Inner dialogue without conflict
How does our inner dialogue develop?
The answer to that question is multi-faceted. The inner dialogue functions in one of three states, depending on the maturity of our inner work: interfering, stable-ish, or resonant.
Our observations are a principal aspect of the inner dialogue, but inherently neutral. Observations occur “as is”—they are what they are. Our immediate response to an observation is one or more emotions. The emotions generate thoughts that construct our inner dialogue.
Bias Conditioing and the Four Qualities
Key Contemplation: If our ego-bias conditioning determines the emotional response to the observations, the inner dialogue becomes an interference to critical or objective thinking. Consequently, the observation is no longer “as is,” and the inner dialogue becomes corrupted.
→ Interfering state – the observation is manipulated, or reframed, to satisfy the ego-conditioned bias. The four qualities (humility, gratitude, compassion, harmony) are not present if the inner dialogue behaves in the interfering state (read my article, Humility and the Three Constructs, Part 1).
→ Stable-ish state – when a practitioner is working through the stages of becoming the four qualities, the bias-driven interference is substantially diminished. The inner dialogue is more stabilized, though not entirely liberated from bias-conditioned stimuli.
→ Resonant state– at this stage, the practitioner is fully immersed in the four qualities. The inner dialogue expresses from expanded consciousness with no capacity for discordant influencing tendencies.
Acknowledging Self-Perceived Deficiencies
Our collective human consciousness does not flourish through the dominance or presence of any particular element. A healthy forest is expressed via its independent parts: sunlight, soil, water, plants, fungi, insects, and wildlife. Similarly, the unified consciousness is experienced when practitioners express (or influence) as the energies of humility, gratitude, compassion, and harmony.
If I decide to undergo changes in my life, to explore my inner essence, I am acknowledging self-perceived deficiencies in my character. I observe impulses in my interactions that are not pleasant. Most revealing are the conditioned emotional sensations I experience with everything I observe. I witness the same emotion patterns with my inner dialogue—the self-talk that is constantly active in my brain.
Key Contemplation: If I choose to pursue my inner pilgrimage, there is a prime rule: I cannot be in conflict with my observations.
Everything Is a Variant of Me
From this point onward, I am on a journey leading to the awareness of the four qualities. I experience an insightful comprehension of me observing myself. Everything in front of me, every interaction, every thought, every person is a variant of me. Whenever I criticize others or pronounce judgment—it’s me standing in front of the mirror. Perhaps I have children, a spouse, acquaintances, they all reflect myself back to me. How do I influence these relationships? The more I grasp (and become uncomfortable with) my ego-bias conditioning, the greater my appetite to change the patterns in my life.
What I don’t have is humility. Not in the context of being humble or attempting to appear humble. Rather, humility qua humility—I am that. Becoming humility reflects my humanness. Humility is the energy structure by which the three constructs (gratitude, compassion, harmony) are viable. How would I express the three constructs without the foundation of humility? As a developing consciousness practitioner, I am compelled to understand this relationship.
What does gratitude look like without humility? Gratitude will operate within the ego-bias framework, which means I am selectively grateful. I am grateful for what works for me, but I don’t express gratitude for conditions that appear to be working against me. Without humility, I cannot detect how adverse conditions present opportunities to me. My bias conditioning refuses to tolerate that capability.
Without humility, where’s my compassion? I attempt compassion as a behavior, a quality. It won’t be compassion freely given but restricted to circumstances that agree with me. I am as discriminatory with compassion as I am with gratitude.
The quality of harmony simply isn’t possible if gratitude and compassion are not expressed through my humility.
Becoming the Four Qualities
In the early stages of this journey, I do not perceive the four qualities as distinct causal energies, only a goal to strive for. But this is my work, to be those energies—I am humility. I am gratitude. I am compassion. I am harmony. With consistent inner work preparation, I will discover that the purpose of my journey is to embrace the energy flowing within and around me, in the continuum of sentient spaces—pulsating to the rhythm of my breathing.
The wind carries the scent of pine and earth.
Breathing in,
I am grounded,
breathing out,
I am free.
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