Doug Fisichella...
Douglas Fisichella is a Student of the Arcane School founded by Alice A. Bailey and a life long student of the worlds religions
Emotional Integrity
I have centered my studies in the past 6 months on harmless living and the control of the emotional body. I thought it would make a good topic since most of us are in one way or another engaged in this struggle. The emotional body as a part of the expression of the soul in the three worlds of human evolution is, as is all else in the universe, comprised of energetic matter of a certain range of vibratory frequencies. This on its face does not sound very emotional, but it is what it is. Due to those vibrations and their frequencies this matter falls within a range of expression that is known to us as the astral plane of our solar system. This in itself is divided into seven sub-planes allowing for varied expression within that realm of sentience. We speak of lower emotional response and higher response as well, and these expressions could be said to be of lower or higher frequencies and classified within those sub-planes.
In accordance with its inherent power to manifest the soul gathers together astral matter of varying grades and this will change in time based on a number of factors within and without. The soul, which is an expression of the second aspect of divinity attracts and gathers together this astral form (as it also fashions the physical and mental bodies) as a necessary vehicle for interaction and expression. The experience gained through interaction increases the soul’s ability to express, and these factors are the reasons for the soul’s foray into the worlds of human evolution.
Once in incarnation the astral or emotional body is the mechanism which is responsible for every aspect of sentiency from the feeling of an object touched with a fingertip, to the sensing of danger within the environment, or the love of all humanity. It is responsive to the environment because of the laws of resonance and the affinity of the particles of its makeup with the astral matter in its environment or that of its environing associates, be they human, animal, plant or even non-physical in nature.
Our astral vehicles are comprised totally of this matter. It permeates our bodies, and forms as the etheric and mental vehicles do, a cell by cell replica of the physical form, although this model is really reversed. The physical form is the result, not the cause. Every cell has vital energy, sentience, and mind. The totality of these lesser lives is the “organism” we call the human form. This energy also radiates out from the body at varying levels depending on the vehicle we are discussing. In the case of the astral vehicle it goes well beyond the confines of the physical form, responding to or sensing the environment at large.
Because of the natural tendency for the affinity of like particles and the repulsion of particles with dissonant frequencies, the astral body can be consciously “tuned” to certain types of emotions and emotional response. Jesus told his disciples to “Love those that hate you”. This is counter intuitive at first glance and sounds like a platitude. We tend to mirror what we encounter and respond to anger with anger or hate with hate. This attitude allows us to be controlled by our environment rather than taking action on our own behalf and that of those around us to better our world. If we are consciously generating love we are less likely to be affected by the hateful radiation of those who hate us. We are thus protected by the love we are radiating into our environment.
A passive emotional state could be likened to a placid lake. Any pebble dropped into the waters will set vibrations in motion that will send small waves to the shore which will eventually rebound and return to the point of origin. What we put out into the world returns to us. If we are placid like the pond, we are stirred by every minor undulation in the environment. Now if we imagine a waterfall on one side of the pond creating its own pattern of steady vibrations we find that the pebble’s waves are overtaken and to not affect that area of the whole.
As active radiators of loving energy we can diminish the ability of other lower emotions in our environment from affecting us negatively, but there is another beneficial effect. When we generate this loving energy we are putting our astral body in a state of higher vibration. Due to the law of resonance astral matter that is not vibrating at a frequency that is harmonious with this radiation will be thrown free. Nature abhors a vacuum, so it will be replaced with particles that are vibrating in harmony and we strengthen our radiation “field”. We are also tuning it to these loving vibrations and attracting like vibrations into our field, making it easier for us to return to this state if we are in some way distracted from it. This happens to all of us, but its effect and duration are diminished by this active control of our emotional state.
Of course this control is not gained easily. We have many years behind us of emotional habits, triggers and anchors in our mental and emotional makeup that are latent obstacles we must overcome. The mental (Manasic) and emotional (Astral) bodies are inextricably interwoven and have been programmed since childhood. Some of us have tendencies toward anger or even melancholy which will fight for their own existence. These are thought forms endowed with emotion which will control our responses until we become consciously aware of their existence and dissipate them.
My life was, until recent years filled with intolerance and anger. I have been gifted with a fairly keen mind and was impatient with anyone not so endowed. This attitude takes a gift and turns it into a curse. I was impatient with everyone and everything unless I was in a controlled environment and in the proper mood to be patient because someone near me was in need of that. Even this expression of patience is selfish in nature because the situation had to be convenient to my needs.
I raged on the road and felt like things (and people) were always in my way, and that they must be stupid or something to drive that way. Now, rather than feeling like my life is being negatively affected by “some idiot who can’t drive” and caused an accident on the highway I am struck by the idea that someone may have been seriously hurt or killed just moments ago. In any case, their lives have been affected much more severely than mine and my complaint about being delayed on my way home is something they would gladly endure given the chance to trade places with me.
The first step in the process of purifying the emotional body is to become consistently observant of its state. This sounds like advice that should not be necessary but most emotional turmoil occurs in the absence of this observation. The person may look back and realize after the fact that they were being triggered into a state that really related to something that happened that morning, or even years ago, and not by the recent circumstance. At the time of the trigger however, they thought they were reacting appropriately, and to the current event. If we are vigilant and observant of our emotional state we are more likely to remain clear in spite of what may be happening around us. Through this detached observation we learn to avoid violent reactions in our emotional body. Through disciplines like meditation we tune our consciousness to higher vibration. As we do this the process becomes more and more automatic. The astral matter that surrounds us becomes less resonant to those types of responses and in turn attracts more matter of this refined nature.
Desires of physical life are slowly refocused into aspiration through the process of integration. The control of the lower bodies by the strengthening of the mind does not require the stamping out of desire. As aspiration for spiritual development takes its place in the heart of the disciple he realizes the positive power it represents to drive him on along the lighted way. This aspiration is an important tool for the aspirant and then disciple on the path. It is an act of raising the vibratory nature of the lower self in its component parts through the law of resonance. Right aspiration followed by right action raises the vibration of the lower bodies by reacting with the higher atoms present and throwing off atoms not resonant with these higher frequencies. This attracts matter that does resonate at these higher vibrations to replace that which is thrown free.
The student of the esoteric sciences is enjoined to act “as if” the integration or certain other processes have already been completed. This use of the imagination to create an image of the finished product (so to speak) is a step in creating that result. Energy follows thought, and the creation of that thought form of an integrated personality and then nurturing it on the astral plane sets up a type of vibration to which all thoughts and emotions of a lower or destructive nature are dissonant and cannot remain in proximity. As a teen I was a diver, and we were taught to visualize the dive we were learning at any particular time to enhance our ability to do it physically. If you could not visualize yourself doing it how could you expect to make the physical body do it?
To first imagine what is necessary and then “see” ourselves in that state brings us closer to its accomplishment. This is not the vague imaginings of fantasy but an important step in every creative process. Nothing has ever been created intentionally without having been imagined first. Then, seeing its usefulness, the thought form is infused with a desire to see it materialized on the physical plane. The physical body is galvanized into action and the work is done to re-create this imagined object on the physical plane. The first “creation” having been the thought form itself.
This process when applied to the disciples own development results in his development. A change in his consciousness results in a change in its expression. The expression in this case is his own behavior in the field of his service; his life.
Doug
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