Altitude & Attitude - An Answer?

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

An answer? An answer to what, you might say. Well first, let’s get some definitions out of the way, and see if any kind of answer is the right approach here.

1. Altitude is defined as a distance elevation or an angular measurement, mostly in a vertical or up direction, between a reference point and another point or object, usually based in a particular context, such as aviation, astronomy, geographical, geometry, or sports, and commonly used as the location height above sea level.

2. Attitude is defined usually in aeronautical, artistic, or psychological terms. In aviation, it means the inclination of the principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind or the ground, or the orientation of a spacecraft in relation to its direction of motion. In the arts, it is a specific ballet position, and for a painter or sculptor it is a position or gesture by the figure in their artistic piece to communicate a particular mood or emotion. In psychology, it is a person’s mental (cognitive) and emotional (affective) perspective, tendency, orientation, manner and/or behavior towards people, ideas or other specified targets or objects.

However, I want to speak of these two terms in a more spiritual way, which actually is probably closer to the stated aeronautical terminology than any of the other types. I have mentioned these two terms in spiritual ways in some past blog entries, so it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch here.

Altitude. As I have said here several times I practice a system of active sound current meditation called Audinometry. When a person does these meditation techniques right, it can result in greater spiritual altitude, meaning … going up in a vertical direction. And you might ask, what does altitude do for you? Well, it certainly makes you feel a whole lot better, especially being up and out of all the normal everyday muck of this crazy modern world. Freedom … aaahhh, you can hardly beat it. Yes, there is a certain “high” feeling you get as you gain more and more altitude by acquiring spiritual energy for upwards inner travel, which is better than any other high or up event I have experienced. Ever.

And of course, from a more practical viewpoint, higher altitude can essentially give you a much better view of life, can broaden your horizons, and actually can offer a better understanding of this whole firmament of creation. Think of being on a mountaintop, in a tall skyscraper or in an airplane, or even a space ship, and what those views can give you. All that can allow you to be ahead of the curve in your life and timeline, and can provide you with more spiritual tools for any challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead. It’s quite an awesome thing, and to tell you the truth, the words I have used to describe this total experience is not near enough to do so.

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.” — Marcus Aurelius

Now to attitude. Actually altitude and attitude work hand in hand. While altitude is more straight forward, it seems to me that attitude is a bit more complicated. There are two ways to how we can approach this. One is emotional/mental, and the other is structural/technique. When you are doing the Audinometry techniques and trying to ‘get off’ in meditation, poor attitude can prevent you from achieving any real vertical altitude. So your attitude has to be put together right to get the desirable results. At times this isn’t too hard to do, but more often than not it can become problematic.

Looking at attitude from an emotional/mental perspective relates closely to the psychological definition presented above. How we perceive, orient, relate, and interact with our environment can oftentimes determine how well our life unfolds and progresses in the moment and over time. That is also true when you approach the meditative practice. Having your attention on the negative things in your life makes it pretty hard to get off in meditation. You might as well be a mighty bird in a tree flapping its wings as hard as it can while its talons grip the branches with all its strength. There will be no liftoff. Just a lot of huffing and puffing, energy spent, and frustration.

Looking at attitude from a structural/technique perspective relates closely to the aeronautical definition. If I’m a pilot in a plane on the runway and the plane’s attitude is all wrong, then I’m never getting off the ground. If I’m already flying an airplane and its attitude goes wrong, then I very well could be headed for disaster on the ground, unless I correct the plane’s attitude. Meaning, by wrong, my plane’s attitude won’t support flight, because the flight dynamics of roll, pitch and yaw in orientation to the speed and angle of attack of the plane’s flight surfaces against the wind’s motion don’t allow it to actually take off to fly, or remain in flight if already flying. So the plane basically has ‘bad attitude.’

In meditation, you could also say you can’t take off because of ‘bad attitude.’ In a manner of speaking, there actually is a similarity to the aeronautical and psychological definition of attitude. As I said before, two ways to look at it, but in the end they do connect up.

Putting altitude and attitude together, and having them work together, really makes quite a bit of difference in a high energy meditation system.

“Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.” — Irving Berlin

Before I sign off this time, there is another angle in which I want to approach this important subject. In the meditation system I practice I have had the privilege over the years of meeting lots of different types of people from all over the country, as well as people from several other countries. I don’t know how many there have been, as I have not really kept track. I’m sure it’s been well over 1,000. I certainly have not known or even met every one of them. But I have met a fair amount of them over the past four decades. And yet, there is one thing that still surprises me to this day … when I see someone who seems to be doing well with the program just give it up.

I have taken a look at this for awhile now, mostly out of curiosity, not because I was necessarily trying to one-up anyone or trying to fix a problem. Mostly I guess it has been an academic exercise. I still know several of these people, and every once in a while I will fish for clues or signs, but never wanting to pass judgment of any kind. To each his own I feel is a good way to live. But I have come to believe several things.

For the most part, we all live in an insecure and unstable world. And there are lots of sensitive souls out there that get crushed by the hard realities of this physical world. It is easy to get caught up in the negative momentums of this place. Most of the time it is a gradual process over many years. One day you are a shining twenty-five old bursting with energy, ambitions, and dreams. Fifty years later it’s very possible the world has beaten you down, and you are living in quiet desperation. I think most of us, or maybe all of us, have had at least glimpses of this. It is never a pretty picture. I only offer this as a contributing background to the why of my last main point.

I think these are the situations/reasons/scenarios in which someone may have given up a such a path and practice that could lead to such incredible vertical altitude and positive attitude. And in my experience (and others) this practice can result in some wonderful spiritual progressions.

#1 – They realized it was not the right meditation system or spiritual path for them, for whatever reason. They were just not ready for it, and they didn’t realize the work and commitment it would entail.

#2 – They did not practice the techniques correctly, or didn’t understand how they were to be done. Or they did not do the techniques regularly enough to get the real full benefits from it.

#3 – They got sidetracked by other personal issues. There may have been personality clashes with other members or with teachers. There may have been past paradigms they could not let go of, or past unresolved mental and emotional issues they could not get clear of.

#4 – There was poor communication between them and their teacher, and issues that came up were not dealt with.

#5 – They had spiritual damage that just did not get fixed, which might make it hard for the techniques to work properly. Part of that may have been because of #4, as communication was not properly functioning.

#6 – They were too academic minded. This system is a path of practice, not one of academics. It is something you do, places you go to, experiences to comprehend. It is not a philosophy, creed, or religion. So it’s not about academic exercises, which is what some people want.

 #7 – The techniques just did not work for them. I have to say that while it is possible they just didn’t work, I would bet it was because of some of these other reasons.

#8 – Or the techniques worked too well. This may seem odd, but I have seen people get spooked or freaked out by their experiences, and then walk away. This apparently was not what they were looking for.

#9 – They got trapped into emotional and mental ‘looping’. This is related to #3 & #6, but possibly more involved. This is also where altitude and attitude can really help, although probably true for all of these. Because it is easy to get caught up in the garbage and baggage of the world around us, we tend to focus on it too much. Meditation is a great tool for getting “above” our emotions and our mind. However, when we don’t wear that path enough inside ourselves, we get into emotional and mental loops that are continually fed by the outside world. And can’t break loose. Your altitude and attitude exist or go where and what you focus on. There will always be negative things to focus on, but the more you do that, the more there will be to see. It becomes a vicious cycle. Just watch cable news or sit online on Facebook and watch all of that rein in your attention.

All that pretty much covers most of what I have humbly observed over the years. Although it is always possible there are other reasons. Also, it seems to me that it was oftentimes a varied combination of some of these reasons.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” — Winston Churchill

Altitude and attitude. In the beginning I asked if there were any answers in all of this. This is the best answer I can offer anyone. After doing these meditative techniques myself for awhile now, I have learned this: I firmly feel, believe, think, that if you do nothing else in your life, it is always best to strive to live as high in your being as you very possibly can. Negative altitude and negative attitude are energy drains, and go nowhere but down. Positive spiritual altitude and attitude can make all the difference in the world; in how you feel in general, in how you feel about yourself, in how you feel about others, in how you feel about the world, and in how you feel about your whole future. So, whether you want to go somewhere or nowhere, it’s all in what you make of your own altitude and your own attitude. That is where you can own your own reality, or other forces in the world will own you. It really is all up to you!

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”
— Mahatma Gandhi

TMC