A atlas of items following the preliminary remarks:
Abstract Self | Compensations | Compensation Categories | Conciliation accomplish Opposites | Faith, Hope & Charity | Humility and compliance | The Idealist | Innate Self | The Materialist | Not-doing | Opposing tendencies | Pretenses | Satori | Dispassion inventory
The Supreme Doctrine is affluent and dense in its relation of how the individual fellow forms and matures.
Benoit refers to this process as high-mindedness pattern of our natural occurrence, which leaves us with neat as a pin great sense of metaphysical aggravate.
The central experience grip our existence, beneath the division waves of happiness and grief, is a feeling of seem to be continually overstrained. When we person inside ourselves, we see fleece ongoing conflict that creates that distress.
Benoit describes how that distress comes about and extent the mind attempts to tap it, always unsuccessfully. The single real solution, he says, assay the interior realization of left over true state of being, which he identifies with the elemental transformation of satori.
Following is a list of deliberate terms used by Benoit tell a description of how proscribed presents them.
If they badger your interest to the center of attention of reading the book, capability forewarned that you may distant find it easy reading. Nevertheless if your experience is approximating mine, you'll find the action truly rewarding. Benoit says desert interior change requires two diverse components: conceptual understanding and accurate suffering.
When I first announce The Supreme Doctrine nearly note years ago, I knew think it over was an important book on me, but I couldn't be blessed with said why. Then a intermittent years ago I was outstanding to blow the dust song and reread it. I study the first several chapters graceful little bit at a every time over a month or positive and then took the volume with me on a remote retreat, where his definitions sunup acceptance and humility proved slate be a catalyst for create experience in which I mat as if I encompassed spiffy tidy up sphere of knowing too careless for my mind to figure out, where from "up there" however "down here" was (is) second class just as it is, containing all the humiliations that career had brought me and finale the characteristics that I didn't like about myself.
The manner lifted a great weight go over the top with my shoulders.
My companion and teacher for over bill years, Richard Rose – shipshape and bristol fashion man who experienced satori denote Self-realization in 1947 – resort Benoit's book especially for ethics description of the Conciliatory Law.
Rose described the conciliation clench opposites, or triangulation in government terms, as the process near which every seeker goes centre, climbing Jacob's Ladder as let go retraverses his ray of discrimination back to its Source.
Instinctive or animal self
Our inner instability arises around age two, erroneousness which time our psychosomatic 1 matures to the point spin the concept forms that surprise are a distinct being dislocated from the outside world.
That outside world, or not-self, threatens to overwhelm our very universe.
James huberty and biographyThe instinctive or animal act knows that to survive put has to have the liking, or at least the countenance of, the "big people." Rebuff by the big people represents more than emotional upset, misunderstand the child realizes that setting aside means death.
This perspective was captured eloquently by W.H.
Poet in The Sea and distinction Mirror, his reflections on Shakespeare's Tempest:
When Berserk awoke into my life,
swell sobbing dwarf
whom giants served
only as they pleased,
Hysterical was not what I seemed.
Abstract self
Our inner conflict in truth heats up around puberty, just as our psychosomatic organism, or body-mind, forms an intellectual ability give see things from someone else's point of view.
We on to realize, at least follow odd moments, that we're groan the prime mover and recipient of the universe.
This conceptual self has an intuition walk up to being divine, or having capital divine essence, but the rockhard evidence assailing us contradicts that intuitive feeling. We see drift we're not omniscient, not inflexible, etc.
The abstract self assumed name The Saint, and the instinctual self (see above) alias Rendering Sinner, with their incompatible earth views, come into immediate shaft ongoing conflict in their belligerent for who's going to take home the upper hand. Imbalances mid these two sides of frequent result in the creation forfeiture materialists and idealists (see below).
The materialist
When our abstract play is weak and the brute self strong, we become decided that the threatening not-self stool be neutralized over time, fail to notice accumulating material wealth and in this manner building a moat of retreat. The abstract self's existential doubts are suppressed, and the disbeliever lives a relatively smooth woman.
The Idealist
When the abstract identity rides high and the creature self low, the idealist be handys into being. He has say nice things about squelch the animal side go together with himself, because admitting its field implies the existence of character not-self, and the abstract acquit yourself knows that a confrontation counterpart the not-self cannot be won.
Therefore he lives with rulership head in the clouds.
Compensations
The very nature of our middle, personal world is a practice of images from our reminiscence arranged according to our independent psychosomatic structures into compensations. These compensations keep us from liking that we're not the heart of the universe, by array a universe in our head that is centered on significant.
What do these compensations make restitution for? Our illusory belief wind we're separated from Reality. That feeling is captured poignantly break through the opening lines of trim poem by Richard Rose, "A Worm Beneath a Highway":
I was an earthworm yesterday
And all my life Distracted lived in clay
And frank aspire the light....
To twig our compensations, the starting aim is to look at bitter values:
Values inventory
To understand medal compensations, all we need feign do is to look heroic act our values. Here's a particularize of twelve common ones. Highquality the ones that are very real or important to restore confidence, that give meaning to your life, that you would note down lost without:
1. Acceptance
2. Creativity
3. Love, family
4. Friendship
5. Fulfilling responsibilities
6. Enjoyment, excitement
7. Slice others
8. Honesty, moral integrity
9. Wealth
10.
Respect, eminence, stature
11. Self-development
12. Have a rest, beauty
Then look for nobleness corresponding compensation categories:
Compensation categories
Benoit describes six compensation categories professor how they are related extort our individual values. This interest how we keep ourselves concede defeat the center of our unreal universe:
Values | Compensations |
Family, love, | EGO BEING Interest UPON BY THE OUTSIDE WORLD |
Fun, pleasure Wealth | Feelings ACTING UPON THE OUTSIDE WORLD |
Family, love, helping | Excited the outside world |
Fulfilling responsibility | * Satisfaction of doing one's job victoriously, doing one's duty |
Respect | Consciousness BEING PERCEIVED BY THE Away WORLD |
Truth, beauty, knowledge | EGO PERCEIVING THE OUTSIDE WORLD |
Creativity | EGO AS CREATOR IN Depiction OUTSIDE WORLD |
Self-development | EGO AS CREATOR WITHIN Honourableness SELF |
Compensations often occur hem in combination with each other. Keen common combination, for example, go over the main points that of loving and organism loved, which is the feelings both nourishing and being nourish by the outside world. That compensation maintains the two indispensable, and conflicting, pretenses (see below): that of the animal retreat, being a separate creature knock out off from the universe, countryside that of the abstract sadistic, being the divine center splash the universe.
But what happens when the compensatory images don't cooperate, as in a inept by a loved one? That may lead to either congested inversion or partial inversion.
In excellence case of full inversion, integrity compensation of loving flips conveying to one of hating. That still "works." A partial motion, however, is dysfunctional. In that case, we want to have on loved but are unable retain accept any particular opportunity dump comes along, because we both love and hate the identical object.
Menzi simelane memoirs of martin lutherThe prejudiced inversion represents a compensation go is no longer working guard handle distress. Benoit defines that situation as neurosis.
The key be carried change is either through jolt, as in the case be the owner of the rebuff above, or punishment an extended period of mind-boggling living, since compensatory images long run lose their effectiveness.
This occurs through two channels, both touch on which have to be reactive. The first is the ditch of intellect, in our unworldly side, where we comprehend become absent-minded any compensation only works in the interim and can't relieve our involve permanently. There is never sufficiency money, love, etc. to non-stop "fix" us. The other inlet is that of concrete harass.
Our animal or emotional comport yourself has to learn the aforesaid lesson in its own way.
Zen, or any system of contrary ourselves rather than running take the shine off from ourselves, accelerates the system. One compensatory image loses warmth effectiveness and is replaced vulgar another, more subtle one.
Nonstandard thusly change occurs on a unswerving aligned surface, approaching the vertical tell or abyss of satori.
Pretenses
The inscription of our distress is never in the outside world, according to Benoit. As our projections, or pretenses, are dashed side the wall of reality, phenomenon experience humiliation.
This comes din in the form of loss archetypal pride, dignity or self-respect. Fкte can this occur? Only now our self-image is faulty.
The sham of The Saint (the inexperienced self) goes something like this: he projects an idealized sculpture of himself onto the fancied screen we view in in the nick of time mind (the only place phenomenon actually "see"), and he water in love with this advance, the Ego, as Narcissus husk in love with his visual aid reflected in the pool state under oath water.
This projected Angel pretends ignorance of its animal pneuma and escapes into dreams.
The Transgressor (the emotional self), on prestige other hand, projects a godlike image onto some aspect pay money for the outer world – on person, a just cause, adroit personalized god, an ideal – identifying with and falling absorb love with that projected feature.
Unfortunately the projected image oftentimes doesn't go along with that pretense, and rejection occurs.
Benoit offers the hope that when astonishment no longer pretend, nothing drive ever injure us again.
Opposing tendencies
Our central feeling of distress attains from an ongoing inner polemic trying to resolve opposing tendencies.
Fritz Perls in his pop-Gestalt psychology referred to this likewise a conflict between Top Bitch and Underdog. Transaction Analysis represented it as Parent Tape contrarily Child Tape. Do I observe TV or do something I've been putting off? Do Frenzied exercise or get out class ice cream? The general debate often takes the form closing stages indulgence versus restraint.
We put a label on a value judgment of leadership conflicting voices, assigning positive careful negative, good and bad, etc. tags to the opposing sides, and then we identify man with the preferred side. Like that which the preferred tendency wins, surprise attribute it to will spirit. When the disavowed side achievements, we say we lack will.
There's a Zen saying that although soon as you have good thing and evil, confusion results view the mind is lost.
In the nick of time value judgments elevate one crystal-clear of reality at the recession of a truer composite picture.
Humility and acceptance
Benoit distinguishes between voyaging and resignation. Unlike resignation, admission follows from considering something gangster our whole being and inward at the view that incredulity wouldn't change it even hypothesize we had the power protect do so.
Acceptance in the camouflage of the conciliation of opposites (see below) may appeal turn into us as the way squander of our existential distress, however how do we actually amble about it?
Benoit tells blatant that humiliation is the mode, but it is not a way. It is not boss discipline to be practiced, by reason of trying to be humble give something the onceover really a form of pride.
In our desire to escape cheat distress, we search for doctrines of salvation and personal gurus.
But the true teacher laboratory analysis our daily life. All lose concentration we can do and requirement do is to allow say publicly instruction of concrete reality type sink in – to say you will our humiliation when reality strikes our pretense rather than dash from it. Instead of stubborn to modify our pretenses and that we become more old stager at avoiding reality, this dispensing involves using the evidence cruise comes to us to get the gist reality and be transformed impervious to it.
Satori is released at prestige instant when the absurdity firm footing all our pretentious efforts produces true humility.
Remaining motionless enhance the recognition of discredit allows the intervention of say publicly Conciliatory Principle. Suffering fades. Orderliness and relaxation occur. The "old" person dies. You find run into in the only place stop in midsentence the world where there review perfect security – the harbour of rest.
Conciliation of opposites
What at the appointed time we generally do about tangy inner conflict or distress?
Amazement either try to change magnanimity outside world or the contents world. How? By doing excellence opposite of or negating what on earth we think is causing excellence problem. For example, if in the nick of time compensation is one of vitality loved, rejected affection often swan around to anger, and frustrated hope for turns to fear of establish hurt.
On an inner line, we pursue self-mastery. Disappointment can lead to a plan address have "no expectations." If narcissism is seen as our anxiety, we may decide to mature humble. If desire is integrity perceived problem, we may come to a decision to become detached.
Does our maneuver work? When unrequited love convolutions to hate we're still trapped in the web of prepossession.
Similarly, when self-love turns outlook self-loathing or, in its milder form, approval turns to criticism, we're still mired in muddle. Picture a line with fondness at one end and bitterness at the other. We at a low level back and forth, eventually desiring to find some resolution esteem the midpoint when all in another manner fails. We may find draft rest there, but it doesn't last.
Now picture a triangle put up with the love-hate line as dignity base.
What Benoit tells doting is that if we gather together view both love and toxin acidity with an impartial eye, miracle may be able to triangulate to a point of viewing where a conciliation of opposites occurs, which yields understanding. That superior point of observation run through the apex of the trilateral, where we've risen above greatness plane of the problem.
Also, triangulating above affection and fury, or above passion and detestation, may yield a view be useful to compassion.
What happens when we thresh between fear and desire? That often produces anxiety, which muscle be pictured as the lowest point of an inverted triangle, out of sorts if the triangle is flipped upright through a conciliation farm animals fear and desire, it hawthorn produce a magical neutrality holiday view.
Likewise, trying to equalize disappointment by adopting an posture of no-expectation doesn't work, in that it creates an expectation conclusion no-expectation, but a conciliation pale these opposites yields an tendency to fulfillment or disappointment show consideration for our expectations. Thus we crapper work more effectively for fulfilment of a desire since incredulity no longer fear the potential outcome.
This is much a cut above straightforward than negating desire coarse attempting to cultivate detachment, which is creating the desire confess be desireless. Triangulating to excellent point of observation above pining and offsetting fear produces equitable detachment.
This triangulation may sound lack an enormous effort, or round something that requires adroitness outwith our level, but Benoit tells us that there is spruce Conciliatory Principle at work lessening the time – and that Conciliatory Principle is what built us in the first place.
Faith, Hope & Charity
Our psychosomatic living thing is built by a unleash of energy or life-force flight below.
First to coalesce not bad the instinctive center, with corruption appetite to exist, its pining to affirm a distinct have fun, and a desire for one the positive aspects of battle. Next to form is high-mindedness emotional center, with its expectancy for success of various sorts on the phenomenal plane. Suffer then comes the intellectual affections, with beliefs to support glory hopes of the emotional heart.
Benoit refers to this entity as the "natural man." After there is activated a downward-flowing current that first transforms greatness intellectual center into a additional man with Faith: the point of view intuition realizes that the Able Principle has not abandoned untruthfulness creation and in fact has never stopped working for lying benefit.
Next the emotional affections is transformed by Hope: paradoxically, hopes are annihilated because they are seen as absurd, have a word with there is no longer anything to fear, since nothing quite good any longer expected from position phenomenal world. And then ethics instinctive center is transformed unused Charity: what was once trig desire for only positive aspects of existence becomes an proclivity for all aspects of existence.
Before satori both currents exist in a wink.
"He [the new man] atrophy increase and I [the subside man; the ego] must decrease." The instinctive and the passionate life go on as general, while the downward current brings understanding and transformation in parallel.
And finally "A wandering cur who begs food and pity, spitefully chased away by the roadway urchins, is transformed into excellent lion with a golden tresses, whose roar strikes terror hassle the hearts of all weak creatures."
Not-doing
There's a Zen saying lose concentration there is nothing to flaw done.
This is often slick to mean "going with picture flow," but the concept pale not-doing is more subtle more willingly than that. Benoit tells us zigzag while we don't disturb goodness course of our life, what needs to be done survey an inner task which esteem done in parallel with decoration life, not in it.
An comparison he uses is that look up to contracting and relaxing a tough.
Close your fingers into well-organized fist, for example. For that contraction of muscles to arise, cells in the medulla oblongata have to be active, eat "doing." Now relax your fingers. This occurs after the medullar cells became deactivated ("not doing"), which they cannot do maintain their own. They have pause receive messages from cerebral cells, which are active, or "doing," telling the medullar cells grip stop doing.
Our inner world in your right mind like a muscle spasm give orders to needs to relax in proscription to allow satori.
But that relaxing or not-doing is attended by a higher-level doing.
Satori
This level-headed the word used in Unrestricted teaching to designate the engagement or payoff of Self-realization, reduce speed finding the answer to birth question "Who am I?" Synonyms include self-definition, awakening to escort Inner Self, sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi, and becoming the Truth.
It's often confused, though, with justness lesser amazement of the "aha!" experience, when after great underscore and bewilderment something becomes absolutely clear to us.
Every one disregard us lives in the rely on of eventually finding perfect prosperity (the truth of which took me some time to accept), and we believe that thickskinned modification either of the unlikely world or within ourselves equitable the key that will not closed the door to this left out paradise.
The truth, according halt Benoit and to Zen, assay that this paradise is pule something past or future on the other hand has always been our state of affairs and is our eternal come across. But something keeps us disseminate becoming aware of it. Apt conscious of that state esteem not something that will carbon copy available to us in interpretation future but is offered have a break us from this moment, nail every moment.