In reply to Capt.’s comment under http://verewig.blog-city.com/inclinations_talents_and_strengths__why_do_we_have_them_an.htm
Capt. I am pleased you brought up the meta-physical realms and perceived limitations. One of my strengths according to this particular test is connectedness. So I tend to see everything as connected, somehow all complexity converge to the simplicity of oneness. How I see it, is that the prism of colours all tell me more about the creative possibilities of their source. I see limitations as a creative challenge through which I can explore new connections which I would not have explored if those limitations did not present themselves to me in the first place. Although I may want to rant and rave at times at the limitations I find myself in, I know at the same time that they are there to show me another perspective, another possibility.
“… however if the personality becomes interested in a subject, it can form new connections from what already exists in the mind. “
This is true also relating to the general context of our existing network. Often we have already existing talents that never the less remain latent due to physical circumstances that prevents a person from using it until later in life. Stymied as such. Take Anna Mary Robertson Moses – Grandma Moses her childhood yearning for sketching was pushed aside by the demands of farming and only when she retired from farming, at the age of seventy-eight, she could let her talent loose. The rest is history. There are many stories like that.
Now according to this particular study the reason why it is almost impossible to change the original network of a mind is because you would have to use too much energy to make new connections as we make at least a thousand decisions per day, so you will have to be focused and aware of every tiny decision you make. Your body has to expand relatively large amounts of energy creating the biological infrastructure (blood vessels, alpha-integrin proteins and the like) to create these new connections. In tests with rats it has been found that through repetition new connections can be made. They speculate that the danger of repetitive training without the underlying talent is that you burn out before you net any improvement. To improve at any activity requires persistence. In order to withstand the temptation to slacken off, you need fuel. You need a way to derive energy from the processes of improving so that you can keep improving. Unfortunately, when you repeatedly try to mend a broken connection, the opposite happens. It drains you of energy.
So theoretically to make new connections without an underlying talent, you need a … lets call it for lack of a better word, a super-natural energy source. Then indeed there are no limitations and we do not have to rely on our finite “battery supply.” In other words a source of energy that does not come directly from our biological processes. Is this possible? We already know that we receive information, stimuli other than through direct physical concrete means, which Ervin Laszlo calls the “the psi-field”. So could one then not receive energy in the same way? Joseph Chilton Pearce for example states that there is ample examples of mind-mind transference of energy and even energy can be drawn directly from the what he calls the ‘Primary Process.” – a nonverbal form of psychological communication, an intuitive rapport that operates outside ordinary rational, linear ways of thinking and perceiving.
To transcend any limitations, in my experience, one has to first know they are there, and then work through them in a disciplined manner, until one alchemically transcend them. So lets look at the mind from a metaphysical perspective. In esoteric traditions the intellect and finite reason are merely the surface of the mind. Beyond the surface, there is the higher mind, illumined mind, intuitive mind, and the universal mind or cosmic consciousness. Although, indeed, for example the aim of the Gnostic is transcendence of the mental being altogether, this transcendence comes through the full development of the mental being from one level or gration to another, until, at the level of the universal mind, one is able to pass through the great threshold called “cessation” into the metamind state of supernal consciousness or what is called the”perfect thunder mind.”
Says Tau Malachi;
‘… the Sefirot are channels or vehicles of the supernal light, our mental being, vital being, and even our physical being are to be channels or vehicles of the supernal consciousness-force. However, the vital being must be purified and the mental being fully developed from base to peak, every level of the mental and vital consciousness being linked together in a state of integral being.
We are all familiar with the ordinary mind and from time to time, most of us experience something of the higher mind and illumed mind. The higher mind is experienced as flashes of insights, whether into things mundane or supramundane. The illumined mind is something more than flashes of insights; it is experienced as streams of inspiration in which insights are linked together, forming a flow that may continue for a shorter or longer period of time. The intuitive mind is less common. It is the experience of whole fields of knowledge and understanding appearing in the mind, as though knowledge and understanding of a whole subject suddenly fills the mind. What we call “genius” tends to be the function of the intuitive mind …
The universal mind or cosmic consciousness is something beyond what we typically would call a genius, and one one might say represents a state of “greater genius.” Essentially, the universalmind represents knowledge and understanding of multiple fields of knowledge and combines both supramundane and mundane knowledge. While the intuitive mind can manifest in either mundane or supramundane matters, the universal mind always includes the spiritual and metaphysical. One could well be an atheist and attain something of the intuitive mind. But in the development of the universal mind, there is an awareness of the sacred unity underlying existence and knowledge of the souece in reflection. Whether one is a theist or nontheist, the universal mind is innately spiritual and one is compelled by love and compassion. In one way or another, one becomes aware of a cosmic intelligence in the universe and aware that nothing is truly separate from it. This cosmic intelligence is reflected within one’s mind, thus the state of greater genius that manifests…
Although many people experience something of the higher mind and illumined mind, and a few people even experience something of the intuitive mind, the experience of theses higher states of mental consciousness does not necessarily reflect actual attainment. Actual attainment implies that one is able to enter and exit a higher state of consciousness at will, whether it is a higher vital or mental consciousness. While many people may experience higher levels of vital and mental consciousness from time to time, for most part it is a random or inconsistent experience that is not under the conscious control of the person. In most cases, the person does not know how it happened and cannot consciously invoke the experience again. Therefore, he or she has not realized or attained it. To actually realize a higher level of mental or vital being, we must develop the capacity to consciously shift into it and form a link between the higher and lower levels. In order to do this, we must develop spiritual self-discipline and, specifically, the power of concentration or focused awareness. (Kavvanah)
To conclude this line of thought I must add an interesting conclusion from a recent study in how focused our awareness generally are. On average, those sampled, were not thinking about what they were doing 30% of the time. For some even between 80% and 90%. It indeed seem that if we want to make any significant changes to our minds it is kavvanah that we should look at most closely, through yes, the dreaded discipline. :] As they say, it is ironically discipline that brings us freedom.
Essorant 