Post by Mysti on Jul 7, 2007 14:44:59 GMT -5
3. THE CHILD WITHIN
THE INNER CHILD
Most of us go through life completely unaware of our inner child, the little one within. Now exactly what this little inner child is and how it relates in any technical or academic psychological way to the subconsciousness is not important. But, accepting that you do have an inner child–and acting as if you do–is a most effective way of approaching your subconscious. Personally, I hate that term "subconscious." There is nothing "sub" about that part of consciousness at all. It is in fact a different aspect of your consciousness and it is a most important part of your totality of consciousness. Everyone has this element within, this inner child. Or, at least there is something in the total consciousness which responds when approached as if it were a child. This "child" is probably a personification of the subconscious. But, we are here concerned with how to accomplish our spiritual tasks and how to advance our spiritual growth. The theory is not important.
Reaching the subconscious and utilizing its powers and abilities, are steps very important to our spiritual progress and to our ability to control our environment. The subconscious is where your psychic powers are located. Dr. Paul Foster Case, an eminent occultist whose books and writings are still valuable resources, maintained that the subconscious is six times more powerful than the conscious mind. It is the subconscious which is our key to getting what we want in both the physical, earth-plane world and in the higher realms as well. The conscious mind is the data analyzer, the decision maker. But, it is the subconscious that is the doer. There is also third part of the mind which we may term the higher consciousness, the super consciousness, the soul consciousness or the higher self.
There is an experiment you might try to show you this:
<DIR> <DIR>
Set a pencil before you on your desk or table. Look at your pencil and will it to rise in the air. Note mentally how you are focusing your mind. Naturally, the pencil does not rise. It sits just as you placed it on the table. Now, place your arm on the table or desk. And, in exactly the same way, will your arm to rise. Again, the arm does not move. Now, raise your arm–no problem, up in the air it goes. So, now you can see that your conscious mind as you focus it on something you want to happen or want done, doesn’t do anything. But, there is a part of the mind that cooperates with the conscious mind to get things done, to get your arm to raise, for example. And, without getting technical or trying to be precise about it, we will just term that part of the mind as an aspect or part of the subconsciousness.
So, for our purposes, we divide the mind into three distinct parts: The Self-Consciousness does the analyzing and the weighing of various possibilities and the decision-making. The Sub-Consciousness is the doer or action producer. And, the Higher Consciousness is our contact to the spiritual realms. In all likelihood, these parts or aspects of the mind are not discrete entities in themselves. Where one part of the mind merges into the other, there is probably no clear and sharp separation. But, it is useful to think of the mind as having these three elements. For the present, I'm going to drop as far as possible the term "subconscious" and say "little child"or "inner child" instead. It is important also to recognize that these three parts of our total consciousness have their own functions. The little child is not able to analyze and consider alternative possibilities. The Higher Self can only guide and suggest, it has not the power to make decisions leading to action by itself. It must have the accord and agreement of the self-conscious or ego mind.
RECOGNIZING THE INNER CHILD
So, at this point you are asked to assume that there is an inner child. For me, I sort of feel the child as being inside my chest, near or in contact with my heart chakra. There is a young one inside you that wants to be loved, appreciated. So, sit still for minute or so and sort of think or say: "Hello, little one inside. I love you. What do you want, what can I give you?" Send love inside your self. Just direct a sort of warm loving glow to your inner self. Just sending love inward does amazing things. Relax and just ask inside yourself, as if talking to a small child, "What do you want? What can I give you to make you happy?" You might sense as a response: "I want a chocolate ice cream cone" or "I want a teddy bear" or maybe just "I want to be loved."
It is this child that is sad and cries within when others have hurt you by words or by other actions that seem or appear to be unfeeling or hateful. It is this child that wants you to buy some special toy or trinket while you are walking through the grocery store and pass by the kid’s toys section and have that urge to buy a toy, even though it is a toy for someone much younger than you. So often we have been told to "grow up" and "grow up" seems to mean that we should abandon the playfulness and joy, the youthful innocence that the little child within still carries. Some of you may remember the Bible passage that says: "Except ye become as little children, ye shall nowise enter the Kingdom of Heaven." This, clearly to me is the injunction to reach to the little child within, to integrate that child into your beingness and into your conscious awareness. For, as we shall see later, it is through the Little Child that we are able to achieve a direct fullness of contact with our own Higher Self.
Now if your inner child asks for something–bubble gum, a toy horsey, some chocolate ice cream–you should get the child what it asks for. The child is very suspicious: After all you've ignored your inner child for years. If you've never talked to the little one inside, it feels hurt, neglected, maybe even angry at the fact that you’ve been ignoring its wants, its
emotional needs, its desires and even its existence. You'll know you've gotten to the child when it asks for a toy or for something to eat that you would not ordinarily care for. I dislike chocolate ice cream, but when I feel prompted to eat chocolate ice cream, I know it is the little child inside me. So I go and eat chocolate ice cream. Actually, the chocolate ice cream desire has turned out to be more a test to see if I cared than a real desire on the part of the inner child to have chocolate ice cream.
So get some of that bubble gum and that little stuffed horse for the inner child. Chew some of the bubble gum. And, play for a bit with the stuffed horse. The child might like to go to the park and swing on the swings or play in the sandbox. When is the last time you built a sand castle? Or, when last did you play in the mud and make a mud pie? The play and bubble gum are only to reassure the child within that you love and care for it. For myself, I had to get a teddy bear and even sleep with it for a few nights to please my inner child. The teddy bear still sits at the head of the bed, but the inner child is content. I don’t have to sleep with the teddy bear any more: My inner child is now secure in the knowledge that I do care about it and am concerned to give it the things that it wants and to give it the emotional support that it craves.
Your inner child may not want things, toys, etc. But, it will and does want your recognition and, most importantly, your love. And, it's good to ask the child once in while what it wants. We want to keep this inner child happy. Not only will it bring contentment and inner balance, but it’s the key to our own spiritual progress. So, what we are going to do is to develop a close rapport with our inner child. You see, this child, as a personification of the subconscious, has many, many valuable abilities and we have to encourage the child into helping us. Eventually there is a sort of integration–but for the start, it is just a child within the totality of your self, your being.
Remember, the Inner Child communicates with the Conscious Mind through feelings, emotional desires. And, as we will see, by using its own projections or visualizations. This latter means of communication needs development, hence one reason for the visualization exercise.
THE INNER CHILD
Most of us go through life completely unaware of our inner child, the little one within. Now exactly what this little inner child is and how it relates in any technical or academic psychological way to the subconsciousness is not important. But, accepting that you do have an inner child–and acting as if you do–is a most effective way of approaching your subconscious. Personally, I hate that term "subconscious." There is nothing "sub" about that part of consciousness at all. It is in fact a different aspect of your consciousness and it is a most important part of your totality of consciousness. Everyone has this element within, this inner child. Or, at least there is something in the total consciousness which responds when approached as if it were a child. This "child" is probably a personification of the subconscious. But, we are here concerned with how to accomplish our spiritual tasks and how to advance our spiritual growth. The theory is not important.
Reaching the subconscious and utilizing its powers and abilities, are steps very important to our spiritual progress and to our ability to control our environment. The subconscious is where your psychic powers are located. Dr. Paul Foster Case, an eminent occultist whose books and writings are still valuable resources, maintained that the subconscious is six times more powerful than the conscious mind. It is the subconscious which is our key to getting what we want in both the physical, earth-plane world and in the higher realms as well. The conscious mind is the data analyzer, the decision maker. But, it is the subconscious that is the doer. There is also third part of the mind which we may term the higher consciousness, the super consciousness, the soul consciousness or the higher self.
There is an experiment you might try to show you this:
<DIR> <DIR>
Set a pencil before you on your desk or table. Look at your pencil and will it to rise in the air. Note mentally how you are focusing your mind. Naturally, the pencil does not rise. It sits just as you placed it on the table. Now, place your arm on the table or desk. And, in exactly the same way, will your arm to rise. Again, the arm does not move. Now, raise your arm–no problem, up in the air it goes. So, now you can see that your conscious mind as you focus it on something you want to happen or want done, doesn’t do anything. But, there is a part of the mind that cooperates with the conscious mind to get things done, to get your arm to raise, for example. And, without getting technical or trying to be precise about it, we will just term that part of the mind as an aspect or part of the subconsciousness.
So, for our purposes, we divide the mind into three distinct parts: The Self-Consciousness does the analyzing and the weighing of various possibilities and the decision-making. The Sub-Consciousness is the doer or action producer. And, the Higher Consciousness is our contact to the spiritual realms. In all likelihood, these parts or aspects of the mind are not discrete entities in themselves. Where one part of the mind merges into the other, there is probably no clear and sharp separation. But, it is useful to think of the mind as having these three elements. For the present, I'm going to drop as far as possible the term "subconscious" and say "little child"or "inner child" instead. It is important also to recognize that these three parts of our total consciousness have their own functions. The little child is not able to analyze and consider alternative possibilities. The Higher Self can only guide and suggest, it has not the power to make decisions leading to action by itself. It must have the accord and agreement of the self-conscious or ego mind.
RECOGNIZING THE INNER CHILD
So, at this point you are asked to assume that there is an inner child. For me, I sort of feel the child as being inside my chest, near or in contact with my heart chakra. There is a young one inside you that wants to be loved, appreciated. So, sit still for minute or so and sort of think or say: "Hello, little one inside. I love you. What do you want, what can I give you?" Send love inside your self. Just direct a sort of warm loving glow to your inner self. Just sending love inward does amazing things. Relax and just ask inside yourself, as if talking to a small child, "What do you want? What can I give you to make you happy?" You might sense as a response: "I want a chocolate ice cream cone" or "I want a teddy bear" or maybe just "I want to be loved."
It is this child that is sad and cries within when others have hurt you by words or by other actions that seem or appear to be unfeeling or hateful. It is this child that wants you to buy some special toy or trinket while you are walking through the grocery store and pass by the kid’s toys section and have that urge to buy a toy, even though it is a toy for someone much younger than you. So often we have been told to "grow up" and "grow up" seems to mean that we should abandon the playfulness and joy, the youthful innocence that the little child within still carries. Some of you may remember the Bible passage that says: "Except ye become as little children, ye shall nowise enter the Kingdom of Heaven." This, clearly to me is the injunction to reach to the little child within, to integrate that child into your beingness and into your conscious awareness. For, as we shall see later, it is through the Little Child that we are able to achieve a direct fullness of contact with our own Higher Self.
Now if your inner child asks for something–bubble gum, a toy horsey, some chocolate ice cream–you should get the child what it asks for. The child is very suspicious: After all you've ignored your inner child for years. If you've never talked to the little one inside, it feels hurt, neglected, maybe even angry at the fact that you’ve been ignoring its wants, its
emotional needs, its desires and even its existence. You'll know you've gotten to the child when it asks for a toy or for something to eat that you would not ordinarily care for. I dislike chocolate ice cream, but when I feel prompted to eat chocolate ice cream, I know it is the little child inside me. So I go and eat chocolate ice cream. Actually, the chocolate ice cream desire has turned out to be more a test to see if I cared than a real desire on the part of the inner child to have chocolate ice cream.
So get some of that bubble gum and that little stuffed horse for the inner child. Chew some of the bubble gum. And, play for a bit with the stuffed horse. The child might like to go to the park and swing on the swings or play in the sandbox. When is the last time you built a sand castle? Or, when last did you play in the mud and make a mud pie? The play and bubble gum are only to reassure the child within that you love and care for it. For myself, I had to get a teddy bear and even sleep with it for a few nights to please my inner child. The teddy bear still sits at the head of the bed, but the inner child is content. I don’t have to sleep with the teddy bear any more: My inner child is now secure in the knowledge that I do care about it and am concerned to give it the things that it wants and to give it the emotional support that it craves.
Your inner child may not want things, toys, etc. But, it will and does want your recognition and, most importantly, your love. And, it's good to ask the child once in while what it wants. We want to keep this inner child happy. Not only will it bring contentment and inner balance, but it’s the key to our own spiritual progress. So, what we are going to do is to develop a close rapport with our inner child. You see, this child, as a personification of the subconscious, has many, many valuable abilities and we have to encourage the child into helping us. Eventually there is a sort of integration–but for the start, it is just a child within the totality of your self, your being.
Remember, the Inner Child communicates with the Conscious Mind through feelings, emotional desires. And, as we will see, by using its own projections or visualizations. This latter means of communication needs development, hence one reason for the visualization exercise.