Chapter 9: The Inner World
Simply put. There is an inner world. There is an outer world. They both have distinct and different natures. The inner world has it's own physics as does the outer world. In the inner world "woo" concepts like energy may validly apply. The inner world can be a world of wonder and what you do in the inner world can have a direct impact on your physiology and body - which is manifested in the outer world. I believe God can exist in the inner world even if he\she does not exist in the outer world.
The inner world is just as real to us as the outer world. What you vividly imagine in the inner world can have a significant impact on your health and well being. As described in the Stress and Anxiety section a stressor can come from the physical world as much as it can come from the inner psychological world. They are like yin and yang and feed into each other. The inner world is where you experience consciousness and your soul. The inner world is the subjective experience of being you and us. Some may call it the spiritual world. This is a world where stories - even fictitious ones can give us POWER or sap us of our energy. This is the battleground of our imagination, although it does not have to be a battleground.
I believe you are two things. To forsake this world is to forsake a massive portion of what it means to be human. The inner and outer world can be integrated. Massive power in the outer world comes from being able to model the outer world in the inner world. But the inner world is more then that. It is limited but in someway limitless. It is your personal matrix.
The meaning you ascribe to the outer world in your inner world is often what influences your reaction and state to something and so can change your behavior. One person can look at a 40 day water fast as torture and hence STOP immediately. Another can look at it as healing for their body, freedom from being a slave to their urges and can even find happiness, enlightenment or freedom in the suffering of a 40 day water fast. One could argue that it is how you perceive the outer world through your inner world that determines your actions and results. For instance if you thought you were the son of God.
Peace. Peace of mind - peace of body can not be quenched if you do not find a balance with the inner world. Dealing with the inner world is not precise, for how do you quantify HOPE. It is more like mixing water, a flow or energy then a logical mathematical construct. It is not formulaic. You can not always provide an input to get an exact output. Perhaps because it is complex. It is our body and brain together with the external world experiencing itself - and so very hard to model something in itself without losing some fidelity. It is the world of the imagination. The world of story. We lose this connection with it. Your inner world is the living room inside your head. It is the ocean of thoughts and visions that make up you and your dreams. It is God. It is limitless.
Writing, reading, speaking, moving, thinking, imagining - all of it stirs the oceans of our mind. Here is your wonder. Here is your ability to create. Here is your peace. Here lies your trauma. This is perhaps why it is so hard to rectify the whole of human experience. Because we have an amalgamation of concepts in different contexts that we try and apply to what is a unique subjective experience.
If I say by looking at the external world that human beings are a sort of human animal - as processed by your inner world that can be hurtful or disheartening. It kills the internal notion of us being divine or of divine origin. Of us being powerful. But can not both be true at the same time? I dare say yes. We can be a human animal in the external world and a divine being in the internal world. The divine being and our spirit can even drive us to become more divine in the outer world as we evolve on an individual basis and as a species. I believe the issue comes from trying to apply one context to the other and not realizing they are in different frames of reference.
What if we evolved to be able to tell ourselves lies in order to survive or get through really hard external circumstances. What if by trying to force the logic, reason and science of the outer world on our subjective experience we are destroying our potential. It is with this that I believe one should not limit their inner world. If you want to have a GOD or an oracle or an inspirational story or perceive yourself as a force not a human being in your inner world and it gives you power well then GOOD!
But on the same line do not try and bring things that you imagine and force them down the throats of others. ESPECIALLY if you are in a life or death or critical situation in the outer world. Thoughts, beliefs may be powerful for changing you, your chemistry, your well being, your health, your energy levels and even seeing and believing what is possible in the outer world BUT they COULD be frivolous against certain things in the real world. Positive thinking will not stop a train that is hurtling towards you. So there is a distinction to be recognized.
We are in the middle.
We are in the middle of the outer world and the inner world. It is exactly with this understanding that when you define yourself you must keep in mind not to limit yourself by either the inner or outer world.
The outer world will smack you in the face. The inner world is forged by the outer world over time, but it is also forged by your nature which I dare say as an atheist is divine. That may sound contradictory but I have finally come to resolve these two seemingly contradictory perceptions. In my inner world I am divine - in my outer world I am a human animal with a profound mind ever evolving to understand the universe and myself.
Now even so in that outer world I recognize that what I perceive is a limited snapshot of everything that is occurring. This is a FACT. In the outer physical world we can only perceive a certain amount of information through our evolutionarily defined senses. Additional scientific instruments can be used to measure a whole plethora of electromagnetic, energy and particles that we can not see with our eyes. So in truth the world is a lot more like Neo looking into the Matrix then we realize.
The outer world does follow some guidelines. We have studied these and even in just the last 500 years have been able to uncover absolute tremendous insight and prediction into the universe. So even speaking in the outer world only you as a human being are a quite phenomenal by product of billions of years of evolution with a cross section of biological animal combined with a increased brain filled with hundreds of trillions of synapses (connections) in your brain.
This being so I would like to get to the practical. The brain and human body has evolved over 3.5 Billion years. It has evolved to strengthen that which is used and forget that which is not - partially as a matter of efficiency and survival. I have come to the conclusion that it takes years to become the primary influence on your own life. Years of that feedback loop off inner, outer, brain, biology - and even so even then most are still slaves to their nature and causality. It is only when we learn to understand and use our biology and some of the pre-existing pathways in our brain that we can begin to have true choice and increase our levels of freedom in this world.
Accordingly so and according to the minister of propaganda of Nazi Germany through enough repetition we can turn a square into a circle. Likely so repetitious prayers have been used by religion to anchor belief systems.
What if we used these real - outer world - principles to shape ourselves and anchor ourselves to the "truth" in the outer world and the "power" and "unlimited" in the inner world and as we want to live our lives. We would be taking the reigns as the programmer of our world.
This is why I believe it is so important to take an active step in organizing your mind, thoughts and philosophy on life. Because whether you do it or not your mind will be cobbling it all together anyway - and until you integrate the different parts of your brain you can lead yourself down a path of a true torture chamber machine.
Yet on the other side if you integrate and get the inner and outer world as it relates and pertains specifically to YOU (which no one else can do for you) you can find yourself on a metaphorical upward spiral of growth and development and leveling up in both the inner and outer world.
Defining yourself.
Do you ever find yourself inspired? Do you ever find yourself in an elevated state? On where you feel unstoppable or flowing or at peace? Below is my first attempt at a morning ritual type of prayer, meant to warm up and reinspire me awakening the tools, methods and perspectives that will have the biggest impact on my life, well being and those around me. It is to remind me they are there. I can choose to use them as I see fit.
It is an amazing feeling when you can face all of humanity arguing against you, and still have peace because you know you are doing the right thing.
The below is an amalgamation of facts, opinions, perspectives, visual imagery. Write your own. What you use will grow, what you repeat will persist. What do you want to include? What do you not want to include?
My "Prayer"
I will be dead. I will be dead one day and never again able to lay my eyes upon this world.
What I do and leave behind echoes in eternity,
The outer world may be hard. The outer world may be beautiful.
My inner world may be suffering. My inner world may be bliss.
The decisions I make in my outer world affect my inner world.
The decisions I make in my inner world affect my outer world.
I will be mindful of these.
Nature is metal. I am nature. I am metal.
Today is a new day. Today is a new me. Today is a new beginning.
Even if I accomplish all of the riches of this outer world and gain fame and notoriety I will one day be dead. It will not matter. SO I must remember to live today, to live in this moment. To enjoy the grape as I eat it. TO enjoy the laughter of my children as they give it. To enjoy the suffering and the struggle as one day I will paradoxically miss it and one day more I will not even be here to miss it.
I will recognize that sometimes fast is slow and slow is fast because of how the inner world works.
That putting in the extra work be it to listen and understand, may save me tons of labor to not fight.
I will take time to appreciate the humor in life if so life serves it up to me and I will strive to cultivate humor in my view of life especially in the darkest moments.
I will take time to appreciate the wind on my skin, the sunshine on my eyes when there is a beautiful day.
I will take time to appreciate the sound of the rain and warmth of my home when there is rain.
I will take mind and appreciate the fact that what I have now is what others in previous millennia would believe to be powers and tidings from and of the GODS themselves for it is not the man that is rich in the outer world that is truly rich but the man that appreciates what he has.
I will strive to make the right choices for myself and build a life on a foundation of sleep, diet, friendship and exercise.
I will not be naïve in dealing with men for one in ten men is twisted by the fates.
I will be strong in myself.
I will take care of myself first such that I may be a sturdy pillar for others.
If I am chased by the tiger and fall down a cliff holding on by my last breath to a vine in my last moment of life - if I see a strawberry I will pluck it, smile and savor eating it. If it is bitter I will laugh at the irony.
You can not beat me until you do. And if you do my spirit will rise again for I am infinite.
I will be conscious of how I manage my energy. I will not throw it at the wind. I will be conscious on what steals it and what gives it to me.
I will trust my intuition. Nature has provided me with billions of years of hardwired insight.
I will not beat myself up for the past for it only keeps me from correction my behavior in the present.
I will have REASON, not only BELIEF or HOPE in that if I make the right decisions based on my model of the world I will feel better and be a better man.
I will strive to improve my model of the world.
I will work and do difficult things for it is doing difficult things that makes sweet things soo soo much sweeter.
I will seek out my fears and systematically confront them over time.
I will master them and enjoy them.
I will have lofty goals, for it is better to not have limiting beliefs.
I will not get attached to my goals for what I will be attached to is my grounding.
I will not let irrational fear, worry or unchecked imagination fester in my mind, for the world is hard enough there is no need to make it a thousand times harder by imagining horror in my mind which will only weigh me down.
I will be open minded to opportunities, but also strategic and quantifying - for even though if most do but just fall into most things there are many proofs by counterexample of individuals and organizations that study the physical world and make strategic decisions to create more favorable outcomes for themselves.
I will form good habits daily.
I will prioritize the appropriate things first in my life.
I will not believe dogmatically anything to be 100% for that leads me to be close minded and I can falter.
I will strive to grow.
I will be no fool, but I will show compassion and help those around me, for I am them and they are me. We are life.
I realize that men love to do what they are good at and if I make something habit I will inevitably become good at it.
I realize that inspiration is fleeting so that if I do get it I will aim to capture it in some way.
That ideas can change my life for ideas are portals into the future. Connecting ideas.
I realize we are all in different places on our journey and I will have compassion for my fellow man for if I were in his/her shoes I would do the same. That does not mean I will be made a fool of.
The real world will slap me down, but I will expect it and so the blow will not be as hard because I will know that I will learn, adapt, re-strengthen my resolve, focus on the right things and get up.
I'm not for everyone. I am unique. There is no one like me.
I will have the courage to be disliked, for it is only through my authentic self that I will find meaning, and by bending my self to what others believe I will be boring.
Life matters. I will strive to respect it wherever I go. I will henceforth also respect and love myself.
When I speak to myself I will speak with a mental construct of as if I were speaking to my best friend, for indeed this is a habit worth cultivating.
The difference between those that have failed and those that succeeded is their habits.
I will not spread my energy or resources too thin for if I go after everything I will lose everything.
I do not need to change the world I only need to change myself to be content and fulfilled.
What I leave behind and how I influence this world matters. My actions matter. They matter for the trillions of cells and bacteria that make up me as a universe unto itself. They matter for the universe. I matter.
The way I exist today will not be here tomorrow.
I will stop being judged by the projections of others in my mind judging myself. For this is just me judging me through a vision of someone else and it is a waste of my energy.
I will use the fact that I see my own flaws and imperfections not as a reason to beat myself up but rather as a reason to rejoice. For it is precisely proof that I can see a better me and that I have more potential - for if see nothing but perfection in me then I have indeed stopped growing. As long as I see imperfection there is proof I am able to see a better me and that is to be celebrated.
I will live to my standards and even though I may not meet them I will strive to be better.
Life may be hard but I will not make it harder on myself then it needs to be.
I will not personalize everything that happens to me. For it is usually not about me but about them.
I will realize that some things may take a change of mind to change, some things a second, a minute an hour and yet some things will be years if not decades. It is likely these things that I will value most.
I will make mistakes. I am human, mart animal part divine. If I make a mistake I will aim to apologize for it as soon as possible not to make more and more compounded mistakes one on top of another and another and another.
I will look to have the buck stop with me. I will strive to be a bulwark water tight compartment such that if those that are stressed and emotionally volatile come to me I will not spread the emotion to others. I will let it dissipate in my sleep.
I will not give up on myself. I will not surrender to the mammalian survival tendencies to want to run away. I will have courage and do my best regardless of outcome.
I will use tools like writing and quantification\applied math to multiply my power and potential by 10-100x.
Once I have evolved to be an omnipotent being I will go back and show compassion on all life that came before me - for justice.
I will have hope because even if all life on earth is eradicated, there are trillions of galaxies with more suns then grains of sand on all the worlds beaches and all it takes is ONE of those living entities to evolve to be omnipotent and benevolent for us to all meet at the end of the universe.
I will expect that life will punch me in the face, so when it does it will not surprise me and hurt as much.
These ideals may take me a life time to achieve. I may in fact never achieve them because I am human and these are just ideas, but I will gain my meaning and momentum and fulfillment in life from the pursuit to try and be better. The pursuit of understanding my nature so one day I can use it to achieve these values.
I will remember that with every ending there is a beginning.
I will not preach, I will do and through my example I will lead others.
Yet, never will I proclaim my accomplishments. Let the world, instead, approach*
me with praise and may I have the wisdom to receive it in humility.*
My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible. All are of no value unless they are followed by action.
Action, alone, is the tinder which ignites the map, the parchment, this scroll, my dreams, my plans, my goals, into a living force.
I will not avoid the tasks of today and charge them to tomorrow for I know that tomorrow never comes.
Let me act now even though my actions may not bring happiness or success for it is better to act and fail than not to act and flounder
When I face temptation I will say them and immediately act to remove myself.
Only action determines my value in the marketplace and to multiply my value I will multiply my actions.
My moods will rise my moods will fall.*
Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions, strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.*
If I feel depressed I will sing.
If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I feel ill I will double my labor.
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent I will remember past successes
If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
Today I will be master of my emotions.
If I become overconfident I will remember my failures.
If I overindulge I will think of past hungers.
If I feel complacency I will remember my competition.
If I enjoy moments of greatness I will enjoy moments of shame.
If I feel all powerful I will try and stop the wind.
If I attain great wealth I will remember one unfed mouth.
If I feel proud I will remember moments of weakness.
If I feel my skill is unmatched I will look at the stars.
And with this I will recognize those around me. I will make allowances for their anger, irritation, insults and realize that tomorrow they can be a joy to approach.
I will master my moods through positive action and through that nudge my destiny.
I will cultivate the habit of laughter.
I will smile and my digestion will improve.
I will chuckle and my burdens will be lightened.
I will laugh and my life will be lengthened.
I will laugh at myself.
Will my concerns for this day not seem foolish 10 years from now?
Why should I permit the petty happenings of today to disturb me?
What can take place before this sun sets which will not seem insignificant in the river of centuries?
This too shall pass.
For all worldly things shall indeed pass.
When I am heavy with heartache I shall remind myself that this too shall pass.
When I am puffed up with success I shall remind myself that this too shall pass.
Never will I labor to be happy, rather I will remain too busy to be sad.
I will enjoy today's happiness today.
With my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size.
I will laugh at myself and the world around me.
As long as I can laugh never will I be poor.
Today I will multiply my value.
A leaf touched by man can turn to silk.
I am liken to a grain of wheat which faces one of three futures. The wheat can be
placed in a sack and dumped in a stall until it is fed to swine. Or it can be ground
to flour and made into bread. Or it can be placed in the earth and allowed to
grow until its golden head divides and produces a thousand grains from the one.
I am liken to a grain of wheat with one difference. The wheat cannot choose
whether it be fed to swine, ground for bread, or planted to multiply. I have a
choice and I will not let my life be fed to swine nor will I let it be ground under
the rocks of failure and despair to be broken open and devoured by the will of
others.
First I will set goals for the day, the week, the
month, the year, and my life.
Key: Take what you like from mine and craft your own.
Note: All mentions of 'man' refer to human.
*Inspiration from:
-The Greatest Salesman in the World