Why being a 'Master' isn't so great.

In 'spiritual' circles it is common to hear people talking about self mastery. This is also common in artistic circles - where people talk of mastering an art. There's a subtle issue here that makes a big difference that needs to be explained now.

Have you noticed that the word 'master' has a common partner in 'slave'? The accepted etymology, currently, for 'Master' is:

late Old English mægester "a man having control or authority; a teacher or tutor," from Latin magister (n.) "chief, head, director, teacher" (source of Old French maistre, French maître, Spanish and Italian maestro, Portuguese mestre, Dutch meester, German Meister), contrastive adjective ("he who is greater") from magis (adv.) "more," from PIE *mag-yos-, comparative of root *meg- "great." The form was influenced in Middle English by Old French cognate maistre.

Source: Etymonline

So far from simply being a term for someone who is 'great' at something - 'master' literally refers to CONTROL, as well as referring to the ability to be a teacher. However, we have the word 'teacher' for those that teach and we have 'great' for those who excel. What's the difference between a 'great teacher' and a 'master'? The element of control.

As I have often said, control requires a 'twoness' - the 'controlled' and the 'controller'. So if we say we have 'self control' we must be, by definition, splitting our inner being into more than one sub part - one that controls and one that is controlled. Is this a healthy approach? Aren't we really, in truth, a singular oneness? We are! Self control is an unloving approach that almost always results in the mental processes exerting command over the emotions in ways that don't feel good but which get denied in favour of the imagined vision of a great self (posturing).

Mastering the arts?

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What one person means by 'mastering an art' may not exactly be the same as an other's definition. However, the process of 'mastering an art' is a process of channeling vision/intention into a manifested form (usually). The essence of channeling vision and intention is one that is inhibited by a misalignment of thought, feeling and heart and more than anything else it is correction of this that results in what we call 'greatness'. This is, for example, how it is possible for rare individuals to be great at an art even from a very young age, without significant experience (e.g. Mozart). In this context what people call 'mastering an art', being as the creative process is one within self, is often a process of making misaligned elements in self subservient to the dominant process (which is usually the mind). We are inherently creative and so we don't need discipline, force or control to excel at creativity, we just need balance.

The alternative is to simply express art and be in acceptance of what is created. As self comes into greater balance through intention and a healing process, the art's perceived greatness will reflect that balance.

Free will is our nature and when we suppress it within self through artificial compartmentalised thought and definitions, we limit our greatness. Usually, we replace this with visions and beliefs of how great we are that attempt to cover up our shortfalls. This has become so common that it has become normalised for people to think of themselves as incapable of greatness and so anyone with any skill can come along and claim to be 'great' or 'experts', when really they are mediocre and true greatness has yet to be realised.

Wishing you well,
Ura Soul

Originally shared at Ureka , here.

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