I saw them cross the twilight of an age, The sun-eyed children of a marvellous dawn, The great creators with wide brows of calm, The massive barrier-breakers of the world
25/11/2006
Courage is the Gateway
In the book Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, Dr. David Hawkins describes a hierarchy of human emotional states beginning with shame and guilt on the low end and leading to peace and enlightenment on the high end.
Hawkins claims the lower emotional states weaken us, while the higher ones make us stronger. And the dividing line between strong and weak is the state of courage, which is the first positive state. Courage separates the lower energies of force, where we feel we are fighting life, from the higher energies of power, where we feel we are cooperating with life. As Hawkins writes:
Courage is the zone of exploration, accomplishment, fortitude, and determination. At the lower levels, the world is seen as hopeless, sad, frightening, or frustrating; but at the level of Courage, life is seen to be exciting, challenging, and stimulating. … Obstacles that defeat people whose consciousness is [lower] … act as stimulants to those who have evolved into the first level of true power. … This is where productivity begins.
Courage is the dividing line between weakness and strength of character. If you want to get past the situation where fear and anxiety run your life, you must eventually embrace the energy of courage. While it’s certainly not the highest evolutionary level available to you, it is the first positive rung as you work towards higher persistent states like reason, love, joy, and peace. At this level you see danger and risk, acknowledge it, and still take action in spite of it. This has the effect of shrinking the presence of fear in your life, such that you can grow into higher states where your needs are more easily met and fear simply becomes unnecessary. You realize that nothing out there is scary except to the degree you make it so in your mind, and you learn to stop creating fear within yourself. Courage is the gateway in the sense that you must first learn to face down your fears, even as they still appear real to you. As long as you avoid them, you continue to weaken yourself. But face them and they dissolve.
This article is from the Steve Pavlina blog: Personal Developement for Smart People
Read his article on Levels of Consciousness here
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“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” - Andre Gide
ReplyDeleteOne cannot find fulfillment in superficiality, nor enlightmentment without struggle and without struggle life cannot evolve.
ReplyDeleteIt is my contention that at the time of the big bang, life was imbued with reactionary and opposite energies or forces to ensure its own evolution and survival. This is at the core of all nature and is plainly visible in everything.
If we begin to understand this then we may begin to understand the purpose of everything.
I believe, the purpose of everything is no more nor less than, the survival of life itself. Why? Because the greatest force of all, is life.
To some extent I secons Speakeezie's thoughts on the relationship between the oppositional forces of struggle. My view of Loki, Odhinn and Death on my own blog clarifies my position on this.
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