Self-Assess and Field-Assess : I Want

Here’s a little excerpt from my upcoming WHC mini-Intro class called “Self-Assess and Field-Assess: You Can’t Push the River.” This monthly mini-intro is for anyone who has been interested in learning more about the practical value of Whole Heart Connection practices. I do one of these mini-Intros on different topics on the 3rd Sunday of every month, and it is by donation only, so come one, come all!

This particular monthly mini-class on July 20 has to do with why sometimes our life seems to have a quality of flow—everything we do just works somehow. At other times, it all feels like a series of snags and dead ends. How do we get back into the state of flow? It requires a shift in the quality of our attention, which I call “Self-Assess and Field-Assess from the Heart.” In the video excerpt below, I talk about one of the most common obstacles to entering the flow state: how “I Want” (personal agenda) disrupts our ability to field-assess.

Self assessing and field assessing from the heart is distinct from the two other centers of consciousness: the lower dantian (or lower cinnabar field) in the gut area, and the upper cinnabar field (mid-way between the crown and 3rd eye). The heart is the middle cinnabar field. All of these dantian are very worthwhile places. I’m so glad we have them all.

The lower dantian tends to be a center that is associated with themes of personal power and mastery, survival and strength. This is why martial arts, for instance, is a lower dantian focus of conscious; you bring your consciousness down to the lower dantian, and navigate from there. It’s very valid, to cultivate the dantian of power.

Traditions which are about cultivating the upper dantian emphasize our relationship to the heavens, which includes themes like transcendence, universal truth, wisdom, and understanding of the cosmic order. This is great stuff. So glad we have that!

Whole Heart Connection is a tradition which primarily cultivates the heart center, or middle dantian, which emphasizes the relationship to humanity rather than heaven or earth, which includes themes like compassion, connection, sharing, and communication.

WHC starts in the middle, and then expands in both directions to encompass what’s above and below, and not exclude or leave any of it behind. If we’re going to pursue wisdom or power, I want to start with compassion, and then work my way up and down into the other centers.

So how does this come into self assess and field assess? The most practical aspect to mention is the perils of “I want” and “should.”

“I want” is pelvic; it’s desire, powerful and earthly. When we are coming from “I want,” it can be very difficult to field assess. Instead, “Here’s how I want it to go; this is my desire.” This can very much lead to pushing the river: “It’s what I want.”

Think of a situation in your life where you want it to go a certain way: “I want my son to do x, and that’s what I want.” Feel, what does that to your relationship with the Dao—even your ability to perceive the Dao? What is the Dao of the situation? I don’t know! I only know what I want.

Wanting is fine. Wanting is not bad per se. However, wanting can make havoc of our lives if it’s in the driver’s seat—but we can move our desire over to the passenger seat, as part of our self-assessment from the heart: “This is what I want.” That is highly informative.

We can take the next step into compassion and curiosity and wonder: “Hm, what is this desire calling me to?” Often desires are clues to our destiny. These are the desires that are part of our innate nature. For instance, the eagle wants to fly. Even if that eagle becomes a Buddhist, it’s still going to have the authentic, innate characteristic of wanting to fly.

What we want, from our core desires, is good information about who we are. It’s good information about our qualities, when our desire is in the passenger seat. It’s good to listen to what the passenger is saying. This is not the same as putting it in the drivers seat. In the driver’s seat is the heart, self-assessing: “I want what I want, a lot. I really really really want it, on my knees, right now.” From the heart, feel all that is moving in this field of self-assessment.

We don’t have to give up our desires. They were given to us as part of our nature—al least, the ones that are not illusory desires, the acquired desires that are enculturated. Those are the desires that the Buddhists (and other paths) warn us about. These are not the same as our stripped-down honest authentic desires.

Okay, when I self assess, I can recognize: “This is what I want.” When I field assess, sometimes it looks like it’s not going to go that way, at least not without an act of violence. I can destroy my relationship with my son, by trying to get what I want. However, I’m self-assessing that this is what I want, while I am field assessing: How do I move within the greater field of loving truth, within the flow that is so much bigger than any of us? How might that change my next moves?

It might not even necessarily change what we do and what we say, but it will change our tone of voice. It will change the energy that we bring to the situation, and shift how we are heard when we speak.

This is something to play with, to experiment with, to investigate: When am I coming from “I want,” and is it getting in the way of a fuller self-assessment and field assessment?

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There is no flow state that comes from trying harder. Less thinking. More flowing. Be the dance partner with life. Discover how in just two hours. Come and join us on July 20, 2025 for You Can’t Stop the River.

Click here to register: WHC Opening the Door – You Can’t Stop the River