The Alexander Material by Ramon Stevens
Issue No. 4
I wish to hear from your perspective about the nature and history of these dark forces that are still attached to the Earth plane. What would be the ideal manner in which to assist these ones? (R.G.)
A: We would be interested to learn more about the theoretical and experiential aspects of this work. From our perspective, the number of entities who remain attached to the earth plane, and whose influence on incarnate beings is negative, is fairly small. These are typically astral entities—meaning souls who have left physical life but remain on the astral plane prior to ascending in their spiritual journey—reluctant to release the pleasures and sensations of physicality. Few of them have an overtly negative intent, though their effects can be construed as negative by those affected. Once souls have passed through the astral–level life review, they generally release earthly emotions such as anger, vengeance, and so on.
Further, the persons affected must “allow” the attachment or interference, either through psychic imbalance or fragmentation; or by willfully seeking to engage astral–level entities, as with using a Ouija board.
In almost all cases, those convinced they are “possessed” or “influenced” by external evil forces are giving vent to their own repressed “negative” emotions. In an unhealthy family, one member may be tacitly designated as the “evil one,” and may express the suppressed angers, resentments, and revenge fantasies of all family members. A psychodrama is staged in which the entire family's suppressed emotions are channeled through one member, to the point where complete possession seems to occur.
Again, genuine interference or possession by astral entities with a negative intent is very rare. Apparent cases of such influences almost always arise from intrapsychic sources. Q: Is the astral body smaller in babies or is it always the same size? (T.W.)
A: Astral bodies don't have “size.” The astral plane is a field of pure consciousness. Newly arrived souls, fresh from earthly life, will be granted the comforting fiction of “bodies” which appear and function like those they left behind. But this is a brief illusion which most souls quickly shed.
If you are referring to an energy body surrounding a flesh–and–blood body, you would need to clarify that, as we use different terms for those bodies. Q: In your last book you advise people to deny cultural battles their energy, to bleed them of intensity and to meet any crisis with deep equanimity. Equanimity is described as a peace of mind and abiding calmness that cannot be shaken by any grade of both fortunate circumstance and unfortunate one. How would you describe equanimity and how can someone achieve such a state of mind? (W.B.)
A: We cannot improve on the definition you have provided; peace of mind and unshakable calmness, regardless of external circumstances, are the hallmarks of equanimity. Note that this requires the release of sharp emotional responses. Emotional responses erupt in response to “surprise”—unanticipated events which trigger joy, anger, or misery. To maintain equanimity, therefore, is to be surprised by nothing, which means expecting nothing but eternal and constant change.
The best way to achieve such a state of mind is through meditation, which bypasses the ego—the font of all emotion—and dips into a state of timeless and unperturbable calm. Meditating in the morning carries benefits all day, as challenges and “surprises” are met with a deep calm, an oceanic serenity, which both anticipates and is not bothered by the ephemera of daily life. Q: In Spirit Wisdom II you write: “‘Liberal’ and ‘Conservative’ are permanent psychological types—templates in the human pool of consciousness.” Are these templates chosen by higher selves and sculpted into the energy fields of offshoots as one of the constellation of soul qualities…such as soul age or soul aspect? It seems a violation of free will to assign such a thing…and if it is not assigned, then how is the template acquired? (K.Y.)
A: Who said there was free will? If you have read Earthly Cycles, you know that the higher self sculpts a multitude of qualities into the energy bodies cocooning the physical body, to steer that body toward experiences aligned with its life tasks. Soul age, family of consciousness, sexual orientation, etc., etc., are all decided before birth and impressed upon the neonatal form. You don't come into earthly life for a diffuse, amorphous, unfocused experience of free will, but to gather experiences the way a florist gathers flowers for a bouquet: with a specific purpose and outcome in mind. Once born, of course, the individual is free to gather whatever experiences it chooses: to veer off the tracks, to overcome congenital challenges through sheer force of will, to commit suicide if it must: but all life experience is filtered through the energy bodies sculpted by the higher self, which ineluctably flavor and shape that experience.
Forget metaphysics: You were born a female, in a certain country, at a certain time, to a certain family, speaking a certain language. Those qualities of your selfhood inescapably shape, color, and limit your life experience. You have free will in the sense that you have some “wiggle room” to fashion your life experiences, but you can never escape the overarching framework of your life.
To address your question: while it is possible to sculpt the psyche toward one pole or the other, generally these psychological types (liberal/conservative) are acquired based on biographical experience or biological inheritance. A progressive frame of mind, which embraces change, especially change which enlarges the human family and treats all beings with love and respect, is the “natural” frame of mind. The “conservative” psyche is unnatural, rooted in fear and psychosclerosis, which arises from unhealthy parenting, growing up in a society torn by strife, or a succession of personal calamities. The conservative seeks security, a security found in wealth and weaponry, against a world seen as swarming with evil and chaos.
There can be genetic factors at work as well. To the extent DNA influences psychological development, factors tending toward psychological rigidity, paranoia, insecurity, and fear would push the developing psyche toward the conservative pole. Q: In Earthly Cycles you mentioned that an enlightened society would have no need for romantic attachment. Can't romance enlighten? Doesn't a romantic sexuality celebrate an enlightened spirituality? I realize conventional terms of “attachment” can often smother love because true love always involves freedom, but I'd like to think that on our way towards true enlightenment, that romantic love can be enlightening when it respects freedom. Are we not enlightened because we enjoy romance? (T.W.)
A: We would have to answer most of your questions in the negative. Romance and sexuality are distinctly human activities, with no parallels in the spiritual realm. Because you incarnate to grow through challenges, romance and sexuality offer many lifetimes' worth of challenge, heartbreak, and, yes, joy, by which to grow emotionally and in wisdom. Ultimately, however, the exclusivity of romantic attachment is contrary to true spirituality, which views all beings as co–embodiments of the divine.
We have written before that one purpose of sexuality is to escape the ego, fuse oneself with another body, and for a few moments of orgasmic release, entirely transcend the earthly plane, returning to the oceanic oneness from which you spring. This helps temper the ego, by releasing its sharp focus and bathing it in that oceanic bliss. But enlightened beings are always in that state of oceanic oneness, and have no need for the “quick fix” of sexual ecstasy. That is why monks retreat to caves and temples, to free themselves from romantic and sexual attachment, and attain the enlightenment at which romance and sexuality can only hint.
To say “I love you” to someone has several implications. First, it implies there is an “I” and a “you,” and they are separate beings. Second, it implies that there are things or beings you don't love, meaning judgment and narrow, ego–based thinking. The enlightened soul recognizes that all beings flow from an irrefrangible, oceanic oneness, and feels a subtle but universal love for all beings. From such an understanding, “I love you” is about the most hateful phrase one could say! Q: About master events and their probable variations. Ten years ago there was a catastrophic fireworks explosion in our country, the Netherlands. Twenty–two people were killed including four firemen. About 500 homes were destroyed or damaged. Fortunately it was a hot Saturday in May and many people were on recreational pursuit, so to speak, accounting for the “low” number of deaths. According to you, to store fireworks, would trigger a master event of a possible explosion making it “an accident waiting to happen.” In case of such a catastrophic–mass–event is there like a fixed scenario? Everybody playing dutifully his or her part, choosing the intensity of the event, from death to seeing the explosion on television? Or is someone free to swim through the intensity of the event. Meaning, what if one of the firemen, moments before the explosion, had a sudden change of mind and heart and performed a miracle with the magnetic attraction of his coordinate, could he then, theoretically, experience the “nonevent?” (W.B.)
A: Your questions are richer than you may realize, and require careful discussion. Regarding master events, they contain all “probable,” or potential, outcomes capable of flowing from a given set of circumstances. So, yes, the existence of a fireworks factory naturally incorporates a potential for a catastrophic explosion—you don't need metaphysics to realize this. Turning on the stove entails the potential for burning yourself, or setting the house on fire. Every possible outcome of an event, or set of circumstances, is embedded within its master event.
You can see, then, how life, as you experience it, is an unending chain of master events released and created. Every action you take is an outcome of a master event, and that outcome in turn triggers further master events, one of whose probable variations will be manifested, thus spawning more master events.
Further complicating the picture is that every probable outcome of a master event is experienced somewhere—in some probable reality. In other words, all probable versions have equal validity, for all are manifested in one dimension or another. By “dimension” we do not necessarily mean a physicalized dimension; many such probabilities are played out in the dream state, by those individuals most likely to be affected by the event. As we have written elsewhere, the dream state arises from your “native” state of pure consciousness, with greater validity than the symbolic, narrowed scope of material life.
How is it decided which “version” of a master event is manifested in a given physical reality? In general, probabilities differ in intensity of outcome; meaning lesser or greater energy thrust into materialization. The experience of cancer can range from a single mutated cell, quickly destroyed by the immune system, to a systemic invasion of every organ and gland in the body. The “version” of cancer experienced reflects the consciousness, life path, higher–self intentions, and needs of the individual experiencing it. These factors blend to create a magnetic "pull" toward one probable variation or another.
“Mass events” like that described in your question are almost always set up and played out in the dream state beforehand. Those participating had their reasons, though of course those reasons are not consciously available to the ego (the ego being the blindest, least informed member of your total being!). As you describe it, the event occurred at a time when its impact was lessened. This indicates that, while something attracted that event into materialization—some loss of community cohesion, some conflict, economic depression, racial tensions, whatever—its effect, which naturally drew the community together, was less devastating than had it occurred at another time. An event of this magnitude overwhelms and cleanses petty rivalries, tensions, resentments, etc. It sets a community on the path toward healing and reconciliation. That is the ultimate purpose of such events. Q: After having read all Alexander's books, and especially Spirit Wisdom, I am a bit puzzled. What can a single person do practically to start and help start a reduction of the electrification of the earth? Which seems to be the most pressing problem. (S.C.)
A: That is one the greatest challenges, for while most countries recognize the perils of climate change—though few are willing to sacrifice economic growth to mitigate it—no one even recognizes the effects of electrification on ecological degradation. And while an oil–based economy may transition over time to a renewable energy–based economy, that renewable energy will still be used to produce electricity.
Much of the damage could be mitigated by running cables underground. It is their presence in the air which interferes with natural communication between earth and cosmos. Further, if each home were rigged to produce its own electricity through renewable energy*, that would eliminate electrified wires strung along streets.
The “practical” steps you could take, then, would be to live in a solar–powered home with panels on your roof, cutting yourself off from the public grid; and to encourage and contribute to those organizations working toward that end.
[*Note: Just such a technology, Bloom Boxes, is about to be released, which promises to reduce or replace the electical grid with each home generating its own electricity. Watch the 60 Minutes segment here.—Ramon] Q: Is DNA the sum total of physical and emotional responses of one's ancestors? Can it be changed in a lifetime by changing your emotional reactivity? e.g. is it possible that of two children born to the same couple, say 20 years apart, the latter child could have less DNA 'issues' if the couple changed themselves emotionally in a major way? (N.N.)
A: The importance and influence of DNA has been overstated in the popular press. With modern science firmly grounded in the mechanistic model of the body, DNA is viewed as the source of all physical attributes, as well as one's psychological and emotional nature. The body, mind, and emotions are a "closed system" from such a perspective, dictated by the tyranny of DNA.
We view DNA is the basic “building blocks” of physical form, yes, but it is much more than that. Our model of the body posits that the body is the physical manifestation of a nonphysical “master body” which contains all probable versions, at all ages, of that body. DNA, in our scheme, is a loose, fluid system of triggers and attractors. The attractors “pull” toward the body those earthly elements it needs to maintain health. Vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, etc., are “pulled” into place by the magnetic force of DNA, which holds the blueprint of the physical body.
More, DNA constantly interacts with the “higher” nonphysical bodies encasing the physical body; and, through them, with the higher self and its plan for a lifetime. Certain triggers are embedded within DNA which “go off” at certain key points in life. Most are universal for the species, triggering phases of growth in childhood, puberty, strength and vigor in middle age, and gradual decline in senescence. Where the individual's higher self has life tasks relating to health and physicality, these will trip “triggers” at designated points.
When a trigger trips, it sends a message to the higher self that a certain decision point has been reached regarding the body's health and condition. The higher self reviews the individual's life path to that point, the probable outcomes of health or disease, and responds with "guidance" which the DNA then executes. Beyond these discrete trigger points, DNA and the higher self are in constant contact through life, as they work together to “create” the body anew in every moment along the lines of the life tasks established before birth.
We have written elsewhere that the physical body pulses on and off with a rapidity undetected by your senses. Not unlike a tennis ball bouncing back and forth from one player to another, the responsibility for the body's condition transfers from the higher self to the DNA and nonphysical energy bodies, microsecond by microsecond. Where life tasks are unrelated to issues of health or disease, the body will simply be maintained along its normal maturational path. Where health/disease is itself the crux of a life task, DNA and higher self will work together to sculpt the precise expression of the disorder—tossing information, experience, insight back and forth across the permeable barrier.
This is a long–winded answer to your question, then: your question arises from the mechanistic model of the body, a model to which we do not subscribe. The emotional state of the parents has little to no influence on the DNA of a child, which has its own life tasks, its own higher self, its own potential for growth and experience. Join the conversation! Ask Alexander a question here!
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