The Bad Vibes Nuclear Reaction

Don't Feed It

One of the more difficult parts of conscious creation (or spiritual practices more generally) is maintaining a desired internal state when confronted with some negative external experience. Now, on some level, even addressing so-called “external experiences” is a concession to dualism — in entertaining the external, we’re putting a dividing line between “ourselves” and the world (a big no-no in our discussions typically).

With that said, though, I don’t find it particularly harmful to break things down in terms of internal-external energies, at least in the context of maintaining desired states. It might not be the most metaphysically accurate perspective to take, but it’s practical, so today, we’ll take it.

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In nuclear physics, there’s a concept known as “critical mass.” This is the smallest amount of material necessary to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. So, basically, when there’s enough fissile material present during a reaction, the reaction will perpetuate itself.

“Energies” or “vibes” (new-agey phrases, yes, but again, ones that are easy to understand) have critical masses just like nuclear materials do. At a certain point of intensity, energies will begin to sustain themselves via chain reaction. For example, decades of international tension boil over as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the fallout from the attacks influences the internal states of hundreds of millions, and those internal states trigger a 20+ year war in the Middle East that continues spawning further negative energies to this day.

One could argue about the point at which this series of events reached criticality, sure, but it’s undeniable that at a certain point, the world fell victim to a runaway reaction; no matter who you were or where you lived, it became very hard not to be sucked in by the energy of the conflict.

It’s easy to see how this is the case with such a major world event, but the same concept applies on a micro-level, too.

You’ve probably heard the expression, “hurt people hurt people” before; even if you haven’t, you probably know people who spread bad feelings everywhere they go. This phenomenon of hurt causing hurt or someone’s crappy attitude making you feel bad (and thus more likely to make others feel bad) is an example of the nuclear nature of negative energies.

If you are unconscious — meaning, if you aren’t aware of how external energies trigger reactions in you — you run the risk of feeding into a chain reaction. You become co-opted by someone else’s bad intentions (even if you’re reacting in opposition to those intentions), and all of a sudden, your internal state becomes completely poisoned by negativity. Like a neutron being fired into a mass of uranium, some bad vibe strikes you and sets off a reaction until that reaction boils over, and you start firing off bad vibes of your own.

This is the nature of the world. Issues escalate over time. Because people are largely unconscious, they feed into negative energy reactions until those reactions spiral out of control. Interpersonal arguments spiral into international warfare. One bad action breeds two bad actions; two bad actions breed four; four breeds eight, etc.

I know it can feel difficult not to get swept up in the negativity of others (or of the world), but it’s essential that you remain conscious enough all of the time not to. Your ability to let go of your reactions when someone does something crappy is the greatest superpower you have. By choosing not to feed into a negative energy reaction you neutralize it. Your own internal state is saved from being poisoned, and so are the internal states of all the unconscious people around you who might’ve been sucked into the reaction had you been.

My advice is to think of things in these terms. When something “bad” happens, remember that you have the power to get sucked into the chain reaction or not. Do you want to feed the negativity and not only further poison the world but also poison yourself? Or do you want to neutralize it and live knowing that you have the power never to be influenced by the actions of others? If I’ve ever said to you, “I’m not coming down to your level,” in the past, know that this is what I meant. I’m not judging you for having ended up in a negative state, I’m just refusing to play a part in further perpetuating that energy. You can do the same and stop coming down to the level of the world.

As always, good luck.