A simple model for self mastery

So now we have three elements tied together, and they represent a model for self mastery. You could draw this on a paper if you wanted to, or just picture it in your mind: make an equilateral triangle (all sides the same length), with one side "down" and one point "up." Now at that top point (apex) of the triangle, write the word "Freedom." Going clockwise to the point on the right side of the base, write the word "Choice." Then, write the word "Responsibility" near the third point of the triangle at the left side of the base. In the center of the triangle, write the words "Self Mastery." There you have it! A handy dandy, carry with you always, simple as can be and easy to remember model for the kind of consciousness which we will associate with self mastery. It's amazing the mileage you can get out of a triangle. We start out with the recognition that we are free, and that our freedom is a quality of our will which is essential to our being and which cannot be granted to us or stripped away from us by political powers. I am always free. (This can be a nice little mantra, i.e. something to repeat over and over. Breathing in: "I am always free." Exhaling: "I am always free.") Given that we are in fact free, we can perceive ourselves to be constantly generating a multitude of options from which to choose. Choice is a consequence of freedom, and a measure of it. I make choices consciously. (Here is another mantra: breathing in, "I make choices consciously;" exhaling, "I make choices consciously." Further, our choices of action (or inaction, for that matter) are "causes," which in our universe are inevitably followed by "effects." Responsibility is our capacity to perceive and acknowledge the effects of our choices, and through introspection, to cultivate and develop the maturity of the free will. Responsibility is freedom held up to the mirror for study, evaluation. The result is the maturing of the will. I am responsible for my life experience. (That's one more mantra for us: you know how to breath with it now!) So freedom, choice and responsibility are three different aspects of the consciousness of self mastery, and the process of self mastery. By modeling the victim consciousness next, we'll have something to compare the consciousness of self mastery to, and that will make the case for it all the more compelling.