722. Shifting Attitudes
 

After Daddy and Mommy left to visit neighbors across the street their son Jimmy took Daddy's Cellular and called his grandfather: "Hi Grandpa!" he said, "you promised me to teach how to drive Daddy's old Jeep. But now you left to visit Aunt Daisy!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Jimmy! Perhaps another time!" he answered on the phone.

"Well, I got the keys and I learned how to start the engine already. I'm just running over to the backyard where the Jeep is parked and you'll tell me over the phone, Grandpa!" Jimmy said and ran through the backdoor into the yard.

"I don't know, Jimmy," Grandpa said, "it's not so easy if I don't sit next to you and can't see what you're doing. And please talk a bit louder, I have trouble hearing you, Jimmy."

"Got the engine running, Grandpa," Jimmy shouted, "now I'll hit the left pedal and move this stick in the center to left forward, right, Grandpa?"

"Wait a sec, you mean the first gear, but turn off the engine first, PLEASE!" Grandpa yelled through the phone.

"OK. OK.," Jimmy said and turned off the engine again, "Now, once I'm in the first, I'll move the stick back and towards the right, isn't that so, Grandpa?"

"No, No, Jimmy, slowly," he answered, "first you have to let the clutch come in slowly, then you would drive a while to get up to speed, and then you want to switch to the second gear, and not straight to the third..."

"Aah, I remember," Jimmy said excited and moved the stick around, pumping on the clutch pedal.

A sharp voice from behind interrupted him rudely, "What are you doing in there, Jimmy?" his Daddy yelled at him.

Jimmy turned off the cellular, hiding it in the jacket, and jumped out of the Jeep.

"Just looking, Daddy," he said with an innocent smile...

[end of micro story]
.....

The mind of a person has a series of basic attitudes, sometimes called 'moods' or 'emotional tones'. Just like switching gears in a car, they cannot easily change from one state into a completely different one directly.

However, if one knows the right sequence, one can gradually shift to higher attitudes.

There are detailed maps of these attitudes, either in a linear or a circular arrangement. Typically, the 'highest' possible attitude is shown at the top of the map, like in the Hubbardian 'tone scale'.  The scale is continuous but points for which words exist in the human language can be labelled accordingly, like fear, despair, enthusiam, etc.

In a circular map, the 'highest' attitude is also the 'lowest' one and the circle is thus closing. There are many advantages to this arrangement but it should be noted
that all of these maps show only the attitudes _within_ this Universe.

There is a point in the attitude spectrum where a slightly different emotional vibration pattern is breaking off to the side of a linear scale. (On a circular scale it
it continues in a straight line).

Gotamo called the vibrations on this 'sideline' brahmavihaara.

(The word 'Brahma' in Pali points to the realm in which the god Brahma is said to be living, a divine state of bliss; 'vihaara' means in this context 'attitude'.)

This sideline exits the 'frequency range' of this Universe.

This is the path that is taken when the Universe is actually left and (as of now) there is no other known path.

Of course, this is not a 'geographical' path or a spatial path. (The hologram appears to have a shape that makes this impossible, by the way). It is the way a Being adjusts its basic frequency emanations to match the physical Universe. It gradually tunes in to the prevailing patterns 'down here', until if finds a congruency or resonance (which is then called 'reality').

There are four markers on that line before it truly enters the fuzzy borders of the Universe. They are called in Pali mettaa, karu.naa, muuditaa, and upekkhaa but, the way it is currently, there are no distinct words for these states in the English language.

It does not matter, however, if there are words or not, just as it doesn't matter if Jimmy knows what is called the 1st or the 2nd gear, as long as one is shifting in the
'right' sequence. For attitudes this is easier than in a car because all one has to do is to increase the frequency continuously until one hits the next 'gear'.

But before looking closer at these states of the mind, it should be noted that there are, according to Gotamo, two major routes to get free of this Universe:

  - the path of reason,
  - and the meditation path.

It should also be emphasized that ONLY the 'path of reason' can be gone by EVERYONE whereas the meditation path requires an existing inclination or 'talent' which not everybody has.

Now, typically, there is a combination of _both_ paths and they do merge in the 'end'. The 'end' here means the emergence of a Free Being, unrestricted by any limits onto itself.

The (exclusive) 'meditation' path has a lot of booby-traps built-in that can bring progress to a sudden halt. The mechanisms follow mostly the patterns described in the 'Prep Trap' chapters.

Typical dead-ends or dead-locks are: the 'emptiness' realm, the 'we are all one' area, the 'loneliness' and the 'bottomless pit' states, as well as structural traps like 'the light at the end of a tunnel' (made famous by publications of 'near-death' experiences and 'out-of-body' experimenters  who usually get stopped in their tracks right there).

This list does not include 'Parallel Worlds' which will be addressed in another chapter. These worlds contain a variety of structural traps that may lock up parts of the consciousness.  Since they have done so in the past, they should be addressed  in processing at some point.

Back to the 'path of reason'. The _only_ 'meditation' (Pali: jhaanaa, the origin for the word 'Zen') which is necessary also for the 'path of reason', is the cycling through the brahmavihaara states, according to Gotamo.

The main reason for this is that these states _must_ be entered successfully at the moment of physical death in order to avoid to literally run around in a circle (cp. the circular model of emotional states).

It is absolutely vital that a Being can switch 'automatically', as a spiritual reflex, so to speak.

At the time the body ceases to work, the 'conscious consciousness' part of the person doesn't really work anymore and the 'subsconscious' part, attached to the body, is about to dissolve.

(For the raw body, the statement "we're all one" appears to be actually true - the body entity 'returns' to the 'gene pool' at this moment.)

Only the 'superconsciousness' is still operating but this part is not known of actually having EVER DONE anything  - it just determines the direction of what is desired.

It can be expected that there are still identifications around even for a Free Being of the 4th (and highest) stage.  These identifications, together with the direction of the superconscious determine the coming 'fate' of the person. Not properly shifting through the states of brahmavihaara, the off-ramp from the circus, could throw a Being off in the last moment.

Many people who walk predominantly or even exclusively on the 'path of reason' may be concerned that the brahmavihaara states would not be 'rational' and a mumbo-jumbo kind of thing.

It should be remembered, however, that everyone at every time,  while in this Universe,  _occupies_ a state of the mind on the attitude spectrum already.

The only thing asked for is the ability to intentionally and smoothly shift between emotional states and to have a basic familiarity with the 'frequencies' of the brahmavihaara states.

Now, Jimmy didn't know where the second gear was, obviously, and it is very difficult for someone else from a distance, like Grandpa, to tell if he did it right. Instead of learning words like 'mettaa' or 'karu.naa', it would be much better to just learn how to do it and then 'compare notes' with the 'words' for each stage.

The first stage, the exit point on the attitude scale, is called mettaa in Pali. This word is most often translated with 'love'. It comes from the Sanskrit word mitra,
which means 'Friend'. The feeling of 'friendship' may be a much better choice of labelling.

All parts of the person can be involved but ultimately only the 'superconscious' part is the one that counts for our purposes.

For a very progressed near-Free Being, the body appears to be transparent and without 'mass'. It would not make sense (for this exercise) to induce vibrations into the body part. A person like that may NOT look like 'radiating love or friendship' at all because the body may be _completely_ relaxed. In such a case, the cheeks tend to fall in and the corners of the mouth are dropping down, therefore giving an
'unfriendly' (physical) appearance.

While in the state of 'friendship', or any other of these states, conscious 'thinking' should not be entertained in order to let things go smoothly its course.

After one became comfortable in this state, one can now raise the frequency slowly. At a certain point, a new level will be reached.

Gotamo called this level karu.naa. The English word 'care' is a distant relative of this word and this word is much more preferable to the often used word 'compassion' because the latter typically involves a lower harmonics of 'caring' and the hallmark of the right frequency is that it is a _step up_ from friendship.

The next such _step up_ is towards the feeling of 'being glad for others', muuditaa. Again, the frequency goes UP.

Going up further, there will be a rather sudden shift towards the state of upekkhaa, often translated as 'equanimity' and sometimes as 'indifference'.

A much better labeling is 'confront' because this state is characterized by a pure and completely unbiased confront towards the entire Universe. One knows it once one is there.

The 'meditation path' people need to bring the body first into a state called samaadhi, a complete calm-down of body functions, including any and all attached entities. The focus of the mind has to be adjusted to 'infinity', or, in a better expression, the mind becomes 'boundless'.

Both phenomena may happen 'inadvertently', too, especially if the 'upekkhaa' state is being held for a while and is mentioned here as a word of caution. If it happens, there is the possibility of entering the first of the 'higher' viewings, the 'perception boundless space'. All of these phenomena may be very, very scary at first, especially when they come unexpected and without a warning.

As a rule, I do not talk in public about the details of the 'meditation path. But the reader is invited to send me e-mail (max@transmillennium.net) if any of the latter phenomena should happen and advice may be helpful.

But, again, for the purposes of this chapter, the _shifting_ between states is much more important than _staying_ in the states.

Happy Shifting!!!