Epilogue to Self Liberation 
by L. A. Ammann
Forthcoming from Latitude Press, New Humanism Series

© Copyright 1979, 1991 L.A. Ammann.
English translation © Copyright 1994 TWM. 
All rights reserved.
Draft Version 6, July 1995.

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Readers will certainly have found in this book answers to many personal problems, and will have gained as well greater knowledge of themselves and their possibilities in the future. It is important now to consider some factors that can improve our overall comprehension of the Self Liberation system. 
1. A Point of Support in Our Daily Difficulties
First I would underscore that we have made notable progress “in the laboratory” through the work we have done to learn and perfect these techniques. We need to verify, however, the importance of such achievements outside a controlled environment – we must test what we’ve learned in the hectic and chaotic surroundings of our everyday lives. But in daily life the very situations that we face themselves keep us from applying these techniques! The paradox is clear: while we may possess a good understanding and an important array of techniques for self mastery, when we’re actually face-to-face with a critical situation, we often find ourselves unable to apply these tools. 
We could say that we’re forgetting what we’ve learned, but this still doesn’t solve our problem. Let’s further consider this point. When we enter a situation of conflict in everyday life, we finds ourselves “taken” by tensions and climates; we’re “absorbed” by the object we’re facing. Unless we have correctly “recorded” the techniques and practiced them extensively, from the moment the conflict begins we are no longer in any condition to apply the techniques that we have learned for exactly that type of situation. 
Of course, in practice not everyone who studies the Self Liberation system practices so faithfully that they are perfectly prepared. What occurs more typically is that people study certain parts of the system, and practice them casually, that is, without spending the time to master them thoroughly. If this is the case, they need to be at least minimally equipped to respond to this situation of conflict, they need a point of support that will let them introduce a little “distance” between the problematic object and themselves, between the tensions and oppressive climates and themselves, in the situations where these difficulties arise. 
While I have spoken of these supports in several places throughout the book, given the importance of the topic I feel it is necessary to underscore them once more. If our practice of these techniques has not been well or thoroughly done, we lose as a point of support that certain muscle in our body, or that awareness of the place we find ourselves facing the difficult object, or our bodily position. 
In that case the recommended minimum resource is simply to pay attention to our breathing. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation, one of the first things we discover is that our breathing becomes altered. The idea is to make use of this phenomenon to convert our inhibited breathing into fuller, lower breathing, making use of our diaphragm. That’s all there is to it. Once we’ve taken this step, then we’ll more easily be able to apply the various techniques that we already know. 
Let’s go over this topic once more. Suppose that ahead of time you feel you’ll become altered when you enter a certain situation: observe your breathing, and expand it downward into lower breathing. Now, imagine that you’ve been surprised by the situation, that you haven’t had time to prepare yourself: all of a sudden your breathing becomes high and shallow. Observe as this happens, but instead of letting it continue, expand your breathing downward. 
Now suppose that you cannot fall asleep. In this situation you have numerous techniques with which to face the problem, but you don’t make use of them because you’re carried away by your worries: observe your breathing, and expand it downward. 
Next, suppose that you’re among people, and you feel everyone staring at you. You know in theory how to take distance from this oppressive situation, but you’re unable to apply your knowledge: attend to your breathing, and expand it downward. 
Again, you can know and have practiced many techniques, but in oppressive situations you may find that you forget them, and it becomes as though you had no resources to count on. Once events begin to pile up on you, you’re no longer master of yourself. It’s clear that if you could put a little distance between yourself and the oppressive factor, you would be better able to apply your knowledge. This is the problem we are facing. 
We are not suggesting that you attend to your breathing all the time as you carry out your daily activities, only in oppressive situations. You’ll be able to do this because, as your breathing becomes altered, this itself provides the necessary signal for you to become aware of it. If you confirm this in practice and then try to return your breathing to normal, expanding it downward into lower breathing, you’ll have recorded a valuable point of support. This will let you put the distance you need between yourself and the object that is absorbing you, between yourself and the sudden tensions or climates that arise as a mechanical response to pressures within you. What happens after this will depend on your knowledge, and we can’t say much more about this except that it would be hard to understand were you unable to use the ample resources you have available in the Self Liberation system simply through forgetting them. 
We will conclude this topic by again emphasizing that we need to have a point of support to put distance between ourselves and an object of conflict, between ourselves and oppressive tensions and climates. There are numerous resources to do this, but because our breathing is a mixed system, both voluntary and involuntary, and because it changes as a correlate of alteration in the consciousness, we have a register that allows us to use it as a support to operate in modifying the situation. The modification occurs when we control our inhaling and exhaling, expanding our breathing downward in lower breathing. What happens is that when we put ourselves in a disposition to affect that corporal mechanism, we will notice that this introduces a “distance” between ourselves and the oppressive object, which then enables us to exercise the resources that would otherwise be overwhelmed and useless to us in the difficult situation.
2. The Human Being in Situation and Not As Isolated Subjectivity
The second topic I would like to focus on involves some points specifically related to Self Knowledge, which will also allow us to understand the whole Self Liberation system in a broader context than we have previously considered.
A. Our Formative Landscape 
We have studied our autobiographies, bringing a little order into the more significant memories of the many events that have occurred over the course of our lives. We’ve considered the accidents, the repetitions, and the projects that have gone astray or deviated from their goals. 
We note that each of us was born in an era in which there were cars, buildings, as well as a great many other objects that corresponded to that particular time and place; there were certain clothes and objects that we made use of almost daily. And this world of tangible objects has of course continued to change with the passage of time. If we look at the newspapers and magazines, photographs, movies, and videos that bear witness to the different periods, we can see just how much our world has changed over the intervening years. 
Today everyone has access to virtually limitless documentation that can take them back in time to the decade or year of their interest. When we investigate we discover that many of the objects that formed part of our childhood environment no longer exist. Others have changed so much they are no longer recognizable. Finally, new objects have been created that are without precedent in earlier times. All we need to do is to recall the toys we played with as children, and compare them to the toys of today’s children to grasp the magnitude of the changes that have taken place in the world over the course of no more than a generation. 
We recognize that the world of intangible objects has changed as well: values, social aspirations, interpersonal relationships, and so on. In our childhood, in our formative stage, the family functioned in a different way than it does today, as did dating, marriage, and even friendship and casual acquaintanceship. The various social strata had different meanings then. What was and was not to be done (that is, the norms of the time), group and personal ideals to be achieved, all have changed greatly. In other words: both the tangible and intangible objects that constituted our landscape of formation have changed. 
It is in this world that has undergone such great change, however, this world where a different formative landscape now operates for the new generations, that we tend to operate today based on those intangible factors from previous times that no longer function adequately. Our landscape of formation continues to act through us in our present behavior as our way of being and moving among persons and things. And that landscape of formation is also an overall affective tone, a “sensibility” from that era that is not congruent with the sensibility of today, that is “out of step” with the times. 
The generation in power today (economic, political, social, scientific, artistic, and so on) has been formed in a landscape different from the present one. Nevertheless, their previous landscape still acts in today’s landscape, imposing its point of view and behavior through elements “dragged along” from a bygone era. The consequences of this lack of generational congruence are plain to see. It could be argued that there has always been a generational dialectic, and that is precisely what has dynamized human history. That is, of course, our point of view. What we are emphasizing here, however, is that the velocity of change is accelerating, and that we are in the presence of a rhythm of life very different from that of earlier eras. If we look only at technological progress and the impact of communications advances on the process of globalization, we can see that in our lifetimes alone there has been an acceleration that outstrips entire centuries of change in previous historical times. 
Thus we find ourselves affected by our formative landscapes and their interaction with the current historical moment in which we happen to live. This is a key factor to take into account in the process of growing adaptation that we need to achieve; it is of vital importance to take some time to reflect on this theme, and to share what we learn with others for the mental health of all. 
As we review our previous autobiographical study, we can begin to see the landscape in which we were formed. Not the general landscape of that period, but the specific landscape of our own immediate environment. In this way we widen our point of view from an autobiography that is a bit subjective, to a situational autobiography in which, for each of us, our own personal “I” is in reality a structure with the world in which we exist.
B. Our Own Look and the Looks of Others as Determinants of Conduct 
in Our Formative Landscape
The factors that have acted in us to produce our personal behavior over the course of time are numerous and form a system of codes based upon which we respond and adjust to our environment. We have touched on this idea in our study of the Circles of Personality and Prestige. 
If we study our autobiography from a situational point of view, we will verify that in facing our formative environment we acted in certain characteristic ways. With regard to the established values there, we either fought against them, or we accepted them, or else we retreated within ourselves. In one or more of these ways we shaped our conduct within the world of relationships, but there were also continuous readjustments. We looked at that world and we looked at other people while we acted. Then we reviewed our actions, proposing to ourselves new forms of conduct, new adjustments. At the same time we were also looked at by others, who encouraged us or reproached us. 
There was also of course an institutional look or way of seeing things corresponding to the legal system, as well as a way of looking corresponding to the customs and conventions of each era. 
For some there was also a more complex look, an external look that examined us not only in our external behavior but also in our deeper intentions: this was the look of God. 
For others there was the look of their own “conscience,” understood as a moral disposition of thought and conduct. Our own look, our way of seeing the world, and the alien look of the other at us, acted as readjustments of our own conduct. And as a result of all this a certain behavior formed in us. Today each of us has a vast system of codes that were molded in our formative stage. Our conduct today stems from this system as it is applied in today’s world, a world which has, however, changed enormously.
C. “Dragging” Conduct from Our Formative Landscape into Our Present Life
Our typical behavior in the present is made up of numerous forms of conduct. We can understand our conduct as the “tactics” we use to unfold our lives in the world. While many of those tactics have been adequate thus far, we can recognize that other tactics are clearly ineffective, and others even generate conflict. Here it is a good idea to discuss this briefly. 
Why do I continue applying tactics that I can recognize are ineffective or counterproductive? Why do I feel powerless against those forms of conduct, which seem to operate automatically? To refer to those internal forces that compel us to act in spite of ourselves, or inhibit us from actions that we wish to accomplish, we will use the term compulsion, which is borrowed from classical Psychology. 
We know of numerous compulsions that act within us. The Self Liberation system may, to a large extent, be seen as a tool to overcome counterproductive compulsions. And throughout this book we have already worked a great deal on this point. 
Now it is time to apply a situational look toward our existence, understanding that in addition to the subjective factors that act within us as tensions, climates, images, and so forth, there are forms of conduct that we recorded and codified in our formative stage and which, while they may have been more or less effective in that era, no longer work effectively any more. We need to review all this deeply, in its roots, and to renew ourselves, finding fresh ways to meet the challenges of these new times.
D. A Proposal of Situational Self Knowledge: Knowing Oneself in One’s Life Situation
Review your autobiographical work, and start a new section in which you describe the situation you lived in as a child and afterwards the situation you lived in during adolescence. Don’t become distracted by trying to do this too perfectly. Simply reconstruct your formative landscape in its broadest outlines, focusing not on the tangible objects of that period but on the intangible factors: observe your family structure and its prevailing values. What was well regarded and what was criticized? Observe the hierarchies and the established roles in the people around you. Try not to criticize things, not to judge, but simply to describe what things were like. Now recall the intangible factors that took place in your relationships with your friends. Remember, without judging. 
Describe the intangible factors that were present in your school, in your relationships with the same and opposite sexes, in the social environments in which you acted. Do not say whether any of this was good or bad, simply try to describe it. 
Once you have described the things we have mentioned, try to synthesize what that landscape was like. Consider the fashions, the buildings, and the tools, appliances, instruments, vehicles, and so on, giving body with these objects to your formative landscape. And remember to do this without judging anything. 
Finally, try to recapture the “sensibility,” the general affective tone of the most important moments in your formative landscape. Perhaps the music, the heroes of the moment, the clothes that were popular, the movie and sports idols, the heroes of the worlds of business or politics, will serve as references that allow you to rescue the affective tone then operating as a background to the world around you. And do not judge what you find. 
Next, go on to examine your look upon all of that, how you looked at others, and also how you were looked at by others in that world. Recall how that world judged you, and how you reacted. Do not judge these things from your “today,” see how they were judged at that time. How did it shock you, and how did you withdraw, run away, come to terms? Answer in light of the conduct that was being shaped in you during those times. Describe how you judged others and how they judged you, as well as the roles you fulfilled in that landscape. And do not say whether any of this was good or bad, simply describe it. 
Now we are in a condition to understand how those forms of conduct and that overall affective tone have come into the here and now, have reached the point where we find them in today’s world. 
Try to see what has been “dragged forward” from those earlier times in both your actions and your “sensibilities.” And do not be misled by any outward changes in your conduct, since much of your conduct preserves the same basic structure, though it may have gained considerably in sophistication over the course of time. 
Understand also that many of your “tactics” have progressed and become more effective, while others have remained fixed, lacking growing adaptation. Study the relationship of those fixed forms of conduct, those tactics, to the sensibilities of that earlier time. Look within yourself honestly to see whether you are ready to give up that sensibility which is, of course, linked to values that you still hold. 
Here we come to a moment of profound meditation. We are not suggesting that you abandon the values and sensibility of your formative stage. We are speaking of something else, of understanding how all this operates in your present-day life. It is you who must decide, and you do not lack for tools, to make the changes you deem necessary. But in the Self Liberation system the modifications you produce will be structural and include your situation, and no longer simply subjective whims because you’re questioning your overall relation to the world you live in. 
We have characterized the work we have done here not as simply one more practice, but as a profound meditation on your life. From the context in which we have explained this you can grasp that we are not trying to modify isolated, undesirable behavioral tactics, but instead to help you see for yourself the realities of your own relationship with the world. Of course, by this time you are certainly in a condition to understand the roots of numerous compulsions associated with forms of conduct that were initiated in your formative landscape. But it will be difficult for you to change such conduct, linked to values and a particular sensibility, without touching your overall structure of relationship with the world you live in today. 
Once we have understood the problem, we must decide, if we do not wish to make a structural change in behavior, what tactics to modify because we consider them deficient. We can reach this goal by applying the various techniques we have already studied. But what is to be gained if we are not prepared to make structural changes? At a minimum we will benefit from this structural approach by broadening our knowledge of ourselves. And as to the need for more radical changes, the situation we live in today will lead us to decide on one direction or the other. Meanwhile, the times continue to change, and the future may, perhaps, present us with challenges of which we are still unaware. 
E. Planning Our Future from an Overall Point of View
When we speak of making a plan, we are referring to issues and questions of the greatest interest for the direction of our lives. There are numerous techniques for planning, ranging from flowcharts for designing computer software to strategies for operating a company, or for political, social, or cultural activities. We are not going to consider these cases, however, but instead those related to the orientation or direction of our lives. In this area there is much confusion. 
Thus, for example, a couple may plan their future: they aspire to a life that will be filled with understanding and harmony, they wish to build a shared and stable existence. Because these planners are practical people, they do not overlook making calculations that include income and expenses and such things. When five years have passed, they observe that their plans were well made: they have achieved a high income and been able to obtain numerous objects that they desired; everything tangible has turned out even better than they expected. No sensible person would describe their planning as a failure. But it’s clear that they must also determine whether the intangible factors upon which their plan was based were fully achieved. 
In terms of priorities, their highest priority was for their life as a couple to be harmonious and filled with understanding; they believed that tangible objects were secondary, though necessary to achieve in practice their main priority. And if their lives have indeed turned out to be harmonious, then their life plan has proven to be a success. If, however, their priorities are upside down, or they have lost sight of their highest priority, then their plan has failed. This is the case of a life plan of some importance in which we need to take into account the intangible elements. This is different from what happens with a flowchart or a business strategy. 
Finally, it would not occur to anyone to plan their life in a state of confusion or alteration, that is, in a state visibly dominated by internal compulsions. Taking this example to its extreme, we note that while everyone understands that some plans could turn out more or less all right even if made in a drunken state, this is not the most appropriate level of consciousness from which to make reasonable medium and long term projections. In other words, to make an adequate plan it is advisable to understand from “where” you are making it, what is the mental direction that is projecting the path the plan is to follow. It is important not to overlook this step of asking ourselves whether our plan is being dictated by those same compulsions that have previously brought about so many blunders in our actions. 
In conclusion, it is important to make a life plan from an overall point of view: First, clearly outline your priorities. Next, distinguish between the tangible and intangible factors that you are seeking. Fix definite periods of time with intermediate indicators of progress. And, of course, it is key to clarify the mental direction from which you are launching your project, observing whether it involves a compulsion, or instead a balanced reckoning of all factors, reasonably designed to achieve the objective. 

1. Cross-reference to page: 
Don’t forget to breathe: A “point of support” for facing difficult situations. 
You can know and have practiced many techniques to deal with oppressive situations, but you may find that in them you forget what you know, and it becomes as though you had no resources to count on. Once events pile up on you, you’re no longer master of yourself. It is clear that if you could put a little distance between yourself and the oppressive factor, you would be better able to apply your knowledge. 
We are not suggesting that you attend to your breathing all the time as you carry out your daily activities, but only in oppressive situations. You’ll be able to do this because, as your breathing becomes altered, this can itself provide the necessary signal for you to become aware of it. 
If you confirm this in practice and then try to return your breathing to normal, expanding it downward into lower breathing, you will have learned a valuable point of support. 

• Imagine some situation where you believe you’re likely to “forget yourself” and become upset and altered. Let yourself be taken by these images. 
Now, observe your breathing. See whether if becomes restricted, tight, and shallow. 
Next, keep seeing the oppressive images, but expand your breathing downward into lower breathing. 

• Imagine a situation where you feel that everyone is staring at you. Let these images take you, and observe how this affects your breathing. 

This is what will permit to you to put the distance you need between yourself and the object that is “absorbing” you, between yourself and the sudden tensions or climates that appear as a mechanical response to the pressures within you. What happens next will depend upon your knowledge, and regarding this there isn’t much more to say, except that there is little excuse for being unable to make use of your ample resources simply through forgetting them. 
Let us conclude this topic by emphasizing again that we need a point of support to put distance between ourselves and an object of conflict, between ourselves and oppressive tensions and climates. There are numerous supports to do this, but because our breathing is a mixed voluntary and involuntary system, and because it changes as a correlate of alteration of the consciousness, we have a register that allows us to make use of it as a support to modify the situation. This modification occurs when we control our inhaling and exhaling, expanding our breathing downward into lower breathing. What happens is that when we place ourselves in a disposition to affect that corporal mechanism, this introduces a “distance” between ourselves and the oppressive object, which then enables us to exercise the resources that would otherwise be overwhelmed and therefore useless in the difficult situation.