Clearing Deep-Seated Trauma-Blocks
The systematic removal or “clearing” of deep-seated, subconscious trauma-blocks is of great support in the path of spiritual advancement and in living a full, enjoyable life. These blocks, that result from painful or traumatic experiences, are stored below our normal consciousness; and from that subterranean position they, unknowingly, usurp our vital life-force, lower the “vibration” of our entire consciousness, and often infuse our thoughts and actions with a sense of negativity or fear. They also “unhealthily” shape our identity. Thus, the clearing or discharge of these subconscious blocks is a necessary undertaking; it frees up our life energy (making more available to us for spiritual practice and overall enjoyment of life), raises the vibration of our psyche (thus attracting more positive life-conditions), and supports positive individual and spiritual growth.
Universal Spirit is always moving to experience more and more of its own aliveness and joy; and as it moves through us, we are impelled to experience more and more of our aliveness and joy. If our essential life-force (which is the very aliveness we want experience) is depleted, and continually being drained off by these trauma blocks then, over time, we feel less of our own life-force and less alive. As children we all felt the joyous aliveness of life; however, as adults, we have come to feel less and less of it. It is not growing old, per se, that makes people feel less alive, it is the amassing of these trauma blocks and the continual drain of life-energy that results from the presence of these blocks in our subconscious mind.
Trauma-Blocks
A “trauma-block” results from a painful or traumatic event; this event gets codified (in one’s memory banks) with an emotional charge. This is more than a painful memory; it’s a physical and sensory hologram of the original event which, when recalled or activated, has the power to elicit a similar emotional response as the original event. All these “memory holograms” or “trauma-blocks” carry an emotional charge—and a “high priority” value in one’s memory—and, thus, get stored in a different memory bank than standard memories. (These particular memory-experiences are charged and capable of commanding a bodily response; they directly relate to the protection of the individual and his survival). To provide these trauma- blocks with their emotional charge or “command value” requires the use of life-energy; thus a portion of one’s life-energy is appropriated and stored away with each trauma block—which means that there is less life-energy available for one’s life.
The term “trauma” can indicate an actual trauma (involving a painful injury), or it can be an emotionally painful event involving fear, distress, loss, etc. It can also include what might be called “growing pains,” which are the pains resulting from normal childhood development. Anything that is perceived as a threat to one’s physical body, or one’s identity, gets codified and stored in the “trauma memory banks” (which are experiences deemed, by one’s subconscious mind, to be related to the individual’s survival).
In the body’s survival program it is OK to use up vital life-energy in order to keep these trauma blocks “charged” (and ready for use) because this “highly charged” warning system is needed to help insure the survival of the individual (which means the survival of the body or one’s perceived sense of self, or self-identity). The only problem is that once these blocks are formed, they never go away. Even when the early childhood traumas (deemed to be of great survival at the time) have no relationship to one’s present self, and no survival value, they continue to use up life-energy.
The emotional charge which is carried by these blocks can only be dissolved or discharged (which then makes the appropriated life energy available to the individual) through a conscious reactivation and release of the original event. And, as there are hundreds of these subconscious trauma blocks, a systematic approached is most often needed.
In sum, all trauma-blocks,
a) negatively condition or color one’s experience of life,
b) unwittingly create and attract more of the same negativity into one’s life,
c) ill-direct the shaping of one’s identity, basing it on trauma-avoidance rather than on one’s pure and noble qualities; and
d) usurp one’s vital life-energy, making less available for the enjoyment of life and spiritual upliftment.
General Method for removal or discharge of trauma-blocks
A trauma-block, buried in the subconscious mind cannot be discharged or rendered inert (in terms of its negative emotional charge) unless it is brought into the light of conscious awareness. Thus, the primary method used to discharge these blocks is to repeatedly re-enter and re-live the traumatic event, and increasingly re-experience every sensation which one felt, or was aware of, at the time; this does not involve recalling or remembering the event (which means that the person is “outside” the experience and recalling it through memory) but reentering the event, re-experiencing it with the same vividness, emotions, sensations, etc. as the original event, as if you were “in” the original event and it was happening “now.”
Obviously, reliving a painful event can be painful—and that is why we have devoted so much energy into keeping these traumatic events at bay, permanently entombed in our subconscious. However, with the help of an assistant, and a clear course of action (supported by noticeable benefits that are gained with each session) the path to freedom and full aliveness is not so difficult.
This reentry into the original event reactivates all the subconscious sensations which are linked to the event, and this allows a person to become wholly conscious of, and “in,” the experience—yet from the new vantage point of the now. (Reliving the event from the safety of the “now” re-codifies the event with new associations and effectively strips the event of its original “threat value” which thereby induces the subconscious mind to strip the event of its negative emotional charge.)
Trauma-blocks usually relate to a single traumatic event, yet blocks of a similar kind, relating to the same kind of pain, are linked together and get codified (in one’s psyche) as part of a “trauma chain.” Each block in the chain is supported by an earlier block; and every block in the chain is ultimately supported and fueled by the first or “prime” block, which sets up the general template by which all the subsequent traumas are codified. Thus, the full trauma-chain—and all the trauma-blocks in it—can be fully (and more easily) cleared when the prime trauma in the chain is located and discharged first. Thus, in the course of a process (where a painful event is being re-lived), if the trauma block cannot be fully stripped of its charge, it usually indicates that the trauma is being supported by, and is linked to, an earlier, more primal trauma. Thus, in the process, this earlier trauma=block must be discovered, and discharged, before the emotional charge of the subsequent traumas can be fully discharged.
Creative Revision
The standard methods (used to discharge or deactivate subconscious trauma- blocks) involve a process where a person “goes back” into the past event and re-experiences it exactly as it happened. This is primarily a “psychological” approach in that it deals with the mind; it is not a process which invokes the help of Spirit or utilizes one’s creative power.
One method which utilizes the power of one’s own creative imagination is called “creative revision.” In this process (which involves a series of one-on-one sessions with an assistant) the past trauma is not relived (as with the standard “clearing methods) it is re-imagined and created—exactly as a person wishes.
The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between the experience of a physical reality and the experience of mentally-imagined reality (when a person fully experiences the realness of that imagined reality). So, by creatively revising the original event—and then experiencing that imagined event as we would a physical reality—and responding to is as we would a physical event—we effectively “make it real” to the subconscious mind; and once it has been accepted as being “real” by the subconscious mind it sets about bringing that newly created reality into physical manifestation.
An advanced function of the human mind (a function which separates human beings from animals) is the ability to be aware of its own processes and thoughts. This “self-reflexive” function allows us to see ourselves from the perspective of someone else and is needed in forming a self-image and a human identity. It is also the function which allows us to be conscious of our thoughts and reactions to life—which puts us in a position of making a choice as to how we want to think. Another function of the human mind is the creative imagination which affords us the creative power to produce “things” in the spiritual or mental-plane and become co-creators with Spirit. This creative imagination (a function of which may be called the “transportive imagination”) allows us, our consciousness, to re-enter and re-experience a past event with the same vividness as a real event. Another mental function is the ability to impart one’s own creative imagination with self-reality, experiencing it as you would a physical reality. Thus we have the ability to create a seed reality (in our imagination) and give it reality by deeming it to be real. This deeming-as-real element is what completes the creative process; this is the element which allows a human being to create as Spirit creates and be a true co-creator with Spirit. Without imparting one’s imaginative construction with the status of reality (which, in truth, it is), all we have are empty, uninhabited, imaginings—none of which have the power to draw the constructive power of Spirit or bring about a physical reality.
In this process of creative revision we re-enter or re-imagine ourselves in the original scene (bringing it to life); then we re-imagine and re-create it exactly as we wish it to be; then we impart that newly-imagined scenario with an immediate feeling of reality by entering it with our whole (holding nothing back), by responding to it with the same mental and physical reaction as we would the same physical event. We impart our own creation with the virtue of becoming a physical reality by fully believing in its reality (and by being certain of the inherent creative power in us that allowed us to create it).
Keying In
In the process of creative revision we cannot simply “make up” past events because this would not effectively “key in” the past event we want changed. Thus, in this process, we want to keep the basic cues or “key-in” elements of the original experience and, within that context, change the event in exact accord with what we want (and how we wished the event had turned out). We want to remember a past experience but we do not want re-live or re-enter the event, nor experience the emotional pain of the event as it originally occurred. The original event is denied reality (as if it never happened); our sense of “me” which was integral to the event (and which gives us the feeling, “this happened to me”) is removed from the event. In other words, we don’t feel as if the event happened to our “me”; we may hold that the event happened, that it is in our memory banks, but we do not feeling the immediacy of it or respond to is as we would a real event. This would be similar to an implanted memory, which never really happened to “me” even though I am able to recall it. We are outside the event, as if seeing it occur to someone else, some imaginary figure, in some movie—to a character we cannot relate to or empathize with. (Using another analogy, this original event could be seen as an early, no-longer-wanted draft of a paper; we don’t want the earlier draft so we re-write it—and once the new, improved draft is written, the old draft is discarded and retains no value. Likewise, once we create a new version of the scene, exactly as we want it to be, the earlier, original draft is wholly discarded.)
So, in this process we keep the key elements of the original event (such as the general context of the event, including the same people, location, settings, etc.) yet creatively re-imagine it, recreating the experience, and its outcome, exactly as we wish it to be. If a person assumes the position of being a creative center of the absolute, having the ability to create or recreate any event or experience at will, then, assuming that position of pure creative power, how would you re-create the event? What would be your ideal outcome? This is your world, your creation, your story—what do you want to create? Create exact that. Once you create the scene, then enter it, enliven it with your present consciousness, be in it as you would the same real-life scene; as you imaginatively create your desired outcome, feel the thrill (and bodily sensation) of that outcome—with the same details and immediacy as if the event were taking place now. If you imagine winning the lotto, then feel the same way, and respond in the same way, in your imaginative scene as you would had you won the lotto in real life. It is your entry into the scene, your deeming it (i.e., your own creation) to be real, which gives it life and a likewise physical manifestation.
To repeat, the key to “bringing the event to life”—and having your subconscious mind to accept the event as “real”—is that you must fully enter the event, you must “live” the event in your imagination in order to bring the event to life; and living the event means you must “enter the spirit of it”; you must deem it as real and as alive, and respond to it, with the same measure and power as a physical event. You must make it real. The creative key is not the real or imagined event, per se, but your realized response to it, your response to it as if it were real. Thus, by repeatedly, and convincingly, reliving the revised experience—and responding to your creation with the same emotional power and bodily response you would to the same physical event—the subconscious mind comes to accept the revised event as “real.” In the case of an imagined future event—once it is accepted as “real” by the subconscious mind, it will immediately move to bring it into manifestation. When dealing with a past, revised event, once it is accepted as real, the subconscious mind will then discard the now dead “original event” (along with its negative aftereffects effect) en toto. Every event and feeling which was based upon, or came about as an “offshoot” of that original trauma will also be cleared by the subconscious mind. In terms of your psyche, it will be as if the original event never happened—and, if it never happened, none of its negative after-effects could be affecting you now. Once you, and your subconscious mind, accept as real your new creation, you would not be able to recall the original event as being real or as having actually happened to you. Thus, in one instant of pure creativity the subconscious mind will change everything related to that event, up and down the line.
This method of creative revision can be done alone yet it is more powerful when used in a one-on-one session, where we are assisted by someone who engages us in re-living and realizing (“making real”) our imagined reality. This assistance from another person, and our repeated verbalization of the experience, serves to make it more and more real for us. We can support a session by re-living our imagined reality on our own, (if need be) until its reality comes to replace the original event.
Neville
Neville Goddard, who first articulated the method of revision, recommended it as an “end of the day” process, where we recall all the events of the day and revise them in accordance with our ideal outcome. In the process described above we use this same revision method, but we use it to systematically revise all our deep-seated trauma blocks. Neville writes:
“Now this is how we do it: at the end of my day, I review the day; I don’t judge it, I simply review it. I look over the entire day, all the episodes, all the events, all the conversations, all the meetings, and then as I see it clearly in my mind’s eye, I rewrite it. I rewrite it and make it conform to the ideal day I wish I had experienced. I take scene after scene and rewrite it, revise it, and having revised my day, then in my imagination I relive that day, the revised day, and I do it over and over in my imagination until this seeming imagined state begins to take on for me the tones of reality. It seems that it’s real, that I actually did experience it and I have found from experience that these revised days, if really lived, will change my tomorrows. When I meet people tomorrow that today disappointed me, they will not tomorrow, for in me I have changed the very nature of that being, and having changed him, he bears witness tomorrow of the change that took place within me. It is my duty to take this garden and really make it a garden by daily using the pruning shears of revision.” (Neville, Lecture, 1954)
"Now we will go back to the Second Chapter of Genesis. It is said “And God placed man in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Now when you read the story you think it happened thousands of years ago. I have come to tell you it is now. You are now in the Garden of Eden and you think you are shut out or banished. You are in it, and the garden is your mind, but you need—like every gardener—[a good pair of] pruning shears. For you have slept, as you are told in that second chapter; having slept, weeds have appeared in the garden and the weeds are revealing themselves by the conditions and the circumstances of life. Your garden is always projecting itself on the screen of space, and you can see by looking carefully at your world what you allow to grow in the Garden of God. But you have a mission, you have a purpose, it is not to amass a fortune—though you can do that if you want to—it’s not to be famous, it’s not to be some mighty power, but simply to tend the garden of God. That’s your purpose. You are placed in the Garden to dress it and to keep it, to let only the lovely things grow in the Garden of God." (Neville)
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Simple Processing Guidelines (For Standard Recall Method)
Below are simple guidelines on the standard method used to discharge negative trauma-blocks. The same general instructions can also be used in a creative revision session.
Each session should take place in a clean, safe, and quiet setting. The person going through the process might be called the IR (“Imaginative Recaller” or in the case of creative revision, the “Imaginative Reviser”); the person helping him is the Assistant. The IR sits upright in a chair, facing the Assistant, who is also sitting in a chair. The Assistant’s role is to “be invisible” and help the person recall the incident as fully as possible. The Assistant never judges or reacts; he is fully present in the session; he is trusted by the IR and he never talks about the session (to the IR or anyone else) once it is over; in general, the Assistant avoids the word “I” during the session.
Before the series of sessions begins, the IR fills out a “trauma-block sheet” which helps him identify and codify every trauma-block which can be recalled at the time; this provides the general map or guideline for the sessions which follow. This “map” will eventually expand as a person is able to consciously recall more and more blocks; as surface blocks are removed deeper and deeper, related blocks, come into conscious awareness. (It is also instructive to note which trauma blocks a person is able to recall when he fills out the sheet, and which ones he recalls at a later time).
A Typical Session
1. Begin with a short centering method, or meditation, where both parties are aligned with each other and the creative energy. This takes the IR a step beyond his conscious mind and allows for a deeper recall. After a minute or so, the Assistant comes out of the meditative state but encourages the IR to remain calm and relaxed, with his or her eyes closed.
2. The Assistant announces that the session is beginning. (This can also be accompanied by a short invocation if both parties agree to that invocation and are comfortable with it).
3. Assistant: “Locate a painful incident that you are able to work through at this time.” (The first incident that comes to the IR's mind can be worked on; or the IR can spend a minute of so finding an incident he wants to work on). Once the IR has the incident in mind, the process begins. The Assistant then helps the IR relive it and re-experience the original event as fully and as vividly as possible.
4. Assistant: “Once you have a clear incident in mind, go to the beginning; re-enter the incident and describe it as if it were happening now.” Let the IR tell the incident, as he recalls it. (The Assistant may want to write down the major areas of recall to get a visual account of the incident).
5. Assistant: “OK, go back to the beginning of the incident and describe it again; see if there are any more details you can pick up.” (The Assistant might want to make sure that the IR is not simply recalling the event, from an outside position, but actually reliving and re-entering the event, as if it were happening now. He might say, “Make sure you are in the event; that you are feeling and responding to the event as if it were real and happening as you describe it.”
When hearing the IR’s description, the Assistant may direct the IR to pick up more details. The Assistant may ask: “What sounds do you hear?” “What words are spoken?” “What are the physical sensations?” “What do you smell?” “Is anyone else present?” Etc. (Again, the Assistant must be “invisible” and not direct the IR in any direction other than where the IR is going, nor ask questions which are not directly related to what the IR is describing, nor pull the IR out of his “reverie” by asking ill-placed questions.
6. When the IR goes through the event, the Assistant directs him to re-enter the event again. Assistant: “OK, go back to the incident, from the beginning, and see if there are any additional details you can recall.” (The IR may begin to resist the procedure and not want to recall the incident again; this is a boredom defense mechanism. The Assistant must simply “stick with the program” and have the IR recall the incident, even if he does not want to. This may occur a dozen or more times. So long as new information is being picked up, the Assistant has the IR go back and go over the incident again.)
7. If the IR is not getting any more details, and has not experienced a discharge of the pain of the event being recalled (and does not feel a sense of joy or aliveness from the subsequent release of the life-energy encased in the trauma block) then we can suspect that the event being recalled is supported by an earlier trauma (of a similar kind) somewhere prior on the same trauma chain. If this is the case, the Assistant may ask: “Can you recall an earlier incident which is similar to this one?” If the IR picks up an earlier incident, then the Assistant has the IR go to the beginning of the event and re-enter it as with the first incident of the session, going over it again and again until it is fully recalled and relived, and its negative emotional charge is dissolved.
8. After some time (say 60 to 90 minutes), when the IR comes to some kind of resolution (which usually happens when the emotional charge of a traumatic event is discharged) or natural stopping place, the Assistant calls the session to an end. The IR has been in a state of reverie or “imaginative recall,” which is similar to a state of meditation, and he/she needs to be brought out gently. The IR can be brought out of his reverie state by ringing a bell and then by guiding him back to the room, and the present moment, perhaps having him become aware of the room, the sensation of sitting in his chair, and so forth. After he has come back to the present time, he may open his eyes and the session comes to an end.
<< Back to Step 4
The systematic removal or “clearing” of deep-seated, subconscious trauma-blocks is of great support in the path of spiritual advancement and in living a full, enjoyable life. These blocks, that result from painful or traumatic experiences, are stored below our normal consciousness; and from that subterranean position they, unknowingly, usurp our vital life-force, lower the “vibration” of our entire consciousness, and often infuse our thoughts and actions with a sense of negativity or fear. They also “unhealthily” shape our identity. Thus, the clearing or discharge of these subconscious blocks is a necessary undertaking; it frees up our life energy (making more available to us for spiritual practice and overall enjoyment of life), raises the vibration of our psyche (thus attracting more positive life-conditions), and supports positive individual and spiritual growth.
Universal Spirit is always moving to experience more and more of its own aliveness and joy; and as it moves through us, we are impelled to experience more and more of our aliveness and joy. If our essential life-force (which is the very aliveness we want experience) is depleted, and continually being drained off by these trauma blocks then, over time, we feel less of our own life-force and less alive. As children we all felt the joyous aliveness of life; however, as adults, we have come to feel less and less of it. It is not growing old, per se, that makes people feel less alive, it is the amassing of these trauma blocks and the continual drain of life-energy that results from the presence of these blocks in our subconscious mind.
Trauma-Blocks
A “trauma-block” results from a painful or traumatic event; this event gets codified (in one’s memory banks) with an emotional charge. This is more than a painful memory; it’s a physical and sensory hologram of the original event which, when recalled or activated, has the power to elicit a similar emotional response as the original event. All these “memory holograms” or “trauma-blocks” carry an emotional charge—and a “high priority” value in one’s memory—and, thus, get stored in a different memory bank than standard memories. (These particular memory-experiences are charged and capable of commanding a bodily response; they directly relate to the protection of the individual and his survival). To provide these trauma- blocks with their emotional charge or “command value” requires the use of life-energy; thus a portion of one’s life-energy is appropriated and stored away with each trauma block—which means that there is less life-energy available for one’s life.
The term “trauma” can indicate an actual trauma (involving a painful injury), or it can be an emotionally painful event involving fear, distress, loss, etc. It can also include what might be called “growing pains,” which are the pains resulting from normal childhood development. Anything that is perceived as a threat to one’s physical body, or one’s identity, gets codified and stored in the “trauma memory banks” (which are experiences deemed, by one’s subconscious mind, to be related to the individual’s survival).
In the body’s survival program it is OK to use up vital life-energy in order to keep these trauma blocks “charged” (and ready for use) because this “highly charged” warning system is needed to help insure the survival of the individual (which means the survival of the body or one’s perceived sense of self, or self-identity). The only problem is that once these blocks are formed, they never go away. Even when the early childhood traumas (deemed to be of great survival at the time) have no relationship to one’s present self, and no survival value, they continue to use up life-energy.
The emotional charge which is carried by these blocks can only be dissolved or discharged (which then makes the appropriated life energy available to the individual) through a conscious reactivation and release of the original event. And, as there are hundreds of these subconscious trauma blocks, a systematic approached is most often needed.
In sum, all trauma-blocks,
a) negatively condition or color one’s experience of life,
b) unwittingly create and attract more of the same negativity into one’s life,
c) ill-direct the shaping of one’s identity, basing it on trauma-avoidance rather than on one’s pure and noble qualities; and
d) usurp one’s vital life-energy, making less available for the enjoyment of life and spiritual upliftment.
General Method for removal or discharge of trauma-blocks
A trauma-block, buried in the subconscious mind cannot be discharged or rendered inert (in terms of its negative emotional charge) unless it is brought into the light of conscious awareness. Thus, the primary method used to discharge these blocks is to repeatedly re-enter and re-live the traumatic event, and increasingly re-experience every sensation which one felt, or was aware of, at the time; this does not involve recalling or remembering the event (which means that the person is “outside” the experience and recalling it through memory) but reentering the event, re-experiencing it with the same vividness, emotions, sensations, etc. as the original event, as if you were “in” the original event and it was happening “now.”
Obviously, reliving a painful event can be painful—and that is why we have devoted so much energy into keeping these traumatic events at bay, permanently entombed in our subconscious. However, with the help of an assistant, and a clear course of action (supported by noticeable benefits that are gained with each session) the path to freedom and full aliveness is not so difficult.
This reentry into the original event reactivates all the subconscious sensations which are linked to the event, and this allows a person to become wholly conscious of, and “in,” the experience—yet from the new vantage point of the now. (Reliving the event from the safety of the “now” re-codifies the event with new associations and effectively strips the event of its original “threat value” which thereby induces the subconscious mind to strip the event of its negative emotional charge.)
Trauma-blocks usually relate to a single traumatic event, yet blocks of a similar kind, relating to the same kind of pain, are linked together and get codified (in one’s psyche) as part of a “trauma chain.” Each block in the chain is supported by an earlier block; and every block in the chain is ultimately supported and fueled by the first or “prime” block, which sets up the general template by which all the subsequent traumas are codified. Thus, the full trauma-chain—and all the trauma-blocks in it—can be fully (and more easily) cleared when the prime trauma in the chain is located and discharged first. Thus, in the course of a process (where a painful event is being re-lived), if the trauma block cannot be fully stripped of its charge, it usually indicates that the trauma is being supported by, and is linked to, an earlier, more primal trauma. Thus, in the process, this earlier trauma=block must be discovered, and discharged, before the emotional charge of the subsequent traumas can be fully discharged.
Creative Revision
The standard methods (used to discharge or deactivate subconscious trauma- blocks) involve a process where a person “goes back” into the past event and re-experiences it exactly as it happened. This is primarily a “psychological” approach in that it deals with the mind; it is not a process which invokes the help of Spirit or utilizes one’s creative power.
One method which utilizes the power of one’s own creative imagination is called “creative revision.” In this process (which involves a series of one-on-one sessions with an assistant) the past trauma is not relived (as with the standard “clearing methods) it is re-imagined and created—exactly as a person wishes.
The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between the experience of a physical reality and the experience of mentally-imagined reality (when a person fully experiences the realness of that imagined reality). So, by creatively revising the original event—and then experiencing that imagined event as we would a physical reality—and responding to is as we would a physical event—we effectively “make it real” to the subconscious mind; and once it has been accepted as being “real” by the subconscious mind it sets about bringing that newly created reality into physical manifestation.
An advanced function of the human mind (a function which separates human beings from animals) is the ability to be aware of its own processes and thoughts. This “self-reflexive” function allows us to see ourselves from the perspective of someone else and is needed in forming a self-image and a human identity. It is also the function which allows us to be conscious of our thoughts and reactions to life—which puts us in a position of making a choice as to how we want to think. Another function of the human mind is the creative imagination which affords us the creative power to produce “things” in the spiritual or mental-plane and become co-creators with Spirit. This creative imagination (a function of which may be called the “transportive imagination”) allows us, our consciousness, to re-enter and re-experience a past event with the same vividness as a real event. Another mental function is the ability to impart one’s own creative imagination with self-reality, experiencing it as you would a physical reality. Thus we have the ability to create a seed reality (in our imagination) and give it reality by deeming it to be real. This deeming-as-real element is what completes the creative process; this is the element which allows a human being to create as Spirit creates and be a true co-creator with Spirit. Without imparting one’s imaginative construction with the status of reality (which, in truth, it is), all we have are empty, uninhabited, imaginings—none of which have the power to draw the constructive power of Spirit or bring about a physical reality.
In this process of creative revision we re-enter or re-imagine ourselves in the original scene (bringing it to life); then we re-imagine and re-create it exactly as we wish it to be; then we impart that newly-imagined scenario with an immediate feeling of reality by entering it with our whole (holding nothing back), by responding to it with the same mental and physical reaction as we would the same physical event. We impart our own creation with the virtue of becoming a physical reality by fully believing in its reality (and by being certain of the inherent creative power in us that allowed us to create it).
Keying In
In the process of creative revision we cannot simply “make up” past events because this would not effectively “key in” the past event we want changed. Thus, in this process, we want to keep the basic cues or “key-in” elements of the original experience and, within that context, change the event in exact accord with what we want (and how we wished the event had turned out). We want to remember a past experience but we do not want re-live or re-enter the event, nor experience the emotional pain of the event as it originally occurred. The original event is denied reality (as if it never happened); our sense of “me” which was integral to the event (and which gives us the feeling, “this happened to me”) is removed from the event. In other words, we don’t feel as if the event happened to our “me”; we may hold that the event happened, that it is in our memory banks, but we do not feeling the immediacy of it or respond to is as we would a real event. This would be similar to an implanted memory, which never really happened to “me” even though I am able to recall it. We are outside the event, as if seeing it occur to someone else, some imaginary figure, in some movie—to a character we cannot relate to or empathize with. (Using another analogy, this original event could be seen as an early, no-longer-wanted draft of a paper; we don’t want the earlier draft so we re-write it—and once the new, improved draft is written, the old draft is discarded and retains no value. Likewise, once we create a new version of the scene, exactly as we want it to be, the earlier, original draft is wholly discarded.)
So, in this process we keep the key elements of the original event (such as the general context of the event, including the same people, location, settings, etc.) yet creatively re-imagine it, recreating the experience, and its outcome, exactly as we wish it to be. If a person assumes the position of being a creative center of the absolute, having the ability to create or recreate any event or experience at will, then, assuming that position of pure creative power, how would you re-create the event? What would be your ideal outcome? This is your world, your creation, your story—what do you want to create? Create exact that. Once you create the scene, then enter it, enliven it with your present consciousness, be in it as you would the same real-life scene; as you imaginatively create your desired outcome, feel the thrill (and bodily sensation) of that outcome—with the same details and immediacy as if the event were taking place now. If you imagine winning the lotto, then feel the same way, and respond in the same way, in your imaginative scene as you would had you won the lotto in real life. It is your entry into the scene, your deeming it (i.e., your own creation) to be real, which gives it life and a likewise physical manifestation.
To repeat, the key to “bringing the event to life”—and having your subconscious mind to accept the event as “real”—is that you must fully enter the event, you must “live” the event in your imagination in order to bring the event to life; and living the event means you must “enter the spirit of it”; you must deem it as real and as alive, and respond to it, with the same measure and power as a physical event. You must make it real. The creative key is not the real or imagined event, per se, but your realized response to it, your response to it as if it were real. Thus, by repeatedly, and convincingly, reliving the revised experience—and responding to your creation with the same emotional power and bodily response you would to the same physical event—the subconscious mind comes to accept the revised event as “real.” In the case of an imagined future event—once it is accepted as “real” by the subconscious mind, it will immediately move to bring it into manifestation. When dealing with a past, revised event, once it is accepted as real, the subconscious mind will then discard the now dead “original event” (along with its negative aftereffects effect) en toto. Every event and feeling which was based upon, or came about as an “offshoot” of that original trauma will also be cleared by the subconscious mind. In terms of your psyche, it will be as if the original event never happened—and, if it never happened, none of its negative after-effects could be affecting you now. Once you, and your subconscious mind, accept as real your new creation, you would not be able to recall the original event as being real or as having actually happened to you. Thus, in one instant of pure creativity the subconscious mind will change everything related to that event, up and down the line.
This method of creative revision can be done alone yet it is more powerful when used in a one-on-one session, where we are assisted by someone who engages us in re-living and realizing (“making real”) our imagined reality. This assistance from another person, and our repeated verbalization of the experience, serves to make it more and more real for us. We can support a session by re-living our imagined reality on our own, (if need be) until its reality comes to replace the original event.
Neville
Neville Goddard, who first articulated the method of revision, recommended it as an “end of the day” process, where we recall all the events of the day and revise them in accordance with our ideal outcome. In the process described above we use this same revision method, but we use it to systematically revise all our deep-seated trauma blocks. Neville writes:
“Now this is how we do it: at the end of my day, I review the day; I don’t judge it, I simply review it. I look over the entire day, all the episodes, all the events, all the conversations, all the meetings, and then as I see it clearly in my mind’s eye, I rewrite it. I rewrite it and make it conform to the ideal day I wish I had experienced. I take scene after scene and rewrite it, revise it, and having revised my day, then in my imagination I relive that day, the revised day, and I do it over and over in my imagination until this seeming imagined state begins to take on for me the tones of reality. It seems that it’s real, that I actually did experience it and I have found from experience that these revised days, if really lived, will change my tomorrows. When I meet people tomorrow that today disappointed me, they will not tomorrow, for in me I have changed the very nature of that being, and having changed him, he bears witness tomorrow of the change that took place within me. It is my duty to take this garden and really make it a garden by daily using the pruning shears of revision.” (Neville, Lecture, 1954)
"Now we will go back to the Second Chapter of Genesis. It is said “And God placed man in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Now when you read the story you think it happened thousands of years ago. I have come to tell you it is now. You are now in the Garden of Eden and you think you are shut out or banished. You are in it, and the garden is your mind, but you need—like every gardener—[a good pair of] pruning shears. For you have slept, as you are told in that second chapter; having slept, weeds have appeared in the garden and the weeds are revealing themselves by the conditions and the circumstances of life. Your garden is always projecting itself on the screen of space, and you can see by looking carefully at your world what you allow to grow in the Garden of God. But you have a mission, you have a purpose, it is not to amass a fortune—though you can do that if you want to—it’s not to be famous, it’s not to be some mighty power, but simply to tend the garden of God. That’s your purpose. You are placed in the Garden to dress it and to keep it, to let only the lovely things grow in the Garden of God." (Neville)
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Simple Processing Guidelines (For Standard Recall Method)
Below are simple guidelines on the standard method used to discharge negative trauma-blocks. The same general instructions can also be used in a creative revision session.
Each session should take place in a clean, safe, and quiet setting. The person going through the process might be called the IR (“Imaginative Recaller” or in the case of creative revision, the “Imaginative Reviser”); the person helping him is the Assistant. The IR sits upright in a chair, facing the Assistant, who is also sitting in a chair. The Assistant’s role is to “be invisible” and help the person recall the incident as fully as possible. The Assistant never judges or reacts; he is fully present in the session; he is trusted by the IR and he never talks about the session (to the IR or anyone else) once it is over; in general, the Assistant avoids the word “I” during the session.
Before the series of sessions begins, the IR fills out a “trauma-block sheet” which helps him identify and codify every trauma-block which can be recalled at the time; this provides the general map or guideline for the sessions which follow. This “map” will eventually expand as a person is able to consciously recall more and more blocks; as surface blocks are removed deeper and deeper, related blocks, come into conscious awareness. (It is also instructive to note which trauma blocks a person is able to recall when he fills out the sheet, and which ones he recalls at a later time).
A Typical Session
1. Begin with a short centering method, or meditation, where both parties are aligned with each other and the creative energy. This takes the IR a step beyond his conscious mind and allows for a deeper recall. After a minute or so, the Assistant comes out of the meditative state but encourages the IR to remain calm and relaxed, with his or her eyes closed.
2. The Assistant announces that the session is beginning. (This can also be accompanied by a short invocation if both parties agree to that invocation and are comfortable with it).
3. Assistant: “Locate a painful incident that you are able to work through at this time.” (The first incident that comes to the IR's mind can be worked on; or the IR can spend a minute of so finding an incident he wants to work on). Once the IR has the incident in mind, the process begins. The Assistant then helps the IR relive it and re-experience the original event as fully and as vividly as possible.
4. Assistant: “Once you have a clear incident in mind, go to the beginning; re-enter the incident and describe it as if it were happening now.” Let the IR tell the incident, as he recalls it. (The Assistant may want to write down the major areas of recall to get a visual account of the incident).
5. Assistant: “OK, go back to the beginning of the incident and describe it again; see if there are any more details you can pick up.” (The Assistant might want to make sure that the IR is not simply recalling the event, from an outside position, but actually reliving and re-entering the event, as if it were happening now. He might say, “Make sure you are in the event; that you are feeling and responding to the event as if it were real and happening as you describe it.”
When hearing the IR’s description, the Assistant may direct the IR to pick up more details. The Assistant may ask: “What sounds do you hear?” “What words are spoken?” “What are the physical sensations?” “What do you smell?” “Is anyone else present?” Etc. (Again, the Assistant must be “invisible” and not direct the IR in any direction other than where the IR is going, nor ask questions which are not directly related to what the IR is describing, nor pull the IR out of his “reverie” by asking ill-placed questions.
6. When the IR goes through the event, the Assistant directs him to re-enter the event again. Assistant: “OK, go back to the incident, from the beginning, and see if there are any additional details you can recall.” (The IR may begin to resist the procedure and not want to recall the incident again; this is a boredom defense mechanism. The Assistant must simply “stick with the program” and have the IR recall the incident, even if he does not want to. This may occur a dozen or more times. So long as new information is being picked up, the Assistant has the IR go back and go over the incident again.)
7. If the IR is not getting any more details, and has not experienced a discharge of the pain of the event being recalled (and does not feel a sense of joy or aliveness from the subsequent release of the life-energy encased in the trauma block) then we can suspect that the event being recalled is supported by an earlier trauma (of a similar kind) somewhere prior on the same trauma chain. If this is the case, the Assistant may ask: “Can you recall an earlier incident which is similar to this one?” If the IR picks up an earlier incident, then the Assistant has the IR go to the beginning of the event and re-enter it as with the first incident of the session, going over it again and again until it is fully recalled and relived, and its negative emotional charge is dissolved.
8. After some time (say 60 to 90 minutes), when the IR comes to some kind of resolution (which usually happens when the emotional charge of a traumatic event is discharged) or natural stopping place, the Assistant calls the session to an end. The IR has been in a state of reverie or “imaginative recall,” which is similar to a state of meditation, and he/she needs to be brought out gently. The IR can be brought out of his reverie state by ringing a bell and then by guiding him back to the room, and the present moment, perhaps having him become aware of the room, the sensation of sitting in his chair, and so forth. After he has come back to the present time, he may open his eyes and the session comes to an end.
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