Energy Feeding

[ButterflyWoman]

Matt 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." - NIV

Note, also, that Jesus noted that the Kingdom of Heaven was not "above" but rather WITHIN.

Just a thought.

[dreamosis]

Further directional complications! Yay!

So what you bind without is also/can be bound within...

[ButterflyWoman]

As within, so without. That which is "without" is a direct reflection of that which is "within". That's how I read it, anyway.

[dreamosis]

Sheesh, this shows how metaphorical words can be. What does "within" really mean? Is the spirit really "inside"? Inside what? The body? Heart? The cells? The mitochondria? The nuclei of your atoms?

Spirit doesn't exist in a direction, it's in a place without direction. Even that is confusing, though, if it isn't read as metaphor -- since, for it to make sense, you have to understand "place" as metaphorical.

At any rate, to be sure, Feasters appear when there's an overemphasis on the finite-ness of life. Those who are regularly in contact with the infinite, don't need to prey on others.

[Tutor]

hee hee

i reckon that any direction is from within take towards. ere>go, all directions are within leaving no 'without' or lack therein.

imma takin a break for a spell...se yuns later...

[ButterflyWoman]

Sheesh, this shows how metaphorical words can be. What does "within" really mean? Is the spirit really "inside"? Inside what? The body? Heart? The cells? The mitochondria? The nuclei of your atoms?

We perceive that we have "inner" thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. Then there's the "outer" world of objects, other people, food, random stuff we interact with.

People tend to think that "outside" things will make them happy, will nourish them, will guide them, etc. etc., but all that is really a reflection of that which we perceive to be our own "inner" world. Which gets back nicely to the topic, methinks.

It's about perception, not about literalism.

[dreamosis]

It's about perception, not about literalism.

Yes, of course, there's no need to get complicated. Our awareness is spatial. I don't experience emotions as happening ten feet in front of me, I perceive them as happening within the bounds of my body (or sometimes, energy field).

Over a lifetime a human can come to associate satisfying interactions with the world-out-there with the world-within, thus coming to the dubious conclusion that such interaction caused the satisfaction. Yet, on a fundamental, body-level is this true, or close to true. Cool, clean water can cause a bodily satisfaction. The mistake is in applying the dynamics of the body to all levels of being in all situations.

Comments I get frequently from suspected Feasters is "You make me feel so good," "I feel so good around you," etc. Their feeling good, obviously, isn't necessarily a result of energy-feeding (or energy-tasting), but they associate their good feeling with me and my presence.

A person enters into energy-feeding patterns, maybe, when the simpler, cause-and-effect dynamics of the body are applied to one's emotional and mental life. (?)

[ButterflyWoman]

Over a lifetime a human can come to associate satisfying interactions with the world-out-there with the world-within, thus coming to the dubious conclusion that such interaction caused the satisfaction. Yet, on a fundamental, body-level is this true, or close to true. Cool, clean water can cause a bodily satisfaction.

That's still perception. It also relies on the assumption that "the body" is some objective thing and not just a projection of the mind. BUT... that's rather a different subject.

A person enters into energy-feeding patterns, maybe, when the simpler, cause-and-effect dynamics of the body are applied to one's emotional and mental life. (?)

Maybe. That's a really interesting thought.

[dreamosis]

...A person enters into energy-feeding patterns, maybe, when the simpler, cause-and-effect dynamics of the body are applied to one's emotional and mental life...

One way, in which I can see how applying bodily cause-and-effect dynamics to the mind, is damaging is with psychoactive drugs. Of course, psychoactive drugs -- like ecstasy or mushrooms -- have an effect in the energy body, but they're primarily physical substances that affect us "bottom-up."

Ecstasy can trigger a cascade of serotonin in the body, which typically translates to the mind as extreme joy. The joy isn't necessarily unreal, but if it were possible on any drug trip to suddenly "pull the blanket out from under yourself," i.e. reverse the serotonin swell, what would you feel? You often hear I like the way I feel on BLANK, but there is a two-part story in the words I feel...

The same applies to the temporary body-rush from food, sex, and danger, of course.

One thing that seems obvious about energy-feeders is that they aren't creating their own energy or in a state of flow with universal energies. (I mean, I suppose there has to be some self-generation and flow, or else they'd be...Hmmm...Headache. They'd be non-existent if that was literally the case. Why am I being so literal in this thread?)

Anyway...energy-feeders are in a situation of low generativity and flow, which means they may turn to "high-calorie" alternatives: substances, behaviors, and situations that tend to supply a lot of energy in a short amount of time. But I want to run with CFTraveler's idea still that energy-feeders aren't necessarily after a lot of energy, but just want a good vibration.

That idea seems somewhat counterintuitive to me unless I switch my focus from the content of behavior to the intent of the behavior. An energy-feeder may use a behavior like extremely childish pouting and, just considering the behavior, it's difficult to see why they'd employ that behavior if what they want is to feel good. Yet the intent behind is the pouting may be to get loving attention from someone. What they want to feel is that they're loved and being paid special attention to.

Maybe what accounts for a lot of the exhaustion in dealing with energy-feeders is the way in which your attention is extorted around them. Feasters are usually asking you to pay close attention to them the whole time you're with them -- to watch them, to listen to them carefully, to think about what they're thinking about, etc. They try to monopolize your attention. And they have to monopolize your attention because that's the only way to get the "high-calorie" rush they want.

[ButterflyWoman]

Just a few random thoughts on this (which occurred to me as I was drifting into a nap).

I have often encountered people who were energy vampires where intelligence is concerned. That is, I'm fairly intelligent, and I've had a shocking amount of people who either were really stupid/ignorant or who pretended to be, who would hit me up for information, assistance, etc., and be really draining about it. Until I started to really think about it, I didn't connect it with energy vamps, but I'm sure now that this is one way that people do it. (Note: I am in no way claiming that ignorance = vampirism, only that SOME energy vampires use "information" as a means of sucking attention and energy, and if you're naturally inclined to be helpful, it's an easy trap to fall into.)

This thread is really interesting. I'd like to thank everyone who has been participating.