Transforming Negativity

"The greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within." — Cervantes

Before one can transform negativity into the energy of higher centers, one must first be able to suffer the emotion and its ‘cause’ without buffering. Once this has been done, the transformation of negativity and transformation of suffering become the same thing, and indeed, it is worth noting that the Teacher appears to use these two terms interchangeably.

In order to intentionally transform a negative emotion, we must first be able to separate it from the rest of our being. This is non-expression, and I am beginning to see that all possibilities of transforming negative emotions on a consistent, regular basis must be founded on true non-expression. Although transformation may happen in other circumstances, this simply does not lead to permanent existence in the fourth state of consciousness.

One reason I am so confident of this is that whenever I am able to separate from a negative emotion and not express it, I can literally taste what it would mean to transform it. That is, in moments of non-expression the possibility of transformation becomes more than an idea or a memory; it is something I can feel and understand, even if I cannot manage to do it. At no other time am I reliably so close to transformation.

My new understanding about non-expression and transformation has also served as a basis for bringing scale and relativity to the rest of my work with negative emotions. Just as the true value of our efforts to observe, study and work on ourselves is determined by the extent to which those efforts promote the larger aim of awakening, so all our work on negative emotions can be ranked in terms of its relationship to non-expression and transformation.

Extracts from Creating a Soul by Girard Haven

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The Phoenix, Rembrandt, 1658