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Lesson 35 The Elements of Self Transference

I. The Conditions For A Self Transference

1. Fixing the Interest If you wish to convert the meaning of a particular situation, you have to begin by clearly defining the situation. This is different from the case of situations that can be modified by applying the minor techniques studied in previous courses. The more serious situations we are referring to here may be either biographical “knots” that have not been overcome, present situations, or future configurations. In these lessons we will give examples of conversion plots for modifying negative mental situations that act in the different times of the consciousness.
2. An Adequate Work Environment There are both external requirements (quiet room, dim light, etc.), and also requirements about the physical and internal mental “environment” of the operator. One should start every self transferential work with a complete relaxation and Experience of Peace.

II. The Themes These are the principal categories or types of images that appear in Self Transferences. 1. The Internal Guide When believers of different faiths pray, they usually invoke the great personalities of their creeds, the saints, gods, etc. Some do this with auditory images, others with visual or other images, etc. Other people at times find themselves in an internal dialogue with a dead parent or loved one. They ask these “guides” for advice, particularly in difficult situations. Sometimes they simply tell their problems to their “guide” as a way of putting ideas and feelings into better order. Some people receive “answers” during this dialogue with their guide. Others receive “messages” later, in dreams in the form of allegories, when waking up, or in unexpected moments. It is also common for people to invoke protective guides in moments of disorientation, loneliness or danger. Many empirical or everyday forms of relating to an “internal guide” originate in internal verbal translations of the cenesthetic register of internal dialogue. The following experiment will illustrate this mechanism. Mentally tell yourself, “I am going to climb up to the roof,” while you pay attention to the movements that happen automatically in your vocal apparatus. Now, “climb” up to the roof using visual images. Clearly, in the second case you will notice movements of your eyes. But if you do other operations which visual images, and also pay attention to your vocal apparatus, you will still sometimes notice automatic movements there. This happens whenever auditory images have appeared subtly or visual images have been translated into auditory images. Internal verbalizations occur normally and are registered as internal conversations, rhythms, humming’s, etc., that sometimes accompany particular operations in the external world (e.g. singing in the shower). We are obviously not talking here about pathological cases like hallucinatory voices. Returning to the subject of the internal guide, it does not matter which image one chooses to represent one’s guide, What is important is that the image truly correspond to a climate of protection, strength, wisdom, trust, rightness, etc. Any type of image (not only a visual one) can give a register of this “presence,” and this will be sufficient to be a guide since the guide will direct one’s mental movements towards other themes which will then have to be visualized. One must have only one guide, and this guide should be associated to a particular kind of call or invocation. However, the indicators of the presence of the guide may be registered by means of any system of images (visual, auditory, cenesthetic, etc.). 2. The Limit The Limit is an allegorizations of the level from which one enters the self transferential process. It may be represented as a door, a step, a threshold, a dividing line, etc. Resistances due to rationalizations or other tensions and blockages will be reflected as bad configurations of the limit. For example, this might show up as defenders who do not allow one to pass, etc. It is important for one to always have the same limit, and it should be an image which is very vivid as a whole as well as in its details. 3. The Roads The routes on which one ascends, descends and advances horizontally must always be allegorized and represented in the same way to help one detect and avoid deviations by the action of the resistances. The three roads appear when one crosses the limit. They are the directional connectives that eventually lead one to the precincts or special environments of the different levels. 4. The Precincts The precincts are images of certain physical locations within which one will do self transferential operations. The precincts must always be represented the same way, and their conformation and characteristics should correspond to the level they are placed at. It is important for the precincts to be defined in three dimensions and for the operator to feel included within them. 5. The Landscapes The landscapes of the horizontal or “middle” road may be a beach, an oasis, a fertile valley, etc. The landscape of the ascending road may be mountainous. The landscape of the descending road may be an abyss, submarine depths, etc. It is not recommended to work with jungle landscapes because their very conformation presents numerous resistances. Such themes are useful in self-transferences only when one particularly wishes to make resistances appear in order to study them. 6. The Characters Unlike previous themes which are fixed and do not vary, one must not have a fixed repertoire of characters (with only a few exceptions) because in different plots one will need to include whatever characters correspond to the interest fixed beforehand. 7. The Hidden City The Hidden City is a good allegorization of the operator’s most internal space. It is found at the upper end of the ascending road. Above it, there is “nothing more.” It is spiritual heaven, and possesses light of its own, or rather light projected from its interior which is the Center of Power. This light is independent of specific sources of artificial or natural external light such as the sun, moon, stars, etc. This city may be in the mythological “world’s end” or suspended beyond the celestial bodies. Whatever the specific case, it may be considered a translation of the end or upper limit of the inside of the operator’s head within which a great variety of subtle cenesthetic sensations are registered. When these sensations are allegorized as visual images, they appear as extremely complex constructions such as an intricate crystalline city, etc. The hidden city has also been represented in certain traditions as the “crown,” or as the “chest” wherein the pearl or jewel of great value is kept. This pearl or jewel is an allegorization of the Center of Power. If in fact one visualizes the true “hidden city” and not some intermediate reproduction, one will observe total darkness above it which corresponds to the upper limit of the space of representation. All great aspirations, ideals and hopes which mobilize human activity in pursuit of complete and permanent relaxation (peace, calm, happiness, etc.) are found within the precincts of the hidden city. The lower counterpart of the hidden city is the subterranean city. It is allegorized as spiritual “hell,” the cities of Agarthi or Shambala, the submerged cathedral, etc. Below this city there is “nothing.” It may be in the deepest abyss of the earth or sea. Like the upper hidden city it also possesses light of its own, and below it is the total darkness which corresponds to the lower limits of the space of representation. Numerous intermediate reproductions of this city may appear in different levels, but none of them will possess that characteristic finality with respect to further vertical movements. One’s frustrations and past biographical conflicts are kept in the precincts of the subterranean city, and they must also be resolved there. The fire of purification is in the center of this city; this fire is essentially the image of the ideal She or He, an image that summarizes the impulses from the sexual center, biographical “knots” or fixations, and the compensations for one’s situation. The operator will visualize these cities at the ends of both the ascending and descending roads, and he can then perfect the images in successive practices following his own creativity. At the end of the middle road the operator will find the city where he develops his habitual, everyday activities. He must place in its different precincts any scenes from his present situation he wishes to work on and resolve. 8. The Center of Power This center is found in the central precincts of the upper hidden city. It is the Light, the Force, and the Meaning of everything. This Light is not represented in the same way as light you have perceived and later remember. It has profound psychological significance and is the “most internal, pure and profound” Light. It is not related to, nor does it represent, any external phenomena. The Light often communicates with the operator in a contact which may appear inexplicable. Fusing with the Light can produce a total transformation or conversion in the meaning in life, and this will be projected externally in decisive changes in behavior. When one makes contact with the Light, and not minor or intermediate lights, the whole space of representation will become illuminated. This will give the operator the sensation of having transcended the upper and lower limits of total darkness. This change in the economy of the consciousness will continue for some time after the experience, and it will even affect external perception in curious ways. The Center of Power is a translation of the register of one’s “self,” of what is most essential in the human being. This center, whose nature is very difficult to discern directly, is most certainly not the “I” The psychological “I” which is a sort of “commander” of the attentional mechanisms of impulses and the memory. The Center of Power itself is normally hidden by the mechanical activities of this psychological “I”. In Lesson 31 when discussing the transferential Technique of Levels we said: “There is a certain limiting depth below which it is not possible to descend … ; at this point everything is dark. Similarly, as one moves up in the heights, above the brightly illuminated sky, above the sun and the stars, the same thing will happen and everything will become dark. This final darkness one encounters in descent as well as in ascent coincides with the end or limit of one’s body. These limits are difficult to reach because one will experience frequent “rebounds” on the way. However, in any case these rebounds are useful in allowing the scene to continue to develop. “In the technique of levels, one should not confuse light that comes from a localized source (underground lights, volcanic fires, illuminated underwater cities found below, or conversely, the sun, moon, stars, city of light, crystalline or radiant objects found above) with the general degree of illumination present which reveals the vertical level one is located in within the space of representation. “There is an important exception to everything we have explained here which sometimes occurs after one reaches the farthest limits of darkness in either ascent or descent, In this exceptional case, the entire space of representation becomes illuminated. This illumination does not come from any localized source, although its source may previously have been localized. While this does not usually occur in transferential processes, it is a phenomenon well known to the mystics of different times and places. Knowledge of this phenomenon has also been acquired from the testimony of persons on the verge of death, those who have “returned” to life after clinical death has been declared.” To finish this theme, we recommend that you do not represent the Light artificially. As one’s work leads one towards the Light, one will have a growing register of “letting go completely.” This is the best attitude with which to transcend the mechanical limitations of the “I.” We will amplify further on this point later. 9. He or She He and She are important themes because they allegorize the “ideal man” or “ideal woman,” depending on the sex of the operator. These themes will become more defined as one studies the central part of the subterranean city. Working with the theme of He or She is important from the point of view of defining the complementary image of the operator. It is not recommended to try to artificially visualize such characters; rather, visualize the precinct that corresponds to them and limit yourself to waiting for them to appear. These images will become more defined as one’s work becomes more profound.

Observations In this lesson we have briefly explained the required conditions for a Self-Transference. We have also considered the main themes that appear. In the next lesson we will deal with the different types of plots that occur. The process of a Self-Transference follows the steps of: Entrance, Development, Emergence, and Post-Transferential Elaboration. We will now give the basic exercise for the Entrance to the process.

Exercise: Entrance to the Self Transferential Process First, the operator does a profound internal relaxation. Then he places the transparent sphere within his chest and expands it slowly. When he feels ready he can then enter the Self Transference by “calling” his internal guide. This call or invocation may be done, for example, as follows: “Oh guide, open the entrance to the internal roads!” While doing this call one can use the technique of contained breathing or holding one’s breath as an interesting way to direct as much attention as possible to one’s heart and lung sensations and disconnect one’s external perceptions. The call should be broken into three parts, each part corresponding to one inhalation that is held until one has visualized the corresponding representation. Then one goes on to the next part as follows: “Oh guide” (inhale and come into contact with the presence of the guide). . .”open the entrance (inhale and visualize the opening of the limit). . .”to the internal roads” (inhale and visualize the three roads). The operator will have to work on this exercise as many times as necessary to learn to represent the three themes of the guide, the limits, and the roads as correctly, brightly and steadily as possible. It is useful to study all the resistances that appear so one can overcome them by repeating the exercise. After one has practiced several times, discuss the experience with the other participants in order to improve each person’s technique. It is of fundamental importance to master the exercise of Entrance because in the future one will always begin any Self Transference process with it. Note, however, that after one learns it one no longer needs to continue to use the technique of holding one’s breath used while learning this technique.