Shen is one
of the live lands we are touring; in another way, it is all of
them.
Shen is the ruler of the psychic domain. It strongly influences the other four lands, which are essentially manifestations of Shen. What is the nature of Shen? Shen is characterized by a passion for life. To feel Shen is to feel the heart of the psychic domain. Shen is the emotional or spiritual name for the land of the hear!. It is the lifeblood of personhood - literally and because feelings are our lifeline, are why we stay in this bodily form. The image here is fire; feelings are the FIRE of life. Feelings warm and enliven our being.
Drawing By Kathleen Chaney
Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." No. I fee!, therefore I am. It is by feeling that I experience my being; it is by thinking that I interpret what l observe and fee!. Knowing requires the intellect, but to really know things also requires experiencing or feeling them. Sometimes, thinking is just a way of playing; it is no more (or less) important than a child's playful splashing in puddies along the wayside. Thinking
is also a way of enhancing our ability to navigate the rocks and shoals of the life river. The mind can study the composition of the water, how it behaves now, and the probable past and future channels of flow. But the river itself is in constant flux, always changing. lts course is not limited to what we think it is or should be. The course of life's river is accessed by feeling and intuiting.
Shen, the inner spirit, is the feeling processor. Shen lets us live, and gives the sensation of aliveness, which is feelingness. Shen is the guiding spirit, the coordinator of impressions. Therefore, any significant stressor has an impact here, but sudden joy and shock or hurt are primary stressors of the heart. Modern stress research says that stressors include not just the hurt of changes for the worse, but also the strong joy of big changes for the better - i.e., anything which produces an intense need for readjustment. Resisting the fact of change is one way to turn stress into distress. Stress can be transformative if we listen to and learn from the psychic messages coming from our inner Selves.
Shen is like the monarch of the bodymind. Our relation to this inner ruler is a crucial one. To feel Shen is to feel ALlVE. Shen is the seat of the divine light, according to the classics. lt is the essential spark of life which reflects in all our deeds and activities. The word "Shen" carries the meanings "to extend" and "to create." The core spirit wants to extend through our whole being and into the world around uso To extend our energy is to create. lt is by extending our energy into life, by living fully, that we create ourselves and feel the joy of being.
Losing touch with Shen means losing touch with the core energy or spirit which wants to extend creatively. The result is a lack of self-confidence. A lack of trust in Shen means a lack of trust in the nature of life, for Shen is Tao within uso Losing sight of our participation in the Tao is the original dualism. Seeing ourselves as separate from the whole of Nature is an act of revolt. The classics say that all dis¬ease sterns from this revolt against the Tao or Way of Nature, and against its reflection-our inner nature.
When we lose touch with Shen, we let ourselves in for various psychic addictions, becoming ruled by expectations and illusions rather than by real inner needs. We miss experiencing the here-and-now, because of the hope-hopeless cycle that is set up and perpetuated by expectations ab out ourselves, others and life. We live in the future, hoping; or if our illusions fold, we feel hopeless and thereby abolish the future. There is a loss of inner direction, or at least of contact with the inner guiding and regulating factor. There is stagnation, rather than growth and creative extension of the Self.
The classics say that emotional, mental and physical confusion shows up when Shen has no clear sense of direction, or when we have lost touch with the inner spirit. When Shen is weak, or distracted by social or physical tensions, we are more susceptible to "negative" feelings and emotions. Lack of self-confidence can also bring a sense of emptiness. Clinging to worries, anxieties, fears, angers and hurts
can be a way to fill the emptiness and avoid despair. If we cannot find our way back to joy and self-confidence, then other emotions may rule instead. Trying to solve the problem by denying our seemingly negative feelings just courts depression, for it amounts to suppression of our feeling self. The only real solution is to reconnect with the core Self and allow its creative extension in the world.
When his illusory expectations are dashed, Arthur seeks escape in restless gaiety. The carousel of excitement is not joy, but Arthur cannot find his way back to being the good ruler he had been. Because he is not in touch with his inner Self, King Arthur is increasingly being used by his feelings. He is being ruled by his fear, anger, jealousy and self-pity, for he has lost touch with the confidence that would allow hirn to accept and resolve inner conflicts. Disillusioned and confused, Arthur retreats into a hopeless, depressed place. For a while, he doesn't notice what is happening to Camelot. The people are becoming impoverished. Blight and distress are everywhere.
One day the King wakes up and looks around. He sees that the spirit of the country is a reflection of his own inner dis-ease - his lack of ease with and confidence in his inner spirit. He gathers his strength by owning the aspects of hirnself which he had been projecting onto Guinevere, Lancelot and the rest. He journeys forth into life again. The country wakes up as the king does. Suddenly it is like summertime in Camelot.
Growth and inner joy come with feeling and trusting Self and Tao. Real joy does not come from selecting for seeming contentment or chasing glittery glee while resisting difficulties, nor does it come from trying to avoid pain by numbing it out (and then unconsciously cycling around it). The point is not to avoid pain, and certainly not to seek it, but rather to be fully alive, which is a state of fee!ing - sometimes pleasure and other times pain. We can choose to fee! or not to feel; we cannot choose to feel just some feelings. Our feelings arise to enliven US, and to connect us with our real inner nature. To extend this energy/spirit into the world is to grow towards the peak of our potential.
Shen is the ruler of the psychic domain. It strongly influences the other four lands, which are essentially manifestations of Shen. What is the nature of Shen? Shen is characterized by a passion for life. To feel Shen is to feel the heart of the psychic domain. Shen is the emotional or spiritual name for the land of the hear!. It is the lifeblood of personhood - literally and because feelings are our lifeline, are why we stay in this bodily form. The image here is fire; feelings are the FIRE of life. Feelings warm and enliven our being.
Drawing By Kathleen Chaney
Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." No. I fee!, therefore I am. It is by feeling that I experience my being; it is by thinking that I interpret what l observe and fee!. Knowing requires the intellect, but to really know things also requires experiencing or feeling them. Sometimes, thinking is just a way of playing; it is no more (or less) important than a child's playful splashing in puddies along the wayside. Thinking
is also a way of enhancing our ability to navigate the rocks and shoals of the life river. The mind can study the composition of the water, how it behaves now, and the probable past and future channels of flow. But the river itself is in constant flux, always changing. lts course is not limited to what we think it is or should be. The course of life's river is accessed by feeling and intuiting.
Shen, the inner spirit, is the feeling processor. Shen lets us live, and gives the sensation of aliveness, which is feelingness. Shen is the guiding spirit, the coordinator of impressions. Therefore, any significant stressor has an impact here, but sudden joy and shock or hurt are primary stressors of the heart. Modern stress research says that stressors include not just the hurt of changes for the worse, but also the strong joy of big changes for the better - i.e., anything which produces an intense need for readjustment. Resisting the fact of change is one way to turn stress into distress. Stress can be transformative if we listen to and learn from the psychic messages coming from our inner Selves.
Shen is like the monarch of the bodymind. Our relation to this inner ruler is a crucial one. To feel Shen is to feel ALlVE. Shen is the seat of the divine light, according to the classics. lt is the essential spark of life which reflects in all our deeds and activities. The word "Shen" carries the meanings "to extend" and "to create." The core spirit wants to extend through our whole being and into the world around uso To extend our energy is to create. lt is by extending our energy into life, by living fully, that we create ourselves and feel the joy of being.
Losing touch with Shen means losing touch with the core energy or spirit which wants to extend creatively. The result is a lack of self-confidence. A lack of trust in Shen means a lack of trust in the nature of life, for Shen is Tao within uso Losing sight of our participation in the Tao is the original dualism. Seeing ourselves as separate from the whole of Nature is an act of revolt. The classics say that all dis¬ease sterns from this revolt against the Tao or Way of Nature, and against its reflection-our inner nature.
When we lose touch with Shen, we let ourselves in for various psychic addictions, becoming ruled by expectations and illusions rather than by real inner needs. We miss experiencing the here-and-now, because of the hope-hopeless cycle that is set up and perpetuated by expectations ab out ourselves, others and life. We live in the future, hoping; or if our illusions fold, we feel hopeless and thereby abolish the future. There is a loss of inner direction, or at least of contact with the inner guiding and regulating factor. There is stagnation, rather than growth and creative extension of the Self.
The classics say that emotional, mental and physical confusion shows up when Shen has no clear sense of direction, or when we have lost touch with the inner spirit. When Shen is weak, or distracted by social or physical tensions, we are more susceptible to "negative" feelings and emotions. Lack of self-confidence can also bring a sense of emptiness. Clinging to worries, anxieties, fears, angers and hurts
can be a way to fill the emptiness and avoid despair. If we cannot find our way back to joy and self-confidence, then other emotions may rule instead. Trying to solve the problem by denying our seemingly negative feelings just courts depression, for it amounts to suppression of our feeling self. The only real solution is to reconnect with the core Self and allow its creative extension in the world.
"To be useful is to realize one's true nature. Realization of one's true nature is happiness.The tale of King Arthur describes wh at happens when we lose touch with our true nature. The Land of Camelot can be seen as a metaphor for the bodymind. Arthur's kingship is like Shen's role as the bodymind ruler. Just as King Arthur has to become conscious of his ability to rule, so we must become aware of our own inner guiding and regulating factor. The land of Camelot is a beautiful and harmonious place, until King Arthur lets illusion take the place of reality. He attributes his shadowy or undesirable aspects to his witchy sister, and he projects his desirable qualities onto others too - beauty onto Guinevere and honor onto Lancelot. In doing so, Arthur gives up his power.
When one reaches happiness, one is close to perfection. So one stops, yet does not know that one stops.
This is Tao .... "1
When his illusory expectations are dashed, Arthur seeks escape in restless gaiety. The carousel of excitement is not joy, but Arthur cannot find his way back to being the good ruler he had been. Because he is not in touch with his inner Self, King Arthur is increasingly being used by his feelings. He is being ruled by his fear, anger, jealousy and self-pity, for he has lost touch with the confidence that would allow hirn to accept and resolve inner conflicts. Disillusioned and confused, Arthur retreats into a hopeless, depressed place. For a while, he doesn't notice what is happening to Camelot. The people are becoming impoverished. Blight and distress are everywhere.
One day the King wakes up and looks around. He sees that the spirit of the country is a reflection of his own inner dis-ease - his lack of ease with and confidence in his inner spirit. He gathers his strength by owning the aspects of hirnself which he had been projecting onto Guinevere, Lancelot and the rest. He journeys forth into life again. The country wakes up as the king does. Suddenly it is like summertime in Camelot.
Growth and inner joy come with feeling and trusting Self and Tao. Real joy does not come from selecting for seeming contentment or chasing glittery glee while resisting difficulties, nor does it come from trying to avoid pain by numbing it out (and then unconsciously cycling around it). The point is not to avoid pain, and certainly not to seek it, but rather to be fully alive, which is a state of fee!ing - sometimes pleasure and other times pain. We can choose to fee! or not to feel; we cannot choose to feel just some feelings. Our feelings arise to enliven US, and to connect us with our real inner nature. To extend this energy/spirit into the world is to grow towards the peak of our potential.
