We all have defense mechanisms that were established early in our lives. Often, as adults, when they are triggered, we don’t even remember where they originated or why. But it is important for us to know that we have them and to be able to recognize them when they arise. It’s not useful to imagine that we can “cure” ourselves of their effects, but we can diffuse their impact on our lives because they do take us away from being able to react in a natural way. (At the end of this post there are instructions and a link to download this recording to your computer.)
John: In my dream I looked at the four ways to contend with negative qualities or characteristics, you might say lower-self, even animalistic, qualities in life.
The first trait I am shown, that the negative quality won’t attack you if you do not corner it. If you do, both you and it will get hurt, and get hurt with the reaction that’s too much.
So the key then is you recognize that the trait, or the quality, or the mannerism is hiding behind veils and it’s best not to strip away these veils and corner the beast. In other words, keep the veils in place, work with the veils to go at it slow but sure. But if you strip it away, then you leave something cornered and it’s very dangerous.
So in the dream, I saw myself making incisions on all sides of something. In other words, instead of flushing it totally out in the open, in which it would create a huge reaction, if you worked at it slowly and you made incisions that cut through, that affected it on the inside, cut it on the inside, just a little bit, didn’t flush it out to where it would have to react. In other words you did this just barely enough to tweak that which lies therein, but not enough to cause it to have to get into a fight or flight reaction. In this way it would slowly come to realize and recognize, in terms of itself, the problem. Otherwise, it would be overwhelmed and it would crack up.
So that’s the first way, and then of course I addressed it as a meaningfulness, too. So to sum it up, expose without removing the veils. The negative quality will not be compelled to react with fight or flight blindness, because when it does that then it’s basically flipping out. And then the hope of it seeing something gets lost. So, the first way is you can work with it within the veils.
The second way is when you recognize that it is a wounded essence, because sometimes it doesn’t realize it’s wounded. But sometimes it does know that it’s wounded, and if you recognize that it’s a wounded essence, that essence would be especially dangerous if put into what is perceived to be a life or death situation, again causing it to have to contend with that.
It can carry it and it could try to transcend that in its own way, but it’s victim to that wound. So you do not take a gun or a knife to such a situation because this would invoke a fight that is unnecessary. In this situation, you use chop blocks. In other words, you tap it a bit around the edges.
Because if you work at it chop block like around the edges, you’re not creating something that’s lethal in terms of a black-and-white flip out. It’s enough to cause things to come into its place. In this way the trait dies of its own wounds. The negative energy is directed back upon itself in a way so that a change can occur.
Or, in terms of summing it up as a meaningfulness, when a wound occurs do not go for the kill. Take away the overt danger that pushes a negative energy over the edge. Maintain a pressure that is firm and consistent, but not life threatening.
Then the third way is, there are instances where the force is like a bully that has no sense and vents itself foolishly, just however it goes. In this instance you relate to the feature in a positive, rational way, that is factual and obvious. You need to take the animosity or the reaction out of the equation, in other words, you don’t feed into it, you can’t be touched by it.
So the approach is systematic as the quality that needs to be protected is provided a space to observe, in other words, because when a person is like that there is something though that is a quality that’s wonderful that needs to be preserved. And in this way it will see that this particular mannerism doesn’t go anywhere. It hasn’t got a chance. It doesn’t further anything in life. Care must be taken to not invoke the defense mechanism.
The appeal is to the obvious, and it is done in a nonchalant heartfelt way. Under this scenario, the ignorance will see itself get chopped to pieces systematically, without having to identify with the intense personal reaction that blinds to visible sensibility.
So in the dream, I’m a bystander and there’s a father and there’s a son. And the son is standing over by me, but the son is going to act like the father – if you don’t approach the bully quality that the father has. And the son is meant to go beyond this, to resonate to something that is more real.
But if something is done that invokes the whole intensity of the bully quality of the father, you’ll create an impossible situation and it will bring that out in the son, too. The key is you want the son to observe, or to create a situation of observance.
The son represents the innocence that is having to put up with this mannerism. It’s not the son’s fault, but it does carry it, too, and under the right demeanor the son can see and be diffused. It isn’t easy to watch the foolishness get chopped to pieces and not flip out or crack up.
The focus and attention that’s required in a scenario like this is one of balance that is systematic and aloof. In other words, you don’t go at the head of it, you go at the feet of it little by little when you’re chopping it up. When like this it becomes obvious that the bully trait is really weak, merely acting up out of fear, and thus it is consuming its true identity.
In summing it up in another way, when the situation is a blind bully energy, you go at eliminating the ignorance, yes, systematically, but always upholding what is innocent, and well meaning, as you calmly chopped down the stupidity. But if you chop it down with any mood or attitude it’s going to go over the other direction, so you have to remain calm, cool, and collected the whole time.
And then there’s a fourth way, and this fourth way you see a lot. This is where the negative energy has nowhere to go, so it hides in an environment that protects it. This is a force that you do not track down directly. In other words, you can catch glimpses of it, but it’s too slippery and hides in a thick underbrush, and whatnot, and can move about easily. Instead, you isolate from its protected base and, when you do, the energy will dissipate because it’s supported by false things in the outer that give it credence to pretend to hide behind.
The negative energy only seems powerful when it can hide behind others. Expose the coverup and the stigma goes away. In other words, saying it another way, you flush out the derangement by tracing it to the fallback source. By exposing the hiding place, lacking a proper base, the misconduct will naturally fall away.
So in terms of these four things what I’m describing are approaches that deal with negative energy trapped in ignorance. The key in each instance is to invoke a self-correcting, inner process.
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