‍ ‍Two roads diverged in a wood and I…

I took the road less traveled by

and that has made all the difference

from the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

More and more I am becoming aware that I am actually travelling on two different roads all the time.. Or more precisely switching back and forth between 2 roads many times each day. I have come to call the High Road and the Low Road, each going in a different direction. These days it appears the high road is less travelled and that the low road is more crowded. I never really noticed being on one or the other Road. . But once you start seeing these 2 Roads … you can’t unsee them.

Each road has a totally different feel or vibe when you are on them. This contrast is unmistakable once you pause to notice this. Furthermore, each Road passes through its own 8 distinct emotional territories along their separate routes. Each territory has its own characteristic vibe, energy, and emotional feel. Two roads, 8 Emotional landscapes along each, one Octave of 8 Emotions along Road, the High Octave group on the High Road and the Low Octave group on on the Low Road.

These 16 Universal Emotions derive from David Hawkins MD brilliant MOC, i.e. Map of Consciousness. The backbone of this website will be outlining the key elements of this Map for using it to emotionally orient in one’s everyday life

Let’s practice a bit to make this more experiential and less abstract. Imagine a situation when you were in the Low Octave energy field of Anger and irritability from a recent upsetting event. How relaxed or tense would your muscles feel? What might you be thinking if you noticed at that moment some driver recklessly weaving through traffic ?

Now switch to imagine being in the High Octave Emotion of Joy and Gratitude. You just received a nice compliment from a friend. How might your body feel afterwards? How tense or relaxed would you be? What might you be thinking about? And finally, what might you do if you noticed person ahead of you being rude and impatient with the checkout clerk.? What road is the person ahead of you on? What road might the checkout clerk switch to after that rude customer? What road might the checkout clerk move to when you sincerely tell them how much you appreciate the service they provide?

Once you start to see the Two Roads and the influence of their Emotional energies, it is hard to unsee them.

Another profound but more gradual shift has also been happening . This time instead of the something once seen cannot beunseen, phenomena, it is a something once heard cannot be unheard phenomena. I am talking about the voices in my head. Michael Singer’s book, the Untetherd Soul was instrumental in enabling this shift. So what kind of shift are we talking about?

Over the last 2 decades have increasingly been recognizing and hearing in a way what sounds like 2 different kinds of voices talking inside my mind. It’s s good thing I am an experienced Psychologist trained about how psychosis distorts sensory awareness to generate realistic sounding voices and images. Hence I was not alarmed that my neurobiology was malfunctioning or that I was having a major psychedelic distortion of ordinary sensory reality when noticing these voices. These voices were different and had a different quality. One was loder and could go on talking for long periods of time. The other was so whispering quiet that I had to be very quiet and still to capture it.had to be very I was hearing

This first type voice I realized could be put into the category of talking to oneself. For example after making a mistake or forgetting something important my mind might start saying “How could I have been so stupid” “I am going to be in real trouble when my partner finds out about this”. “What am I going to do now?” “ It wasn’t my fault really, I was tired from being up late with my sick dog.” And on and on, over and over.

I used to just assume these were my thoughts from my personality. But after the help of many years of meditation, reading and watching the thoughts parading through my mind a new understanding emerged. Reading Michael Siger’s the Untethered That talking to myself voice had a mind of its own own and came from the Lower Mind on the Low Road. I could not stop it or get rid of. So gradually I would let go and just watch it. I noticed it often said a lot of confusing, contradictory, scarey and downright mean things at times. It could be so judgemental. It certainly did not seem to be coming from the best part of me. But that other Voice, with its softer, kinder, non-judgemental thoughts felt more like the Real me.

On the Low road inner voice has a field day commenting non stop on everything and everyone around me. It is so controlling always telling me what to do or not do, how ok or not ok I am, how ok or not ok what is happening to me is. When I am on the High road amidst Hig Octave feeling the softer voice speaks and is a much more patient guide. Especially when I get distracted, lost, and in trouble. The quieter other voice of the High road mostly whispers and is always calmly watching. It’s guidance has a more subtle quality where in a situation something just doesn’t feel right. Or more uncannily, situations where that personal voice is yelling inside our head “this is the obvious choice” doesn’t feel right.

The favorite classes of my entire life happened in my 20’s and centered on learning just one thing… Letting Go.

I had just arrived in Chicago to start 4 years of intensive “thinkingness” to earn a doctorate in Clical Psychology. I was looking for an activity where I would not have to think so much. There was a Tai Chi school a few blocks from campus posting an attractive invitation to learn how to let go and flow using the invisible ‘chi’ energy of the Tao. I had heard about ‘chi’ energy from descriptions of acupuncture and the energy chakras described in yoga classes. After learning to unlock this energy as I “let go” of muscle tension in the Tai Chi classes, I was hooked. After some time as a student I began teaching classes at a Schppl for the Performing Arts in Downtown Chicago.

‍ ‍ Letting Go and the Journey Along the 2 Octaves

Our ordinary self typically prefers the Low Octave trail that stays within the comfortable boundaries of what is judged to be safe and surrounded by conditions we like or at least prefer over less likeable alternatives . Our everyday personality mentally avoids and veers away from what is disliked or feels painful, In the outside world this takes the visible forms of say a person place thing or situation.. In the Inside mental world, the mind can use denial or distraction to veer away from uncomfortable feelings, thoughts, and memories.

‍ ‍Side Note:The inner ecosystem of the mind can be a noisy cacaphony of body sensations, thoughts, feelings, past memories and future plans for the day or week. Amidst this swirling activity, there is an inner voice giving incessant commentary and opinions on everything occuring in both the outside world and this inside world of the thoughts and feelings one is having each moment. The powerful influence of this inner voice will be explored in greater detail later when talking about the Emotion of Pride. For now see if you can notice it a bit of this inner voice activity right now.

Examples: If you forgot to do something during the day, watch what this inner voice might be saying. If you are driving and someone speeds by then cuts you of watch what this inner voice will say. This inner mental chatter has been surrounding us for so long and is so incessant that we cease to notice it. Just like a fish in the ocean fails to notice the water it is swimming in, we rarely recognize the ceaseless activity of these currents of opinions and comments coming from the ego.

By contrast, the High Octave trail enters territory where it encounters pain and difficulty. This is especially true in the beginning travels that can be marked by crises and major losses. Travelling this path alsoinvolves the challenging inner work of becoming unmoved by the powerful influence of our former likes or dislikes. Following these detours us back to the well trodden Lower Octave path.

The High Octave path is drawn toward practices of meditation, contemplation and Silence . In these spaces one can better listen for the wisps of intuition and whispers of guidance from the mysterious realm of Spirit. This is the journey into the unknown which includes vast otherworldly Vistas. It has been described as the proverbial road less traveled. It is not a path for the faint hearted or those hoping to avoid the tug of War Reality battle between Spirit & Matter-ialism. My hope is that this site will be of assistance in understanding the liberating nature of the High Octave Pathways.