Reverse Thinking

Schopenhauer - a philosophy for grumpy people?

In my last article - Can feeling grumpy be good for you? I mentioned one of my favourite philosophers - Arthur Schopenhauer - who was a grumpy old man already by the age of 19. I first read him at 15 and developed a 'bah humbug' attitude which was delicious and self-indulgent while it lasted although I no longer think it is clever - or even profound - to be pessimistic about life. Even so, I still think that Schopenhauer possessed a genius for philosophy. (He also wrote a lot about sex).

Here are a few gems:

After your death you will be what you were before       your birth.    

Everyone takes the limit of his own field of vision for the limit of the world.

The conscious mind may be regarded as a kind of parasite of the organism, a pensioner, as it were, who dwells within the body.

If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the sight of a letter/email from that person.

The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.

We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.

Console yourself by remembering that the world doesn't deserve your affection.

Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.

There is no absurdity so obvious but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to introduce it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.

The closing years of life are like a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped.

Compassion is the basis of all morality.

Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.

The greatest of mistakes is to sacrifice health for any other kind of reward.

There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome.

In my next article I will write about the advantages - and disadvantages - of pessimism for life.

The secret of personal genius

For those who have been following my articles on Genius and who are interested in finding out more about their own Personal Genius, and how it works, then I am running a 1-day seminar about this in London on October 31st.

The idea is to help you identify and act upon the dictates of this most mysterious of guardians.

The seminar is open to all and places are limited to 20.

If you would like to see the brochure then you can Download BrochurePersonalGenius here.

Hope to see you there. John.

Image of Mozart by Samu73

Personal Genius II

Recently I have been developing a training program with my friend, Simon Linzell, which shows people how to recognise, channel and unleash personal genius.

Just to remind you, your personal genius is the inner daimon that drives you on to become the person you were truly meant to be.

It is expressed through the unique mix of gifts, talents, desires, inner compulsions and perceptions which make up the person you are. No one can duplicate it; it is your unique personal 'brand'. Nor can you control it - rather your genius controls you and you are its servant.

You cannot be a genius, you can only try to express it.

You don't have to be a creative artist to have genius. Your daimon may prefer to express itself in other ways: sport, caring for others, leadership, science, philosophy, civil rights, religion, communion with Nature, or technological invention - to name just a few modes of expression.

Expressing your personal genius is your personal 'mission' in life - the task you were born for. No one can do this but you. And if you fail to do it you will fall into inauthenticity. When your Bodymind (which exists to guide you towards self-fulfilment) notices that you are running away from your mission then it will create emotions like boredom and frustration. And ignoring those may well trigger the state of dis-ease which can damage your health.

Here are some questions that help you identify experiences in which your personal genius is at work:

Your models

Who did you most admire as a child? Who do you most admire now? The people you chose to model are unconsciously displaying the characteristics to which you most aspire. I have written before about this in Your personal myth.

Favourite art

Similarly, the books, paintings, sculptures, music, architecture reflects the moods and taste of your soul.

Your mentors

Who, in your life, has acted as a mentor, drawing out your inner potential. Your daimon is drawn towards like-minded teachers.

Experiences

What are you drawn towards learning and practicing over and over again? For some people its a particular field of study, for others its an art-form like poetry, dance, literature. But the list is endless, from relationships, being with children, nature (including an attraction to specific localities), animals, the way things work, etc.

Peak experiences

I have written about this before on this link. Ecstasy is Bodymind's way of telling you that you are moving towards self-actualization.

Values

What do you care about the most? Love? Justice? Purity? Personal rights? Freedom? Truth? Individuality? The values you are most passionate about tell us a lot about your personal mission.

Authenticity

Where and when have you most been truly yourself (good or 'bad')? This question is concerned with moments when you have taken a risk and spoken up about, or done something, that mattered to you - no matter what others thought.

I will be writing some more about this topic - its going to be a regular feature on this blog from now on so watch out for more.

Image by oddsock

Your personal myth

This is another way of understanding your personal genius and it is also an entertaining personal exercise.

It's partly based on Carl Jung's idea that we each of us - from a very early age - create our own personal myth. We are attracted to stories, situations and people that help us to make sense of who we are and where we are going.

The heroes we identify with can tell us a lot about ourselves:

• Our gifts and strengths
• Our (perceived) weaknesses
• What we feel called upon to achieve
• The challenges we face
• How we deal with adversity
• Our characteristic approach to other people
• What we rebel against
• How we see life

The myth you create goes a long way towards forming your ego, or your self-image. For example: helper, artist, victim, conqueror, martyr, saviour, survivor, loner or leader.

Here's one way to identify your personal myth:

First identify your favourite childhood story. This could be a film, a book, a fairy story or something else.

Now answer these questions about your story:

• What is this story about?
• What is the moral of the story?
• What are the hero's best qualities?
• Weaknesses she has to struggle against?
• What is his dominant passion?
• What is she here to achieve?
• What does she have to overcome?
• What/who are his enemies?
• How does she relate to people?
• What are his most important values?
• How does she see life?
• What might his epitaph be?

For those of you who are interested my own favourite story - from age 7 onwards - was Pinocchio.

Please share any insights you got from doing this with me - john@reverse-therapy.com

Happy hunting!

Image by nyki_m's

Letting your personal genius loose

In my last post - Losing your personality - I briefly mentioned that developing your genius can free you from the ego. This item explores what that personal genius is.

This blog is a little theoretical but the idea is too important for me to not to try and explain it.

When you understand how personal genius works you will be in a better position to develop it.

                                              Image by axinar.

The word Genius is a translation of the Greek Daimon. In Homer a daimon is either a god or a spirit. Later on, the 'daimon' came to mean a person's guiding spirit, or guardian angel. Some people found this idea a little disturbing and, for them, daimons became 'demons' -something to be repressed and avoided.

The Romans understood daimons as Genii, from which we get both the words 'genie' and 'genius'. A Genie is your personal guide, whom you can contact through prayer, trance-states, visions, and dreams although most of us experience it as an inner voice, intuition or compulsion.

A Genius is the unique spirit which lives in every living thing. So the Romans worshiped the genius of the river, the genius of the tree, the genius of the family, the genius of the Emperor, and so on. Sacrificing to a genius was a way of harnessing its power.

For the Romans, each and every god had her own, unique, genius and that was how they could tell them apart. Jupiter's daimon was majestic, Apollo's was frightening, Venus's was sexy, and so on. The picture in this blog shows the Genius of Water - hence the outflowing arms.

Now, each of us human beings have our own, unique, genius - a kind of driving force which must fulfil its own destiny - forcing you you to become that which you are really meant to be. Ignoring your genius means not only denying the power within you but denying the core essence of who you really are. And, if you do that for too long you will eventually become ill.

Here are some common expressions of Genius:

• Teaching
• Making things work (e.g. engineering, mechanics, craftsmanship)
• Nurturing people
• Connecting to animals (pets, wildlife, endangered species, etc)
• Art
• Science
• Mathematics
• Caring for children
• Spirituality
• Leadership
• Fighting injustice, discrimination, exploitation
• Cultivating nature
• Building
• Discovering new 'truths'
• Healing others

Your daimon, or your genius, is also expressed through your genetic code (unique to you unless you have an identical twin), your emotions, your intuitions and your passions. If you regularly practice attunement to Bodymind then you will become more expert at eliciting all of these.

Some questions that can guide you

If you want find out more about your genius then here are some questions that can also help. I will supply my personal answers to the questions to help you see what I am getting at.

1. What teachers and mentors were you drawn to when you were young? These will tell you a lot about what you are here to learn.

My answer: My first mentor (age 12) was my Uncle. He gave me a thirst for education and awoke in me a desire to serve others. He also challenged me to think for myself.

2. What are you most love doing or what are you most fascinated by? What are the most interesting activities you have ever done? This will give you a clue about your (divine) passion.

My answer: Working with and exploring the hidden depth in people. Finding out how human beings work in terms of their biology, culture, emotions, society, personal history and desires.

3. What do you most detest in life? This shows you what you are here to fight and what you need to overcome in yourself.

My answer: Lies, lack of integrity, smugness and complacency.

4. What are your most rewarding moments in life? This will tell you something about your personal mission.

My answer: The birth of my children, becoming a therapist, writing (some of) my books, moments of deep connection with other human beings, discovering Reverse Therapy, and two mystical experiences in which I glimpsed an egoless state of being.

5. What drains your energy? This shows you what your daimon most needs you to avoid.

My answer: Routine, small talk, academics, television, newspapers, humorlessness, stale ideas.

6. How, and in what way, are you most creative? This, along with question 7, could be the most important questions here. Answering them truthfully reveals a lot about your personal genius.

My answer: Writing, bringing together new ideas, using my intuition to work out what is really going on with my clients, educating people, and inspiring large audiences. Blog writing.

7. What characteristics are either unique to you or which you rarely see in others? This tells you a lot about the 'character' of your daimon.

My answer: My sense of mischief, the clarity of my thoughts, my constant need to pull things down and start again.

8. What do you find it hardest to do? Answering this shows what you have to practice doing, in order to free up your genius.

My answer: Forgiving people who have hurt me. Taking time off to play, dream, and have fun.

I would be fascinated to discover what my readers have got from this blog, or what they have already discovered about their personal genius. Please do email me or leave a comment about that.

"Our daimon is both our character and our destiny".

Heraclitus (6th Century BC).

"Happiness means the full expression of your daimon. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence".

Aristotle (4th Century BC)