with the "What", but at least I know that whatever it is, I can contribute out of Love and I can believe it will support me in ways I am not aware of yet. I will work on this.

[John Wesley]

Is Steve ever going to write about anything practical again? The metaphysical stuff is interesting to think about it, but ultimately I don't think you can apply it to anything.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by John Wesley

Is Steve ever going to write about anything practical again? The metaphysical stuff is interesting to think about it, but ultimately I don't think you can apply it to anything.

Name one thing in your human existence these ideas do not apply to on a very practical level.

Whatever you just named, you'd be wrong.

I understand that some people just want me to share more tips on how to get out of bed in the morning or what to eat for breakfast instead of trying to offer up answers to life, the universe, and everything. But there are plenty of other bloggers to tackle such topics these days.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Name one thing in your human existence these ideas do not apply to on a very practical level.

Whatever you just named, you'd be wrong.

I understand that some people just want me to share more tips on how to get out of bed in the morning or what to eat for breakfast instead of trying to offer up answers to life, the universe, and everything. But there are plenty of other bloggers to tackle such topics these days.

We already know the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, though.

What we need is a really good question...

Lemme see... 'how many roads must a man walk down...' No wait, "blowing in the wind" does not equal 42... or does it?

Hmmm... This philosopher's job is pretty hard. I think I'll let Steve handle it for a little while longer.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Name one thing in your human existence these ideas do not apply to on a very practical level.

Whatever you just named, you'd be wrong.

I understand that some people just want me to share more tips on how to get out of bed in the morning or what to eat for breakfast instead of trying to offer up answers to life, the universe, and everything. But there are plenty of other bloggers to tackle such topics these days.

I think the "practicalities" people want from you are less about getting up early than you think. People want to see concrete examples of your ideas operating at their own categorical imperatives, you aren't really there yet. I think this will probably be addressed by your development of further business models beyond your blog.

For example, I'm less than inspired by the purchase of a $1,000 chair or a new car, whereas starting a company like whole foods, or irrigating a city in Africa with drinking water is a different story. Creations like those generate their own passive abundances in a way. Passive income generation is one thing, taking LoA to the places it wants to go is another.

[Frankie]

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this concept, and I just cannot accept it.

It seems completely against human nature.

As you’ve pointed out, Steve, we all contain a dark and a light side. We are all both good and evil. And we’re all sort of vacillating between the two impulses all the time as we try to figure out how to be happy and how to live our lives. This polarization idea seems to be saying that the best way to get stuff done is to pick a side and stay there. It says that if we continue to vacillate, then the strength of our energy will be greatly decreased and we won’t accomplish great things.

That’s the part that rings true with me – and it’s the reason that I am still sitting here trying to work this out. A big part of me wants to jump on board with it and say, “YES!! I am outflow girl. Bring on the outflow and love and my life is going to be freaking amazing from here on out! No worries about how I will make a living because the universe will take care of me. Ice cream for everyone!”

But. The other part of me will not let myself jump on board, because it seems, on the other hand, completely insane and contrary to how we are made, as people. People are social animals – we want to help each other. We NEED to help each other. Put any individual person out in the forest by himself and he would have a hard time surviving. But put a group of us out there together and we can do things like, build bows and arrows, form tribes… and we become a force to be reckoned with. We thrive on connection with other human beings. We want to feel useful to each other and part of the group. In other words, our species is almost biologically designed for outflow.

And then on the flip side – we are obviously ANIMALS. We are biological organisms that seek to gratify ourselves in a myriad of ways. Soooo…. In that sense, we are biologically designed for inflow as well. We’re going to want things. More food, more money, a better car, a good mate, nice children, etc.

I think all of that is in line with what Steve is saying…. We all have both sides imbedded within us. And I agree with that. What I don’t agree with is that it is a great idea to pick a side. I am inclined to say that he could be right that if we pick a side, we’ll get more done that we want to get done. It looks as though Mother Theresa picked her side and helped a lot of people. Adolf Hitler picked his and murdered six million people. If those two hadn’t picked a side, then no…. they wouldn’t have gotten as much done. I suspect that Steve would say that Hitler, in fact, didn’t really pick his side. He haphazardly stumbled into it (with little self-awareness) and wasn’t prepared to pay his karmic debt, which is why he wound up being defeated. Ok fine.

But! The struggle between the good and evil parts of myself – this is so imbedded within me. I don’t think that it is in my nature AT ALL to embrace inflow and wholly reject outflow nor is it in my nature to embrace outflow and expel inflow. It is in my nature to be aware of both the inflow and the outflow and to try to balance it as best as I can with a heavy emphasis on different situational needs (in other words, certain situations may do best with inflow, and others with outflow). I may wind up treading water a lot of times by doing that. I may not get as much done as I want to get done. But I feel both sides within me so strongly (as part of the very essence of myself as a human being) that trying to become polarized seems like the ultimate self-deception. Intense love and fear – this is part of life. It seems ridiculous to try and assert otherwise. It seems like an enormous lie to myself.

Imagine the person that you love most in the world. Imagine that someone, a God-like omniscient figure, told you that if they died, then the world would become a better place, as a whole. In other words, for whatever reason, that individual (through no fault of their own) is more of a drain on the world than a help to it. The outflow person would say…. “Oh sure, go ahead, kill him/her.” Right? The inflow person would protect them at all costs.

I don’t think that it’s possible to pick a side completely. And I don’t really believe that anyone has ever successfully picked one side and rejected all aspects of the other side at all times in every situation of life. Not even Steve. Or Mother Theresa. Or the Emperor in Star Wars.

P.S. – you know that a man writes the blog when Star Wars gets referenced about seven times.

[jacmac1]

Consider Darth Vader’s story. He’s tooling along, successfully building his empire with highly polarized energy. Then at the end of Return of the Jedi, he suddenly switches polarities to save his son. Boom! He and his mentor both wind up dead, and his glorious empire goes down the tubes. All of his power gone in an instant. Now if he hadn’t made that stupid mistake — stupid from a fear-polarized perspective, that is – he’d have killed Luke and the Emperor too, making himself the most powerful person in the galaxy.

Steve, actually, Anakin achieves immortality, so he does become extremely powerful.

The question I have in regard to this theory is about the law of surrender:
The only way to truly conquer anything is to surrender to it.

According to the theory of polarity, a Darkwalker will fight and fight and become hypervigalent to every threat, consumed by fear and will never achieve ultimate power, let along peace, while a Lightwalker can achieve this easily.

Also, isn't this very reminiscent of Jungs teachings about shadow work and the male and female animus?

[JoeRad]

Originally Posted by sirkinm

Even though it's hard to admit, I find my major goals centering around personal gain (more confidence, more exciting experiences, more money), or around protecting the people (and dog) that I love so I don't have to experience the pain of watching them suffer. But at the same time, I try to be good to everyone, and make at least a small contribution....

Indeed. I am in a similar situation. It would appear that a major goal in my life, to strike a "happy medium" is ultimately self destructive if this concept of polarization holds true. Its funny, I need, and want good things to happen to my. I am trying hard to change the course of my life. Yes, I want these things to happen for my good, so that I can feel better and avoid the depression of my current life, but it seems now that the moment I switch over to this mode of thinking, that I am going to gain wealth for myself....it mean that in order to maintain it, I am going to have the defeat one of my most sought after goals in life; to be "set", to be wealthy enough, secure enough from most financial problems to allow myself the time to experience this world, and go out and work on the problems of this world...just having the time and the flexablity to "problem solve:...to help others, as cheasy as that sounds.

But if I do this formyself, it mean that I must always do so? How can that work?

<all attempts to improve myself just end up with more confusion and loss of hope...as well as a tendency toward melodramatic comments on message boards >

[Erock]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Name one thing in your human existence these ideas do not apply to on a very practical level.

Whatever you just named, you'd be wrong.

I understand that some people just want me to share more tips on how to get out of bed in the morning or what to eat for breakfast instead of trying to offer up answers to life, the universe, and everything. But there are plenty of other bloggers to tackle such topics these days.

Please do not start writing "normal self help" articles. I can get that garbage from Oprah.

[NDavid]

Hi all,

Been browsing this forum for a long time but this is my first post. Great site by the way :-). I have a question for Steve.

I've noticed that a fair few people on this site have the same conflict with the polarity concept (myself included). The particular conflict lies with the fact that while alot of us feel that our path lies as lightworkers and giving, we also feel the need to change certain things for ourselves (whether it be a little more money, lose/gain weight, overcome depression etc) to feel better about ourselves and/or resolve certain issues. These all revolve around recieving more than giving.

Now I would like to ask you something Steve, we know that you've chosen the side of love/lightworker. However I know that you've set intentions before for losing weight/lucid dreaming etc (in other words things that might be considered more about self than about others). As a lightworker, how did you set intentions for these? What sort of polarization did you use for these? I think that understanding how you achieved it would help clear up alot of the confusion and internal conflict that some of us 'wouldbe lightworkers' are struggling with as goals such as those seem to lie more on the 'dark side' :-).

Thanks

NDavid

[Glass Joe]

Although the lightworker vs. darkworker polarization idea is a very cool thought experiment, something was still bugging me about this perspective.

Is it really just one path or the other? Is there really nothing in-between?

More importantly, can you still harness The Force (to the maximum and without resistance), yet still choose to create your own path?

I don't even remember how I ended up there, but I just found this web page a couple hours ago:

The Grey Jedi

Some (paraphrased) info on the Grey Jedi

Grey Jedi, although having completed the teachings of either the Jedi Order or the Sith, they operate independently outside of both.

Grey Jedi believed that The Force had no completely "light" or "dark" side, and should be viewed outside the scope of conventional morality.

The Grey Jedi will not intervene on either side, choosing instead to watch and follow their own code, defending themselves and maintaining the line.

Some excerpts from the Grey Jedi "Code of the Line"

2 - You are who and what you choose to be as the maker of your own path.
9 - The quest for knowledge is the best focus of one's time and mind.
17 – Trust The Force.
18 - Trust your instincts, for they have developed from experience.
19 - Trust your heart, for it will always be true to you.
20 - Trust your mind, for it will draw on all your knowledge.
23 - Do not trust a Jedi [lightworker], for they will always believe they are right.
24 - Do not trust a Sith [darkworker], for they will convince you you are right.
25 - Do not trust a Grey, for they only trust themselves.
30 - So long as the grey line exists there will always be balance.

Also, here are some of my own comments on the Grey Jedi...

- A Grey Jedi is very aware of both the charm of the Light-side and the lure of the Dark-side. She aligns with neither.

- The Grey path is at first more difficult, because she must think for herself, instead of picking one side over the other.

- The Grey path is ultimately easier however, because she trusts her instincts, rather than relying on her subjective views (and other people's views) of what's Light and what's Dark.

- A Grey Jedi neither embraces nor rebels against the Light path or the Dark path. She can freely walk either path. And she can just as freely walk neither path.

- To outside observers, she seems to step on and off each path effortlessly. At times, she paradoxically seems to walk both Light and Dark paths simultaneously.

- To her though, she's simply doing what she feels like doing. Thus she is truly free.

- The Force has no preference. Everything... whether Light, Dark, or Grey... is already perfect.

- To be truly free... be yourself.

[Rod Logan]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

Only by embracing one polarity, can a person truly understand the importance of the other. I believe that this is what Steve is getting at. Another observation I have, is that despite what some of you may think about some of the words Steve uses to describe the character darkworker, such as greed, power, lust, selfishness etc. These are only negative in the context a very narrow social perspective. And I personally find this type of terminology very appealing (I use these sorts of words in my daily affirmations all the time, and I love them). For someone like me the idea of gaining more power is, well, empowering.

I'm reading the above by John Prophet and I'm thinking to myself, "Hmm, what appeals to me more? Being more power-focused or love-focused?"

Guess what happens.

I'm listening to Mashup Mix 2005 by the Cut Up Boys and there's a continuously running sample of "I GOT THE POWER!".... Could it be a sign? naaaaaahhhh... lol!

[Dylan]

Would you say Howard Stern is a current day example of a well-polarized darkworker?

[munish]

A dialog between Arjuna and Krishna in the Gita. Arjuna asks Krishna about the liberated man. How does such a person live, how does he act, how does he eat and sleep? Krishna's reply in sum is: Outwardly, he is the same as everybody else, he eats and sleeps and lives like them. And yet he is totally different, because he does not do any of these things for the same reason as the ordinary man. There is a dimensional difference in his consciousness. And that is important, not his accomplishments, education, erudition, or all the lectures he may give and so on. Even without those things, his importance would be no less. How does one communicate that? One senses it in his presence, but it is not possible to put it in words. What one can put into words are only the outer actions, the words that one heard, the thoughts that one had, and so on, one cannot convey the state of mind or consciousness from which those words emanated. It is something that one senses between the lines.

[Still Growing]

Steve,

Before you write your next post about polarity I hope you'll read this...



As I posted earlier in this thread, you are on to something with polarity.

The fact that you have received some blow back from some readers is either due to the use of the Star Wars analogy. The beautiful thing about fictional movies is that you know good from evil. In life people are usually a mix between the two and can even be evil in one light and good in another. This is confusing some. The second point you lost some people is where you speak about dedicating oneself to one or the other polarity and stating that they can't exist at the same time. One even used the point of the heart. I rebutted to say that blood cannot flow in and out of the same valve at the same time.

When you spoke about polarity you spoke about specific manifestation of intent but then jumped to one's life dedicated to one polarity or another. If you made the point just about focus with a single polarity at a given time then you would probably not confused some.

I think you did an awesome job on this post however and think it was an excellent piece of work.

A POINT:

If someone is setting out to create a business and they come up with an idea that is new and they feel they can make a lot of money then their current thinking is on themselves and their polarity is focused on oneself. Once getting started they can choose to focus on providing value for others and then completely change their brain waves at that particular time. Then when they sit down to do collections from customers then they can completely switch back. The simple point is that to have polarities cross at a different time will cancel each other out. Now focuses one's life using a particular polarity gets very deep and I think people need to enter the shallow end first.

Earlier in this thread I gave the example of stopping to help someone with a car along the highway. If we offer assistance and hep start their car then we have focused on a giving polarity. The outcome will be that you feel good about yourself and the person will thank you for your kind gesture. If we then ask for $100 for our time then we have just cancelled out what outcome we wished to manifest when we originally pulled over. This is a simple point but if we make hundreds of decisions a day then they add up.

The idea of aligning our thoughts with our actions to manifest the outcome of our original intention are key to success. By unorganized polarities of thought then they are not aligned with our original intent and hence will not manifest our original desired outcome. A little bit of a mouthful here

In conclusion, looking back on your post on polarity really opened my eyes. I am very successful now but I've never given thought to the polarity of my thought.

For those seeking fast success they really want for you to tell them "THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NEXT". I don't think most people truely care about the nature of humans or the universe as a whole. The masses want it put into simple terms.

I am looking forward to your next post on this subject...

Still Growing

[Holden McNeil]

Simply from what I've realised through observing my own thoughts, I'm wondering: if darkworkers are fear-based in their intentions/reality... if they were to naturally progress in their personal growth (which would obviously be out of self-interest/reactive initially) would they eventually get to thinking in terms of love-based, and turn lightworker? IE: is lightworker the eventual choice if you were to consciously pursue growth? At first I got into personal growth simply from a reactive, fear-based perspective (I felt like I was lacking, and needed to be stronger/better - model example of fear-based, huh? )

But now, from simply learning more about myself and my thoughts/beliefs... I'm starting to feel a hell of a lot better, and especially really grateful for everything around me. My intentions now aren't fear-based anymore, because I'm just content/happy, in itself (it's unconditional). (I feel like what Steve would call "Level 2 Gratitude" is just coming automatically, really.) I'm starting to think more about "spreading the love" so to speak, and helping people, and all this stuff that I'd never consider doing about 6 months ago (when I was in it just to feel good, and be better than everyone, and "show up" everyone to how cool I was, etc). I feel a lot more calmer and zen, letting go of what people really think of "me", and thinking more toward how I can improve the quality of everything around.

IMO it looks like you COULD live like a darkworker just fine... but over time, intelligently pursuing your growth (+ being open about everything you believe and think) ... would you eventually turn lightworker? Just a thought.

[SoothingCacophony]

I disagree that operating at one or the other end of the polarity is what makes one powerful.

Acknowledging, recognizing, and embracing the power you have in your life is what makes you powerful. Every one of us, every day, every choice. Recognizing how your choices, thoughts and action created what you're dealing with lets you use that knowledge to create what you want.

That said, powerful people tend to cluster at the extremes. Unfiltered passion is what's left when you've burned away the little half-truthes and layers of denial we cover ourselves with.

I was taught to view this perspective dichotomy as scarcity/abundance. Do I choose something because I believe there isn't enough and I have to fight for it? Or do I know that all my wants and needs will be taken care of and so I can without reservation enjoy sharing what's here with others?

Walked both paths at different times in my life. Switching from one to the other took several years, and I deeply value the perspective I've gained from the journey.

[Level1]

The polarization idea is beginning to make sense to me thanks to Steve's latest blog and many of you enlightened posters. I am starting to form my own idea about how this manifest in my reality. Here are some of my thoughts.

I do not care for the the good v. evil, light v. dark, giving v. greed analogies because I think they add a moralistic view that I don't belive the universe contains. I have less problems with love v. fear as "human" motivators because they apply strictly to emotions with which we color the energy we send to the universe. I think the Universe is neutral about which energy it receives , favoring neither.

That having been said I like to use this analogy and will apply recognizable people as what I think are examples of these.

What Steve refers to the love/light/positive polarity I liken to flowing down a river with the Sea as your destination. When you encounter obstacles such as boulders, you find a way to slip around them easily, in the flow, without conflict energy. Your destination, the Sea is the all encompassing source of life, a symbol of unity and perhaps a metaphor for combined consciousness. Your mindset is one of cooperation, synergy, giving and getting along without struggling/fighting the current/flow of your life. Love (of life) would be a good emotion to center on for this type of mindset.


What Steve refers to as the fear/dark/negative polarity I liken to climbing a mountain with the Summit as your destination. When you encounter obstacles you overcome them with strength and power, gaining personal confidence as you climb. Your destination, the Summit is a high, lonely place where there is room for only a select few with the stamina and mental discipline to reach it. It is perhaps a metaphor for the Man as a God subjective universe. Your mindset is one of personal acheivement, self confidence and the ability to conquer the dangers/demons on your route to the top. Fear (of failure) would be a good emotion to center on.

An example of the first mindset, The River, might be Oprah. During the "Secret" shows she mentioned "finding your flow and going with it". She definitely embodies the outward flow of giving and loving and it has made her a very wealthy person in the process. I never identified with Oprah before (my wife always has) but I have a new found appreciation and respect for her as my journey/education has progressed. Extreme examples would include the usual line up of "lightworkers" such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi or the Dali Lama, but I don't identify with these people as much because they represent the farthest end of that polarity.

An example of the second mindset, The Mountain, might be Lance Armstrong. He is the epitome of a self confident, obstacle crushing high achiever. Overcoming cancer and going on to win seven straight Tour de France's is an achievement that may never be surpassed and along the way he has become very wealthy and internationally famous. He has raised millions of dollars for cancer research as an individual, surpassing that which entire organizations have not been able to match. I admire and respect him and gravitate towards his story probably because I am a man/athlete. Extreme examples would include the usual Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Reinhold Messner and maybe George Lucas (?). Again it is hard to identify with these people who are at the far end of scale.

Society holds people up as heros/role models from either polarity. Most Athletes, Actors and Politicians are from the Mountain. Many Doctors, Scientists and Religious Leaders are from the River.

Are these people Good or Evil? Dark or Light? Can we attach a "moral" compass to their lives? I can't. But I can choose a path towards a polarity based on my desire to fight my way to the Summit or easily flow my way to the Sea.

[youcould2]

This is one of the most helpful blog messages I've read in ages. I know that after reading it I am much more aware of where my thinking is heading. IN the world today, we are being constantly bombarded with messages that are designed to make us operate from a basis of fear. I also know that I tend to use the words "can't" or "don't" a lot in my thoughts and verbalizations.

Thanks for making me more aware of when I'm doing that -- it seems to be working too! There are many more "can's" and "do's" in my life since reading that blog.

Shanti,

Ron

[fretho]

Originally Posted by Frankie

But! The struggle between the good and evil parts of myself – this is so imbedded within me. I don’t think that it is in my nature AT ALL to embrace inflow and wholly reject outflow nor is it in my nature to embrace outflow and expel inflow. It is in my nature to be aware of both the inflow and the outflow and to try to balance it as best as I can with a heavy emphasis on different situational needs (in other words, certain situations may do best with inflow, and others with outflow). I may wind up treading water a lot of times by doing that. I may not get as much done as I want to get done. But I feel both sides within me so strongly (as part of the very essence of myself as a human being) that trying to become polarized seems like the ultimate self-deception. Intense love and fear – this is part of life. It seems ridiculous to try and assert otherwise. It seems like an enormous lie to myself.

There are different ways of looking at light, dark, and gray, so maybe my take on this is using terms incompatible with how Steve sees it. But I think the idea of being a "conscious grayworker" will resonate with many people. The main thing is you can't be blind to the polarities -- you have to choose your path purposely and cautiously if you want to live consciously and avoid being a mere pawn.

Lightworkers and darkworkers may see grayworkers as simply confused and disempowered. But grayworkers might see non-grays as stuck in a rut, gaining power at the cost of flexibility. The important thing is to live a life that you can be happy with, and that is congruent with your picture of how things should be. This is where the power comes from, more than which polarity you choose.

I don't see how being a destructive psychopath could be acceptable for anyone. So it appears the distinction is really about self-focus versus community-focus. A gray person is someone who balances the two on purpose, whereas others focus on one and let nature balance the other.

Since focusing on two things at once is oftentimes less powerful, a gray may find it necessary to use single-handling. Thus they may focus on self/ego (inflow) or community/God (outflow), one at a time. Each time, they accumulate the energy temporarily and let go of it when the time comes to utilize the opposite energy.

It may also be that polarity is a function of biological maturity, and thus a 20-year-old who finds gray to be empowering may find that at 30-40 they need to pick a side. But perhaps some people are able to be mature grays, having developed an equal respect for both sides.

[Erock]

It seems that there is a lot of negativity towards this polarization idea, and at first I had my doubts. But when I look at my own past experiences, the people that were most successful were those that either were nice to everyone and gave a lot, or those that were very aggressively selfish.

Just an observation
Erock

[Narz]

Shoot, if I have to choose, I guess I'll be a bad guy. They have a lot more fun.

IMO, you don't have to choose between giving and receiving though. Ideally you shouldn't have to choose though. You can give and receive at the same time (like sex), but hey, if you want to be all outflow I'll gladly take over your inflow of AdSense revenue (& your "darkworker" karma).

[Narz]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Name one thing in your human existence these ideas do not apply to on a very practical level.

Whatever you just named, you'd be wrong.

I understand that some people just want me to share more tips on how to get out of bed in the morning or what to eat for breakfast instead of trying to offer up answers to life, the universe, and everything. But there are plenty of other bloggers to tackle such topics these days.

There is no answer to "life, the universe, and everything", constantly thinking about it seems like mental (or metaphysical if you like ) masturbation to me.

[Joel Monk]

Wow! What a post from Steve.

This entry really struck a chord with me and touched upon things that had troubled me about LoA since discovering it. Knowing that one can attract the things they want in life raises questions of what is the intention behind the intention!
When I first started to practice LoA I had problems with attracting things just for me. It seemed to go against my spiritual practice of trancending the ego - being more and more open to others and not always acting for myself. It didnt seem right deep inside. Not just conceptually.

So when I started wishing for more money for example something didnt quite rub - there wasnt much energy behind it. But when I tried it for my work, wishing to be a more confident and inspiring workshop leader it got me really excited. I could happily sit and intentionally manifest thoughts and images - I became happy, inspired and related thoughts and ideas appeared naturally. There seemed to be imeadiate effects in my workshops too.

Having said that I did get into intentionally manifesting things via inflow too. And I enjoyed it too - but I started to add more and more things and jumped around between them quickly without building up the contented energy I mentioned above, it was more of a grasping energy. And I saw very little reults too. But I wasnt aware of these processes until Steves post.

More importantly the post seems to point to something quite profound in terms of where you come from inlife - lightworker/darkworker and karma etc. It seems deciding where you polarise can be a huge catapult energising/enpowering you and helping you become more and more concious. I guess in terms of absolute it doesnt matter where you polarize - but relatively?
What do you think?

[Chris_Stretten]

I have read so many views on the polarization, for and against it. A lot of the confusion seems to be "one second I'm thinking of giving, but it's driven by wanting... so am I light or dark and do they cancel each other" etc. I think that the light/dark give/take idea is being taken too literally. Also there seems to be a trend of thought that there is some exclusivity in that choosing one means you can't use the other (the other will have to be used whether you want or not - energy is constant, only flow changes and the balance will be maintained) One example is this (I am just picking this one because it's only a couple of posts back, nothing personal directed at "Still Growing"):

"...If someone is setting out to create a business and they come up with an idea that is new and they feel they can make a lot of money then their current thinking is on themselves and their polarity is focused on oneself. Once getting started they can choose to focus on providing value for others and then completely change their brain waves at that particular time. Then when they sit down to do collections from customers then they can completely switch back. The simple point is that to have polarities cross at a different time will cancel each other out..."

In this case there seems to be a lot of micro-management switching, but I don't think that these small changes will affect the outcome in any noticeable degree. Remember that Intending a thought with ENERGY behind it is a key component. Simply switching your thoughts daily/superficial/top-level doesn't mean the entire purpose is now forfeit. Think of it as a line graph of a stock in the stock market ... or perhaps from Al Gores "An Inconvenient Truth", a global warming graph. There are plenty of spikes up and down, but the overall trend is upwards. Over a period of time the graph ends up much higher than it started. Now with the business example above, the various switches in action are a requirement for running the business on a day to day level, but they don't impact the original desire and energy focus in starting the business in the first place. The original Intention has been given with energy focused on receiving, so naturally you would have to fulfill the requirements of giving on occasion in order to receive. But again, your focus and intent is on getting money.
If it was opposite, and your intent was to provide or give to others through your business, you would still need to receive and take part in the opposite polarity for the business to survive. You can't work in a negative, you need to get paid for your services to continue providing the service, but it doesn't change your overall intent of giving.

A lot of people posting seem to forget about the opposing forces of the polarity. One person was saying that if you are all outflow you burn out or if your all inflow you'll be unhappy etc. Again, there is the thought of exclusivity to one side with no chance of drawing on the other side of the polarity. As Steve has pointed out... this opposite aspect will happen anyway (the total volume of energy flow will remain constant - it has to -). Think of a physical weight scale with each side as the opposing aspects of polarity. The scale (total energy) remains constant, but the weights (strength of flow) of either side of the scale (aspect: postive/negative, in/out, love/fear) can be different. If you intend from a positive aspect (put weight onto that side of the scale), that side will become heavier and drop, but the opposite side is still there, just with less weight and will rise - but it doesn't go away.
I think these negative and uncertain observations of Polarity are being made because people are looking at the idea from an undecided point of view, kind of from the "outside". I don't think a person will "get it" until they do some serious introspection and decide where they fit.
Personally, I love the idea of a "darkworker"... I see the success of those who have a don't-care-who's-back-I-step-on attitude and I feel a level of admiration for their drive. It's an almost romanticized ideal I have in my head about "darkworkers". But when I look at my actions throughout my life and my feelings on the matter, I know deep inside that I don't have what it takes to have that kind of "self" centered mentality. There are times when I drop into that mindset of course, but my overall trend is not that.

I hope that this has made some sense.
Anyway, this is just my opinion on all of this
Cheers,
Chris

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by Chris_Stretten

I think that the light/dark give/take idea is being taken too literally.

I agree but not really...

Below is a post I did on the "questions for darkworkers" threat, with a few additions to accommodate the evolving discusion of this threat.


I spent many hours thinking over the Polarity articles. The Starwars analogy is absolutely brilliant because it gets the concepts clear, but don't get too hung up on it. Steve said something about it.

The most valuable insight is that it is ethically neutral to choose a side. And that we must choose to make a decent play in the world.

The first day I took it too far, like many here do. I thought I would probably turn to the light when I polarize, because who wants to be like the emperor or Darth Vader?! First, they don't seem to enjoythemselves much and they look like hell.
The light is just so logical, so normal, sooo like every-day-nice.

Of course we are conditioned to think this way, as exposed by thinkers like Goethe, Nietzsche and the like. According to some, Judeo-Christian values are an insidious maneuver to enslave the strong-willed. But this is just a point of view, I am nice enough to now that you better not hurt anyone on purpose. But that is not what we are talking about.

When I walked home through the night, contemplating the best procedure to make the polarization decision eventually, I saw that my history gave me a talent for self-love, self-interest, greed, sloth, gluttony, in short: The Dark Side of the Force. The Light of love appeals more to my hart, I FEEL better when I help someone and rise above my fears, but it doesn't make sense to my mind, my stomach, my throat and my procreation organs. And I know that my hart loves others to secure a profitable bond with them, like we living mammals have done for about 100 million years. The animal parts of us, and the older human parts of us have historical and ecological validity. We rarely die from an attack of self-preservation.

The way of love has only recently become accessible in an attractive way. Buddha and Jesus did it, and now Steve takes over the flame with a lot of others. The light is a real possibility, and I still might join it. It makes me feel good. But...

When I go back to the Starwars analogy and focus on the Jedi- and Sith Code other guys have put up here, things get clearer. This is a well-designed mythology, based on real life religion and philosophy. The Jedi Code is based on mainstream religions, the Sith Code is based on existentialism and Nietzsche. We can use the analogy again, without getting to attached to it.

I have always been with Sartre and Nietzsche in their judgement of religion. I agreed with them from around age 12, before I knew they existed. Emotionally I have been conflicted about ethics throughout my teen years. I have never been cruel, but was not a nice kid either. In my twenties I relaxed my ethics about consistency, loyalty and fidelity. I am liberated ever since. I became much more powerful. Instantly.

The Jedi code suffers from the same decadence as every religion. It projects beauty and happiness away from the person in the present to achieve anillusory harmony without tension. If a lightworker (like Steve or mother Theresa) is successful, they don't think about abstractions. Only tension makes beauty. Artificial harmony does not.

The Sith Code is formulated a bit bluntly, but makes actual sense. Notice the syllogical structure. Even if you don't agree with the definitions, you can substitute your own without losing the integrity of the code. It is beautiful and true.

If you don't get to angry often, your hart and mind stay healthy. If you don't use the force, but conventional methods to neutralize your enemy, your face stays beautiful. And just don't do a light sabre fight near a lava stream. That is asking for mutilation. Take care of your body and mind. THAT is in your own best interest. And, depending on your polarization, maybe good for everyone.

Addition: Thinking things over another night has polarized me further. I realized I have mostly already developed and educated as a darkworker, focused on self-love. Even my physiology is based in it. It took these articles from Steve to consciously accept it, and I feel grateful to him.
After I had polarized my five current intentions to inflow, I immediately noticed the effect. I felt finally at peace with my greed and lust. These words do not do justice to the concepts behind them. I intuitively conclude that being a darkworker is first of all being able to receive well. I am grateful for more of my experiences, so the universe will increase them (see Steve's Desire post).

The hardest part of being a darkworker is avoiding social conditioning towards the gray and light. The see the beauty of the light too, but it is not for me, so I will not practice it, only absorb it and turn it into heat, like a black surface absorbs sunlight and gets hot. It helps to think of natural history. We are mostly animals, with a physical heritage of hundreds of millions of years. Our lower parts are shaped to perfection. God and morality and enlightenment are a few thousand years old, but have had a large effect on our development. I know the future of earth belong to the light. But as long as I will not be there to see it, I will stick with biological tradition. I feel liberated when viewing my animal nature. It is a return to innocence.

Let me know if this post has turned or moved you more towards inflow. I want to measure my influence I feel that the psychic power of the dark IS mind-control. I can better control beautiful people, because my senses are sharper now. I can direct other peoples power, because I resonate with their fears. I realize now I will resonate with MATERIAL beauty and strength from now on. Lightworkers will attract spiritual beauty and strength. To get the best of life we must polarize. So choose and deal with the consequences.

Think about your past and search for the most profound moment of your life. When did you feel the strongest emotions? Was it tension, frustration and then relieve? Or adoration,enthusiasm and communion. These are the indicators of your alignment.

Sent me a short message when I helped you with your decision.

[Velorien]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

If you think about it, a well polarized lightworker shouldn’t have any problem with a darkworker; the lightworker takes pleasure from giving, and the darkworker enjoys receiving. The same applies to how a well adjusted darkworker feels about a lightworker. There should be no conflict here.

I'm not entirely clear on whether lightworkers and darkworkers can encounter each other consistently without conflict. It's true that giving and receiving naturally go together. But at the same time, aren't we trying to create two different worlds? After a point, isn't it a lightworker's duty to create a world of sharing and selflessness (or some equivalent sentiment), and isn't it in a darkworker's best interests to create a world where success is achieved by competition?

Of course, I am rather new to the polarisation experience, and sadly have not yet encountered many spiritually conscious people in real life. Has anyone had experiences which can shed light (no pun intended) on this question?

[Narz]

Originally Posted by Velorien

I'm not entirely clear on whether lightworkers and darkworkers can encounter each other consistently without conflict. It's true that giving and receiving naturally go together. But at the same time, aren't we trying to create two different worlds? After a point, isn't it a lightworker's duty to create a world of sharing and selflessness (or some equivalent sentiment), and isn't it in a darkworker's best interests to create a world where success is achieved by competition?

If the whole world is lightworkers who shun receiving (the idea of which is highly dubious to me and will remain thus until I start receiving checks in the mail from Steve with his profits from this site) who will they give to? Who better to give to than a darkworker who knows how to receive with their whole being (and won't just quickly pass the gift away like it's a hot potato)?

Originally Posted by Velorien

Of course, I am rather new to the polarisation experience, and sadly have not yet encountered many spiritually conscious people in real life.

The "spiritually conscious" people I've met are just like regular people, except less down to Earth.

Originally Posted by Velorien

Has anyone had experiences which can shed light (no pun intended) on this question?

If lightworkers are darkworkers are truly opposites than they need each other like the day needs the night.

Kingston, I like your thoughts on the Sith vs. Jedi code.