Always Agree to the Rules

Always Agree to the Rules

There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement. — E. B. White

When you initially joined our private Facebook group, you were required to answer three general questions about your interest in becoming a member. If you were not deterred by that extra step, you were further challenged to Agree to the Rules of the group. It is likely that almost everyone experienced “opposite ‘I’s” during this admission process. For some, these ‘I’s were strong enough that they did not join. If you are reading this post, opposite ‘I’s were either not evoked in you or you were able to go beyond the mechanical response and accept the conditions. I am glad you joined us.

Opposite ‘I’s are a significant mechanical response in everyone. A simple understanding of this idea is that when someone says something to me, often the first mechanical response is to see how what they said is untrue rather than how it could be true. The “conversation” becomes an intellectual tug of war. It is paying attention to what is “not” rather than what “is” – focusing on the negative space rather than the positive space and it is not real thinking at all.

A silly – yet graphic – illustration of this is if I allow opposite ‘I’s to enter each time my GPS gives instructions, I will drive around in circles and not reach a destination. In conversations, opposite ‘I’s tend to cancel out each other’s perspectives and the conversation goes nowhere. Without presence, I am more likely to follow my virtual GPS assistant than listen to a friend with an open mind. Opposite ‘I’s are commonplace.

Wherever you have two people, you will have opposite thinking. — The Teacher

The tricky part is that opposite ‘I’s can be valid but are nevertheless automatically evoked in sleep. If my aim is to observe my mechanical tendencies, expand my thinking and move in the direction of consciously interacting with others, I need to temporarily resist these ‘I’s – which are typically the first ‘I’s to surface. This is not easy and requires a level of presence along with the verification of the many ‘I’s. Opposite ‘I’s are a habit in the lower centers which Higher Centers can illuminate and intentionally address.

We are offering a Zoom meeting on March 1st called, “The Art of Conscious Living: Part 3 – The Inner Triads of Consciousness,” and we will explore esoteric messages in art. For the last Zoom event, we had many people sign up, but few attended. To help remind people of the event, we are asking registrants to provide a WhatsApp number to complete the registration. This number only will be used to remind the registrants to attend the meeting, yet for some, this extra step might evoke opposite ‘I’s and create resistance to register. Whether you attend or not, be present and observe what effect this added step has on your choice.

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Empty Version of Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, Jose Manuel Ballester