PAINT IT BLACK: THE ART OF IMPRESSIONISM

Or Why do I get so depressed lately? By John Williams If you think being happy depends upon things going well in your life, think again. Thats not how it works. But since most of us BELIEVE this, this is what we FOCUS upon, and thereby totally miss the point, which is the point of CONTROL. Missing the point of control, we remain at the mercy of the seeming whims of fate, and thus ride a continual emotional roller coaster: For awhile, everything is going great, and we are riding high and carefree, but then, BANG, something happens; things begin to change, and before we know it, we find ourselves unexplainably depressed. This piece is about breaking free of all that and taking emotional control of your life, once and for all. Impressionism in Art is a technique that explores the effect of LIGHT on OBJECTS. Impressionism in the Art Of Living, is a technique that ALSO explores the effect of light (consciousness) on objects (the things and situations of your daily life). What you SEE is not what is THERE, but your IMPRESSION of what is there. It is not the raw OBJECT (or the bare FACTS of a situation) that makes it inside your head, but rather, the facts as you spin them. We are our own political machines, our own media circuses. We are our own Spin Doctors, and are mostly practicing without a license and making ourselves sick in the process. The Buddha, 2500 years ago, knew this, and based the preliminary phases of his meditation practices on attaining the bare object. He said: In what is seen there should be only the seen; in what is heard, only the heard; in what is sensed, only the sensed; in what is thought, only the thought. This, we NEVER do, without effort, and if you have ever seriously tried to meditate, you will KNOW how hard it is to separate out REALITY from our PROJECTIONS upon it. We constantly COLOUR the objects we see, with our own subjective impressions, and far too often, we paint them black. Painting it black, means STAINING the reality we see with DARKNESS instead of light. We want to do the reverse, following the suggestion of Leonardo Da Vinci, in his discussion of the chiaroscuro painting technique he developed. Though Leonardo predated the Impressionist School, he was among the first to explore the effects of light upon objects.

Leonardo wrote, " bathing objects in light is merging them with the infinite." What we want to do is to learn to look at our daily reality in A NEW WAY, in a way perhaps we have never really tried before, and USE this vision to merge our perception of what is going on PRACTICALLY in our lives, with the PHILOSOPHICAL MEANING (its connection with the Infinite.) behind it. To do this, we have to put away the black paint, and totally abandon our ADDICTION to NEGATIVITY. Gurdjieff built his entire philosophical and psychological system on the cornerstone of the following principle: WE HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE NEGATIVE. This sentence rings most strangely in most peoples ears, for they see BEING negative as one of the few rights and privileges LEFT to us in todays politically correct and overly-restrictive society: We get to bitch. About whatever we like. And it feels GOOD! THIS is our most PROFOUND mistake, and costs us, we know not how dearly! Do you have any idea what being negative DOES to you? It is very much like smoking; its effects are slow and insidious, but, in the end, DEADLY to happiness. Like smoking, there is short-term relief, a quick fix, which leads to another and another, on and on to the grave. If you could WATCH the effects of negativity on your being, slowly, inwardly, here is what you would see: Whenever you become negative towards anything that happens to you or any situation you are caught up in, the very FIRST effect is a an inner cringing or contraction within yourself, which leads to a DIMMING OF THE LIGHT within your own being. It is as though someone actually turned a dimmer switch and dropped the wattage from 100 to 25 in that spot in your mind occupied with the inner representation of that outer reality. With the dimming of the light comes a dropping in the level of your VITAL ENERGY. Technically, this energy is variously referred to as CHI, ETHERIC VITALITY, PRANA, KUNDALINI, and other terms, depending upon its dimension of activity, and it is capable of being photographed by Kirlian photography in its extension slightly beyond the surface of the skin. The quality and intensity of the energy (not just etheric, but also astral and mental) flowing through your chakras is what controls your GLANDS, and in turn, (via the glandular and hormonal secretions given off by these glands)) determines the chemical composition of your body at any given moment. Body chemistry DIRECTLY affects the way you feel. Thus, turning negative, and shutting down your finer energies, you in effect, knock out your chemical support system, and inevitably become depressed. People then take drugs (e.g.

Prozac) to OFFSET the chemical changes produced at the bottom level, but this does nothing to change the CAUSE, which is a diminution of the force and quality of energy flowing down through the dimensions of your being, from above, which TRIGGER all this bad chemistry. Our purpose here is to focus attention on the CAUSE of depression, and eliminate, once and for all, its effects. OUR HAPPINESS CANNOT BE DEPENDENT ON OTHER PEOPLE OR UPON EXTERNAL EVENTS. Why? Because it is a SELF-DEFEATING PROCESS. If we are dependent for our happiness in this way, we will inevitably mistreat others and manipulate outer conditions to our advantage to get the feedback we so desperately require. This will create negative karma, which, in turn, will produce the very opposite feedback we are looking for. How can we possibly SERVE others (i.e. treat them in a NON-selfish manner) if we desperately NEED a certain feedback from them? And if things simply MUST turn out the way we desire, will we not do just about anything to manipulate the situation, throwing ethics to the wind in the process? Seen as a SOURCE of our happiness in this way, people, objects and situations become like DRUGS, and we, in turn behave like crazed ADDICTS. This can all be changed by looking at what we really WANT from people, objects and situations in the first place: WE WANT THEM TO MAKE US FEEL POSITIVE, about ourselves and about Life in general. We want from them a feedback which says, You are fine and Life is going great! Is this not it, really? So why not go straight to the REAL source, and cut out the middleman? It is a feeling in YOU, you are looking for, is it not, so why are you putting the POWER into OTHER hands than your own? This is not to become delusional and think that people and outer events dont really matter, as long as you can sit there and manipulate your own mind to your advantage. Peoples negative reactions to us, and things not going well in our lives are like PAIN stimuli to our skin: they WARN us that we are doing something wrong. Fine; we then institute CORRECTIVE BEHAVIOUR to remedy the situation, carefully analyzing our mistakes and setting out to act CORRECTLY in future. But all THIS is a LOGICAL process, like trying out various letter combinations in a crossword puzzle, until we get it right. Life on Earth is an individual EXPERIMENTAL process, and we, as Life scientists and Life Artists, are EXPECTED to make mistake after mistake and to learn by TRIAL AND ERROR. This is just the way things are set up. We dont

need to beat ourselves up over it every time we make a bad decision. BUT WE DO, and this is the problem. You and he and she, and this and that become our REPORT CARDS, and we see failure written all over them, and then we get depressed. Negative and positive feelings must thus be SEPARATED OUT from the results of our experimenting, and not be dragged into this experimental process at all. After all, look at the scientific method : Can you picture a high-level research scientist, experimenting with a complex genetic procedure requiring a lengthy trial and error process, fuming, getting red in the face, cursing and sobbing over every failed experiment? Well, WE are those scientists in the Lab of Life, and must conduct our own experiments in an equally detached manner to assure success, and long-term viability. Like the scientist, we have the ability to STEP OUT OF THE LAB and GIVE ourselves that which we require, instead of depending on it from our experiments. WE DO this by practicing a type of EMOTIONAL MINDFULNESS. REGARDLESS of how our experiments with people and situations are going at the time, we CONSCIOUSLY work to KEEP OUR MIND BRIGHT, to keep ourselves POSITIVE, for it will do us absolutely no good to become depressed or negative, and we can THINK much more clearly when we ARE happy. HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. WE must remember this. NEGATIVITY IS A CHOICE, as well, and a fatal one. We ARE intentionally given freedom, as human beings to CHOOSE what we put in our mouths and into our brains, and in this respect, THOUGHTS ARE FOOD. Why constantly consume negativity? James Joyces masterpiece, Ulysses, ends, after hundreds of pages of torturous thought, with the single word YES. After all the nail-biting, after all the pondering, after all the restless nights of tossing and turning, looking into the deep, dark places of human existence, what does it all come down to? A YES, an AFFIRMATION of Life. THAT is what has been learned. Is this quality of UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVITY not precisely what we enjoy in our MOVIE HEROES? We want heroes like Diehards Bruce Willis, who dodge bullets and karate chops, with never a sense of fear or doubt in their minds. The ones we are seeing more and more are those heroes who laugh through it all, and even joke about their situations while they save the world, and this is why we see so many comedians in action movies today: You simply KNOW Eddie Murphy or Chris Rock is NOT going to get hurt and will be laughing until the end. They simply REFUSE to get negative.

Well, you say, this is totally unrealistic. That is just the point: We KNOW it is not our current reality, but we sure WANT it to be, and where theres a will, theres a way. But it is NOT the way of successful manipulation of the OUTER landscape, which we see in the movies; it is rather, the manipulation of the INNER landscape of our own MINDS. We are lousy fortune-tellers, and this is where much of our negativity comes from: Yes, but we must be on the defensive and protect ourselves against future threats, you say. True, but again, this needs to be a LOGICAL, and a PHYSICAL protection, taken through methodical, rational ACTION. Turning EMOTIONALLY negative does nothing whatever to protect us, and much to hurt us. Just look at the much- anticipated Y2K crisis: People actually committed SUICIDE in fear of this crisis, and it never materialized. Yet, everyone slept peacefully through Pearl Harbour and 911, which no one expected to happen. That is just it: WE do NOT know what will happen in the future, only that crowd of Gloom and Doom little Is inside us keeps saying Ohbut WE do! Then, at each little sign from outer Life, that things may be going downhill, this crowd throws us into an emotional tailspin. See? She didnt smile, DID she? Ah HA! That PROVES it! Hey.. did you see THAT? Walked right past and didnt even LOOK at you SEE? And you didnt get a phone call either, now, DID you? More and more, the evidence piles up and this nasty little crowd puts a RESOLUTION on the floor of your inner Senate: Resolved, that things are BAD! The resolution passes and you wind up depressed. There is some evidence that the human mind can hold about 7 things on the screen of its mind at one time (the # of digits in a phone number.) If your mind is like a computer screen, then there are always about 7 major icons hanging on it, with their titles staring you in the face: 1. Your love life 2. Your school or career 3. Your friends, and so onnot always the same ones, for they change around, but about 7. Stop now and stare off into space: Watch what your mind TURNS To first. This will be one of your current icons. Let your mind drift and a 2nd and 3rd will come up. These are the things you are preoccupied with, and therefore, what you will base your current crystal-ball reading of success or failure on. Now imagine each icon has a WATTAGE, or a BRIGHTNESS to it, and it is THIS combined wattage which lights up the screen of your mind. Well, on a day when all 7 vital areas of your life are not going well in your estimation, your NEGATIVITY will have dimmed those icons so far that your screen will look totally BLACK and you will feel like jumping in the river.

HOWEVER a phone call here, a letter of acceptance there, a new lover too, and suddenly What a difference a day makes! The screen is literally ABLAZE and you are on top of the world, with the Gloom and Doomers hiding under the table. IS THIS NOT TRUE? Is this also not RIDICULOUS? Surely, as dignified human beings, this manic-depressive irrationality is beneath us. We can not and WILL not know our PERSONAL futures in our current lifetimes; even Masters cannot predict everything with certainty. The one thing we CAN be certain of is the working of the LAWS of Life, for by definition, Laws indicate PREDICTABLE behaviour. So if we want to know our future, we must look to our current ACTIONS and see if they run with or counter to the LAWS OF LIFE. Leave the gloomy Swamis under the table. Dont even listen to them. Instead, watch what you are DOING, for what you DO, with your body, feelings and mind, will produce inevitable karmic results. Physically, practice RIGHT ACTION, emotionally, practice, RIGHT FEELING ,and mentally, practice RIGHT THOUGHT. Avoiding NEGATIVITY and keeping an attitude of UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVITY, works on BOTH thoughts and feelings, and is so far from being naiive and overly optimistic that we must look further into this. Much of our negativity comes from CRITICISM, and yet we hear so many spiritual authorities speak of the essential need for NONCRITICISM. Yes, we say, but there is so much WRONG with the world, and we run off being Michael Moore wannabes. But we forget, HE is doing it with a sense of HUMOUR, and we need to keep our own. Seeing the need for change does NOT require criticism the way it is so often done: as a vindictive and hateful tearing apart of what others are building. This just makes us feel NASTY, sends out horrible vibrations ,and makes others hate us. Then they give us the feedback, and it is NOT what we crave to feel POSITIVE about ourselves, so we hate them more and become defensive, and eventually, depressed. A little COMPASSION is in order here: Others are having a hard time, just as we are, and COLLECTIVELY, Humanity is a toddler in the Universe, and is EXPECTED to make a mess of things at this stage of its development. Besides, we have to realize that much of our criticism of others and of situations comes from our own quirky likes and dislikes and has no real objective validity. Most people LOVE doing all the things which are really BAD for them (smoking, drinking, eating junk food, doing drugs, speeding, etc.) and HATE doing what is GOOD for them (following all the rules). In similar fashion, we often criticize, not because something is

WRONG, but out of JEALOUSY or SPITE. Thus, the argument of keeping negativity in our arsenal as a critical tool only a naiive fool would dispense with, doesnt wash. One can judge whether behaviour is in line with the Laws of Life without getting emotionally wound up about it. Before we conclude, let us look at one last consideration: the effect of our philosophical outlook on our INNER WEATHER. Philosophical thinking is like mental judo: it is capable of using the force of an opponent against it. If you DETERMINE to see the POSITIVE in each turn of events , because you adhere to a philosophy which advocates that ALL WORKS TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD, you will grasp each happening differently, and see it in a different LIGHT, merging its significance with the Infinite Purpose of existence. The PATHETIC FALLACY in literature is the literary endowment of natural forces with human feelings: Therefore, it RAINS in a novel when a great person dies, as Nature is weeping at the loss. We all complain about the weather on the Planet, but is there really any connection between the weather and human feelings, and how do our OWN feelings affect the inner weather the cells in our bodies are forced to experience? Jane Roberts, in her book The individual and the Nature of Mass Events, cites case after case where the collective FEELINGS of large groups of individuals brought about monumental and often catastrophic changes in weather and weather patterns all over the globe, including many of the major epidemics which swept Europe in past centuries. One instance is given of a community in Ohio, where severe unemployment and poverty had led to such a collective feeling of doom that a flood was actually DRAWN to the area, wiping out most of the business section and actually leading to eventual State relief and a wonderful urban renewal, which is just what the people were secretly wanting. The rain dances of ancient Indian tribes worked on this very principle, and contacted the elementals of Nature who control weather forces. The same occurs within our own bodies, when we allow pockets of depression to linger due to our negativity, and our digestive processes and the functioning of our internal organs is affected. Now you can READ all this, and agree with the arguments, but are you ready to DO something about it, and SAY GOODBYE to depression for GOOD? That this totally SIMPLE and seemingly OBVIOUS remedy actually WORKS,

has been testified to by countless individuals who have employed this method in its various forms over the years. WE have mentioned Gurdjieff, but in America, there have been such mainstream books as The Power of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale, and Psycho-Cybernetics: Or SelfImage Psychology which today forms the basis of sports psychology. To SEE the amazing benefits of NOT BEING NEGATIVE you must actually TRY it, for just one day. It will involve a CONTINUAL monitoring of your inner screen, and a quick judo-like flipping of the way you grasp things. As soon as you feel that DARKENING and CONTRACTION towards ANYTHING or ANYONE, you must REFUSE to GIVE IN and become negative, for you are POISONING yourself for no reason whatsoever except that you dont KNOW any better, and have always just done it, like everyone else around you (who is also depressed!) GUARANTEED just ONE HOUR of REALLY doing this as you walk around, and you will find yourself in an EXCELLENT mood. Start in the morning, and by lunch, you will be FLYING! This is a lot easier than meditation, and a LOT more dramatic in its effects, and doing it, you will be amazed at just how negative you usually ARE. Reclaim the canvas of your own mind, and stop painting it black! Happiness is an ACT OF WILL, a DECISION: the decision NOT TO BE NEGATIVE, under ANY CONDITION. a decision you will hopefully make for yourself, starting today.