Ideation and Discernment
Table of Contents
The previous section explained that the feeling process uses flow and force, with emphasis on force.
The goal of feeling is peace which the mind achieves through equanimity and self-mastery.
Peace, harmony, and satisfaction are all effects of the Positive Force just as distress and conflict effects of the Negative.
- The former are based on the Hgher Mind, just as the latter are based on the Lower Mind blocking off access to the Higher Mind through the Negative Force
Sensitivity, Reflection, Empathy, Discernment, Ideation
In order to elucidate the feeling process, we need to define concepts related to it.
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Sensitivity is the awareness of emotions.
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Reflection is the use of sensitivity to realize the causal and effective emotions in general.
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Self-control is the ability to combine and harmonize multiple emotions together.
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Discernment is reflection on the individual emotions that make up a compound feeling in order to get the whole picture or understanding of it
- Examples of discernment are assessment of moral actions, taste, beauty, music, manners.
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Ideation is reflection on the structure of the compound emotion into its components in order to get the whole picture or understanding of being
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Examples of ideation are goal-setting, creation of vision-mission, visualization of ideal outcomes such as dream job, ideal spouse, perfect home, etc
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Affirmations are emotions used to aid ideations as guideposts and direction signs to control the traffic or flow of feeling.
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Meditation is ideation using affirmations and other techniques to understanding the nature or essemce of the self or something
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Self-Realization or Samadhi is the final result of meditation, with the soul as the end product.
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These definitions harmonize with those related to thinking:
| Thinking Process | Feeling Process |
|---|---|
| Logic (Connection of ideas) | Sensitivity (Awareness of emotions) |
| Reasoning (Logic for cause/effect) | Reflection (Sensitivity to realize causal/effective emotions) |
| Intellect (Harmonize multiple reasonings) | Empathy (Harmonize multiple external emotions) |
| Induction (Reasoning from individual ideas to get the whole picture) | Discernment (Reflection on individual emotions to the whole picture) |
| Deduction (Reasoning from the compound idea to its components) | Ideation (Reflection on compound emotion to its components) |
| Syllogisms (Idea-guideposts for deductive reasoning) | Affirmations (Emotion-words used as guideposts for ideation) |
| Inquiry (Deduction on syllogisms to undertand compound idea) | Meditation (Ideation using affirmations to understand essence) |
| Realization (Result of Inquiry) | Samadhi or Self-Realization (Result of Meditation) |
| Knowledge (Product of Realization) | Peace (Product of Samadhi) |
Ideation (Feeling Deduction) and Discernment (Feeling Induction)
Ideation is a way of reflecting that starts with a big emotion then working to fill the details and relations.
A common example is goal-setting. We wake up and go to work because we feel we need to achieve a certain goal that is not achieved by being unemployed.
A recent trend is career-pathing as done by mentors or “life coaches”. In schools, children are asked what they want to be when they grow up.
Discernment is a way of reflecting that starts with current emotion-preceptions then working to paint the overall emotion.
An common example is moral actions. When someone hurts someone, we can choose to ignore it or defend the hurt person. We do not really think about the rational consequences or even get more information before we react.
Here, the discernment time is very short. But when we suddenly get a job offer out of the blue, without our aiming or ideation for it, then we use feeling-discernment to decide whether we should accept it or not.
| Concept | Example |
|---|---|
| Ideation (feeling deduction) | What company should I set up? What is my ideal company? |
| Thinking deduction | The nitty gritty ideas or details of that company |
| Discernment (feeling induction) | What conflicting feelings do I have for what the company should be? |
| Thinking Induction | Surveying the resources that you actually have |
Materialism and the Negative Force have prevailed in the world for many centuries. This is why discernment is emphasized over ideation. Though recently, spirituality and the Positive Force seems to be increasing. This is why movements like the Law of Attraction and Mindfulness are slowly gaining traction.
- Discernment will be discussed in Chapter 10 as part of morality
- Ideation will be discussed in Chapter 11 as part of spirituality
