The Twelve Foundations Body-Health Program

The Twelve Foundations Body-Health Program is an intensive 40-day program where participants seek to apply the principles of the Twelve Foundations in order to actuate a positive change in their body and body image (and in the relationship they have with their body).
The program includes specialized detoxification (which is helpful for people struggling to overcome addictions), lessons on food and dieting, exercise, and enhancing one’s body-image (seeking to get to the core reason for ill-health or weight problems).
The program is structured around the following statements: A) “Where are you at now?” B) “Where do you want to be?” And C) “What is required (both in terms of action and a change in mental attitude) to get you from A to B?
The program includes specialized detoxification (which is helpful for people struggling to overcome addictions), lessons on food and dieting, exercise, and enhancing one’s body-image (seeking to get to the core reason for ill-health or weight problems).
The program is structured around the following statements: A) “Where are you at now?” B) “Where do you want to be?” And C) “What is required (both in terms of action and a change in mental attitude) to get you from A to B?
Twelve Foundations Study Group

Twelve Foundations Study Group is an in-depth, ongoing study group based on mastering the principles and practices of New Thought (and the creative power of mind). This knowledge and mastery (combined with the supportive intentions of the group) allows a person to more fully imbibe this principles and use them to positively improve one's life
Twelve Foundations Activism

Twelve Foundations Activism is for people who want to express the principles of the 12F in a way that brings positive social change, elevation in consciousness, personal benefit to individuals, community and societal upliftment, etc.
The primary way that we help others is not only by giving them something of benefit, but by the giving of ourselves in a way that raises a person’s consciousness and puts him/her more in touch with his/her own presence and divine qualities.
The primary way that we help others is not only by giving them something of benefit, but by the giving of ourselves in a way that raises a person’s consciousness and puts him/her more in touch with his/her own presence and divine qualities.
Twelve Foundations Business Alliance / MasterMind Group

Twelve Foundations Business Alliance / MasterMind Group is for people who want to express the transformative principles of the Twelve Foundations through business ventures, and through working with others in a positive and beneficial way. The intention of the group would be to earn money, enjoy abundance, and create financial stability as part of one’s human and spiritual development.
The primary principle of this Alliance is that we, as humans, are most benefited when we express ourselves—both personally and in business—in a way that is aligned with Spirit (and the natural laws of the universe); and in a way that allows the fullness of Spirit to enter and uplift our lives and business ventures.
Question and Answer
The Twelve Foundations Business Alliance is about “dharmic business," about business that is aligned with spiritual truths. Could you say something more about this?
Let's look at it in terms of recent events: we hear a lot of talk about the financial meltdown, and what went wrong, but nothing about the underlying consciousness which inevitably led to the situation. We hear of “greed,” manipulation, taking advantage of others, but all this is nothing but the expression of a low level of consciousness, a mode of action which is completely misaligned with, and lacking, the fundamental principles of Spirit. A line from the Tao Te Ching sheds some light on this:
Things that gain a place by force
will flourish for a time
but then fall into decay
They are not in keeping with Tao
Whatever is not in keeping with Tao
comes to an early end
What this means is that things which gain a place (rise up, financially expand, etc.) by unnatural means (by means which violate the fundamental principles of Spirit) may flourish for a while but they will soon come to an end; they will collapse in on themselves. They are not in keeping with Spirit, with universal law—and, therefore, lack the sustaining power of Spirit. If you look at any “fall,” or “crash,” or “burst of a bubble,” you will see behind it an unnatural rise, a bubble. So, in our business practice we want to avoid all that—we want our business practice to in alignment with the highest universal principles, with Life, and we want to draw power and benefit from that essential alignment.
In sum, we want to form business ventures, and ways of doing business, which are aligned with Spirit, which consciously include the expansive and abundant energy of Spirit. We want to be aligned with Spirit in our personal actions and in our corporate actions. Once a company is made to have a conscience—in terms of it being in alignment with the higher principles of Spirit—it will begin to draw the ever-expanding, abundant, uplifting, and redeeming energy of Spirit. Everything will expand.
Where there is Dharma, there is Victory
A famous line from the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, sums up this principle: “Where there is dharma, there is victory.” This means, that when one’s actions are in alignment with dharma—the natural laws of the universe, the natural movement of Spirit—than one is supported by the whole universe, and victory is assured because nothing can defeat the whole universe. “Victory” in this context may mean literal victory over an opponent but it really means victory and triumph in one’s life. When one’s life and actions are in alignment with Spirit, one’s life and actions are victorious—they bring the fullness of Spirit which is love, joy, fulfillment, success, etc. A person may earn a lot of money—and that is one kind of success—but only when that money is earned in alignment with Spirit can it bring true abundance, or joy, or happiness. That does mean that a person has to pray, or put up spiritual pictures, or consciously invoke Spirit, only that one’s actions must be righteous, beneficial, and in alignment with truth and goodness.
The primary principle of this Alliance is that we, as humans, are most benefited when we express ourselves—both personally and in business—in a way that is aligned with Spirit (and the natural laws of the universe); and in a way that allows the fullness of Spirit to enter and uplift our lives and business ventures.
Question and Answer
The Twelve Foundations Business Alliance is about “dharmic business," about business that is aligned with spiritual truths. Could you say something more about this?
Let's look at it in terms of recent events: we hear a lot of talk about the financial meltdown, and what went wrong, but nothing about the underlying consciousness which inevitably led to the situation. We hear of “greed,” manipulation, taking advantage of others, but all this is nothing but the expression of a low level of consciousness, a mode of action which is completely misaligned with, and lacking, the fundamental principles of Spirit. A line from the Tao Te Ching sheds some light on this:
Things that gain a place by force
will flourish for a time
but then fall into decay
They are not in keeping with Tao
Whatever is not in keeping with Tao
comes to an early end
What this means is that things which gain a place (rise up, financially expand, etc.) by unnatural means (by means which violate the fundamental principles of Spirit) may flourish for a while but they will soon come to an end; they will collapse in on themselves. They are not in keeping with Spirit, with universal law—and, therefore, lack the sustaining power of Spirit. If you look at any “fall,” or “crash,” or “burst of a bubble,” you will see behind it an unnatural rise, a bubble. So, in our business practice we want to avoid all that—we want our business practice to in alignment with the highest universal principles, with Life, and we want to draw power and benefit from that essential alignment.
In sum, we want to form business ventures, and ways of doing business, which are aligned with Spirit, which consciously include the expansive and abundant energy of Spirit. We want to be aligned with Spirit in our personal actions and in our corporate actions. Once a company is made to have a conscience—in terms of it being in alignment with the higher principles of Spirit—it will begin to draw the ever-expanding, abundant, uplifting, and redeeming energy of Spirit. Everything will expand.
Where there is Dharma, there is Victory
A famous line from the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, sums up this principle: “Where there is dharma, there is victory.” This means, that when one’s actions are in alignment with dharma—the natural laws of the universe, the natural movement of Spirit—than one is supported by the whole universe, and victory is assured because nothing can defeat the whole universe. “Victory” in this context may mean literal victory over an opponent but it really means victory and triumph in one’s life. When one’s life and actions are in alignment with Spirit, one’s life and actions are victorious—they bring the fullness of Spirit which is love, joy, fulfillment, success, etc. A person may earn a lot of money—and that is one kind of success—but only when that money is earned in alignment with Spirit can it bring true abundance, or joy, or happiness. That does mean that a person has to pray, or put up spiritual pictures, or consciously invoke Spirit, only that one’s actions must be righteous, beneficial, and in alignment with truth and goodness.
Twelve Foundations Groups
Groups may be formed around two general categories:
1. Spiritual Development and Wholeness
This group is for people who want to recognize their spiritual nature, cultivate their creative power, and find greater fulfillment in their life. It’s for people who have ordinary life-struggles and challenges yet who are called to experience something greater and/or who want to find more joy and meaning in their lives.
2. Recovery and Overcoming Addictions
This group is for people who want to be involved with a “positive recovery” program and overcome additions in a balanced and empowering way. This type of group may also be used as “the Next Step” for people who have had some success with Twelve Steps programs but who now want to move beyond that approach and the identity that goes with it.
Group Intention
With regards to participation in a group, every participant should have a shared intention. This intention (or something that supports group unity and purpose) can be read before each meeting.
We come together with the shared intention to support each other, both in one’s human life and in one’s spiritual aspirations. Our intention is:
to honor and support the highest in ourselves and in each other;
to allow and support the expression of joy, in ourselves and in others;
to have genuine appreciation for each others presence.
This is our intention; this is what we will express or sincerely move toward.
Meeting Format
> Meetings should begin and end on time.
> Meetings should run between 60 and 90 minutes.
> The format of each meeting should support the individual in understanding and imbibing the teachings of the steps; each meeting should foster a connection (between participants), create a sense of belonging (for everyone), and allow for the expression and experience of joy.
> Meetings relate to empowering each participant, to holding a space in which people can be heard, supported, and "gotten." If people need to "get things off their chest" or get support for their struggles, two or three people can form a module, separate from the group, for a period up to 20 minutes, where they can share their story with each other.
> Meetings can be based on a particular Foundation; thus, each meeting could open up with a reading of the Foundation and some related teaching.
> Each meeting is run by a moderator, or facilitator, whose main purpose is to keep the meeting on track. Facilitators don't teach. They may offer their insights to others in order to help them understand the teachings.
A Sample Meeting Schedule
8:00 Welcome by group leader. Welcome each other. Read Group intention. Read current Foundation and a teaching related to the Foundation (if applicable).
8:10 Check in. Each participant tells the group how they are feeling at the moment.
8:20 Meeting. Sharing, work on applying the teachings, etc. .)
9:10 Meditation / Prayer
9:15 Sharing of insights
9:25 Closing announcements, if any (short)
9:28 Last thought—an inspiring invocation or statement
> Meetings should begin and end on time.
> Meetings should run between 60 and 90 minutes.
> The format of each meeting should support the individual in understanding and imbibing the teachings of the steps; each meeting should foster a connection (between participants), create a sense of belonging (for everyone), and allow for the expression and experience of joy.
> Meetings relate to empowering each participant, to holding a space in which people can be heard, supported, and "gotten." If people need to "get things off their chest" or get support for their struggles, two or three people can form a module, separate from the group, for a period up to 20 minutes, where they can share their story with each other.
> Meetings can be based on a particular Foundation; thus, each meeting could open up with a reading of the Foundation and some related teaching.
> Each meeting is run by a moderator, or facilitator, whose main purpose is to keep the meeting on track. Facilitators don't teach. They may offer their insights to others in order to help them understand the teachings.
A Sample Meeting Schedule
8:00 Welcome by group leader. Welcome each other. Read Group intention. Read current Foundation and a teaching related to the Foundation (if applicable).
8:10 Check in. Each participant tells the group how they are feeling at the moment.
8:20 Meeting. Sharing, work on applying the teachings, etc. .)
9:10 Meditation / Prayer
9:15 Sharing of insights
9:25 Closing announcements, if any (short)
9:28 Last thought—an inspiring invocation or statement
The Twelve Foundations:
A New Path of Transformation and Recovery
The Twelve Foundations is a program based upon twelve universal truths or what could be seen as twelve life-orienting principles. As we work with these principles and incorporate them into our life—through our own effort and with the support of others—we begin to unfold our creative power, bring about a deeper understanding of our own nature, and find more joy and fulfillment in life. For people struggling with addictions, this program can be used as a template for “positive” recovery and for overcoming life-challenges in a true and empowering way.
A fundamental teaching of the Twelve Foundations is that each person is an individualized expression of Infinite Spirit; as such, our own nature contains every quality of Spirit including love, joy, aliveness, abundance, peace, fullness, power, creativity, and beauty. By virtue of us having the same nature as The Creative Power we have the power to improve the conditions of our life by actuating a change in our own consciousness. This is one of the sacred duties of human life, something that requires knowledge, effort, and sincerity. We can also bring about beneficial changes in our life by accepting conditions as they are, by accepting life as it is without trying to change or fix anything. With this approach we are not always asking “Why is this happening to me?” but “What can I learn from this experience?”
The Twelve Foundations is about embracing the whole of who we are—both as divine embodiments of Spirit and as work-in-progress human beings. In this process we don’t want to discount our human nature or come to view ourselves as being weak or helpless, we want to step into our own power; we want to embrace the wonder of our human existence; we want to honor ourselves as unique expressions of Spirit and do what is needed to create a true and meaningful life for ourselves and others.
The Four “Mega-Foundations”
This program consists of four major areas of involvement or “mega-foundations.” They are:
1. Active participation in a group of caring, like-minded individuals, all of whom have the intention to improve their lives and support each other.
2. Becoming a true and integral human being by understanding yourself, putting your life in order, having a proper relationship with food and the body, establishing supportive and uplifting relationships, aligning your actions with the laws of nature, and clearing up past traumas.
3. Understanding and developing your inherent creative power.
4. Realizing your spiritual nature through meditation, prayer, self-inquiry, and/or the practice of presence.
A Higher Recovery
“Recovery” is a term that is often applied to people who have overcome or are in the process of overcoming addictions and who seek to recover the “manageability” of their former lives. Such a person might say, “I am in recovery” or “I have been in recovery for five years.” However, this notion of recovery can also have a higher meaning: in the path of “higher recovery” the aim is not to recover the human life we once knew—a life that was beset with difficulties and limitations even before it was derailed by addiction—but to recover the wholeness and glory of who we truly are. We want to recover our unity with Spirit; we want to recover our creative power; we want to recover the love, joy, and fullness of a well-lived life.
The Twelve Foundations:
A New Path of Transformation and Recovery
The Twelve Foundations is a path of human and spiritual development which is based upon the twelve universal principles or “foundations.” These foundations (or “life-vectors”) form the basis upon which we can develop our positive human qualities, expand our creative power, and realize our spiritual nature; they provide the practical guidelines by which we can live a full and joyous life, in harmony with Spirit. This program, which is articulated in the form of "steps," can also be used as a new model of positive recovery or as “the next step” for people who want to move beyond the traditional recovery programs.
This program is founded upon four major areas of involvement, which are:
a) Participation in a group of caring, like-minded individuals, all of whom have the intention to positively improve their lives and support each other.
b) Development and mastery of one’s creative power (and the "power of mind") which allows a person to create the life he or she desires, in harmony with Spirit.
c) Cultivation of a true and positive human identity, one which is whole, empowered, and expresses the fullness of life.
d) Realization of one’s true self through meditation and the practice of presence.
A fundamental teaching of the Twelve Foundations is that we are all individual expressions of Infinite Spirit and, therefore, our own nature contains every quality of Spirit, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, freedom, and beauty. With a true knowing that our consciousness is one with the creative power of Spirit we can enter into a dynamic involvement with life; we can consciously improve the conditions of our life by actuating a positive change in our own consciousness. In addition, by virtue of our oneness with Spirit (and through the practice of meditation) we come to realize that we are whole and complete as we are—even as we may work toward improving our life. Fundamentally, we need not attain anything, or find something which is missing, but simply abide in our true state, in the glory of our own love and aliveness. Being an individual expression of the all-encompassing Spirit, everything we seek is already present in and as our true self—and yet, through an informed human endeavor, we need to create a new sense of self, and a higher identity, in order to experience the fullness of our being.
Realizing our oneness with Spirit, actuating our own creative power, and living a full and joyous life--in harmony with Spirit and our highest nature--are the primary aims of the Twelve Foundations.
Step One:
______________________________
Affirmed that I am a creative center of Infinite Spirit, that I (in my oneness with Spirit) have power and dominion over the conditions of my life.
I am one with Infinite Spirit. I am an individualized expression and creative center of Infinite Spirit. As such, my own essence, my own nature, is one with the Infinite Power of Spirit and embodies every quality inherent to the nature of Spirit, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, creative power, and beauty. Being one with the creative power of Spirit, I have complete freedom, in every moment, to change my consciousness and actuate a positive change in my life; nothing (no outer condition) has power over me unless I give it that power (consciously or subconsciously).
I own and affirm that I am a creative center of Spirit, that my own nature is one, and of a like nature, with Spirit.
Although, in essence, I am one with Infinite Spirit, in my ordinary state—where I am unaware of my true nature and fully identified with my personal self—I encounter difficulties and do not fully experience my essential self nor its qualities. Thus, to live a full and joyous life, to experience my divine refulgence, I intend to move from my current state of consciousness (limited to my human identity) to a state of fullness, to a state where my true self, and all its qualities, are more and more present in my life.
Understanding our True Self as Infinite Spirit
The first principle of Step One is that we, as human beings, are creative centers of Infinite Spirit; that we are one with Spirit and, fundamental to our being, is every quality inherent to Spirit, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, creative power, and beauty. An affirmation of Step One is: "I own and affirm that I am a creative center of Infinite Spirit." Once we are able to “own and affirm” our oneness with Spirit we put ourselves in a position of true creative power. Only by affirming and realizing ourselves as creative centers of Infinite Spirit—and, thus, the owner of every quality of Spirit—will we come to have complete power and dominion over the conditions of our life. We will realize that our own creative consciousness is the cause and the outer conditions of our life is the effect. By affirming our oneness with Spirit we put ourselves in a true relationship to Life; we come to be masters over conditions as opposed to having conditions be master over us.
To understand our essential nature (and its qualities) we must understand the nature of Spirit—precisely because Spirit (the Infinite Creative Power) is our innermost nature.
When we exclusively identify (and define) ourselves as being this individual we obscure our one-with-Spirit nature and its creative power. Therefore, the intention of this step is not to try and gain or acquire something but to realize (and become consciously aware of) what we already have and that which we already are.
The shift from powerless to true creative power involves a fundamental shift in one’s identity; this shift is from a primary identification with one’s limited, conditional self to one’s infinite, one-with-Spirit, self. In this shift, our primary identity (or sense of self) comes to resides in, and as, our infinite, one-with-Spirit self, or “I Am.” This does not obscure or dissolve our human identity—rather, when we come upon our true identity, when we know ourselves to be that essential self, the light of this truth illumines and makes whole our human identity.
When we are identified with our limited, mind-based image of self—which means that we live though our self-image and believe ourselves to be this person—we do not have power and dominion over the conditions of our life. In this limited formation of our identity our power is limited (and used to bind us as opposed to freeing us); as such, conditions have power over us and they determine our state of mind. In this me-based identity, we may be able to exert a lot of power (if we have certain human attributes, such as intelligence, confidence, skills, means, connections, etc.) or we may lack power (if we lack certain attributes). So, in terms of human power, a person may have a lot of power or a little. But our true creative power—enabled by our conscious oneness with Infinite Spirit—is of a different order and magnitude than our ordinary human power. To the extent that we identify with our human self, to that extent is our power limited to that which we, in our human capacity, can command. To the extent that we identify with our true self, as a creative center of Infinite Spirit, to that extent do we have power and dominion over the conditions of our lives (and to that extent are we able to conscious manifest the conditions we desire and those in harmony with our highest ideals).Thus, a major part of Step One is to understand the difference between our human and divine identity, and to actuate a shift in our identity—from our human self to our divine self, from our finite self to our one-with-Spirit self. (Identity can generally be understood as what a person believes himself to be; where a person is positioned in life; what a person feels himself to be when he says, “I Am.")
Two Centers of Consciousness
An understanding integral to Step One—and the spiritual path in general—is that we, as human beings, have two selves, two dimensions of existence, two centers of consciousness, which are simultaneously present in the complete experience of our being. (And, ultimately, it is the seamless integration of these two aspects of our being which leads to wholeness and fulfillment). One self may be called our divine self, our infinite self, or “I Am.” This is our true nature; it is first experienced as pure, boundless awareness. The realization of this dimension of self is what most spiritual traditions focus upon. It is this dimension of self which is one, in essence, with Infinite Spirit; it is this dimension of self which—once we realize to be our true self—affords us power and dominion over the conditions of our lives (and the mind); it is this self which allows us to experience our true nature as love, joy, and fullness because this self is of the nature of love, joy, and fullness.
In addition to our spiritual self, is our human self, our limited and conditioned self, or “Me.” This part of ourselves feels itself to be lacking and is, therefore, ever seeking wholeness; it is seeking love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc. because this is what it feels itself to lack—and these are the very qualities of one’s higher self, or “I Am.” This human dimension of self, or “me,” is what most people exclusively identify with, and live through, believing this to be the whole of who they are. This exclusive identification with our human self (and not our human self, per se) is what obscures our true self, thwarts our creative power, and alienates us from our vast spiritual nature.
Our human self is necessary and integral to our whole being. Thus, our human self (or self-image) is not the problem nor is it something we have to “get rid of.” The problem is our total identification with our human side and the mistaken belief that this body-mind person is the whole of who we are. So, we don’t want to get rid of or deny our human self, we simply want to expand beyond it; we want to include the fullness of who we are in our own lives.
In sum, when we are identified with our true self we gain access to our true qualities—and our human self is illumined and divinized by the conscious presence of our own light (and love). When we are fully identified with our human self we obscure the light of our true self (and our fundamental nature) and we live through a limited, somewhat feeble and lifeless, version of our self. Thus, our intention is to shift the nexus of our identity from our limited sense of self to our boundless, all-embracing self.
Power over Conditions
Having power over the conditions of our life means that we can direct our life as we choose, that we are in a position to create what we will, and to live in freedom and joy. It means that we are whole, and undivided; that our subconscious beliefs are in accord with our conscious desires. It means that that we live in the awareness that we are the creative centers of our own lives, that our own consciousness is the cause and the outer conditions are its effects. Having dominion over conditions not only implies that we have power over conditions (and are able to create what we will) but that we are here to enjoy and care for our lives and everything that shows up in our lives.
Questions & Answers >>
Quotes
If we clearly realize that the creative power in ourselves is unlimited, then there is no reason for limiting the extent to which we may enjoy what we can create by means of it. Where we are drawing from the Infinite we need never be afraid of taking more than our share. That is not where the danger lies. The danger is in not sufficiently realizing our own richness, and in looking upon the externalized products of our creative power as being the true riches instead of the creative power of Spirit Itself.
(Thomas Troward, The Hidden Power, p.118)
There is a God Power at the center of everyone’s being, a Presence that knows neither lack, limitation, fear, sickness, disquiet, nor imperfection. This Presence and Power is at the center of all people and all things. But, because everyone is an individual [and has the creative power afforded to every individual], he can build a wall of negative thoughts [and limitation] between himself and this perfection. This makes it difficult for the true center to come to the surface [and be consciously experienced in one’s life]. . . Now you are to tear down this wall, to completely destroy it.
(Holmes, This Thing Called You, p. 117)
The state of a human being, the world, and all within it are conditioned states of the unconditioned one, God. You are this one; you are God conditioned as a human being. All that you believe God to be, you are—but you will never know this to be true until you stop claiming it of [or assigning it to] another, and recognize this “seeming” other to be yourself. . .
The most difficult thing for a person to really grasp is this: That the “I am-ness” in himself is God. It is his true being or “father” state--and it is the only state he can be sure of. . . .
Now that you have discovered your I Am, your consciousness, to be God [individually expressed as you] do not claim anything to be true of yourself that you would not claim to be true of God—for in defining yourself, you are defining God. That which you are conscious of being [i.e., your own sense of “I Am”] is that which you have named God. (Neville, Freedom for All, p. 2-5)
The Great Affirmation is the perception that the “I AM” is ONE, always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with what it is doing around him. . .
In this way our affirmation of the “I am” ceases to be the petulant assertion of our limited personality and becomes the affirmation that the Great I AM affirms its own I AM-ness both in us and through us, and thus our use of the words becomes in very truth the Great Affirmative, or that which is the root of all being as distinguished from that which has no being in itself but is merely externalized by being as the vehicle for its expression. (Troward, Doré Lectures, Chapter 7)
______________________________
Affirmed that I am a creative center of Infinite Spirit, that I (in my oneness with Spirit) have power and dominion over the conditions of my life.
I am one with Infinite Spirit. I am an individualized expression and creative center of Infinite Spirit. As such, my own essence, my own nature, is one with the Infinite Power of Spirit and embodies every quality inherent to the nature of Spirit, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, creative power, and beauty. Being one with the creative power of Spirit, I have complete freedom, in every moment, to change my consciousness and actuate a positive change in my life; nothing (no outer condition) has power over me unless I give it that power (consciously or subconsciously).
I own and affirm that I am a creative center of Spirit, that my own nature is one, and of a like nature, with Spirit.
Although, in essence, I am one with Infinite Spirit, in my ordinary state—where I am unaware of my true nature and fully identified with my personal self—I encounter difficulties and do not fully experience my essential self nor its qualities. Thus, to live a full and joyous life, to experience my divine refulgence, I intend to move from my current state of consciousness (limited to my human identity) to a state of fullness, to a state where my true self, and all its qualities, are more and more present in my life.
Understanding our True Self as Infinite Spirit
The first principle of Step One is that we, as human beings, are creative centers of Infinite Spirit; that we are one with Spirit and, fundamental to our being, is every quality inherent to Spirit, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, creative power, and beauty. An affirmation of Step One is: "I own and affirm that I am a creative center of Infinite Spirit." Once we are able to “own and affirm” our oneness with Spirit we put ourselves in a position of true creative power. Only by affirming and realizing ourselves as creative centers of Infinite Spirit—and, thus, the owner of every quality of Spirit—will we come to have complete power and dominion over the conditions of our life. We will realize that our own creative consciousness is the cause and the outer conditions of our life is the effect. By affirming our oneness with Spirit we put ourselves in a true relationship to Life; we come to be masters over conditions as opposed to having conditions be master over us.
To understand our essential nature (and its qualities) we must understand the nature of Spirit—precisely because Spirit (the Infinite Creative Power) is our innermost nature.
When we exclusively identify (and define) ourselves as being this individual we obscure our one-with-Spirit nature and its creative power. Therefore, the intention of this step is not to try and gain or acquire something but to realize (and become consciously aware of) what we already have and that which we already are.
The shift from powerless to true creative power involves a fundamental shift in one’s identity; this shift is from a primary identification with one’s limited, conditional self to one’s infinite, one-with-Spirit, self. In this shift, our primary identity (or sense of self) comes to resides in, and as, our infinite, one-with-Spirit self, or “I Am.” This does not obscure or dissolve our human identity—rather, when we come upon our true identity, when we know ourselves to be that essential self, the light of this truth illumines and makes whole our human identity.
When we are identified with our limited, mind-based image of self—which means that we live though our self-image and believe ourselves to be this person—we do not have power and dominion over the conditions of our life. In this limited formation of our identity our power is limited (and used to bind us as opposed to freeing us); as such, conditions have power over us and they determine our state of mind. In this me-based identity, we may be able to exert a lot of power (if we have certain human attributes, such as intelligence, confidence, skills, means, connections, etc.) or we may lack power (if we lack certain attributes). So, in terms of human power, a person may have a lot of power or a little. But our true creative power—enabled by our conscious oneness with Infinite Spirit—is of a different order and magnitude than our ordinary human power. To the extent that we identify with our human self, to that extent is our power limited to that which we, in our human capacity, can command. To the extent that we identify with our true self, as a creative center of Infinite Spirit, to that extent do we have power and dominion over the conditions of our lives (and to that extent are we able to conscious manifest the conditions we desire and those in harmony with our highest ideals).Thus, a major part of Step One is to understand the difference between our human and divine identity, and to actuate a shift in our identity—from our human self to our divine self, from our finite self to our one-with-Spirit self. (Identity can generally be understood as what a person believes himself to be; where a person is positioned in life; what a person feels himself to be when he says, “I Am.")
Two Centers of Consciousness
An understanding integral to Step One—and the spiritual path in general—is that we, as human beings, have two selves, two dimensions of existence, two centers of consciousness, which are simultaneously present in the complete experience of our being. (And, ultimately, it is the seamless integration of these two aspects of our being which leads to wholeness and fulfillment). One self may be called our divine self, our infinite self, or “I Am.” This is our true nature; it is first experienced as pure, boundless awareness. The realization of this dimension of self is what most spiritual traditions focus upon. It is this dimension of self which is one, in essence, with Infinite Spirit; it is this dimension of self which—once we realize to be our true self—affords us power and dominion over the conditions of our lives (and the mind); it is this self which allows us to experience our true nature as love, joy, and fullness because this self is of the nature of love, joy, and fullness.
In addition to our spiritual self, is our human self, our limited and conditioned self, or “Me.” This part of ourselves feels itself to be lacking and is, therefore, ever seeking wholeness; it is seeking love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc. because this is what it feels itself to lack—and these are the very qualities of one’s higher self, or “I Am.” This human dimension of self, or “me,” is what most people exclusively identify with, and live through, believing this to be the whole of who they are. This exclusive identification with our human self (and not our human self, per se) is what obscures our true self, thwarts our creative power, and alienates us from our vast spiritual nature.
Our human self is necessary and integral to our whole being. Thus, our human self (or self-image) is not the problem nor is it something we have to “get rid of.” The problem is our total identification with our human side and the mistaken belief that this body-mind person is the whole of who we are. So, we don’t want to get rid of or deny our human self, we simply want to expand beyond it; we want to include the fullness of who we are in our own lives.
In sum, when we are identified with our true self we gain access to our true qualities—and our human self is illumined and divinized by the conscious presence of our own light (and love). When we are fully identified with our human self we obscure the light of our true self (and our fundamental nature) and we live through a limited, somewhat feeble and lifeless, version of our self. Thus, our intention is to shift the nexus of our identity from our limited sense of self to our boundless, all-embracing self.
Power over Conditions
Having power over the conditions of our life means that we can direct our life as we choose, that we are in a position to create what we will, and to live in freedom and joy. It means that we are whole, and undivided; that our subconscious beliefs are in accord with our conscious desires. It means that that we live in the awareness that we are the creative centers of our own lives, that our own consciousness is the cause and the outer conditions are its effects. Having dominion over conditions not only implies that we have power over conditions (and are able to create what we will) but that we are here to enjoy and care for our lives and everything that shows up in our lives.
Questions & Answers >>
Quotes
If we clearly realize that the creative power in ourselves is unlimited, then there is no reason for limiting the extent to which we may enjoy what we can create by means of it. Where we are drawing from the Infinite we need never be afraid of taking more than our share. That is not where the danger lies. The danger is in not sufficiently realizing our own richness, and in looking upon the externalized products of our creative power as being the true riches instead of the creative power of Spirit Itself.
(Thomas Troward, The Hidden Power, p.118)
There is a God Power at the center of everyone’s being, a Presence that knows neither lack, limitation, fear, sickness, disquiet, nor imperfection. This Presence and Power is at the center of all people and all things. But, because everyone is an individual [and has the creative power afforded to every individual], he can build a wall of negative thoughts [and limitation] between himself and this perfection. This makes it difficult for the true center to come to the surface [and be consciously experienced in one’s life]. . . Now you are to tear down this wall, to completely destroy it.
(Holmes, This Thing Called You, p. 117)
The state of a human being, the world, and all within it are conditioned states of the unconditioned one, God. You are this one; you are God conditioned as a human being. All that you believe God to be, you are—but you will never know this to be true until you stop claiming it of [or assigning it to] another, and recognize this “seeming” other to be yourself. . .
The most difficult thing for a person to really grasp is this: That the “I am-ness” in himself is God. It is his true being or “father” state--and it is the only state he can be sure of. . . .
Now that you have discovered your I Am, your consciousness, to be God [individually expressed as you] do not claim anything to be true of yourself that you would not claim to be true of God—for in defining yourself, you are defining God. That which you are conscious of being [i.e., your own sense of “I Am”] is that which you have named God. (Neville, Freedom for All, p. 2-5)
The Great Affirmation is the perception that the “I AM” is ONE, always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with what it is doing around him. . .
In this way our affirmation of the “I am” ceases to be the petulant assertion of our limited personality and becomes the affirmation that the Great I AM affirms its own I AM-ness both in us and through us, and thus our use of the words becomes in very truth the Great Affirmative, or that which is the root of all being as distinguished from that which has no being in itself but is merely externalized by being as the vehicle for its expression. (Troward, Doré Lectures, Chapter 7)
STEP TWO - CREATIVE IMAGINATION
This discussion relates to the creative imagination and is based on selected quotes from The Law and the Promise by Neville Goddard.
Quotes
The world in which we live is a world of imagination, and every human being—through [the power of] his imaginal activities—creates the reality and circumstances of life; this he does either knowingly or unknowingly.
People pay too little attention to this priceless gift—the Human Imagination [i.e., the creative power of their own consciousness]. And a gift is practically nonexistent unless there is a conscious possession of it and a readiness to use it. All people possess the power to create reality but this power sleeps as though dead when not consciously exercised. Human beings live in the very heart of creation—which is the Human Imagination—yet are no wiser for what takes place therein. The future will not be fundamentally different from one’s own imaginal activities; therefore, the individual who can summon, at will, whatever imaginal activity [or state of consciousness] he pleases and to whom the visions of his imagination are as real as the [physical] forms of nature is master of his fate. (The Law, p. 3)
What makes a present sense impression so objectively real is the individual’s imagination functioning in it and thinking from it; whereas in a memory image or a wish the individual’s imagination is not functioning in it, and thinking from it, but is functioning out of it and thinking of [or about] it.
If you would enter into the image in your imagination [fully embracing it as real] then you would know what it is to be creatively transformative; then would you realize your wish; then you would be happy. Every image can be embodied but unless you, yourself, [through the creative power of your own consciousness] enter the image, and think from it, it is incapable of birth. Therefore, it is the height of folly to expect the wish to be realized by the mere passage of time. That which requires imaginative occupancy to produce its effect, cannot be affected without such occupancy.
"Imagination" is spiritual sensation. Enter the image of the wish fulfilled; then give it sensory vividness and tones of reality by mentally acting as you would act were it a physical fact. (The Law, p. 5)
The reader will find it worthwhile to follow these clues—imaginal construction of scenes implying the wish fulfilled, and imaginative participation in these scenes until tones of reality are reached. We are dealing with the secret of imagining, in which man is seen awakening into a world completely subject to his imaginative power. (The Law, p. 28)
Discussion
Spirit creates this universe by becoming it. There is always a total surrender, or self-abandonment, to its creation. Without this self-abandonment, without fully giving itself (and holding nothing of itself back) creation cannot take place. The creative act of Spirit is singular, undivided, certain, and without any counter-current of doubt or disbelief. Likewise, a human being, through the creative power of his own consciousness, cannot create anything without entering it, without fully occupying his creation; he cannot consciously direct creation so long as he remains separate from his creation, so long as his consciousness is confused and divided (and undermined by subconscious counter-currents).
We, therefore, must bear in mind the difference between “present” human consciousness—which is full of flux, doubt, hesitancy, and undermined by fear, lack of direction, and limiting concepts (of what is possible)—from the state of single-minded certainty. Both states are available to us as human beings. The creative act requires a state of certainty. It requires clear direction, intention, and full occupancy by the creator. The “present” human state lacks power and creative potency (and is more often than not moved by subconscious, rather than conscious, direction); the state we are aspiring to is one of certainty, in likeness with Spirit, wherein true co-creation can take place.
Our own consciousness is the creative power; thus, our sense of “I Am,” or “Me” must be present in our imaginative creation in order for our imagined creation to manifest, in order for it to have life. We cannot create when the source of our creative power (which is us) is not present in our creation; we cannot have our sense of “I Am,” be somewhere outside of our creation and then expect it to have manifesting power. This is what we mean by “imaginal occupancy”—we, our consciousness, must fully occupy and be present in what we imagine in order for it to manifest. (Therefore, as a rule, always occupy the imaginal states that you want to enliven and have more of; never occupy a state or condition (or embrace a thought or concept) that you don’t want to manifest).
Quote
Self-abandonment! That is the secret. You must abandon yourself mentally to your wish fulfilled—in your love for that state—and in so doing live in the new state (and no more in the old state). You can’t commit yourself to what you do not love; so the secret of self-commission [entering one’s imaginal reality in such as way that it takes on the tone and feeling of reality] is faith plus love. Faith is to believe in [and be sure of] what is unbelievable [or not realized by the senses]. Commit yourself to the feeling of the wish fulfilled, and in faith this act of self-commission will become a reality. (The Law, p. 4)
Discussion
Most human beings are already living in, and through, an imagined version of themselves—they are presently occupying a conditioned and limited self-image; they are continually affirming this self-image as their reality, and they are imaginatively living their life through that imagined version of themselves. (What this means, basically, is that most people view themselves from an imagines position outside themselves rather than fully being themselves, as they were as children; by a static misuse of their own self-reflexive consciousness, they have come to always “see” themselves from an imagined outer perspective, as if being seen by some imaginary other. Thus, they are always imagining what they look like, and what they feel like, from a perspective outside themselves, even when alone.) Most people are not really living their life right now—they are imagining it. And they do this by wholeheartedly believing in this mental version of self which they have created (through many years of parental and societal conditioning). They have been conditioned into believing in, and occupying, this imagined version of self; they fully believe that they are this person, with this body and mind, who lives in this place, does this kind of thing, has this kind of ability, etc. That story, that imagined version of self, is who they believe themselves to be—and it is the single-pointed, doubtless belief in this version of themselves which imparts it with a seeming reality. We, as human beings, through our unlimited creative consciousness are continually creating, and living our lives through, a limited version of self—and, we are experiencing the pain and suffering of this creation. This is the truest and most fundamental of all addictions—the addiction to our imagined version of ourselves. So, we don’t want to keep on doing this; we don’t want to keep on imagining ourselves—we want to be ourselves, we want to feel the fullness of our true, one-with-Spirit nature—or do we?
We are prisoners of our own limited imagination; through our own creative power we are unwittingly creating bondage and limitation for ourselves—and we are feeling the pain of this misdirected creation. Now, the two ways out of this unfortunate, but temporarily necessary suffering, is a) to direct our creative power in a true and beneficial way and creatively imagine, and occupy, a truer and more expanded version of our selves, or b) to simply be ourselves, without imagining ourselves as being this or that. The first approach involves the teachings which are generally known as “New Thought”; this relates to various teachings on creative imagination, affirmations, “power of mind,” “law of attraction,” etc. The second approach involves getting beyond the mind altogether, reaching a state of pure presence or being though meditation. In this state we don’t seek after anything, we don’t strive to create anything new or better for ourselves, because the aliveness, joy, and fullness of our own nature—a nature in oneness with the nature of Infinite Spirit—contains the wholeness of everything that we, as human beings, seek. Nothing is lacking in this one-with-Spirit state.
Quote
We must BE the state to experience the state. (The Law, p.66)
Question and Answer
A lot of “power of mind” teachers say that we should completely ignore conditions and occupy a state of mind which represents what we want, not what is physically present. Isn’t that a denial of reality? And besides, experiencing life, as it is around us, is more fun than simply living in an ideal imagined state.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If your life is as you want it to be then continue to enjoy your present reality; if it is not create something better for yourself. Even if things are good, they can always be better; when co-creating with Spirit, we always get more than we could possibly imagine for ourselves.
Now what about our present conditions? The state we are now occupying is the state corresponding to our past imagination. It is real—but do we want to continue in this state? We need not deny the state, but simply look at is as a state we created, a state which reflects our past imaginings, and move on to something better. Certainly we don’t want to react to the state—because this imparts it with a reality, to our subconscious mind, and thereby serves to perpetuate the state and its “realness.” If, however, we simply dwell in our present state, and accept conditions—and do nothing—then we send a clear message to our subconscious mind to give us more of the same. We don’t want to occupy or realize (make real) our present state if it is not what we want. Even if our state is miserable, by accepting it, by occupying it, we send an “I want more” message to our subconscious mind. Now, we don’t want to do that. This approach is much different from the idea of total surrender and acceptance of “What is.” What we want to accept is our feeling about what is and not the outer conditions of “what is.” Thus, when we accept our feeling (that we don’t like or enjoy what is showing up) then we can act to create something better; if we accept our feeling (that we like what is showing up) then we live in that reality and impel our subconscious mind to bring us more of the same—and perhaps even something better. All the things that show up in our life are not to be blindly accepted as “God’s Will,” they are to be used as means to keep moving us toward something better.
Quote
My mystical experiences have brought me to accept literally, the saying that all the world's a stage. And to believe that God plays all the parts. The purpose of the play? To transform man, the created, into God, the creator. (The Law, p. 114)
Discussion
So, we need not reject our outer conditions, just ignore them (when they are not in alignment with our present ideals). See them as something brought to you by your past creations; say “OK,” but do not feel obligated to occupy the state offered by the conditions “because they are real.” If the conditions are really good then occupy them and enjoy them. If they are not really good, then why occupy them? Why get involved with them? If the conditions are not enjoyable, occupy a condition that is enjoyable. If you are surrounded by poverty—and you don’t want more of the same of that—occupy the imaginitive state of abundance. You have that power, you know. You have that choice.
Quotes
This ability to move [one’s consciousness] from things as they are [or appear to be] to things as they ought to be [as one wants them to be] is one of the most important discoveries that a person can make. It reveals the individual as a center of imagining, with powers of intervention [and causal creation] which enables him to alter the course of observed events, moving from success to success, through a series of mental transformation of nature, of others, and of himself. (The Law, p. 9)
By mentally overriding the facts of life, a person moves from passive reaction to active creation. (The Law, p. 22)]
Life is a romantic adventure. To live creatively, imagining novel solutions for ever more complex problems is far nobler than to restrain or kill out desires [or merely react to the conditions of life]. All that is desired can be imagined into existence. (The Law, p. 22)
Question and Answer
Some teachers talk about how we have to imagine what we want, and that we can only get what we consciously create—but where is the room for fun and surprise in that? Where does the newness of Spirit enter in this individual creation?
When we creatively imagine the highest good for ourselves—meaning, when we imagine something in a way where we occupy, and live from, what we imagine—which leads to the physical manifestation of what we create—then (in that creative act, which is in alignment with Spirit and its all-Life nature) we open the way for the unimaginable goodness of Spirit to enter our life and our conscious creation. This means there is room for receiving something greater than what we can imagine for ourselves. I think the saying which reflects this is: “We have great plans for ourselves, but God plans for us are always greater than we can imagine.” So, your task is to imagine, and creatively occupy, the highest reality you can for yourself. Don’t worry about there not being enough, or that you are taking too much for yourself—that is all “old thought.” When talking about Infinite Spirit, there is no limit to what you can create and what is rightfully yours. So, don’t let this false idea of limitation further limit you.
I don’t really feel like doing all this creative imagination stuff—I just want to live and let things fall as they may.
OK—and let me know how things turn out, how they fall. When talking about karma we may state it as this: in your past, you have imagined a certain kind of existence for yourself and that is what you are experiencing now. The old notion that you have to “go through” or experience your karma is not quite correct: you have to keep experiencing it (i.e., your past imaginal creation) until you take steps to change it—and the way you can change your present conditions, your present karma, is by no longer accepting it as real, by not reacting to it, and by creating something new for yourself, now. But, even this inclination that you want to do nothing, just experience life, might be seen as karma. Maybe you have to go through certain experiences before you are in a position to make a conscious choice. That’s OK too. But your application, in the present moment, is the only thing that can effect a change for you.
What we created in the past is what we are experience now—and we will keep on experiencing, and recreating, those past states so long as refuse to change them, so long as we refuse to create something new for ourselves. And creating something new is not always easy—but neither is it difficult. It is certainly the easiest and most enjoyable way out of these negative karmic conditions, to the extent that we are able. Meditation, and abidance in our true and natural state, is the other way out—that, however, is less of a way out and more of a way in. It is beyond our conditioned imaginings—both good and bad.
I don't want to consciously create anything--I just want to allow things to be as they are.
The problem is that we are always creating—if not consciously than subconsciously. So, by just laying back and doing nothing, we keep perpetuating our past creations. Again, if you like all that, if you like what is showing up in your life (which means, that you like what you, yourself, have created) then "go with it." If you don't like what you created (in the past) then create something new. There is room for conscious creation and also for allowing--and what we want to allow is the influx of Infinite Spirit into our lives and into our creations We don't want to allow conditions ot have power over us.
We can talk about three different modes of creation and or being. At present, we are imagining ourselves (and, thus, everything around us) in a mistaken and false way; we are seeing the world (and creating our world) through a mind-made and imagined version of ourselves. We are imagining ourselves to be this limited person, in accordance with the way we have been thus far been conditioned to imagine ourselves. We have a very limited view of what is possible for us, as a human being. For example, in our current imagined version of self (and the current "standard" in which our consciousness is operating) we do not realize our true creative power; we feel that conditions have power over us and not that we have power over conditions. So (by virtue of our infinite creative power) we are imagining a limited and conditioned version of ourselves. Beyond this, in a "higher" mode of being, we can imagine a greater and truer version of ourselves; a version of self with more love, joy, aliveness, and freedom. In this state we realize our creative power and use it to create what we want. But, still, we are in the realm of imagination—which means we can only get for ourselves that which we are capable of imagining for ourselves, but nothing beyond that. So, as part of this creative process, we must open to Spirit, and allow Spirit to enter our lives, our creations, in a way that is beyond what we can imaginable to us. However, we are still in the realm of creative consciousness—yet our true self, who we rally are, in uncreated. In the third mode, we want to move beyond creation altogether into being; we just want be. (This means, that we must stop creating and imagining versions of ourselves—, and Being one with Infinite Spirit, we are already complete; nothing can be added unto us. So, we want to be who we are, in our one-with-Spirit beingness.
REACTION TO CONDITIONS
Quotes
In the world of sense we see what we have to see; in the world of Imagination we see what we want to see; and seeing it, we create it for the world of sense to see. We see the outer world automatically. Seeing what we want to see demands voluntary and conscious imaginative effort. (The Law, p. 63)
Satan, Blake writes, is a “Reactor.” He never acts; he only reacts. And if our attitude to the happenings of the day is “reactionary,” are we not playing Satan’s part? Man is only reacting in his natural or “Satan” state; he never acts or creates, he only re-acts or re-creates. One real creative moment, one real feeling of the wish fulfilled, is worth more than the whole natural life of re-action. In such a moment, God’s work is done. (The Law, p. 107)
Discussion
What most of us do, then, is automatically react to the conditions of life; we enter a state or mood by default, through reaction, rather than through our creative power or choice. We do this like automaton, in accord with out past conditioning. In this kind of living, we mistakenly elevate conditions to the status of cause and relegate our own consciousness to mere effect—and nothing good comes about when the natural order of things is reversed. This reversal (of cause and effect) leads toward weakness as opposed to true appropriation of our creative power; it perpetuates the past and never leads toward a more expanded and enjoyable, future; it misaligns us with the true evolutionary movement of Spirit and our own true nature.
REVISION
Quotes
A human being and his/her past are one continuous structure. This structure contains all of the facts which have been conserved and still operate below the threshold of his surface mind. For him it is merely history. For him it seems unalterable—a dead and firmly fixed past. But for itself, it is living; it is part of the living age. A person cannot leave behind the mistakes of the past, for nothing disappears. Everything that has been is still in existence. The past still exists, and it gives—and still gives—its results. We must go back in memory, seek for and destroy the causes of suffering, however far back they lie. This going back into the past and replaying a scene of the past in the imagination, as it ought to have been played the first time, is what I call “revision”—and revision results in repeal [and a chance in our present and future conditions].
Changing your life means changing your past; the causes of any present suffering [or limitation] are the unrevised scenes of the past. The past and present carry the whole structure of a human being; they carry all of their contents with it. Any alteration of content will result in an alteration of the present and future. (The Law, p. 6)
To revise the past is to re-construct it with new content. Man should daily relive the day as he wished he had lived it, revising the scenes to make them conform to his ideals. (The Law, p. 20)
Discussion
The practice here is to imaginatively recast an earlier event as you would like it to be—and not as you previously experienced it. It appeared as a physical manifestation in the past, and you experienced it, but it has absolutely no power in the present—unless you give it power, unless you impart it with the realizing power of your own consciousness. If you view it as real, and continue reacting to it (and thinking about it) then you continue to give it power over you, and you continue to reap the effects of the event. Your continued acceptance of the event as being real, and as having happened to you, is what perpetuates its negative effect. The practice, then, is to recall the previous event, re-enter it with absolute vividness and reality, and in that state of “present occupancy,” re-imagine the event as you want it to be; have your present re-imagination of the event be exactly as you want it to be with the same tones of reality as the original event. Neville recommends this as a daily practice: each night before going to bed, recall the events of your day (which can be seen as “first drafts,” or “past-based drafts”) and revise them, in your imagination so they have the form and the outcome you want. Keep re-imagining the event until it becomes real, until you can “taste” it, until the imagined event (with your ideal outcome) has the same immediacy and feeling as the original event. Realize, or make real, the new scene; react to the new scene with the same import as you would had the original event been exactly as you imagine it now. Imagine reality into your imagined scene by fully entering it; and imagine the reality out of the original scene by refusing to enter it or accept is as real.
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Step Three:
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Resolved to align my life (will, thoughts, and actions) with the ever-positive Spirit of Life.
The Spirit of Life is purely positive; its nature is of the positive qualities of love, joy, fullness, and beauty, etc. My own nature is purely positive and contains every (positive) quality of Spirit. The more I am able to move toward the positive, the more I come to embrace Spirit and my own nature.
To the extent that I am able to open myself to, and align my consciousness with, the all-embracing and ever-positive Sprit of Life, to that extent am I able to partake (and directly experience) the divine qualities of Spirit in myself. I am always in partnership with Infinite Spirit, and Infinite Spirit is ready, willing, and able to help me to the extent that I allow It.
Every part of my life that is aligned with Spirit is made whole and is infused with the inherent qualities of Spirit, such as love, joy, abundance, freedom, truth, and beauty.
As a general way of being I will endeavor to see the highest in myself and others; I will dwell on what I want (as opposed to avoiding what I don’t want); I will strive to align my thoughts and actions with that which is positive, uplifting, and life-affirming.
Life is Positive
Life and Spirit (and all the divine qualities of Life and Spirit) are positive; and they are drawn into our live by contemplating and aligning ourselves with the positive. Nothing is created or transformed through the negative.
This step involves a conscious application to orient oneself and one’s consciousness with the positive pole of life; it involves entertaining the positive (and the highest potential) in oneself and in others. Foremost, it involves dwelling on positive thoughts and emotions (such a love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc.) and cultivating positive beliefs (while moving away from or “letting go” of whatever negative thoughts and emotions may arise).
Through our constant and conscious application we will begin to effectuate a positive change in our subconscious mind; over time our alignment with the positive flow of Life will become “second nature” and effortless. Then, we no longer need to overcome, or right, our subconscious conditioning; once our subconscious mind has been brought into alignment with our conscious ideals it supports us in the most positive and beneficial ways.
Spirit, being one with Life, is purely positive, and must always create from the position of the Positive. That which lacks life and the pure positivity of Life (such as fear, depression, deadness, negativity, etc.), can never be aligned with Spirit, nor its life-affirming qualities, nor its creative power, nor ever lead to true or lasting transformation. Thus, all thoughts, feelings, and actions which are aligned with Spirit (and Life)—and which carry the beneficence of Spirit—always proceed from the positive and the life-affirming.
In terms of a person’s intentions, only positive intentions, only creations springing from our positive, one-with-Spirit qualities (and emotions) can produce truly positive and beneficial results. Creations (and actions) which are borne of negativity, such as fear, frustration, anger, etc., (all of which are alien to Spirit’s own nature) cannot produce positive, life-affirming results, (nor results which bring about more love, joy, aliveness, fullness, freedom, power, and beauty.)
Q & A
Alignment with the Spirit of Life seems like another way to say, “Doing God’s Will.” If so, how can I do God’s Will? How do I know if my life is in alignment with God (or Spirit)?”
By the feeling of the positive qualities of your own nature, such as joy, aliveness, freedom, abundance, beauty, etc. As discussed, the experience and emergence of your own divine qualities (which are the very qualities of Spirit) is the surest way to know that your life is aligned with Infinite Spirit. You need not read too many scriptures, nor contemplate the issue too deeply—whatever action you take, wherein your own joy, love, abundance, fulfillment, freedom, and beauty arises is a sure sign that such action is in alignment with God. The deepest alignment, however, comes about through meditation, through realizing that your own nature, your own being, is of the nature of God or Spirit.
More on Spiritual Alignment and Dharma >>
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Resolved to align my life (will, thoughts, and actions) with the ever-positive Spirit of Life.
The Spirit of Life is purely positive; its nature is of the positive qualities of love, joy, fullness, and beauty, etc. My own nature is purely positive and contains every (positive) quality of Spirit. The more I am able to move toward the positive, the more I come to embrace Spirit and my own nature.
To the extent that I am able to open myself to, and align my consciousness with, the all-embracing and ever-positive Sprit of Life, to that extent am I able to partake (and directly experience) the divine qualities of Spirit in myself. I am always in partnership with Infinite Spirit, and Infinite Spirit is ready, willing, and able to help me to the extent that I allow It.
Every part of my life that is aligned with Spirit is made whole and is infused with the inherent qualities of Spirit, such as love, joy, abundance, freedom, truth, and beauty.
As a general way of being I will endeavor to see the highest in myself and others; I will dwell on what I want (as opposed to avoiding what I don’t want); I will strive to align my thoughts and actions with that which is positive, uplifting, and life-affirming.
Life is Positive
Life and Spirit (and all the divine qualities of Life and Spirit) are positive; and they are drawn into our live by contemplating and aligning ourselves with the positive. Nothing is created or transformed through the negative.
This step involves a conscious application to orient oneself and one’s consciousness with the positive pole of life; it involves entertaining the positive (and the highest potential) in oneself and in others. Foremost, it involves dwelling on positive thoughts and emotions (such a love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc.) and cultivating positive beliefs (while moving away from or “letting go” of whatever negative thoughts and emotions may arise).
Through our constant and conscious application we will begin to effectuate a positive change in our subconscious mind; over time our alignment with the positive flow of Life will become “second nature” and effortless. Then, we no longer need to overcome, or right, our subconscious conditioning; once our subconscious mind has been brought into alignment with our conscious ideals it supports us in the most positive and beneficial ways.
Spirit, being one with Life, is purely positive, and must always create from the position of the Positive. That which lacks life and the pure positivity of Life (such as fear, depression, deadness, negativity, etc.), can never be aligned with Spirit, nor its life-affirming qualities, nor its creative power, nor ever lead to true or lasting transformation. Thus, all thoughts, feelings, and actions which are aligned with Spirit (and Life)—and which carry the beneficence of Spirit—always proceed from the positive and the life-affirming.
In terms of a person’s intentions, only positive intentions, only creations springing from our positive, one-with-Spirit qualities (and emotions) can produce truly positive and beneficial results. Creations (and actions) which are borne of negativity, such as fear, frustration, anger, etc., (all of which are alien to Spirit’s own nature) cannot produce positive, life-affirming results, (nor results which bring about more love, joy, aliveness, fullness, freedom, power, and beauty.)
Q & A
Alignment with the Spirit of Life seems like another way to say, “Doing God’s Will.” If so, how can I do God’s Will? How do I know if my life is in alignment with God (or Spirit)?”
By the feeling of the positive qualities of your own nature, such as joy, aliveness, freedom, abundance, beauty, etc. As discussed, the experience and emergence of your own divine qualities (which are the very qualities of Spirit) is the surest way to know that your life is aligned with Infinite Spirit. You need not read too many scriptures, nor contemplate the issue too deeply—whatever action you take, wherein your own joy, love, abundance, fulfillment, freedom, and beauty arises is a sure sign that such action is in alignment with God. The deepest alignment, however, comes about through meditation, through realizing that your own nature, your own being, is of the nature of God or Spirit.
More on Spiritual Alignment and Dharma >>
STEP THREE:
Dharma / Spiritual Alignment
Infinite Spirit has a certain nature, with certain qualities; It expresses itself, and manifests as all of creation, in accordance with certain principles and laws. The whole of spiritual alignment (or the path of alignment with Spirit) is to discover the inherent nature of Spirit (and the inherent principles and laws by which Spirit expresses and manifests its nature) and then to live in accordance with those same principles—to express and live our life in accord with the way Spirit expresses its own nature. When our life is in alignment (or resonance) with Infinite Spirit, it draws and opens us to all the qualities of Spirit; in this alignment the finite expands toward the Infinite.
We do not have to attain the qualities of Spirit—such as love, joy, fullness, aliveness, beauty, etc.—because those are the very qualities of our own nature. As individual expressions of Spirit, we already possess every quality of Spirit. However, in the dulled and scattered consciousness of this age we are not aware of our own one-with-Spirit qualities; these qualities exist only as shadows, as mere glimmers of their true potency; and not realizing that these qualities are inherent to one’s nature, people seek to experience them in some form outside themselves. The path of alignment is founded upon the recognition that all the qualities of Spirit are your own (and those of your true nature); and then to live your individual life in a way that is in alignment with these qualities, which reflects and embodies these qualities, and in a way that allows these qualities to manifest in you.
Every thought, word, or action in alignment with Spirit draws the beneficial qualities of Spirit into one’s life and helps right the natural order of the universe.
The qualities of Spirit (and our own nature) unfold through our own life to the extent that we are open to, and align with, Infinite Spirit. It’s as simple as that. Now the obvious question is this: “What thoughts, actions, attitudes, and beliefs (about myself, the world, and Spirit) align my life with Infinite Spirit—and with the ever-expanding, ever-fulfilling movement of the universe?” “What steps can I take to align myself with Spirit and the natural flow of the universe?”
The essence of alignment with Spirit (and with the natural flow of the universe) is captured by the Sanskrit concept of dharma. Dharma can be summed us as: “action which is in alignment with Spirit and the natural laws of the universe—and these might be called truthful, righteous, noble, and beneficial action.
Dharma
“Where there is dharma, there is victory.” (The Mahabharata)
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness [i.e., alignment with natural law; dharma]; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
The natural law of the universe is called dharma; it is the truth; it is the way things work and function in accordance with their inherent design. It is that which makes a thing what it is, its essence.
Dharma can be translated as “truth,” “virtue,” “righteousness,” “duty,” or “universal law.” It comes from the root, dhr, which means to sustain, uphold, or nourish. It is the action of a thing when it is in perfect harmony with nature and itself—and this is a state of joy and harmony. When a person lives in accordance with dharma, his mind is still, his heart is pure, and his body is free of disease. When a person goes against dharma, natural law, his mind gets agitated, his heart closes, and his body is prone to disease.
Everything has its own dharma (i.e., the natural law which governs a thing): the dharma of water is to flow; the dharma of the sun is to shine; the dharma of a pine tree is to grow in a certain way. If nature went against its dharma there would be chaos: water would not flow, the Sun would not give heat, nothing would evolve or move to a higher level of being. Likewise, in our own lives, whatever accords with dharma prospers, whatever goes against dharma falters. So, it behooves us to know the laws and principles of dharma and consciously align our lives with those unerring laws. In sum, every benefit which comes to us in our lives results from our natural alignment with Spirit (or the Natural Law of Spirit); every pain and discomfort results from our misalignment with Spirit, and our witting or unwitting violation of the Natural Law of Spirit (which can also be seen as the Natural Order of the Universe). The Chinese classic, the Tao Te Ching, it states,
Things that gain a place by force (unnatural means)
Flourish for a while but soon fall into decay
This is not Tao (this goes against the flow of the universe, dharma)
Whatever is not Tao comes to an early end.
Dharma (and alignment with Spirit) is founded upon the principle that universal law is consistent throughout every level of creation. The laws that govern a drop of water are the same laws that govern an ocean of water. Likewise, the laws that govern the universe also govern an individual’s life. The Hermetic dictum, “As above so below; as below, so above” tells of this same principle.
Questions and Answers
Can you give us some ideas of what it means to go against dharma, and the result?
To give you an example: a person goes against the dharma (natural law) of his own body by ingesting harmful foods, eating when he is not hungry, being in a chronic state of stress, etc. Over time, through this continued violation of natural law, the body begins to lose its dharma. It begins to lose its proper function. In this state, the body stagnates, it loses its innate intelligence, it becomes weak. Death comes early. If a person goes against the dharma of his car (i.e., if he goes against the principles upon which his car was designed)—for instance, by not changing the oil on a regular basis and by using poor-grade oil—then the car’s engine will wear out before it’s time, before it was designed to wear out. If a person secures money by untruthful means—by cheating, stealing, or breaking agreements—then that money will not bring any benefit. It lacks dharma; Spirit is not in it. Whatever it touches will come to an early end. On the other hand, money earned by truth and honesty, by hard work and integrity, will support and uplift whatever it is used for.
So, what are dharmic actions?
Actions that are truthful, actions that are honest, actions that help and support others, actions that align us with our highest self and the qualities of Spirit. Dharmic actions are always beneficial and uplifting. The very nature of Spirit is love and truth, and any action based on these virtues is dharmic. Any action which brings about more freedom, joy, abundance, and beauty are dharmic actions. Honesty, humility, truthfulness, compassion, gratitude, generosity, as well as one-pointedness, perseverance, discipline, and enthusiasm are all actions of dharma—and these actions provide the foundation of a true and victorious life.
Sometimes people don’t know what to do, which action to take. In that case the answer is simple—do what is in accord with dharma, the natural laws of the universe. Said another way— do as Spirit does, take the action that aligns your action most fully with Spirit.
We have been talking about the famous line, “Where there is dharma, there is victory”—what is victory in this regard?
Victory is success. Spirit is always victorious, since there is nothing other than Spirit to oppose it. In the Mahabharata, when this line was spoken, it referred to victory in a battle: the side which had Lord Krishna (who represented the principle of Dharma itself)—and which was fighting for a righteous and truthful cause—was assured of victory. That which has Infinite Spirit on its side is assured of victory, since no force in the universe can defeat Spirit. Thus, when a person is on the side of dharma, the very truth and order which sustains the universe, he has the whole universe on his side—and is assured of victory. (And, victory, in this context means “success”—and not necessarily victory over something or someone else. If you are one with the universe, how can you be victorious over someone else?—there is no one else!)
This same principle applies to every aspect of one’s life: when one’s life is aligned with Spirit a person is victorious, he is successful. Success in this case would mean joyous, happy, fulfilled, abundant, etc. The thing to realize here is that when your life is aligned with Spirit, and you are open to the influx of Spirit, then Spirit always enters—yet it does not enter with a mere fragment of its being, but with its whole self. Therefore, when there is alignment and openness to Spirit, then Spirit comes with victory, success, and all its qualities—such as love, joy, freedom fulfillment, satisfaction, abundance, awareness, value, truth, and beauty. So, when there is dharma, there is everything!
To orient yourself, you can ask: “What action is in accord with Spirit?” “What action is in alignment with Spirit and allows Spirit (and all its qualities) to enter my life?” We have been talking a lot about action in alignment with Spirit, but this does not only apply to outer action, but the attitude and intention a person has when taking an action. Giving to another person, with the hidden feeling that there will be less for oneself (or that such an action will accrue some type of merit, or that such an action is “good” and so it should be done) is not action in alignment with Spirit. It is but an outer imitation of action in alignment with Spirit, but an action wherein the heart is missing, where one’s true self is missing—and any action where one’s heart is missing cannot be an action in accord with Spirit, whose very nature is love, fullness, and truth.
<< Back to Step Three Step Four >>
Dharma / Spiritual Alignment
Infinite Spirit has a certain nature, with certain qualities; It expresses itself, and manifests as all of creation, in accordance with certain principles and laws. The whole of spiritual alignment (or the path of alignment with Spirit) is to discover the inherent nature of Spirit (and the inherent principles and laws by which Spirit expresses and manifests its nature) and then to live in accordance with those same principles—to express and live our life in accord with the way Spirit expresses its own nature. When our life is in alignment (or resonance) with Infinite Spirit, it draws and opens us to all the qualities of Spirit; in this alignment the finite expands toward the Infinite.
We do not have to attain the qualities of Spirit—such as love, joy, fullness, aliveness, beauty, etc.—because those are the very qualities of our own nature. As individual expressions of Spirit, we already possess every quality of Spirit. However, in the dulled and scattered consciousness of this age we are not aware of our own one-with-Spirit qualities; these qualities exist only as shadows, as mere glimmers of their true potency; and not realizing that these qualities are inherent to one’s nature, people seek to experience them in some form outside themselves. The path of alignment is founded upon the recognition that all the qualities of Spirit are your own (and those of your true nature); and then to live your individual life in a way that is in alignment with these qualities, which reflects and embodies these qualities, and in a way that allows these qualities to manifest in you.
Every thought, word, or action in alignment with Spirit draws the beneficial qualities of Spirit into one’s life and helps right the natural order of the universe.
The qualities of Spirit (and our own nature) unfold through our own life to the extent that we are open to, and align with, Infinite Spirit. It’s as simple as that. Now the obvious question is this: “What thoughts, actions, attitudes, and beliefs (about myself, the world, and Spirit) align my life with Infinite Spirit—and with the ever-expanding, ever-fulfilling movement of the universe?” “What steps can I take to align myself with Spirit and the natural flow of the universe?”
The essence of alignment with Spirit (and with the natural flow of the universe) is captured by the Sanskrit concept of dharma. Dharma can be summed us as: “action which is in alignment with Spirit and the natural laws of the universe—and these might be called truthful, righteous, noble, and beneficial action.
Dharma
“Where there is dharma, there is victory.” (The Mahabharata)
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness [i.e., alignment with natural law; dharma]; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
The natural law of the universe is called dharma; it is the truth; it is the way things work and function in accordance with their inherent design. It is that which makes a thing what it is, its essence.
Dharma can be translated as “truth,” “virtue,” “righteousness,” “duty,” or “universal law.” It comes from the root, dhr, which means to sustain, uphold, or nourish. It is the action of a thing when it is in perfect harmony with nature and itself—and this is a state of joy and harmony. When a person lives in accordance with dharma, his mind is still, his heart is pure, and his body is free of disease. When a person goes against dharma, natural law, his mind gets agitated, his heart closes, and his body is prone to disease.
Everything has its own dharma (i.e., the natural law which governs a thing): the dharma of water is to flow; the dharma of the sun is to shine; the dharma of a pine tree is to grow in a certain way. If nature went against its dharma there would be chaos: water would not flow, the Sun would not give heat, nothing would evolve or move to a higher level of being. Likewise, in our own lives, whatever accords with dharma prospers, whatever goes against dharma falters. So, it behooves us to know the laws and principles of dharma and consciously align our lives with those unerring laws. In sum, every benefit which comes to us in our lives results from our natural alignment with Spirit (or the Natural Law of Spirit); every pain and discomfort results from our misalignment with Spirit, and our witting or unwitting violation of the Natural Law of Spirit (which can also be seen as the Natural Order of the Universe). The Chinese classic, the Tao Te Ching, it states,
Things that gain a place by force (unnatural means)
Flourish for a while but soon fall into decay
This is not Tao (this goes against the flow of the universe, dharma)
Whatever is not Tao comes to an early end.
Dharma (and alignment with Spirit) is founded upon the principle that universal law is consistent throughout every level of creation. The laws that govern a drop of water are the same laws that govern an ocean of water. Likewise, the laws that govern the universe also govern an individual’s life. The Hermetic dictum, “As above so below; as below, so above” tells of this same principle.
Questions and Answers
Can you give us some ideas of what it means to go against dharma, and the result?
To give you an example: a person goes against the dharma (natural law) of his own body by ingesting harmful foods, eating when he is not hungry, being in a chronic state of stress, etc. Over time, through this continued violation of natural law, the body begins to lose its dharma. It begins to lose its proper function. In this state, the body stagnates, it loses its innate intelligence, it becomes weak. Death comes early. If a person goes against the dharma of his car (i.e., if he goes against the principles upon which his car was designed)—for instance, by not changing the oil on a regular basis and by using poor-grade oil—then the car’s engine will wear out before it’s time, before it was designed to wear out. If a person secures money by untruthful means—by cheating, stealing, or breaking agreements—then that money will not bring any benefit. It lacks dharma; Spirit is not in it. Whatever it touches will come to an early end. On the other hand, money earned by truth and honesty, by hard work and integrity, will support and uplift whatever it is used for.
So, what are dharmic actions?
Actions that are truthful, actions that are honest, actions that help and support others, actions that align us with our highest self and the qualities of Spirit. Dharmic actions are always beneficial and uplifting. The very nature of Spirit is love and truth, and any action based on these virtues is dharmic. Any action which brings about more freedom, joy, abundance, and beauty are dharmic actions. Honesty, humility, truthfulness, compassion, gratitude, generosity, as well as one-pointedness, perseverance, discipline, and enthusiasm are all actions of dharma—and these actions provide the foundation of a true and victorious life.
Sometimes people don’t know what to do, which action to take. In that case the answer is simple—do what is in accord with dharma, the natural laws of the universe. Said another way— do as Spirit does, take the action that aligns your action most fully with Spirit.
We have been talking about the famous line, “Where there is dharma, there is victory”—what is victory in this regard?
Victory is success. Spirit is always victorious, since there is nothing other than Spirit to oppose it. In the Mahabharata, when this line was spoken, it referred to victory in a battle: the side which had Lord Krishna (who represented the principle of Dharma itself)—and which was fighting for a righteous and truthful cause—was assured of victory. That which has Infinite Spirit on its side is assured of victory, since no force in the universe can defeat Spirit. Thus, when a person is on the side of dharma, the very truth and order which sustains the universe, he has the whole universe on his side—and is assured of victory. (And, victory, in this context means “success”—and not necessarily victory over something or someone else. If you are one with the universe, how can you be victorious over someone else?—there is no one else!)
This same principle applies to every aspect of one’s life: when one’s life is aligned with Spirit a person is victorious, he is successful. Success in this case would mean joyous, happy, fulfilled, abundant, etc. The thing to realize here is that when your life is aligned with Spirit, and you are open to the influx of Spirit, then Spirit always enters—yet it does not enter with a mere fragment of its being, but with its whole self. Therefore, when there is alignment and openness to Spirit, then Spirit comes with victory, success, and all its qualities—such as love, joy, freedom fulfillment, satisfaction, abundance, awareness, value, truth, and beauty. So, when there is dharma, there is everything!
To orient yourself, you can ask: “What action is in accord with Spirit?” “What action is in alignment with Spirit and allows Spirit (and all its qualities) to enter my life?” We have been talking a lot about action in alignment with Spirit, but this does not only apply to outer action, but the attitude and intention a person has when taking an action. Giving to another person, with the hidden feeling that there will be less for oneself (or that such an action will accrue some type of merit, or that such an action is “good” and so it should be done) is not action in alignment with Spirit. It is but an outer imitation of action in alignment with Spirit, but an action wherein the heart is missing, where one’s true self is missing—and any action where one’s heart is missing cannot be an action in accord with Spirit, whose very nature is love, fullness, and truth.
<< Back to Step Three Step Four >>
Step Four: ______________________________
Took steps to fully understand my beliefs, priorities, and true desires--and to live in accord with my highest ideals.
I am resolved to know myself; to understand and discover my beliefs and priorities, my true desires, and my place in the world. I will take steps to become conscious of the subconscious beliefs which shape my thinking and determine the course of my life. I will consciously inform (and enliven) those beliefs which are in accord with my highest ideals and “move out” those beliefs which undermine my creative expression and growth.
I will dare to look at myself, knowing that a true understanding of my human nature is the very foundation upon which my spiritual attainment rests. In coming to know my underlying beliefs, and priorities, and by exposing these subconscious tendencies to the light of my own consciousness, I am making way for positive growth and full ownership of my life.
In this expanded knowledge of my own self (and in honoring my oneness with Spirit) I will live from a state of calm knowingness and assurance.
In every case, that which I am conscious of affords me the power of choice over that very thing (and allows entry of the transformative power of Spirit); that which I remain unconscious of continues to direct my life, unawares, without my choice or conscious participation.
What Do I Want?
A few central questions to ask (and answer) at this stage is, “What do I truly want?” “What am I striving for?” “What do I believe will make me happy and add value and joy to my life?” “What are my priorities?—and does my present value system support my highest aspirations (and my emerging spiritual awareness)?” We want to truly position ourselves, and our consciousness; we want to bring all our deep-seated beliefs and priorities into alignment with out conscious ideals and aspirations.
Part of this introspection includes getting a clear understanding of our intention and the exact sense or feeling that is prompting our actions. Spirit is of the nature of Life and Love (the opposite of which might be called death or fear). So, are our actions are motivated by fear (wanting to get away from something, wanting to avoid something) or by life and love, and the positive qualities of our own nature? What is our intention? Is it founded upon the qualities of Spirit (such as life, love, fullness, truth, creativity, joy, freedom, etc.) or upon that which lacks Spirit (such as fear, lack of faith, insecurity, hatred, dogma, ill-conceived duty or loyalty)? It is time to find out.
We cannot leave this determination up to Spirit; we cannot say, "Spirit, you already know what I want--please give it to me!" ("Please provide me with what I want without me having to participate in the process, without me having to get clear in my own mind, about what I want.") Our role in the creative process is to get clear on what we want, and to convey this to Spirit by appropriating the state we want, though the creative us of our own consciousness. To ask Spirit to do for us what it can only do through us is to deny our role the creative process and the very substance of our own evolution.
"Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
"The Lord of hosts will not respond to your wish until you have assumed the feeling of already being what you want to be, for [your] acceptance is the channel of His action." (Neville, The Power of Awareness, p. 54)
Quote
"What do I want?" A lot of people have never even asked themselves that question. Or they asked themselves it once but then put the answer on the back burner for so long they've forgotten what it was in the first place. They are left with only a vague and blurry sense of what they want.
If you want to start effective goal-setting, where you are clearly conveying to God what it is that you want, then you've got to first get it clear in your own mind. After all, if you don't even know what you want, how can you ask God to send it to you?"
(Gaines, The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, p. 72)
Step Five:
______________________________
Dared to embrace (and revel in) my true humanity and joy.
Understanding that my true nature is joy, and that the expression and experience of this joy is the “will” of Spirit, I dare to live a life of fullness and joy, a life which is both human and divine, a life that expresses, and gives rise to, all the noble qualities of my nature—such as love, truth, joy, givingness, abundance, creativity, and beauty.
What Brings me Value and Joy?
What brings me value and joy? What makes my life a true life, a life of value, a life of joy, fulfillment, aliveness, and beauty?
The essence of this step is to enjoy life, to allow your life to be a true and natural expression of your boundless joy. Most of us no longer know how to enjoy life—as we did as a child—because we have lost touch with the very source of their joy (which is our own self). Over the years it has been conditioned out of us. Thus, with most adults, joy does not come naturally, as an overflow of their own being. Joy is thought to be something which must be obtained through various experiences and activities; and the gatekeeper of our mind only allows us to experience our joy when there is a good reason—such as when we win a contest or get something we want. It appears that we cannot be joyous for no reason at all. In other words, the natural experience our own joy has been conditioned out of us. Now we want to overcome this conditioning, discharge subconscious negativity (which curtails our life-energy and lowers the “vibration” of our entire psyche); we want to, once gain, come upon our inherently joyful nature. Joy is the very nature of Spirit and our own essence—to experience our own joy in the most natural thing in the world.
To Thine own Self be True
To know our true humanity and joy we must, foremost, be ourselves, the whole of who we are; we must embrace both our human and spiritual dimensions.
The reason why most people are cut off from their true aliveness and joy is because they are fully identified with—and live their lives through—their self-image, the idea (or imagined version) they have of themselves. This is only one small part of one’s true being. This mode of living totally excludes one’s true self from one’s experience of life. So, to fully enjoy life, to “enter the spirit of life,” our true self (our conscious presence) and the fullness of our human nature must be present. We cannot leave our true self—our one-with-Spirit nature—out of our own life and expect to live a life that is filled with our true qualities, such as love, joy, aliveness, abundance, wholeness, fulfillment, creativity, and beauty; nor can we ignore our own humanity and seek purely transcendental qualities, which seems to exist in some kind of either or void. All the divine qualities are integral to our own nature—yet we must be present in our own life in order to enjoy them.
Quotes
What is the unifying Desire which underlies all the varieties of expression? It is a very simple one—it is just to enjoy living. Our ideas of [what makes for] an enjoyable life may be quite varied, but to enjoy life is what we all really want; so what we want to get at is this: What is the basis of an enjoyable life? [How can we get the most livingness and enjoyment out of life?]
I have no hesitation in saying that the secret of enjoying life is to take an interest in it. . . . Now for anything to interest us we must enter into the spirit of it. If we do not enter into the spirit of a game it does not interest us; if we do not enter into the spirit of a book, it does not interest us—and we are bored to death with it. Likewise, this is the case with everything. So, from our own experience, we may lay down the maxim that “To enjoy anything we must enter into the spirit of it.” And, if this be so, then to enjoy the “Living Quality [and Fullness] of Life” we must enter into the Spirit of Life itself.
(Troward, The Law and the Word, p. 64)
It may seem a truism, but the great secret of Life is its Livingness [or Aliveness], and it is just more of this quality of Livingness that we want to get hold of; it is that good thing of which we can never have too much.
(Troward, The Hidden Power, p. 147)
Step Six:
______________________________
Accepted my role as a true co-creator with Spirit—never expecting Spirit to do for me what it can only do through me.
I, as a co-creator with Spirit, have the power to bring about my own transformation. Spirit creates everything yet I, through the power of my own consciousness, can direct Spirit; and the highest I can wish for or imagine for myself is exactly what Spirit most ardently sets about creating for me.
I accept my role in this divine partnership---which is to direct Spirit so as to create more and more love, joy, abundance, fulfillment, and beauty for me to experience in this life.
I exist as a human and spiritual being. Even though I may be open to, and aligned, Infinite Spirit I must still, as a human being, learn, and grow, and take steps to bring about a fuller expression of Spirit, and its qualities, through me. As such, as a co-creator with Spirit (of my own life) I cannot have Spirit do for me what it can only do through me.
Co-Creation
Once we understand the nature of Spirit, and our creative unity with Spirit, it becomes our noble endeavor to use our creative power in a way that is truly beneficial—in a was that actuates a positive change in our life, restores us to wholeness, and aligns us with Spirit-Life. Our consciousness is the crucial ingredient that we bring to this alchemical process, which always takes place in partnership with Spirit. Divine intervention is afforded through us, through our own consciousness, through what we conceive and are able to allow.
As an individual, in touch with our creative power, we are in the position of choice with respect to how we want to use that power. That power is directed through what we belief, what we hold to be true, what is natural to us, and what we conceive to be possible for ourselves. The influx of Spirit, the redeeming power of Grace, is always dispensed to us in accordance with what we are able to conceive (and believe) for ourselves.
Quote
We must do our share in the work, and not expect God to do for us what He can only do through us. We are to use our common sense and natural faculties in working upon the conditions now present. We must make use of them, as far as they go, but we must not try and go further than the present things require; we must not try to force things, but allow them to grow naturally, knowing that they are doing so under the guidance of the All-Creating Wisdom. (Thomas Troward, Doré Lectures, Ch. 2)
“In giving birth to your ideal you must bear in mind that the methods of mental and spiritual knowledge are entirely different. This is a point that is truly understood by, probably, not more than one person in a million. You know a thing mentally by looking at it from outside, by comparing it with other things, by analyzing it and defining it, by thinking of it; whereas you can know a thing spiritually only by becoming it [which does not require a conditioned or learned kind of intelligence], only by thinking from it.” (Neville, The Power of Awareness, p. 10)
Questions and Answers: The Creative Process
Could you talk about the creative process in the individual—what are the steps, what does it entail?
To understand the essence of creation, how a person creates, we must look at the creative process of Spirit, and how Spirit creates. We, in essence, are one with Spirit, and posses the same creative consciousness—but we are, unwittingly, using our vast creative power in a way that limits our true creative potential; we, through the misapplication of our limitless imagination, are imagining ourselves as limited. (Actually, what we are doing is imagining a limited version of ourselves and then occupying, and living our lives through, the vector of that limited self-image.) In general, to fully participate in the creative process we, as human beings, must create as Spirit creates—and Spirit never imagines itself to be anything other than what it is; it never lives through its own created image of itself, but always creates from the position of Itself, knowing itself to be ‘other than’ what it is creating. Spirit creates from its pure sense of self, and not through an image of itself. So, we must do the same. Spirit is always whole and certain about its creation, and never is its creative intention undermined by countervailing thoughts or doubt. It is in full possession and knowingness of its creation power. We must be the same. Spirit’s word, or intention, is one with its creation. When it says, “Let there be light,” there is light. Spirit is always aligned with itself, with its pure qualities. We must be the same.
The creative process in a human being seems to follow a number of steps, and the clearer we become on each of these steps, the more fully and powerfully we can participate in the creative process. First there is knowledge or knowingness: we need to know that we have the creative power of Spirit in us, we need to be convinced of having this power, and we need to know with certainty that we can utilize this power. We have to own our own power. Then there is clarity; we have to know what we want; we have to be clear on how we want to direct our creative power. Next there is the proper use of the creative imagination; when we know we have this power, and know how we want to use it; then we have to use our imagination to create what we want. As part of this, we have to occupy, or enliven, our imagined creation with the power of our own consciousness. We have to enter our imagined reality, and affirm that it is real (by fully believing in its realness). We have to experience it with all the tones of reality (just as we would experience a physical reality), and we must locate ourselves in that imagined reality, thinking from that end-reality (and not about it). (One key to this is that we must enjoy our creation, we must find it pleasurable). Thus, we need to have faith (in what we imagine) and conviction in our creative power; we must believe that what we have imagined, what we have created (through the power of our own consciousness) is real, just as real (and even more so) than something we experience in a physical reality. Also, we must use our will to hold our attention on our created reality (and keep holding the feeling that the creation is real). Then we must have patience; allowing our imaginal, or “spiritual” creation, to be brought into physical manifestation by Spirit.
"The one who, at will, can assume whatever state he pleases has found the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The keys are desire, imagination, and a steadily focused attention on the feeling of the wish fulfilled. To such a one any undesirable objective fact is not longer a reality and the ardent with no longer a dream" (Neville, The Power of Awareness, p. 53)
I want to backtrack a little and discuss this notion of occupying one’s creation, locating oneself in one’s creation, affirming it as real, and thinking from one’s creation. (For example, if you imagine winning the lottery, your thoughts would then take on the same shape as if you had won the lottery in real life—certainly, had you won the lottery, you would not be thinking about your poor conditions, or what you would do if you won the lottery; you would be filled with excitement, gratitude, freedom, and you would be thinking about wall the things you would be doing with the money). So, to truly enter into the realm of creation, you must imaginatively enter your creation, and think from it. Now this might seem difficult—but it is something you are doing right now, quite effortlessly. You are in, and occupying, your own imaginative creation of yourself right now. What requires sincere and diligent application is to remove ourselves from the version of self we are now occupying and create (and take residence in) another version.
In truth we, as human beings, have “left the scene”; we have abandoned the true and direct experience of ourselves (which we once had as children) and are now occupying, and living our lives from, an imaginary point of perception outside ourselves. We are imagining a version of self, and then seeing ourselves from this version of self, as if seeing ourselves through the eyes of someone else, out there. We are living in some kind of imaginary realm, always looking at, and thinking about, ourselves from this imagined outside position; and living through this image of self we can never truly be ourselves.
"There’s been a misconception and the “me” [or “I”] has taken itself for something it is not. Me, in the most personal sense of the term, is the ultimate reality—but it takes itself for something it is not [i.e., “me” as this person, “me” as this self-image]. Thus, there is identification and falsification, without one being able to deduce at all that the me isn’t personal or that the person is not the ultimate basis of all things.
As inadmissible as this might seem to most people, this personal me [i.e., my own sense of “I”] is the infinite, the absolute being, the ultimate. Whoever doesn’t conceive things this way cannot hope to knock at the door of himself with the chance of seeing it open."
(Jourdain, Radical Awakening, p.152)
Can you explain the creative process and how we, as humans, can most fully participate in it?
You are already fully participating in it; co-creating with Spirit, creating the world exactly as you conceive it to be, in accordance with your conception of yourself. So, do you like what you are creating for yourself? If not, then create something else. Most of us create in an unconscious way; we are creating in accord with our limiting and outmoded self-concepts and we are not even aware of what we are creating. We do not see the causal link between our consciousness (i.e., our self-concept, what we believe to be true, our thoughts, our emotions, etc.) and what shows up in our world. What we want is to consciously engage in the creative act; we want to direct creation in accord with out desires and ideals.
Bear in mind that the ultimate fulfillment—even of our human desires—does not come through our creative actions, or the fulfillment of our desires, but through our unity with Spirit, through knowing and being our true self. We cannot imagine true fulfillment; we cannot create true love or any divine quality. We cannot imagine them because they are who we are; all imaginings, ultimately, displaces us from who and what we already are. We need not imagine or create love or joy or fullness because those are the inherent qualities of our own nature.
So, we want to joyfully create and more fully express ourselves (using our intelligence and one-with-Spirit power) and we want to more fully BE ourselves. We want to exist in both dimensions: our true and joyful human dimension and our boundless spiritual dimension.
As mentioned, to creatively embody one's desired state, one's wish-fulfilled, it must be accompanied by a joyful, positive feeling--the feeling of having one's desire fulfilled. Even before that, the sheer joy and marvel at one's creation, and one's ability to create, surely quickens one's creation, empowering it with spiritual power. Spirit always marvels at is creation (and always sees it as good); thus, to the extent that a person marvels at his own conscious creation, to that extent does he create in likeness with Spirit.
Why do we want to imagine something for ourselves, even if it is something better than what we have now?—why not be ourselves and just awaken to who we are?
All this positive imagining is a remedial, yet necessary, measure in our development; we need to use our creative power (and our intelligence and will) to overcome, or expand beyond, our present conditioning and the present limits we are imagining for ourselves. We want to create and occupy a more expanded version of ourselves, a truer version of ourselves—a version of ourselves which embodies our divine qualities, such as love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc. We want to live from a new version of self, one which is closer to who we truly are—a version which is joyous, abundant, powerful, etc. But, as you suggest, ultimately, we must abandon this “higher” version of self—well, not abandon it, but integrate it into our true being. This lower, negative version of our self is so discordant with our true nature that it cannot be accepted or integrated; so, first, it must be illumined, and brought into positive alignment with our true self, before it can be made part of the whole. This is why we must rectify, and illumine our human side—through the correct use of our creative power, and intelligence, and will—rather than simply abandoning it. We need our self-image—but we don’t need to be (or live our lives through) our self-image. We want to be ourselves; situated in the root of our own being, which is one with the Absolute. Then, from that place of wholeness, that place of unity, we can enjoy our human self and our self-image—rather than being enjoyed (or enslaved) by them.
Many spiritual teachers agree that a person has to "dream well" before he has a chance of waking up. So, we want to use our intelligence and creative power to "dream well," to create a life (as this person) that is relatively whole and joyful--a life from which we can awaken. If our life is too difficult, too filled with struggle and hardship—and deeply linked to survival—then we are operating on a very low, fear-based level. With this kind of life we're too involved, too invested in that dimension of self. As such, we cannot "loosen our grip" on that level of being; we cannot let go enough to transcend that level of existence. So, we cannot awaken from that reality into a higher dimension of self. So long as we are resisting, surviving, or struggling against conditions, it is difficult to access a higher dimension of self. So, living a good life is integral to living a divine life, a life in unity with Spirit.
We hear a lot of spiritual talk about accepting things as they are. The whole point of allowing or accepting things as they are, is not to accept them, per se, but to be in a position to move beyond them. We want to move beyond them so we can come to know and accept ourselves first; then, from that position of wholeness, we can add the rest unto ourselves as we choose.
______________________________
Accepted my role as a true co-creator with Spirit—never expecting Spirit to do for me what it can only do through me.
I, as a co-creator with Spirit, have the power to bring about my own transformation. Spirit creates everything yet I, through the power of my own consciousness, can direct Spirit; and the highest I can wish for or imagine for myself is exactly what Spirit most ardently sets about creating for me.
I accept my role in this divine partnership---which is to direct Spirit so as to create more and more love, joy, abundance, fulfillment, and beauty for me to experience in this life.
I exist as a human and spiritual being. Even though I may be open to, and aligned, Infinite Spirit I must still, as a human being, learn, and grow, and take steps to bring about a fuller expression of Spirit, and its qualities, through me. As such, as a co-creator with Spirit (of my own life) I cannot have Spirit do for me what it can only do through me.
Co-Creation
Once we understand the nature of Spirit, and our creative unity with Spirit, it becomes our noble endeavor to use our creative power in a way that is truly beneficial—in a was that actuates a positive change in our life, restores us to wholeness, and aligns us with Spirit-Life. Our consciousness is the crucial ingredient that we bring to this alchemical process, which always takes place in partnership with Spirit. Divine intervention is afforded through us, through our own consciousness, through what we conceive and are able to allow.
As an individual, in touch with our creative power, we are in the position of choice with respect to how we want to use that power. That power is directed through what we belief, what we hold to be true, what is natural to us, and what we conceive to be possible for ourselves. The influx of Spirit, the redeeming power of Grace, is always dispensed to us in accordance with what we are able to conceive (and believe) for ourselves.
Quote
We must do our share in the work, and not expect God to do for us what He can only do through us. We are to use our common sense and natural faculties in working upon the conditions now present. We must make use of them, as far as they go, but we must not try and go further than the present things require; we must not try to force things, but allow them to grow naturally, knowing that they are doing so under the guidance of the All-Creating Wisdom. (Thomas Troward, Doré Lectures, Ch. 2)
“In giving birth to your ideal you must bear in mind that the methods of mental and spiritual knowledge are entirely different. This is a point that is truly understood by, probably, not more than one person in a million. You know a thing mentally by looking at it from outside, by comparing it with other things, by analyzing it and defining it, by thinking of it; whereas you can know a thing spiritually only by becoming it [which does not require a conditioned or learned kind of intelligence], only by thinking from it.” (Neville, The Power of Awareness, p. 10)
Questions and Answers: The Creative Process
Could you talk about the creative process in the individual—what are the steps, what does it entail?
To understand the essence of creation, how a person creates, we must look at the creative process of Spirit, and how Spirit creates. We, in essence, are one with Spirit, and posses the same creative consciousness—but we are, unwittingly, using our vast creative power in a way that limits our true creative potential; we, through the misapplication of our limitless imagination, are imagining ourselves as limited. (Actually, what we are doing is imagining a limited version of ourselves and then occupying, and living our lives through, the vector of that limited self-image.) In general, to fully participate in the creative process we, as human beings, must create as Spirit creates—and Spirit never imagines itself to be anything other than what it is; it never lives through its own created image of itself, but always creates from the position of Itself, knowing itself to be ‘other than’ what it is creating. Spirit creates from its pure sense of self, and not through an image of itself. So, we must do the same. Spirit is always whole and certain about its creation, and never is its creative intention undermined by countervailing thoughts or doubt. It is in full possession and knowingness of its creation power. We must be the same. Spirit’s word, or intention, is one with its creation. When it says, “Let there be light,” there is light. Spirit is always aligned with itself, with its pure qualities. We must be the same.
The creative process in a human being seems to follow a number of steps, and the clearer we become on each of these steps, the more fully and powerfully we can participate in the creative process. First there is knowledge or knowingness: we need to know that we have the creative power of Spirit in us, we need to be convinced of having this power, and we need to know with certainty that we can utilize this power. We have to own our own power. Then there is clarity; we have to know what we want; we have to be clear on how we want to direct our creative power. Next there is the proper use of the creative imagination; when we know we have this power, and know how we want to use it; then we have to use our imagination to create what we want. As part of this, we have to occupy, or enliven, our imagined creation with the power of our own consciousness. We have to enter our imagined reality, and affirm that it is real (by fully believing in its realness). We have to experience it with all the tones of reality (just as we would experience a physical reality), and we must locate ourselves in that imagined reality, thinking from that end-reality (and not about it). (One key to this is that we must enjoy our creation, we must find it pleasurable). Thus, we need to have faith (in what we imagine) and conviction in our creative power; we must believe that what we have imagined, what we have created (through the power of our own consciousness) is real, just as real (and even more so) than something we experience in a physical reality. Also, we must use our will to hold our attention on our created reality (and keep holding the feeling that the creation is real). Then we must have patience; allowing our imaginal, or “spiritual” creation, to be brought into physical manifestation by Spirit.
"The one who, at will, can assume whatever state he pleases has found the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The keys are desire, imagination, and a steadily focused attention on the feeling of the wish fulfilled. To such a one any undesirable objective fact is not longer a reality and the ardent with no longer a dream" (Neville, The Power of Awareness, p. 53)
I want to backtrack a little and discuss this notion of occupying one’s creation, locating oneself in one’s creation, affirming it as real, and thinking from one’s creation. (For example, if you imagine winning the lottery, your thoughts would then take on the same shape as if you had won the lottery in real life—certainly, had you won the lottery, you would not be thinking about your poor conditions, or what you would do if you won the lottery; you would be filled with excitement, gratitude, freedom, and you would be thinking about wall the things you would be doing with the money). So, to truly enter into the realm of creation, you must imaginatively enter your creation, and think from it. Now this might seem difficult—but it is something you are doing right now, quite effortlessly. You are in, and occupying, your own imaginative creation of yourself right now. What requires sincere and diligent application is to remove ourselves from the version of self we are now occupying and create (and take residence in) another version.
In truth we, as human beings, have “left the scene”; we have abandoned the true and direct experience of ourselves (which we once had as children) and are now occupying, and living our lives from, an imaginary point of perception outside ourselves. We are imagining a version of self, and then seeing ourselves from this version of self, as if seeing ourselves through the eyes of someone else, out there. We are living in some kind of imaginary realm, always looking at, and thinking about, ourselves from this imagined outside position; and living through this image of self we can never truly be ourselves.
"There’s been a misconception and the “me” [or “I”] has taken itself for something it is not. Me, in the most personal sense of the term, is the ultimate reality—but it takes itself for something it is not [i.e., “me” as this person, “me” as this self-image]. Thus, there is identification and falsification, without one being able to deduce at all that the me isn’t personal or that the person is not the ultimate basis of all things.
As inadmissible as this might seem to most people, this personal me [i.e., my own sense of “I”] is the infinite, the absolute being, the ultimate. Whoever doesn’t conceive things this way cannot hope to knock at the door of himself with the chance of seeing it open."
(Jourdain, Radical Awakening, p.152)
Can you explain the creative process and how we, as humans, can most fully participate in it?
You are already fully participating in it; co-creating with Spirit, creating the world exactly as you conceive it to be, in accordance with your conception of yourself. So, do you like what you are creating for yourself? If not, then create something else. Most of us create in an unconscious way; we are creating in accord with our limiting and outmoded self-concepts and we are not even aware of what we are creating. We do not see the causal link between our consciousness (i.e., our self-concept, what we believe to be true, our thoughts, our emotions, etc.) and what shows up in our world. What we want is to consciously engage in the creative act; we want to direct creation in accord with out desires and ideals.
Bear in mind that the ultimate fulfillment—even of our human desires—does not come through our creative actions, or the fulfillment of our desires, but through our unity with Spirit, through knowing and being our true self. We cannot imagine true fulfillment; we cannot create true love or any divine quality. We cannot imagine them because they are who we are; all imaginings, ultimately, displaces us from who and what we already are. We need not imagine or create love or joy or fullness because those are the inherent qualities of our own nature.
So, we want to joyfully create and more fully express ourselves (using our intelligence and one-with-Spirit power) and we want to more fully BE ourselves. We want to exist in both dimensions: our true and joyful human dimension and our boundless spiritual dimension.
As mentioned, to creatively embody one's desired state, one's wish-fulfilled, it must be accompanied by a joyful, positive feeling--the feeling of having one's desire fulfilled. Even before that, the sheer joy and marvel at one's creation, and one's ability to create, surely quickens one's creation, empowering it with spiritual power. Spirit always marvels at is creation (and always sees it as good); thus, to the extent that a person marvels at his own conscious creation, to that extent does he create in likeness with Spirit.
Why do we want to imagine something for ourselves, even if it is something better than what we have now?—why not be ourselves and just awaken to who we are?
All this positive imagining is a remedial, yet necessary, measure in our development; we need to use our creative power (and our intelligence and will) to overcome, or expand beyond, our present conditioning and the present limits we are imagining for ourselves. We want to create and occupy a more expanded version of ourselves, a truer version of ourselves—a version of ourselves which embodies our divine qualities, such as love, joy, abundance, beauty, etc. We want to live from a new version of self, one which is closer to who we truly are—a version which is joyous, abundant, powerful, etc. But, as you suggest, ultimately, we must abandon this “higher” version of self—well, not abandon it, but integrate it into our true being. This lower, negative version of our self is so discordant with our true nature that it cannot be accepted or integrated; so, first, it must be illumined, and brought into positive alignment with our true self, before it can be made part of the whole. This is why we must rectify, and illumine our human side—through the correct use of our creative power, and intelligence, and will—rather than simply abandoning it. We need our self-image—but we don’t need to be (or live our lives through) our self-image. We want to be ourselves; situated in the root of our own being, which is one with the Absolute. Then, from that place of wholeness, that place of unity, we can enjoy our human self and our self-image—rather than being enjoyed (or enslaved) by them.
Many spiritual teachers agree that a person has to "dream well" before he has a chance of waking up. So, we want to use our intelligence and creative power to "dream well," to create a life (as this person) that is relatively whole and joyful--a life from which we can awaken. If our life is too difficult, too filled with struggle and hardship—and deeply linked to survival—then we are operating on a very low, fear-based level. With this kind of life we're too involved, too invested in that dimension of self. As such, we cannot "loosen our grip" on that level of being; we cannot let go enough to transcend that level of existence. So, we cannot awaken from that reality into a higher dimension of self. So long as we are resisting, surviving, or struggling against conditions, it is difficult to access a higher dimension of self. So, living a good life is integral to living a divine life, a life in unity with Spirit.
We hear a lot of spiritual talk about accepting things as they are. The whole point of allowing or accepting things as they are, is not to accept them, per se, but to be in a position to move beyond them. We want to move beyond them so we can come to know and accept ourselves first; then, from that position of wholeness, we can add the rest unto ourselves as we choose.
STEP SEVEN
Solar Plexus Breathing
“Waking up is hard to do”—if you don’t know how to do it. Most people do not really wake up in the morning: when they get out of bed, they simply move from a state of deep unconsciousness to a state of partial unconsciousness. The only thing that seems to wake up is the activity of the conscious mind and the physical body (but imperfectly)—and not the true, conscious self or the vibrant power of the body. Thus, most of us pass from one dream state into another and call this “life.”
A way to help awaken to our true self, in the morning, and to be in a state of aliveness throughout the day is a) to contact, and abide in, our true self through meditation (a practice we discuss in Step 11) and b) by consciously “recharging” the body with life-force (called prana or chi) through the practice of deep, conscious, rhythmic breathing into the solar plexus area, which we can do throughout the day. This “recharging,” however, is not accomplished by simple breathing, which is often shallow, unconscious, and constricted (and limited to the top portion of the lungs)—it is foremost accomplished by consciously “taking in” and “radiating out” one’s pure life-energy through deep, rhythmic breathing into the Solar Plexus region. (One does not actually breath into the area, but the center of one’s consciousness is focused on that center as one breaths; thus, this does not bring air into the Solar Plexus but concentrates one’s conscious energy, or life-force, in that center.) When we consciously breathe into the Solar Plexus region, we enliven the contact between our conscious mind and our subconscious mind; thus we bring harmony, balance, and creative power to our human dimension by creating a conscious link between our life and the All of Life.
Quotes on the Solar Plexus and Solar Plexus Breathing
Excerpts from: Just How to Wake the Solar Plexus, Elizabeth Towne, (1902)
There is a real sun center in us, the Solar (or Sun) Plexus. This is a great nerve center situated behind the stomach. When this central Sun, from which all the nerves of the body radiate, is in its normal condition, it steadily radiates a real energy, just as the sun does. This energy vibrates through the nerve highways and by-ways of the body out toward the surface of the body in all directions (the mucous membraneous surface, as well as the outer skin), and is thrown off in a real halo or atmosphere, which always envelopes the body. If this radiation from the Solar Plexus is positive enough, the influence of another person cannot disturb its steady, harmonious vibrations in time least.
And a person who is thus positively radiant wields an immense power for good to those less positive than himself. His presence alone, without a spoken word or even a definitely directed thought, stills the troubled minds with whom he comes in contact.
In all human beings, who have not yet learned the law of being, the Solar Plexus is in a cramped condition that prevents the steady flow of life, or “nerve ether,” to all parts of the body. From this cause comes every disease of the human race—mental, physical or environmental.
ALL one’s “feelings” are due to the action or inaction of this Sun-center. Good feelings are due to free action; ill feeling to contraction. Pleasant sensations are caused by the outflow of “nerve ether” energy [energy pathways of the subtle body] or Life; unpleasant sensations by an interruption of the steady out flow.
In every human being there is a steady radiation of Life, or Love, or Good Will from the Solar Plexus, except when the individual himself interrupts the radiation—when he contracts the Solar Plexus, thus diminishing the outflow, or interrupting it altogether as in death.
There is positively no limit to the amount of life this solar center in the individual is able to generate, and no limit to the rapidity with which it may be generated. (3-4)
The Solar Plexus is the point where life is born— where the Uncreate becomes Create; the unorganized becomes organized; the unconscious becomes conscious; the invisible appears; that which is dimensionless becomes measurable. (5)
All disorders of the human body and brain are due to shutting off the sun's rays before they can reach the solar plexus. The deep and regular breather CANNOT be sick or mentally weak. (12)
Somewhere away down in the animal kingdom we used to know how to breathe. That was before we learned to be scared at God and the devil—not to mention ourselves and other people. But by scare-thinking we developed time habit of half breathing. Half breathing is a habit of the human race. That is, on the male side. The female side lives on quarter breathing; because it has been taught to fear more things than men, and because women are more apt anyway at learning. Women have learned to shrink and lean. (13)
If you have a special pursuit in which you desire success, remember it when you are taking these exercises. Whilst you are inhaling a breath you are negative, receptive; whilst you are holding time breath you are poised ready; whilst you are exhaling you are positive, radiant. You are giving out life to your dominion—to all who are less highly developed than yourself, to your environment in general, to your business, to whatsoever you are interested in. Then as you exhale a breath, spread forth your hands and breath life into whatever you desire. You can grow friends, beautiful surroundings, money, loving thoughts, wisdom—anything YOU WILL, by thus practice. I don’t care two cents whether you have faith in it or not—just do it and you will find out that what I affirm is true.
The solar plexus is the seat of emotion. By proper exercise of the whole breathing apparatus you may gain such control of the solar plexus that anger, resentment, resistance, blues, discouragement and fear will be as foreign to you as are the awkward motions you used to make when you were first learning to walk or eat. All these unpleasant emotions are due to cramping the solar plexus. The exercises I have just given you will free the plexus and make you “feel good.” Continued practice will establish the habit of “feeling good “—that is, the habit of feeling free. (17-18)
Exercise
Lie down flat, with arms out from the body and eyes closed. Inhale slowly, but not too slowly; just easily; as you inhale, say mentally, with eyes raised under your closed lids, “I AM “—say it slowly and distinctly, and try quietly to realize that the Infinite is really you—” I and the Father are One.” Keep the chest walls expanded for a moment and the throat open. Then slowly and very smoothly exhale the breath, lowering your eyes as you do so, under closed lids always, saying softly, lingeringly, mentally, with downward inflection,
“Love.” “I—AM—Love.”
Breathe rhythmically and as slowly as you can easily breathe, and fully always. Keep this up until your mind is quiet and you have forgotten all about being “discouraged” or “blue.” Keep it up, until time I AM consciousness has gone with the breath into the lungs, and so into the blood, and with it into all the body.
It takes about two minutes for the blood to make the circuit of the body. But in order to change your “feelings” it must make the Circuit several times, setting up a new rhythmic vibration of I-AM-LOVE-consciousness. Your whole being must “catch” the vibrations of that grand, peaceful, power-full I AM consciousness. Lungs, heart, solar center and brain must pulse together with the Infinite.
This is the best “concentration “exercise I know of—the only sure means I know of for becoming conscious of the power flowing outward from the “world I AM into the “world I do.” It is the only INFALLIBLE remedy I know for discouragement, unrest, lack of interest, impatience, anger, malice, revenge, resentment, and the hanging on habit. And I believe it to be literally infallible for any human being who really wants to be cured of any of these negativities. (25)
Excerpts from: The Edinburgh Lectures, Thomas Troward (1904), Ch. 14
Now, investigation shows that the physical body, is a mechanism specially adapted for the transmutation of the inner or mental power into modes of external activity. We know from medical science that the whole body is traversed by a network of nerves which serve as the channels of communication between the indwelling spiritual ego, which we call mind, and the functions of the external organism. This nervous system is dual. One system, known as the Sympathetic, is the channel for all those activities which are not consciously directed by our volition, such as the operation of the digestive organs, the repair of the daily wear and tear of the tissues, and the like. The other system, known as the Voluntary or Cerebro-spinal system, is the channel through which we receive conscious perception from the physical senses and exercise control over the movements of the body. This system has its centre in the brain, while the other has its centre in a ganglionic mass at the back of the stomach known as the solar plexus, and sometimes spoken of as the abdominal brain. The cerebro-spinal system is the channel of our volitional or conscious mental action, and the sympathetic system is the channel of that mental action which unconsciously supports the vital functions of the body. Thus the cerebro-spinal system is the organ of conscious mind and the sympathetic is that of subconscious mind.
But the interaction of conscious and subconscious mind requires a similar interaction between the corresponding systems of nerves, and one conspicuous connection by which this is provided is the vagus nerve. This nerve passes out of the cerebral region as a portion of the voluntary system, and through it we control the vocal organs; then it passes onwards to the thorax sending out branches to the heart and lungs; and finally, passing through the diaphragm, it loses the outer coating which distinguishes the nerves of the voluntary system and becomes identified with those of the sympathetic system, so forming a connecting link between the two and making the man physically a single entity.
Similarly different areas of the brain indicate their connection with the objective and subjective activities of the mind respectively, and speaking in a general way we may assign the frontal portion of the brain to the former and the posterior portion to the latter, while the intermediate portion partakes of the character of both. (Troward)
Excerpts from: The Master Key System, Charles Haanel, (1912), Part 3
4. We have seen that every thought is received by the brain, which is the organ of the conscious; it is here subjected to our power of reasoning. When the objective mind has been satisfied that the thought is true it is sent to the Solar Plexus, or the brain of the subjective mind, to be made into our flesh, to be brought into the world as a reality. It is then no longer susceptible to any argument whatever. The subconscious mind cannot argue; it only acts. It accepts the conclusions of the objective mind as final.
5. The Solar Plexus has been likened to the sun of the body, because it is a central point of distribution for the energy which the body is constantly generating. This energy is very real energy, and this sun is a very real sun, and the energy is being distributed by very real nerves to all parts of the body, and is thrown off in an atmosphere which envelops the body.
6. If this radiation is sufficiently strong the person is called magnetic; he is said to be filled with personal magnetism. Such a person may wield an immense power for good. His presence alone will often bring comfort to the troubled minds with which he comes in contact.
7. When the Solar Plexus is in active operation and is radiating life, energy and vitality to every part of the body, and to everyone whom he meets, the sensations are pleasant; the body is filled with health and all with whom he comes in contact experience a pleasant sensation.
8. If there is any interruption of this radiation the sensations are unpleasant, the flow of life and energy to some part of the body is stopped, and this is the cause of every ill to the human race, physical, mental or environmental.
9. Physical because the sun of the body is no longer generating sufficient energy to vitalize some part of the body; mental because the conscious mind is dependent upon the subconscious mind for the vitality necessary to support its thought, and environmental because the connection between the subconscious mind and the Universal mind is being interrupted.
11. This centre of energy is Omnipotent because it is the point of contact with all life and all intelligence. It can therefore accomplish whatever it is directed to accomplish, and herein lies the power of the conscious mind; the subconscious can and will carry out such plans and ideas as may be suggested to it by the conscious mind.
12. Conscious thought, then, is master of this sun centre from which the life and energy of the entire body flows, and the quality of the thought which we entertain determines the quality of the thought which this sun will radiate, and the character of the thought which our conscious mind entertains will determine the character of the thought which this sun will radiate, and the nature of the thought which our conscious mind entertains will determine the nature of thought which this sun will radiate, and consequently will determine the nature of the experience which will result.
13. It is evident, therefore, that all we have to do is let our light shine; the more energy we can radiate, the more rapidly shall we be enabled to transmute undesirable conditions into sources of pleasure and profit. The important question, then, is how to let this light shine; how to generate this energy.
14. Non-resistant thought expands the Solar Plexus; resistant thought contracts it. Pleasant thought expands it; unpleasant thought contracts it. Thoughts of courage, power, confidence and hope all produce a corresponding state, but the one arch enemy of the Solar Plexus which must be absolutely destroyed before there is any possibility of letting any light shine is fear. This enemy must be completely destroyed; he must be eliminated; he must be expelled for ever; he is the cloud which hides the sun; which causes a perpetual gloom.
15. It is this personal devil which makes men fear the past, the present and the future; fear themselves, their friends and their enemies; fear everything and everybody. When fear is effectually and completely destroyed, your light will shine, the clouds will disperse and you will have found the source of power, energy and life.
16. When you find that you are really one with the Infinite power, and when you can consciously realize this power by a practical demonstration of your ability to overcome any adverse condition by the power of your thought, you will have nothing to fear; fear will have been destroyed and you will have come into possession of your birthright.
17. It is our attitude of mind towards life which determines the experiences with which we are, to meet; if we expect nothing we shall have nothing; if we demand much we shall receive the greater portion. The world is harsh only as we fail to assert ourselves. The criticism of the world is bitter only to those who cannot compel room for their ideas. It is fear of this criticism that causes many ideas to fail to see the light of day.
18. But the man who knows that he has a Solar Plexus will not fear criticism or anything else; he will be too busy radiating courage, confidence, and power; he will anticipate success by his mental attitude; he will pound barriers to pieces and leap over the chasm of doubt and hesitation which fear places in his path.
19. A knowledge of our ability to consciously radiate health, strength and harmony will bring us into a realization that there is nothing to fear because we are in touch with Infinite Strength.
20. This knowledge can be gained only by making a practical application of this information. We learn by doing; through practice the athlete becomes powerful.
21. As the following statement is of considerable importance, I will put it in several ways, so that you cannot fail to get the full significance of it. If you are religiously inclined, I would say, you can let your light shine. If your mind has a bias towards physical science, I would say you can wake the Solar Plexus; or, if you prefer the strictly scientific interpretation, I will say that you can impress your subconscious mind.
22. I have already told you what the result of this impression will be. It is the method in which you are now interested. You have already learned that the subconscious is intelligent and that it is creative, and responsive to the will of the conscious mind. What, then, is the most natural way of making the desired impression? Mentally concentrate on the object of your desire; when you are concentrating you are impressing the subconscious.
23. This is not the only way, but it is a simple and effective way, and the most direct way, and consequently the way in which the best results are secured. It is the method which is producing such extraordinary results that many think that miracles are being accomplished.
24. It is the method by which every great inventor, every great financier, every great statesman has been enabled to convert the subtle and invisible force of desire, faith and confidence into actual, tangible, concrete facts in the objective world.
25. The subconscious mind is a part of the Universal mind. The Universal is the creative principle of the Universe, a part must be the same in kind and quality as the whole. This means that this creative power is absolutely unlimited; it is not bound by precedent of any kind, and consequently has no prior existing pattern by which to apply its constructive principle.
26. We have found that the subconscious mind is responsive to our conscious will, which means that the unlimited creative power of the Universal Mind is within the control of the conscious mind of the individual.
<< Back to Step Seven
Solar Plexus Breathing
“Waking up is hard to do”—if you don’t know how to do it. Most people do not really wake up in the morning: when they get out of bed, they simply move from a state of deep unconsciousness to a state of partial unconsciousness. The only thing that seems to wake up is the activity of the conscious mind and the physical body (but imperfectly)—and not the true, conscious self or the vibrant power of the body. Thus, most of us pass from one dream state into another and call this “life.”
A way to help awaken to our true self, in the morning, and to be in a state of aliveness throughout the day is a) to contact, and abide in, our true self through meditation (a practice we discuss in Step 11) and b) by consciously “recharging” the body with life-force (called prana or chi) through the practice of deep, conscious, rhythmic breathing into the solar plexus area, which we can do throughout the day. This “recharging,” however, is not accomplished by simple breathing, which is often shallow, unconscious, and constricted (and limited to the top portion of the lungs)—it is foremost accomplished by consciously “taking in” and “radiating out” one’s pure life-energy through deep, rhythmic breathing into the Solar Plexus region. (One does not actually breath into the area, but the center of one’s consciousness is focused on that center as one breaths; thus, this does not bring air into the Solar Plexus but concentrates one’s conscious energy, or life-force, in that center.) When we consciously breathe into the Solar Plexus region, we enliven the contact between our conscious mind and our subconscious mind; thus we bring harmony, balance, and creative power to our human dimension by creating a conscious link between our life and the All of Life.
Quotes on the Solar Plexus and Solar Plexus Breathing
Excerpts from: Just How to Wake the Solar Plexus, Elizabeth Towne, (1902)
There is a real sun center in us, the Solar (or Sun) Plexus. This is a great nerve center situated behind the stomach. When this central Sun, from which all the nerves of the body radiate, is in its normal condition, it steadily radiates a real energy, just as the sun does. This energy vibrates through the nerve highways and by-ways of the body out toward the surface of the body in all directions (the mucous membraneous surface, as well as the outer skin), and is thrown off in a real halo or atmosphere, which always envelopes the body. If this radiation from the Solar Plexus is positive enough, the influence of another person cannot disturb its steady, harmonious vibrations in time least.
And a person who is thus positively radiant wields an immense power for good to those less positive than himself. His presence alone, without a spoken word or even a definitely directed thought, stills the troubled minds with whom he comes in contact.
In all human beings, who have not yet learned the law of being, the Solar Plexus is in a cramped condition that prevents the steady flow of life, or “nerve ether,” to all parts of the body. From this cause comes every disease of the human race—mental, physical or environmental.
ALL one’s “feelings” are due to the action or inaction of this Sun-center. Good feelings are due to free action; ill feeling to contraction. Pleasant sensations are caused by the outflow of “nerve ether” energy [energy pathways of the subtle body] or Life; unpleasant sensations by an interruption of the steady out flow.
In every human being there is a steady radiation of Life, or Love, or Good Will from the Solar Plexus, except when the individual himself interrupts the radiation—when he contracts the Solar Plexus, thus diminishing the outflow, or interrupting it altogether as in death.
There is positively no limit to the amount of life this solar center in the individual is able to generate, and no limit to the rapidity with which it may be generated. (3-4)
The Solar Plexus is the point where life is born— where the Uncreate becomes Create; the unorganized becomes organized; the unconscious becomes conscious; the invisible appears; that which is dimensionless becomes measurable. (5)
All disorders of the human body and brain are due to shutting off the sun's rays before they can reach the solar plexus. The deep and regular breather CANNOT be sick or mentally weak. (12)
Somewhere away down in the animal kingdom we used to know how to breathe. That was before we learned to be scared at God and the devil—not to mention ourselves and other people. But by scare-thinking we developed time habit of half breathing. Half breathing is a habit of the human race. That is, on the male side. The female side lives on quarter breathing; because it has been taught to fear more things than men, and because women are more apt anyway at learning. Women have learned to shrink and lean. (13)
If you have a special pursuit in which you desire success, remember it when you are taking these exercises. Whilst you are inhaling a breath you are negative, receptive; whilst you are holding time breath you are poised ready; whilst you are exhaling you are positive, radiant. You are giving out life to your dominion—to all who are less highly developed than yourself, to your environment in general, to your business, to whatsoever you are interested in. Then as you exhale a breath, spread forth your hands and breath life into whatever you desire. You can grow friends, beautiful surroundings, money, loving thoughts, wisdom—anything YOU WILL, by thus practice. I don’t care two cents whether you have faith in it or not—just do it and you will find out that what I affirm is true.
The solar plexus is the seat of emotion. By proper exercise of the whole breathing apparatus you may gain such control of the solar plexus that anger, resentment, resistance, blues, discouragement and fear will be as foreign to you as are the awkward motions you used to make when you were first learning to walk or eat. All these unpleasant emotions are due to cramping the solar plexus. The exercises I have just given you will free the plexus and make you “feel good.” Continued practice will establish the habit of “feeling good “—that is, the habit of feeling free. (17-18)
Exercise
Lie down flat, with arms out from the body and eyes closed. Inhale slowly, but not too slowly; just easily; as you inhale, say mentally, with eyes raised under your closed lids, “I AM “—say it slowly and distinctly, and try quietly to realize that the Infinite is really you—” I and the Father are One.” Keep the chest walls expanded for a moment and the throat open. Then slowly and very smoothly exhale the breath, lowering your eyes as you do so, under closed lids always, saying softly, lingeringly, mentally, with downward inflection,
“Love.” “I—AM—Love.”
Breathe rhythmically and as slowly as you can easily breathe, and fully always. Keep this up until your mind is quiet and you have forgotten all about being “discouraged” or “blue.” Keep it up, until time I AM consciousness has gone with the breath into the lungs, and so into the blood, and with it into all the body.
It takes about two minutes for the blood to make the circuit of the body. But in order to change your “feelings” it must make the Circuit several times, setting up a new rhythmic vibration of I-AM-LOVE-consciousness. Your whole being must “catch” the vibrations of that grand, peaceful, power-full I AM consciousness. Lungs, heart, solar center and brain must pulse together with the Infinite.
This is the best “concentration “exercise I know of—the only sure means I know of for becoming conscious of the power flowing outward from the “world I AM into the “world I do.” It is the only INFALLIBLE remedy I know for discouragement, unrest, lack of interest, impatience, anger, malice, revenge, resentment, and the hanging on habit. And I believe it to be literally infallible for any human being who really wants to be cured of any of these negativities. (25)
Excerpts from: The Edinburgh Lectures, Thomas Troward (1904), Ch. 14
Now, investigation shows that the physical body, is a mechanism specially adapted for the transmutation of the inner or mental power into modes of external activity. We know from medical science that the whole body is traversed by a network of nerves which serve as the channels of communication between the indwelling spiritual ego, which we call mind, and the functions of the external organism. This nervous system is dual. One system, known as the Sympathetic, is the channel for all those activities which are not consciously directed by our volition, such as the operation of the digestive organs, the repair of the daily wear and tear of the tissues, and the like. The other system, known as the Voluntary or Cerebro-spinal system, is the channel through which we receive conscious perception from the physical senses and exercise control over the movements of the body. This system has its centre in the brain, while the other has its centre in a ganglionic mass at the back of the stomach known as the solar plexus, and sometimes spoken of as the abdominal brain. The cerebro-spinal system is the channel of our volitional or conscious mental action, and the sympathetic system is the channel of that mental action which unconsciously supports the vital functions of the body. Thus the cerebro-spinal system is the organ of conscious mind and the sympathetic is that of subconscious mind.
But the interaction of conscious and subconscious mind requires a similar interaction between the corresponding systems of nerves, and one conspicuous connection by which this is provided is the vagus nerve. This nerve passes out of the cerebral region as a portion of the voluntary system, and through it we control the vocal organs; then it passes onwards to the thorax sending out branches to the heart and lungs; and finally, passing through the diaphragm, it loses the outer coating which distinguishes the nerves of the voluntary system and becomes identified with those of the sympathetic system, so forming a connecting link between the two and making the man physically a single entity.
Similarly different areas of the brain indicate their connection with the objective and subjective activities of the mind respectively, and speaking in a general way we may assign the frontal portion of the brain to the former and the posterior portion to the latter, while the intermediate portion partakes of the character of both. (Troward)
Excerpts from: The Master Key System, Charles Haanel, (1912), Part 3
4. We have seen that every thought is received by the brain, which is the organ of the conscious; it is here subjected to our power of reasoning. When the objective mind has been satisfied that the thought is true it is sent to the Solar Plexus, or the brain of the subjective mind, to be made into our flesh, to be brought into the world as a reality. It is then no longer susceptible to any argument whatever. The subconscious mind cannot argue; it only acts. It accepts the conclusions of the objective mind as final.
5. The Solar Plexus has been likened to the sun of the body, because it is a central point of distribution for the energy which the body is constantly generating. This energy is very real energy, and this sun is a very real sun, and the energy is being distributed by very real nerves to all parts of the body, and is thrown off in an atmosphere which envelops the body.
6. If this radiation is sufficiently strong the person is called magnetic; he is said to be filled with personal magnetism. Such a person may wield an immense power for good. His presence alone will often bring comfort to the troubled minds with which he comes in contact.
7. When the Solar Plexus is in active operation and is radiating life, energy and vitality to every part of the body, and to everyone whom he meets, the sensations are pleasant; the body is filled with health and all with whom he comes in contact experience a pleasant sensation.
8. If there is any interruption of this radiation the sensations are unpleasant, the flow of life and energy to some part of the body is stopped, and this is the cause of every ill to the human race, physical, mental or environmental.
9. Physical because the sun of the body is no longer generating sufficient energy to vitalize some part of the body; mental because the conscious mind is dependent upon the subconscious mind for the vitality necessary to support its thought, and environmental because the connection between the subconscious mind and the Universal mind is being interrupted.
11. This centre of energy is Omnipotent because it is the point of contact with all life and all intelligence. It can therefore accomplish whatever it is directed to accomplish, and herein lies the power of the conscious mind; the subconscious can and will carry out such plans and ideas as may be suggested to it by the conscious mind.
12. Conscious thought, then, is master of this sun centre from which the life and energy of the entire body flows, and the quality of the thought which we entertain determines the quality of the thought which this sun will radiate, and the character of the thought which our conscious mind entertains will determine the character of the thought which this sun will radiate, and the nature of the thought which our conscious mind entertains will determine the nature of thought which this sun will radiate, and consequently will determine the nature of the experience which will result.
13. It is evident, therefore, that all we have to do is let our light shine; the more energy we can radiate, the more rapidly shall we be enabled to transmute undesirable conditions into sources of pleasure and profit. The important question, then, is how to let this light shine; how to generate this energy.
14. Non-resistant thought expands the Solar Plexus; resistant thought contracts it. Pleasant thought expands it; unpleasant thought contracts it. Thoughts of courage, power, confidence and hope all produce a corresponding state, but the one arch enemy of the Solar Plexus which must be absolutely destroyed before there is any possibility of letting any light shine is fear. This enemy must be completely destroyed; he must be eliminated; he must be expelled for ever; he is the cloud which hides the sun; which causes a perpetual gloom.
15. It is this personal devil which makes men fear the past, the present and the future; fear themselves, their friends and their enemies; fear everything and everybody. When fear is effectually and completely destroyed, your light will shine, the clouds will disperse and you will have found the source of power, energy and life.
16. When you find that you are really one with the Infinite power, and when you can consciously realize this power by a practical demonstration of your ability to overcome any adverse condition by the power of your thought, you will have nothing to fear; fear will have been destroyed and you will have come into possession of your birthright.
17. It is our attitude of mind towards life which determines the experiences with which we are, to meet; if we expect nothing we shall have nothing; if we demand much we shall receive the greater portion. The world is harsh only as we fail to assert ourselves. The criticism of the world is bitter only to those who cannot compel room for their ideas. It is fear of this criticism that causes many ideas to fail to see the light of day.
18. But the man who knows that he has a Solar Plexus will not fear criticism or anything else; he will be too busy radiating courage, confidence, and power; he will anticipate success by his mental attitude; he will pound barriers to pieces and leap over the chasm of doubt and hesitation which fear places in his path.
19. A knowledge of our ability to consciously radiate health, strength and harmony will bring us into a realization that there is nothing to fear because we are in touch with Infinite Strength.
20. This knowledge can be gained only by making a practical application of this information. We learn by doing; through practice the athlete becomes powerful.
21. As the following statement is of considerable importance, I will put it in several ways, so that you cannot fail to get the full significance of it. If you are religiously inclined, I would say, you can let your light shine. If your mind has a bias towards physical science, I would say you can wake the Solar Plexus; or, if you prefer the strictly scientific interpretation, I will say that you can impress your subconscious mind.
22. I have already told you what the result of this impression will be. It is the method in which you are now interested. You have already learned that the subconscious is intelligent and that it is creative, and responsive to the will of the conscious mind. What, then, is the most natural way of making the desired impression? Mentally concentrate on the object of your desire; when you are concentrating you are impressing the subconscious.
23. This is not the only way, but it is a simple and effective way, and the most direct way, and consequently the way in which the best results are secured. It is the method which is producing such extraordinary results that many think that miracles are being accomplished.
24. It is the method by which every great inventor, every great financier, every great statesman has been enabled to convert the subtle and invisible force of desire, faith and confidence into actual, tangible, concrete facts in the objective world.
25. The subconscious mind is a part of the Universal mind. The Universal is the creative principle of the Universe, a part must be the same in kind and quality as the whole. This means that this creative power is absolutely unlimited; it is not bound by precedent of any kind, and consequently has no prior existing pattern by which to apply its constructive principle.
26. We have found that the subconscious mind is responsive to our conscious will, which means that the unlimited creative power of the Universal Mind is within the control of the conscious mind of the individual.
<< Back to Step Seven
Step Seven: ______________________________
Was ready to have a healthy, balanced, and supportive relationship with my body and body image.
I am not this body, I am the conscious presence within this body. I am the eternal consciousness which illumines and animates this body. I am an individual expression of Spirit; every divine quality of Spirit is inherent to my own nature.
Though I am not this body (nor these thoughts or emotions), this body is a wondrous extension of my true nature, the miraculous vehicle through which I, as essential consciousness, find expression and life in this world. It is the temple of my own consciousness—I will endeavor to honor it as such.
Care for the Body
This step involves caring for the body by eating well, drinking the proper amount of water, exercising regularly, and cultivating positive thoughts and emotions. We need to form an intention to honor and care for the body—which means taking conscious actions to support the body and becoming more conscious of (and avoiding) actions which are harmful to the body. For most people, the body is the “fall guy” for every negative thought and emotion: when a person tries to satisfy emotional needs, or cover up a sense of emptiness, by overeating, eating junk food, consuming alcohol, or using drugs, the body suffers. When a person is prone to stress, worry, fear—or any negative emotion—the body absorbs that negativity and suffers. However, when we find the resolve to honor the body, and when we realize its supreme importance (in the fulfillment of our spiritual aspirations), this provides a counter-valence, a force which moves us in a positive direction with regards to our body and its care.
Ways to Honor the Body
It is important to form a positive and healthy relationship with one’s body while bearing in mind that we, who we truly are, is not the body, but the luminous consciousness which animates and enlivens the body. We must realize the importance of the body, and take care of it—and not have it be the dumping ground for every negative thought and emotion—but not become obsessed with it, or believe it to be the whole of who we are. We are something much greater than the body; and when the body is healthy, and able to truly serve us, we are in a much better position to realize this.
Questions and Answers
What are some of the specific practices related to Step Seven, honoring and supporting the body?
We have outlined two levels:
a) a simple, basic protocol which can be used by people who want the fundamentals of health and who want to remain relatively healthy, and
b) more advanced protocols for people who want to reach optimal health (or who want to reverse years of poor eating and life-style habits). Whatever a person does, in terms of health, it should be natural, somewhat effortless, and not take up any appreciable amount of time or energy. Certainly we don’t want to judge or be critical of others, or try to impose some dietary standard upon them.
The general areas addressed in the Twelve Foundations, relating to the body, are:
1. Eating and Diet
2. Exercise
3. Breathing
4. Enjoyment of the Body
All of these areas are inter-related and all add to the health and well-being of the body. Of course, one’s mental state always affects the body, so cultivating true and positive emotions is of fundamental support to the body (and, likewise, being in a state of fear, depression, stress, regret, etc. harms the body and undermines one’s health-related practices).
Breathing
One practice of health involves the practice of deep breathing. Most of us have been ill-conditioned to breath in a shallow way. We want to change our habit of shallow breathing, in the upper part of the chest, to a deep, conscious breathing into the solar plexus area. This change requires a conscious and intelligent intervention on our part. There are several beneficial kinds of breathing, including deep breathing into the lower belly region, but breathing into the solar plexus area is the truest kind of “empowered breathing.” It is especially beneficial to women who have been conditioned to disown their own power and, therefore, often have a diminished “power center,” which is the solar plexus (or third chakra). Breathing into this area adds fire and power to life; it is an antidote to fear, depressions, and feelings of low self-esteem.
Due to years of poor, shallow breathing, our subconscious mind has been programmed to breath in that way. So, we want to change this habit, these years of poor conditioning—and to do this we must consciously intervene, again and again, by breathing deeply into the solar plexus region, until this new way of breathing becomes our habitual, subconscious way of breathing.
As you know, the breath is the most potent link between our conscious and subconscious mind; we can breath consciously when we choose, else our breathing is taken over by our subconscious mind. In most of our work, addressed in the other steps, we want to consciously change our subconscious habits, and consciously change our subconscious concepts which undermine our present ideals. To make this change, we must bring our subconscious mind, again and again, in line with out conscious wants and ideals. This is a process which requires effort and clarity at the beginning but which, after some time becomes a natural, effortless process. Since the subconscious mind is so powerfully linked to the conscious mind through the breath, the breath can act as a gateway, or direct channel, between these two aspects of the mind. All said, whenever an intention is consciously linked to the breath—and especially the solar plexus breath—it empowers its impact on the subconscious mind; thus, this “empowered intention” is more readily accepted by the subconscious mind.
To support this new way of breathing (and move away from our habit of shallow breathing) we must avoid anything that restricts our breathing. Tight clothing or anything that puts pressure on the upper stomach region (like sitting slumped over a computer for long periods of time, having one’s stomach filled with too much food, hiatal hernia, and having an extended belly, or “beer belly,” which may be due to candida overgrowth or clogged intestines). Poor air quality and chronic dehydration (which may cause the body to take shallow breaths so as to avoid water loss) also restrict the natural course of the breath. Stress and fear also trigger a “shallow breath” response and are among the most potent breath inhibitors. Poor eating habits which lead to an over-acidic condition can lead to shallow breathing (and reduce the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood); this shallow breathing then, in turn, leads to increased acidity and increased shallowness of breath. Apart from a conscious participation in your own breathing, these inhibiting factors must be looked at and resolved (if need be).
Eating the right kinds of food (and drinking enough pure water), regular exercise, and breathing deeply into the solar plexus area are the three fundamentals of health. There are many additional practices which can be helpful and very beneficial—including detox protocols, sunbathing, and intelligent use of supplements—but without being enlivened by these three fundamentals, the other health practices are of diminishing value.
There seems to be several centers to which we can direct the breath (and the mind). What is the difference between these various centers?
Many spiritual traditions emphasize breathing in the hara or lower tan t’ien (which is about two inches below the navel). This is the center emphasized in Zen, various yogic traditions, chi kung, tai chi, the martial arts, etc. This is a “grounded breathing” which can help a person move toward relaxation, peace, groundedness, or a connection with the Absolute. Another location, or energy center, is the heart area. Breathing into this center is used in certain traditions, like Kashmiri Shaivism, and as part of devotional practices which intend to activate the heart, and the positive emotions of love and enthusiasm. There is also the head area; breathing into this area activates one’s sense of awareness and clear-mindedness. So, the three most common energy centers which are activated and enlivened by the breath are a) the hara, or lower belly region, b) the heart, and c) the head. All of these centers are used in spiritual traditions to move beyond the human dimension into a transcendental, spiritual dimension. The one energy center which can be used to empower the human dimension (and is generally not activated as part of any spiritual tradition) is the solar plexus; breathing into this area brings more light, power, and aliveness to one’s human dimension. So, our general breathing, throughout the day, should be in the solar plexus region; when we meditate, the breath should be used to activate the head, lower belly, or heart region, depending on what qualities and states we are working with.
Solar Plexus Breathing >>
Step Eight:
______________________________
Put forth the intention to have every relationship in my life be beneficial and supportive, to resolve negative emotions (such as anger, guilt, and regret), and to forgive others and myself as needed.
I will endeavor to forgive others (and myself) in order to free my consciousness of negative and limiting influences which bind me to the past, misalign me with the qualities of my true nature, and stall my growth. When I blame others, mull over decisions and issues with guilt and regret, harbor ill-will and anger, this becomes the very thing I create and attract to my life—and this is the very thing I do not want to create.
I understand that what I think about and believe to be true (i.e., what I hold in my heart), is what I create for myself (and what I attract in my life). Therefore, I will “let go” of negative thoughts and feelings as they arise; I will entertain thoughts (and feelings) which are positive and uplifting, and which lead me toward my highest ideals.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a powerful way to free up our positive energy and move beyond the burden of “egoic living.” Forgiveness frees us from the stultifying influences of the past and allows us to align more fully with the present moment. This act affords the greatest boon to the one who is able to forgive; and it benefits the one who is forgiven as well. Thus, it is more essential to forgive others than be forgiven by them. The most important thing, however, is to forgive ourselves. So long as we cannot forgive ourselves, so long as we hold onto an old version of ourselves (and we do this by not forgiving others and ourselves, and by remaining attached to outmoded concepts and ways of thinking) we obscure our full presence and cannot fully come into our own as human beings. We must consider the loss which comes from not forgiving oneself (and others)—and that is the loss of our present state of repose, and the loss of the full experience of our life-affirming spirit. This is a price we cannot afford to pay.
It is difficult or impossible to truly forgive ourselves and others so long as we are attached to an egoic existence and a limited sense or who we are. The ego is incapable of forgiving. We can only truly forgive (and love!) when we are able to get in touch with a sense of self beyond ego, beyond our human identification, beyond the differences we set up between ourselves and others. We can truly love only when we come to a place in ourselves which is love—selfless, boundless, unconditional love.
Step Nine:
______________________________
Took steps to put my house in order, to bring balance, peace, and stability to my life.
Order and balance in my own life affords me the fullest expression of my own nature; it puts me in a positive relationship with my physical-mental world such that every aspect of my life can come to support me and my spiritual growth. True outer balance and order becomes the natural expression of my inner state; constant concerned about putting things in order is not a state of balance and order. Balance and order serves to free my mind of undo concerns; it creates more space and lightness; it supports the emergence of my boundless glory.
Steps to Order and Balance
The first part of bringing balance and order to our life involves putting the material things of our life in order—this involves cultivating a positive and supportive relationship with every possession in our life (and taking care of our financial needs). The things in our life should support us and have meaning for us. This ordering and “meaningful keeping” also extends to people and relationships, and to the concepts and assumptions we hold onto. Formulating a life goal or intention, in order to focus, clarify, and empower our energies and actions, is also a good way to bring balance and order to our live.
Have a Plan >>
Mastery
Mastering one area of life—which may include developing a skill or becoming passionately involved with something—is one way to positively engage in life and bring a stabilizing sense of purpose. Spirit is the supreme master of everything, and when we as human beings gain proficiency and mastery over something it puts us into a positive resonance with the flawless power of the universe—and this feels good. It feels good and is empowering because it is an action in alignment, and in likeness, with Spirit. There is an old saying which illumines this point is: “yoga is skill in action.”
STEP NINE
Have a Plan
From: The Science of Success (1914) by Julia Seton, Ch. 2.
This next, all important, essential is Order. Order is God’s first law and man’s first law is obedience to this law; order is expressed in the form of a plan. “Have a plan,” this is the second fundamental of success, for without a plan the human side of life must be always out of order and man himself adrift like a rudderless boat.
The whole failure world has this law of the lack of order somewhere in operation. There are thousands of planless, aimless, purposeless people everywhere. You can ask them “What do you want?” and they tell you that they have a profound idea of what they want to do and believe in their power to accomplish: but when you say, “Well how, do you propose to do this?” they answer, “That’s just it, I don’t know.” And after they have aimlessly drifted from pillar to post, [accomplishing nothing of true worth or value’ we may ask them, “How did this happen?” “Why didn’t you do things differently?” And they answer again in the same hopeless strain, “I don’t know.”
The failure world is heaped high with those who “don’t know.” They glut the marts of trades and professions; still, there are positions calling insistently and constantly to the one who does know, knows that he knows, and knows how to express what he knows.
Have a Plan, is the slogan of all success, from the man who breaks rocks to the master builder. The plan is the fulcrum which lifts the formless into form. Until one has a plan of life, his world is void [and he drifts aimlessly, waiting for life to happen]. He has to learn to say, “Let there be light” on his own pathway [and let me create it!]—and the plan is the ray of light which [guides him on his way, focuses his creative energies, and] leads him unto ultimate perfection. . .
You can know what you want, how you want it, and what you are going to do about getting it, this hour, this day, and we know that whatever we put into time (today) we build into eternity (tomorrow).
The individual who hopes for success must become that success in his own mind, all at once. He must build his plan as perfectly as a draughtsman draws the pictured house, or the sculptor sets his sketch. Nothing can ever pass into form that has not first been projected in consciousness. Everything must live first in the brain of the master builder. It does not matter what the desire is, it must eventually come out into manifestation.
No matter what we want to do, we must work it all out in our mind just exactly as we want it to be. We must not allow our minds to accept one single idea that links us with less than the perfect. We must know what we want, how we want it and what we are going to do to get it, and then, have every day be more and more insistent in our demand. [See Step 4]
The one who hopes to go on from good, to better, to best, can only do so to the degree in which he brings the perfected vision of thought and action into unity.
Have a plan—then day and night live in the full realization of this plan: think, speak, and be the thing itself. Do not accept anything less than all you desire; think it out to the smallest detail, for aimless drifting and formless drifting can take no part in the life of the one who desires success.
Success by any other law than that of conscious, spiritual direction and control is built upon the law of change. If you accidentally drift into success you can accidentally drift out of it again, but the success gained through the law of self knowledge and conscious obedience to God’s Universal law of order—through the perfected spiritual arrangements and placing of our own human desires—is success for ever, because it is the at-one-ment of human design with Universal intelligence.
<< Back to Step Nine.
Have a Plan
From: The Science of Success (1914) by Julia Seton, Ch. 2.
This next, all important, essential is Order. Order is God’s first law and man’s first law is obedience to this law; order is expressed in the form of a plan. “Have a plan,” this is the second fundamental of success, for without a plan the human side of life must be always out of order and man himself adrift like a rudderless boat.
The whole failure world has this law of the lack of order somewhere in operation. There are thousands of planless, aimless, purposeless people everywhere. You can ask them “What do you want?” and they tell you that they have a profound idea of what they want to do and believe in their power to accomplish: but when you say, “Well how, do you propose to do this?” they answer, “That’s just it, I don’t know.” And after they have aimlessly drifted from pillar to post, [accomplishing nothing of true worth or value’ we may ask them, “How did this happen?” “Why didn’t you do things differently?” And they answer again in the same hopeless strain, “I don’t know.”
The failure world is heaped high with those who “don’t know.” They glut the marts of trades and professions; still, there are positions calling insistently and constantly to the one who does know, knows that he knows, and knows how to express what he knows.
Have a Plan, is the slogan of all success, from the man who breaks rocks to the master builder. The plan is the fulcrum which lifts the formless into form. Until one has a plan of life, his world is void [and he drifts aimlessly, waiting for life to happen]. He has to learn to say, “Let there be light” on his own pathway [and let me create it!]—and the plan is the ray of light which [guides him on his way, focuses his creative energies, and] leads him unto ultimate perfection. . .
You can know what you want, how you want it, and what you are going to do about getting it, this hour, this day, and we know that whatever we put into time (today) we build into eternity (tomorrow).
The individual who hopes for success must become that success in his own mind, all at once. He must build his plan as perfectly as a draughtsman draws the pictured house, or the sculptor sets his sketch. Nothing can ever pass into form that has not first been projected in consciousness. Everything must live first in the brain of the master builder. It does not matter what the desire is, it must eventually come out into manifestation.
No matter what we want to do, we must work it all out in our mind just exactly as we want it to be. We must not allow our minds to accept one single idea that links us with less than the perfect. We must know what we want, how we want it and what we are going to do to get it, and then, have every day be more and more insistent in our demand. [See Step 4]
The one who hopes to go on from good, to better, to best, can only do so to the degree in which he brings the perfected vision of thought and action into unity.
Have a plan—then day and night live in the full realization of this plan: think, speak, and be the thing itself. Do not accept anything less than all you desire; think it out to the smallest detail, for aimless drifting and formless drifting can take no part in the life of the one who desires success.
Success by any other law than that of conscious, spiritual direction and control is built upon the law of change. If you accidentally drift into success you can accidentally drift out of it again, but the success gained through the law of self knowledge and conscious obedience to God’s Universal law of order—through the perfected spiritual arrangements and placing of our own human desires—is success for ever, because it is the at-one-ment of human design with Universal intelligence.
<< Back to Step Nine.
Step Ten:
______________________________
Was determined to live a true and noble life; to increase my power and aliveness by uncovering (and dissolving) deep-seated emotional blocks.
A true and noble life is, foremost, a life in harmony with Spirit (and the natural laws of the universe). I will further orient my life, my thoughts, and my actions toward that which is positive and life-affirming. I will continue to be more present in my life, attend to tasks with care, and be mindful of my actions. I will take steps to abide in my own presence (and become more aware of my ever-present, conscious self).
Through a determined course of action I will endeavor to remove the deep-seated subconscious blocks (and their emotional charge).
A True and Noble Life
A true and noble life is one in harmony with natural law, the life-affirming nature of Spirit, and one’s true self. Such a life expresses the qualities of Spirit in human form. It is a life aligned with that which is loving, truthful, good, harmonious, uplifting, kind, generous, positive, beautiful, and alive.
Fully embracing who you are, honoring your place in the all of creation, coming to know the fullness of your own self, and gaining mastery and skill (in uplifting pursuits, such as creative, artistic, intellectual, and/or athletic endeavors) is part of living a true and noble life.
Cultivating true and noble qualities also involves inclining our life (and thoughts and actions) toward our divine essence. It is about continually choosing to be aware of our divine essence and allowing our true qualities to expand and unfold in our life. It is also about not allowing our mind (impelled by subconscious conditioning and inertia) to incline our awareness toward that which is false and ignoble. These “false” and disempowering states (all of which are alien to our true self and Spirit) include fear, anger, deadness, lack (feeling that there is not enough), depression, alienation, low self-esteem, critical self-judgment, etc. One who lives a true and noble life has the resolve to never accept these states nor allow them to enter one’s heart or mind.
Removal of Negative Blocks
Most of us have incidents of physical and emotional pain buried away in our subconscious mind—which means in our ordinary life we are completely unaware of them. This painful event creates a trauma-block (which is a "memory hologram" of the original event; it is a memory of the event along with the emotive charge of the event.) The presence of these negative blocks lowers the vibration of our whole subconscious psyche, usurps our life-energy (affording us less energy for meditation, spiritual transformation, and the joyous living of life), and subconsciously leads us toward negative actions and reactions . All spiritual advance is undermined by the presence of these deep-seated trauma-blocks; and any complete program of spiritual and human development involves their systematic removal—which actually means the removal or discharge of the negative emotions encased within these trauma blocks.
The complete exposure of these subconscious blocks to the light of our own consciousness—through a systematic, one-on-one process—is the most effective way by which these blocks can be discharged and our life-energy restored to us.
Quote
We are at an extremely auspicious moment in human evolution, because, for the first time in history, we have access to both Freud [Western psychology] and Buddha [Eastern teachings of enlightenment]. The profound discoveries of the modern West, and the whole notion of a psychodynamic unconscious—which is really found nowhere else—are discoveries which can be integrated with the mystical or contemplative traditions, both East and West, for a more “full spectrum” approach.
As a general rule, if you don’t befriend Freud, it will be harder to get to Buddha. (Ken Wilbur, A Brief History of Everything, p. 154-55)
Removal of trauma-blocks >>
STEP TEN
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, which result from painful or traumatic experiences, are stored below our normal consciousness; and from that 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 as we develop in adaptation to these trauma blocks and not in accordance with our positive, innate qualities. Thus, the conscious 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, which makes people feel less alive, it is the amassing of these trauma blocks and the continual drain of life-energy which results from the presence of these blocks.
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 10 Step 11 >>
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, which result from painful or traumatic experiences, are stored below our normal consciousness; and from that 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 as we develop in adaptation to these trauma blocks and not in accordance with our positive, innate qualities. Thus, the conscious 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, which makes people feel less alive, it is the amassing of these trauma blocks and the continual drain of life-energy which results from the presence of these blocks.
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 10 Step 11 >>
Step Eleven:
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Resolved that through meditation (and the practice of presence) I would come to know my true self and illumine the qualities of my life.
With sincerity and earnestness I will learn the art of meditation (and the practice of present) making it integral to my daily life and awareness.
Meditation
The first part of this step involves gaining a clear understanding of the fundamental elements of meditation; the second part involves setting up a practice of meditation and deepening one’s meditative state through regular practice. Meditation is not meant to be an isolated practice, which we do in the morning and the evenings; it is meant to set up an energetic charge, or resonance, which enlivens our daily life with a greater sense of consciousness and awareness.
Principles of Meditation
We don’t meditate to obtain anything but to realize (or recognize) that which is already present—our own nature. The foundation of meditation is to experience the presence and fullness of our own “I,” and to recognize that our own sense of “I”—which is the sense we have of our own self—is one in nature with the Supreme “I” of Spirit.
Quote
The goal of meditation is not to make the mind blank. The aim is to dwell clearly beyond the mind. Therefore, you simply accept the mind as it is. Through this very acceptance, you find yourself already beyond the mind. Even though you accept the mind, you are not giving it energy. To accept the mind is not getting lost in thinking. To accept it is to be beyond the mind. This point is very important. You are neither fighting with the mind nor indulging in it. It is the middle path. When you keep this middle point, the mind will soon become silent without any conflict.
(Aziz, The Human Buddha, 28)
Presence
Human beings exist in two simultaneous dimensions: a dimension that is timeless, ever-present, self-aware, and conscious (that which might be called the dimension of the soul or one’s true nature) and a dimension that is temporal, ever-changing, physical, and conditioned (which might be called the body-mind-ego dimension). In normal consciousness we are aware of, and fully exist in, but one dimension of ourselves—our body-mind-ego. As such, our life is flat, one-dimensional, and “dead”—and this is because we, our true self, our own aliveness, is missing from the version of life we are presently living.
In the practice of presence, we want to become more and more aware of our conscious self, that aspect of our being which is truly alive and present. This presence or state of presence—which is who we really are—may seem ordinary at first, but truly, it is the gateway to the wonder of life and our unity with Infinite Spirit.
Quotes
The State of Presence can be understood or translated within you as the experience of “I” or pure Me. But this Me is not an ego, it is not the self-image or an outcome of thoughts—it is an energy presence which is felt. There is no other way to disarm the unconscious mind but through giving rise to the State of Presence. It is the only opposing force within the mind which can transform the function of the mind. It is not enough to observe the mind. You can observe the mind for one hundred years and nothing will fundamentally change. It is only the opposing force, which is the presence of pure Me, that can fully transform the mind.
(Aziz, Transmission, p. 155)
Your endeavor, then, is not so much to find God as it is to realize His Presence and to understand that this Presence is always with you. Nothing can be nearer to you than that which is the very essence of your being. Your outward search for God culminates in the greatest of all possible discoveries—the finding of Him at the center of your own being. (Holmes, This Thing Called You, p. 140)
Meditation Instructions >>>
A Discussion on Prayer >>>
Meditation Instructions
Meditation, as taught in the Twelve Foundations, is the conscious abidance in, and as, our true self or conscious presence. We are not trying to attain anything but simply being in our natural state of knowing-presence—where we exist, as ourselves, beyond the mind and its self-defining movement. We are simply abiding, in a conscious way, in our being, in that which is already present. The goal of meditation is fully present from the very beginning; even if we do not know our true self, our true self is present in that unknowing. There is really nothing “to do” in order to be what we already are; in fact, the general method involves a systematic “undoing” or bypassing of our mental conditioning which continually leads our awareness away from our true self. So, we want to “undo,” or get beyond, our long history of limited conditioning; we want to become conscious of that which is already present (and stop devoting all our attention that which is imaginary, mind-made, and not truly present). This is where our sincere effort must be applied: not in trying to attain something we lack but in becoming conscious of, and abiding in--and coming into full ownership--that which we already are.
Informed and clear practices are often needed to overcome, or get past, the powerful inertia of our mental conditioning and lead us toward the state of pure presence or awareness. We need to retrain (or recondition) our mind so that our awareness comes to naturally rest in itself, in our true presence; and where it is no longer being impelled to focus on external thoughts, feelings, objects, perceptions, etc.
It is important to bear in mind that the state of meditation (which is the pure abidance in and as one's conscious presence, beyond the mind) is something much different from various methods of meditation which are beneficial ways to use the mind so as to guide a person's awareness beyond the mind toward the state of meditation.
"Where are You?"
Then the man and his wife heard the sound [voice] of the LORD God as he was walking through [back and forth in] the garden, in the cool [breeze] of the day, and they hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called to the man [i.e., Adam and Eve] and said, “Where are you?" (Genesis 3:8-9)
The first question that God asked human beings was, “Where are you?” After Adam and Eve received the knowingness of Good and Evil--which meant the knowingness or awareness of relative knowledge, where one is able to perceive him or herself as a distinct entity, seemingly separate from God--they quickly became lost in this awareness of limitation; they (i.e., their true selves) became lost among the trees, among their own thoughts, emotions, and mind-created self-image. In our meditation we want to discover where we are (i.e., where our essential consciousness is)—and, once we discover where we are, we want to be where we are and not someplace else, such as in a mind-made concept or image of who we are.
The method of meditation we use in the Twelve Foundations involves a series of concentration and centering techniques where one’s awareness becomes more precisely directed toward one’s conscious presence. (In our normal state we have no clear sense of our conscious presence or its location; we only sense the various things we are aware of). In this method we systematically “pull in” our awareness from all the things we are not (and all the things we unconsciously, and quite incorrectly identify with) and then consciously abide in that which we are, our true self, pure awareness.
To represent this method visually, imagine a large circle. The circle has a lot of space and so the center-point may not be that easy to locate. However, once we have established the larger circle we can then establish a smaller circle within that larger circle—both of which have the same center-point. Now from the vantage point of the smaller circle, the center-point will be easier to find. Again, once the smaller circle is established, we can draw a smaller circle within it, and from that even smaller circle, the center will again be even easier to locate. Likewise, in our meditation method, we begin by focusing on the body (which can be seen as the first outer circle) and then we try to locate that place from which we are aware of the body, which is our conscious presence (the center-point); then we focus on the breath (the first inner circle), and then we try to sense or locate our presence or that place from where we are aware of the breath; then we become aware of the thoughts (and one way to do this by consciously repeating the words, “I Am”) and then the place from which we are aware of the thoughts; then we become aware of the feeling or sense of “I Am,” and the place from which we are aware of, or know, that feeling; then we become aware of the space between the breaths, and the place from which we are aware of that “gap” or nothingness between the breaths. (Being aware of the gap really means being aware of, or simply being, pure-objectless, awareness). If we remain in that pure awareness, there comes a shift from an awareness of the gap (which comes and goes between the breaths) to pure, uninterrupted awareness itself (which is equally present during the in-breath, the out-breath, and the space between the breaths).
This pure awareness, or “I Am,” is the essential consciousness which is present before any thought arises. So the “gap” between the breaths (or between the thoughts) is not a gap, per se, but an opening into pure objectless awareness. Thus, focusing on this “gap,” or space, clears the awareness of all objects and allows us to be still; from this place of stillness we are able to access pure awareness, as it is, without being colored or obscured by the mind.
As we begin to stabilize in this awareness we eventually realize that we are that awareness—not that we are “looking within,” or being aware of that awareness, but that we are “looking from within,” that we are that awareness. In this shift there is not only an awareness of, but abidance in, and as, pure awareness or “I Am.”
Prayer and Affirmations
Three Types of Prayer
Any conscious movement toward Spirit, or one's highest Self, can be seen as a form of prayer. The virtue of prayer (any kind of prayer) is that it establishes a "resonant vibration," and spiritual alignment, with Spirit; a prayer which is pure and powerful (and not undermined by negative subconscious feelings and doubt) is more powerful and results-producing that a prayer which is weak, half-hearted, unclear, and at odds with one's deep-seated beliefs.
The first type of prayer might be called a general prayer. This takes the form of any communion with God. It can be a repetition of the Lord's Prayer (Christian), the Sh'ma (Jewish), the Affirmation of Faith (Islam), the chanting of God's name, etc. It is any conscious directing of the heart toward God. This kind of prayer can also take the form of “beseeching prayer” (or “petitioning prayer”) where a person asks God, or some Higher Power, for help, blessings, improvement in his conditions, material gain, etc. Here the person wants to gain something and he turns to God, or a power which he feels is greater than himself in order to get help. A higher form of this kind of prayer is when a person communes with a Higher Power or Intelligence in order to gain, or align himself with, some spiritual quality, such as a pure heart, or to receive divine guidance. He does not ask for any material favor but the state of more fully knowing God.
Next there is what might be called “creative prayer” or “affirmative prayer.” This is where a person accepts, as already existing (in a spiritual seed-form and/or in reality) what he wants; he adopts the state of consciousness wherein he feels himself to be in full possession of what he wants, now. This is a state of fullness, where a person feels he has already received what he has asked for, which then attracts a corresponding physical reality. This kind of prayer is not about asking for something, but about appropriating the state of consciousness of already having received what you want. For example, if you win the lottery, you might feel a sense of abundance, power, freedom, relief, etc. But why wait to win the lottery?—you can feel those self-same feelings now. And by feelings those feelings now (the same feelings that you would feel had you won the lottery) you set up a “spiritual reality” which then attracts the outer wealth and conditions that correspond to those feelings and that reality. This type of prayer is used in “Science of Mind” in a systematized, five- step process known as a “Spiritual Mind Treatment.” The creative power of words (backed by the feeling which underlies them), as used by various magical sects, also employs this type of creative or affirmative prayer.
Then there is pure prayer or “divine prayer,” which is the state of pure communion between the soul and the Beloved. This type of prayer is the union which unfolds and reveals Love as its primary quality. At the beginning, this type of prayer may take the form of a feeling of devotion, and be directed to some Higher Power which you believe to be outside yourself. Later, when the prayer becomes true, there is no sense of separation; the one praying is the one who is being prayer to. There is no prayer at this point—the prayer is imply a state of union, and in that union is filled with all of one’s inherent qualities—such as love, joy, peace, devotion, gratitude, and beauty.
All three types of prayer can attune a person to a higher resonance; they all have their place. Our emphasis is on divine prayer and creative prayer yet beseeching prayer may provide some benefits (if it is approached in the right way, with the right attitude). If you pray from the position of being someone who is weak, in a state of lack, needing help and rescuing from some Higher Power, you have already defeated yourself. You have used your supreme power to create and perpetuate a low self-image—and place your creative power upon some image outside of yourself. It is only because you fully believe in an impoverished version of yourself that you pray for help in the first place. Thus, the whole basis of your pray, and the one who is praying, is amiss; it is a denial of your own power as an individual and as a creative center of God’s Power. If, however, you ask for wisdom, guidance, and a pure heart—those things that increase your union with God—from a position of loving wholeness—then such a prayer will be of great benefit. Spirit is full, alive, and joyous (with nothing whatsoever lacking)—yet it always seeks to be more full, more alive, more joyous. Praying for more fullness, more aliveness, and more joy does not imply a lack but may be a natural overflow of your own nature; in this action you are outpouring the qualities of your own self into your own life, just as Spirit outpours itself (and all its qualities) into all of Creation.
Affirmative Prayer or “Spiritual Mind Treatment
The essentials which underlie Affirmative Prayer, as used in a Spiritual Mind Treatment, are:
1) An understanding and conviction that Spirit is the Totality (and of the nature of Infinite love, joy, creative power, intelligence, abundance, beauty, etc.) and, through its infinite power has effortlessly brought everything into creation; that Spirit needs (and wants) you to create ever-increasing abundance and joy for yourself.
2) An understanding and conviction that you are a creative expression of Spirit, containing every quality of Spirit, including creative power; thus, being one in every way with Spirit, you--through the power of your own creative conscious--can (and and are required to) direct Spirit as you will (with no reason, whatsoever, to ever place a limit upon what you want to create).
3) From this state of unity and creative power—and in full alignment with the goodness of Spirit—affirm what is already yours, what you have created; not only imagine what you want, but enter into the spirit of what you have imagined and feel that what you have created, through your consciousness, is now manifest.
4) Experience the joy and gratitude of being in full possession of what you have creatively imagined. Feel the joy and expansion of it. Feel a sense of appreciation for having received exactly what you have asked for.
5) Release the treatment or prayer by having the feeling that the manifestation is complete and that there is nothing more for you to do. Thereafter live in full confidence and conviction that the spiritual reality you created, through the creative, one-with-Spirit power of your own consciousness, is a reality that will, and must, be brought into manifestation by Spirit. (It is just like a seed which, once planted, will eventually sprout into a full plant). Having the conviction that your prayer is complete, that it is manifest as a spiritual reality, and that it will be manifest in physical reality by Spirit (in accordance with the spiritual seed you have created) there is nothing more to do. Live now in the feeling and knowing realization (and absolute conviction) of the eventual physical manifestation.
For example, this could also be like buying a lottery ticket and then discovered that you had the winning numbers. You would have a certain feeling of euphoria; that the payment was inevitable, even though you did not yet hand in your ticket or receive the money. Your seeing the winning numbers would give you an absolute assurance that the money would eventually be in your possession). Likewise, an affirmative prayer in regard to winning the lottery would be completed by having the same feeling as having already won. If you had won the lottery, you would not then continue to pray for money, or continue to wish that you would win, or feel impoverished and contracted, or continue to worry about money issues—all of which would confirm, to your subconscious mind, that you had not won. (And notice that all of these concerns are future-related states and not a present-related state—and it is in the present where all one’s creative power lies). Likewise, when the prayer is complete, and the reality of your creation believed in, all these types of thoughts (about future hopes in winning) would be moot, and not arise. Ithese mental creations continued to arise (after your prayer-creation was complete); and it they were embraced, and "deemed to be real and relevant" to your conscious mind, they would send a powerful message and affirm (to your subconscious mind) that you have not won. (If you had won, why would you still be thinking about winning?) Thus, these types of thoughts would undermine, and neutralize, the spiritual reality you had created though the prayer. (Your again hoping to win the lottery, in the future, would create another spiritual seed which Spirit would then move to express). Thus, you would create one thing with your conscious mind and completely neutralized it with your subconscious mind. As part of the completion, to realize the fullness of the prayer, you must enter into the reality and feeling of having already won (just as you would, in reality, feel had you actually won) and then, think from that position, shift all your thoughts to accommodate and realize this state (this new spiritual reality) of having won. Make that state of ‘having won’ be the reality upon which you base your thoughts and actions; let your thoughts be created upon that affirmed reality. Think and feel in accordance with that reality; be so convinced of that reality that you need not even think about it. Those feelings and actions, based upon the certainty and conscious conviction that you won, sends a message to your subconscious mind—and once it gets this message, it, with all its creative power, sets about making your conviction into a concrete reality. Doubt will send a message of doubt; certainty will send a message of certainty. Spirit creates this entire universe with certainty, with a single focus, without itself divided against its own creation—this, too, is the only way that a human being can co-create with Spirit.
Quotes
O Lord, let others ask for every kind of gift, with more and more prayers. I ask for but one gift with but one prayer: “Lord, grant me a pure heart.” How blessed are the pure of heart. By the power of their faith they see God within themselves; they see Him above and below, in all things, at all times. They become the instruments of His divine play, as God guides them everywhere and leads them to all things.
A pure heart and good intention—the one foundation of every spiritual attainment.
(Jean Pierre de Caussade)
“All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall receive them.” (Mark xi. 24) The difference of the tenses in this passage is remarkable. The speaker bids us first to believe that our desire has already been fulfilled, that it is a thing already accomplished, and then its accomplishment will follow as a thing in the future. This is nothing other than a concise direction for making use of the creative power of thought by impressing upon the universal subjective mind the particular thing which we desire as an already existing fact. In following this direction we are thinking on the plane of the absolute and eliminating from our minds all consideration of conditions, which imply limitation and the possibility of adverse contingencies; and we are thus planting a seed which, if left undisturbed, will infallibly germinate into external fruition. (Troward, Edinburgh Lectures, Ch., 5)
Prayer is not petition: prayer is giving thanks. You don=t get down on your knees and petition anyone outside of yourself. There is no intermediary between yourself and Self. You need no priest, no so-called healer; you need nothing on the outside—it=s all within [your own] Self. What would the feeling be like if it were true [if you already had that which you were praying for?] Catch that feeling and then work yourself into that state; feel it and keep feeling it until all of a sudden you are relieved. There is a release within you and then it=s done. You can=t do it a second time. It=s done. [What you have been praying for is felt to be yours, and so there is no longer any need to keep praying for it].
I tell you, [your] prayer will be answered. All prayers are answered if you know how to pray. Remember, prayer is not begging. You don=t petition; you give thanks. You aren’t going to give thanks to something that isn’t [yours, therefore, you must have the feeling that what you pray for is already yours before your prayer can be steeped with gratitude and joy].
You are told, “When you pray, believe that you have received, and you will.” Can you pray in that form? —for that=s the only successful prayer in the world. Begging is not going to do it, for when you beg you are confessing you don=t have it [the thing you are praying for]. You’ve got to appropriate it. It is a subjective appropriation of the objective hope. That=s praying. (Neville, Immortal Man, p. 66, 68, 235)
Prayer—the art of believing what is denied by the senses—deals almost entirely with the subconscious. Through prayer, the subconscious is suggested into acceptance of the wish fulfilled, and, reasoning deductively, logically unfolds it to its legitimate end.
To pray successfully you must have clearly defined objectives. You must know what you want before you can ask for it. You must know what you want before you can feel that you have it—and prayer is the feeling of fulfilled desires [the feeling that you already have what you wish for]. (Neville, The Neville Reader, p, 141, 151)
Prayer is not a foolish seeking to change the mind of Supreme Wisdom, rather it is an intelligent seeking to embody that wisdom in our thoughts so as to, more and more perfectly, express it in expressing ourselves. Thus, as we gradually grow into the habit of finding this inspiring Presence within [or as] ourselves, and of realizing its forward movement as the ultimate determining factor in all true healthful mental action, it will become second nature to us to have all our plans, down to the apparently most trivial, so floating upon the undercurrent of this Universal Intelligence. Thus, a great harmony will come into our lives, every discordant manifestation will disappear, and we shall find ourselves more and more controlling all things into the forms that we desire.
(Troward, The Hidden Power, p. 60-61)
Prayer is nothing but the essential connection of the created being with the Light, Love, and Intelligence of Creation. This connection is found at the point in the middle of the chest by the design of the human body. . . Prayer, fundamentally, is the feeling of the Beloved in the Heart, which includes an intention. This intention can be unconditional, where the Soul surrenders herself to the Beloved, in the experience of love and unity. Or, it can involve a more personal communication in which our desires, fears, and longings are expressed. . . . Prayer is part of the blueprint of being human. It means that it is expected by the Divine. It is the Beloved=s wish to be communicated with in this way. (Aziz, Transmission of Awakening, p. 49)
Question and Answer
You once said that you are not a great advocate of affirmations—why not? They seem to be effective for many people.
And they are! They are especially effective at bringing people out of completely negative mental patterns and helping move them toward the positive. But still, most affirmations are based upon an underlying belief that affirms the opposite of what a person is endeavoring to affirm—and that draws the opposite effect. Say you are praying for wealth—well, that prayer is founded upon the deep-seated conviction that you are poor, and that praying for or affirming wealth is a way that you (a poor person) can become more wealthy. So, by the very use of the affirmation, and the belief that we need such an affirmation, we sending a message to our subconscious mind that we are poor—otherwise, why would we be praying for wealth? Wealthy people never affirm that they are wealthy—they are simply wealthy. They may be grateful for having wealth, they may feel expanded, and free, and abundant because of their wealth, but they never affirm their wealth or repeat wealth-engendering affirmations. That practice is only for people who want more wealth. So, the true affirmation of wealth and abundance is simply to feel wealthy; but, moreover, the infallible prayer of wealth is not to ask God for wealth, nor to repeat some affirmation of wealth, but to feel all the qualities of wealth. Why do you want to become wealthy in the first place? Is it to obtain certain objects? But why obtain those objects? Really, it is to feel our own qualities, to feel our own abundance, our own love and joy, our own freedom, our own peace. So why not feel those qualities now. The appropriation of one’s own abundance—and all the qualities conjunct with abundance, such as love, joy, freedom, beauty, etc.—is the true prayer, the true affirmation. It is not the asking for abundance, it is the living of abundance, it is the living of a life conjunct with Spirit.
Supplemental Practices / Meditation
Supplemental Practice (Invoking a Divine Quality)
We not only want to be present, we want to be positively present; we want one or more of our divine qualities to be present, such as love, joy, aliveness, gratitude, peace, or wonder. We want to be high up on the vibrational scale. When we fully enter the state of meditation, we are going to be aware of all our divine qualities, so why not have them be present from the beginning? This invocation of one or more of our divine qualities will draw those same qualities to us in meditation. The primary qualities we want to invoke are love, joy, gratitude, and/or wonder (which are akin to excitement, enthusiasm, and thrill). Invoke whichever quality is most apparent and feels most accessible. You can invoke these qualities by getting in touch with them from a past experience. Recall a time in your life when you clearly experienced one of these qualities and re-enter that experience. Don’t just recall it, fully enter it, re-live it. Allow the aliveness, joy, or wonder to arise now as it did in the original experience. As you re-live an experience of wonder, for example, let go of the specifics of the experience (or anything that may have “caused” the experience) and hold onto the feeling of wonder itself. Be in a state of wonder. That is the invocation—your state of wonder. Let the subtle vibration of this state color, or add tone, to your presence.
One thing bear in mind about the divine qualities is that they are your qualities. You don’t need to attain these qualities; all of them are already present as aspects of your own being. All these qualities are you. Therefore, all these qualities are conjunct. This does not mean that they are equal or the same, it means that they always come together, they are always present together. You cannot have one without the other. So, when we powerfully invoke one, we attract them all. If we invoke wonder, i.e., if we are in a state of wonder, we are also in a state of aliveness, joy, abundance, and beauty.
Supplemental Practice (Body Awareness)
Another way to center your conscious awareness in relationship to the body (and get a sense of this conscious center as being distinct and separate from the body) is to imagine that you are a being of pure consciousness, and that you are occupying this body for the day. What does it feel like? What are the sensations of this body? In this practice your awareness would be divided: you would be aware of the body (that you are occupying) and also aware of the occupying consciousness.You can do this practice (as part of this phase of meditation) or while walking. If you do this practice while walking, it will allow you to move past body consciousness in meditation with less effort. If you are doing this practice while taking a walk, you would be aware of yourself as the occupying consciousness and also aware of the body (as something distinct from that knowing consciousness), and also aware of the sensations, sights, sound, etc. that the body, and consciousness, are perceiving.
Another method is to imagine that this body belongs to someone else, perhaps some spiritual master. Again, if you are not the body, if you, as conscious awareness, are occupying the body (and aware of the body) then you must be something other than the body. The point is to get clear on this sense, “I am not the body” or “I am other than the body” or “I am this conscious awareness which is operating through this body.” (In the next section, when dealing with the mind, you will get a clear sense that you are not the thoughts. Thus, as an extension of this practice, where you recognize yourself as being distinct from the body, and see the body as belonging to someone else, you can also view the arising thoughts as not your own, and as belonging to someone else. After you get a sense of the body-awareness as being distinct from the pure sense of awareness, gently let the body-awareness go and fully dwell in that conscious presence. Become that pure presence.
Supplemental Practice (Thought Awareness)
In this meditation method we are trying to get a clear sense of our conscious presence apart from any sense of the body or the mind. In Zen, this pure, ever-present consciousness is sometimes referred to as “the face you had before you were born.” It does not refer to an actual face, but to the consciousness of your soul, who you are, before you became this person.
One way to get in touch with this pure presence is to imagine, or be in a state, where you have no memory. Who are you without any memory or concept of yourself as this person? What remains when there are no thoughts to rely upon? What is there prior to thoughts and memory? This, then, would be a state of pure consciousness, unrelated to any specific quality. It would be a state of unknowing. If you hear the sound of a bird, you do not know what it is; you have no reference, or past experience, to know what it is. You just hear the pure sound of it. All you have is pure consciousness, which is unknowing of anything but itself—and that is who you are. We want to get a pure sense of our existence, as consciousness, without anything displacing it, or replacing it. We want to move away from our abidance in, and identification with, ourselves as this person, as this self-image, as this collection of memories and experiences bundled into a mental construct of self. That is the mental-me which we have lived through most of our lives. So, in meditation, we want to dis-identify with that me-bundle, that self-image, all that which relies upon our memory, and abide in, and experience ourselves, as that pure awareness, that consciousness, that presence.
<< Back to Meditation Instructions
Supplemental Practice (Invoking a Divine Quality)
We not only want to be present, we want to be positively present; we want one or more of our divine qualities to be present, such as love, joy, aliveness, gratitude, peace, or wonder. We want to be high up on the vibrational scale. When we fully enter the state of meditation, we are going to be aware of all our divine qualities, so why not have them be present from the beginning? This invocation of one or more of our divine qualities will draw those same qualities to us in meditation. The primary qualities we want to invoke are love, joy, gratitude, and/or wonder (which are akin to excitement, enthusiasm, and thrill). Invoke whichever quality is most apparent and feels most accessible. You can invoke these qualities by getting in touch with them from a past experience. Recall a time in your life when you clearly experienced one of these qualities and re-enter that experience. Don’t just recall it, fully enter it, re-live it. Allow the aliveness, joy, or wonder to arise now as it did in the original experience. As you re-live an experience of wonder, for example, let go of the specifics of the experience (or anything that may have “caused” the experience) and hold onto the feeling of wonder itself. Be in a state of wonder. That is the invocation—your state of wonder. Let the subtle vibration of this state color, or add tone, to your presence.
One thing bear in mind about the divine qualities is that they are your qualities. You don’t need to attain these qualities; all of them are already present as aspects of your own being. All these qualities are you. Therefore, all these qualities are conjunct. This does not mean that they are equal or the same, it means that they always come together, they are always present together. You cannot have one without the other. So, when we powerfully invoke one, we attract them all. If we invoke wonder, i.e., if we are in a state of wonder, we are also in a state of aliveness, joy, abundance, and beauty.
Supplemental Practice (Body Awareness)
Another way to center your conscious awareness in relationship to the body (and get a sense of this conscious center as being distinct and separate from the body) is to imagine that you are a being of pure consciousness, and that you are occupying this body for the day. What does it feel like? What are the sensations of this body? In this practice your awareness would be divided: you would be aware of the body (that you are occupying) and also aware of the occupying consciousness.You can do this practice (as part of this phase of meditation) or while walking. If you do this practice while walking, it will allow you to move past body consciousness in meditation with less effort. If you are doing this practice while taking a walk, you would be aware of yourself as the occupying consciousness and also aware of the body (as something distinct from that knowing consciousness), and also aware of the sensations, sights, sound, etc. that the body, and consciousness, are perceiving.
Another method is to imagine that this body belongs to someone else, perhaps some spiritual master. Again, if you are not the body, if you, as conscious awareness, are occupying the body (and aware of the body) then you must be something other than the body. The point is to get clear on this sense, “I am not the body” or “I am other than the body” or “I am this conscious awareness which is operating through this body.” (In the next section, when dealing with the mind, you will get a clear sense that you are not the thoughts. Thus, as an extension of this practice, where you recognize yourself as being distinct from the body, and see the body as belonging to someone else, you can also view the arising thoughts as not your own, and as belonging to someone else. After you get a sense of the body-awareness as being distinct from the pure sense of awareness, gently let the body-awareness go and fully dwell in that conscious presence. Become that pure presence.
Supplemental Practice (Thought Awareness)
In this meditation method we are trying to get a clear sense of our conscious presence apart from any sense of the body or the mind. In Zen, this pure, ever-present consciousness is sometimes referred to as “the face you had before you were born.” It does not refer to an actual face, but to the consciousness of your soul, who you are, before you became this person.
One way to get in touch with this pure presence is to imagine, or be in a state, where you have no memory. Who are you without any memory or concept of yourself as this person? What remains when there are no thoughts to rely upon? What is there prior to thoughts and memory? This, then, would be a state of pure consciousness, unrelated to any specific quality. It would be a state of unknowing. If you hear the sound of a bird, you do not know what it is; you have no reference, or past experience, to know what it is. You just hear the pure sound of it. All you have is pure consciousness, which is unknowing of anything but itself—and that is who you are. We want to get a pure sense of our existence, as consciousness, without anything displacing it, or replacing it. We want to move away from our abidance in, and identification with, ourselves as this person, as this self-image, as this collection of memories and experiences bundled into a mental construct of self. That is the mental-me which we have lived through most of our lives. So, in meditation, we want to dis-identify with that me-bundle, that self-image, all that which relies upon our memory, and abide in, and experience ourselves, as that pure awareness, that consciousness, that presence.
<< Back to Meditation Instructions
Step Twelve:
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Having realized my inseparable oneness with Spirit, my creative power, and a joyful sense of well-being, I was inspired to deepen my spiritual awareness and share my awakened state with others.
This newfound understanding and experience of myself, this deepening of my connection with Spirit (and the true source of my own power), this coming upon my own sense of aliveness and joy, inspires me to know myself more fully and unfold more wondrous aspects of my own being. This new state of well-being, this new identity based upon the whole of who I am, is the beginning to my further unfoldment and evolution and the expression of this state in the world.
I share my illumined state as a pure and loving expression of my true self. I am inspired to share my understanding with others but the true way to share this knowledge is to live it, to embody it, to allow it to permeate my actions and joyously uplift those around me.
Key Understanding
There is no end to one’s spiritual unfoldment; with every new state attained, a higher state is revealed. The first stage of enlightenment—where we come to know, and identify ourselves with, our conscious presence (and not our body-mind self)—is the first step into the wonder of our true being.
When we begin the path there is ignorance of self, then there is true awareness (or nothingness), then that nothingness is filled with love, then that love wants to express itself, to expand itself in ever-greater and glorious ways. This love—which cannot be contained—outpours to become the whole universe. Thus, the expression our boundless love, in the creation of our world, is the essence of this “step.”
Discussion
This is not really a step even though it is listed as one. Sharing one’s own qualities—such as joy, aliveness, abundance, creativity, and freedom— is not a step or something one has to do or complete; it is a natural expression of one’s true self. Spirit creates this whole universe by the over-flowing of its own nature—which is love, freedom, creativity, abundance, beauty, etc.—and these self-same qualities naturally find expression in us and through us when you are in touch with the fullness and joy of our own lives.
This “step” does not involve proselytizing or converting anyone; it’s not about signing someone up, or trying to promote a movement, or trying to meet some need in ourselves through helping others; it’s about the natural and selfless overflow of our own divine qualities into the world. It’s about the purity of the Infinite Spirit expressing itself through us; it is about the natural expression of who we are.
Entering the Infinite Flow
Giving is expression of our boundless nature. The practice of giving, as Spirit gives, is the key to our abundant alignment with the Infinite Source. One way to set up a giving resonance, and enter into the abundant flow of Spirit, is to give away a small portion of whatever we receive. In this way, the Spirit of Abundance (whose nature is to outpour and selflessly give of Itself) flows into our receiving—and when this happens we always receive more. We receive more because in the act of pure giving we make way for the abundance of Spirit to enter into our receiving, and whenever Spirit enters there is always an increase. What we may find, when we set up this resonance with Spirit, is that the joy and beauty of what we receive is founded upon the small portion that we intend to give away.
To make way for the entry of Spirit, one’s giving must be pure, one must give as Spirit gives; there cannot be any ‘shoulds’, or subtle thoughts of gaining something, or acquiring some kind of merit. It must come as an overflow of one’s own love and joy. One must give as Spirit gives to truly enter into the flow of boundless abundance.
Questions and Answers
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Right Approach
Do you have any suggestions on how to work with the steps?
It is good to get an understanding of the philosophical basis which underlies the whole Twelve Foundations Program before beginning to work on the steps in earnest. Bear in mind that these are foundations more than steps. Step one sets the context for all the other steps and it is the foundation upon which all the others steps are built. Once we complete step one, we approach step two within the contextual understanding and experience of step one. Step three is approached upon the foundational understanding of step one and two, etc.
One way to approach each step is to dedicate a week or more to studying the step and its underlying teachings, and finding a way to personally connect with it. Make it your own. Once you have gained an understanding of the step then set a positive intention and apply yourself to the step in earnest. The intention should state your goal, what parameters you want to meet for the step to be deemed ‘completed.’ This goal should be realistic and obtainable; there need not be any finality to it. (You will have a chance to re-work the step, and state a new goal at a later time).
Also bear in mind that involvement with these steps is a dynamic, evolving process. When we have “completed” all the steps (to some degree) we want to begin again from the beginning, with step one. In this way we bring our acquired wisdom and experience (and an expanded state) to our second approach. When we begin the second round we will not be the same person as we were in the first round—our state will be more expanded and profound. Thus, with this new state as our foundation, we will be able to approach the steps in the second round in a much deeper way.
Can you give us some guidelines with respect to completing the steps? What might constitute a first completion, a second completion, a third completion?
As mentioned, the Steps can be worked through, or completed, in three phases: the first phase would involve gaining a clear understanding of the step, and the foundational teachings and principles upon which the step is based. One might also gain a certainty about the truth of the step, and come to fully believe in the principles which underlie the step. The second phase or completion of the step would be to gain some first-hand experience of the step (and its true or efficacy) and to have it become a presence in one’s life. The second completion would not represent a total embodiment of the step but having the step become a presence in one's life, such that one’s thought as actions are guided by the principle of the step. Still, an exertion of the will, and some effort, is required to “live” the step. In the third completion, the principle and truth of the step becomes a living truth in one’s life; the step is fully embodied (and fully embraced by one’s subconscious mind) such that it becomes second nature, effortless, and simply an expression of who you are. There is no exertion to put the step into practice as it has become a natural expression of who you are and how you live your life.
Another way to work with the steps—and go through the round of twelve steps—would be to assign a given time frame per step, and not set any kind of goal to be reached. For instance, a Twelve Foundations group could be set up where the group is devoted to one step per month, and completes a cycle in one year. Then, having completed the first cycle, they begin again.
Major Areas of the Twelve Foundations
You mentioned that this program brings together, or integrates, four major areas—could you tell us what these are?
The four major areas covered in this program are:
One: Involvement with a supportive, caring group of like-minded individuals, all of whom have the same intention to support each other and develop their human and spiritual natures. Quite simply, in this day and age of so many diverse and discordant energies, true growth and transformation is very difficult to bring about on one’s own, or through one’s own effort—we need a supportive group.
Two: Understanding and cultivating one’s own creative power (i.e., the creative power of one’s own consciousness) and entertaining positive thoughts and emotions. This whole area is based upon the teachings and practice of New Thought and the “power of positive thinking.”
Three: Understanding and cultivating one’s own human potential, which means reaching a state of mental and physical well-being, developing a positive, empowered human identity, and working to remove, deep-seated subconscious blocks and negative tendencies. This is about the cultivation and mastery of one’s human dimension—which is of fundamental importance in trying to reach the higher spiritual states. As Stephen Jourdain once said, it is very important to “dream well” before a person has any chance of truly waking up.
Four: Realizing one’s spiritual essence (and true nature) through meditation and the practice of presence.
Foundations and Steps
This program is called "the Twelve Foundations" yet it is presented in the form of steps, like the Twelve Steps. Moreover, the steps of the Twelve Foundations are based upon the traditional Twelve Steps. So, what are the Foundations?
As you know, this program was first concevied as a positive revision of the Twelve Step program; it was originally intended as a new, positive approach to the traditional Twelve Steps. In fact, the program was originally called, "The New Twelve Steps." After a short time, however, it became clear that we had something much more than a new recovery program, we had a complete path of human and spiritual development. People who were not in recovery, who had been doing spiritual practices for a long time, wanted to get involved with this program. They were drawn to this program because it offered a comprehenisve approach, which included an involvement with a supportive group, cultivation of one's creative power, development of one's human potential, and a very clear and precise method of meditation. So, we changed the focus of the program: it became a program of human and spiritual development, which could also be used to overcome addictions and life challenges.
Now, in relation to your question: each "step" of this program is an affirmation of a fundamental principle, or foundation, which supports us in living a joyous life and in coming to know our true self. We might call these, "the twelve foundations of joyous (human) living and (spiritual) self-realization." So, the foundations are presented as "steps" because this is the easiest way to work with them.
The twelve foundations could be stated as follows:
1. Having a true understanding of Spirit, oneself, and one’s relationship to Spirit.
2. Understanding (and realizing) one’s creative power; (understanding that thoughts and feelings are creative, that conditions are changed by a change in one’s own consciousness).
3. Aligning one’s life (thoughts and actions) with Spirit; living a life of dharma; having a positive and beneficial relationship with Life; understanding that Spirit (and the universe) is benevolent and always supportive of our highest good.
4. Knowing thyself; understanding one’s human dimension, (becoming conscious of one’s subconscious beliefs and tendencies).
5. Finding value and joy in life.
6. Living as a co-creator with Spirit; opening one’s life to the influx and grace of Spirit.
7. Establishing a supportive and beneficial relationship with one’s body and body-image.
8. Having relationships that are positive and supportive; being an integral part of a core community or tribe.
9. Taking care of the necessary conditions of life; development of mastery.
10. Living a true and noble life (a life of value, truth, psychologically integrity, and openness to Spirit); coming into our full aliveness through the systematic removal of negative subconscious blocks.
11. Meditation and the practice of presence.
12. Joyful and abundant expression (of one’s illumined state) with others.
The Twelve Foundations vs. the Twelve Steps
What are the main differences between the Twelve Foundations and the Twelve Steps?
The primary aim of the Twelve Foundations is for a person to reach a state of wholeness through the cultivation of a positive, spirit-based identity; it is an approach of personal and spiritual empowerment which can also be used to help a person overcome life challenges and addictions. The intent of the Twelve Steps is to help a person overcome his or her addictions, and stabilize his or her life (through a somewhat subservient and disempowering approach).
The Twelve Steps might be more useful for people whose lives are completely out of control and overtaken by addictions. The Twelve Foundations is more suited for people whose lives are manageable and who may want to overcome life issues and/or addictions in a positive, empowering way.
Doing God’s Will
Many spiritual seekers strive to know and follow God’s Will. This notion is also central to the Twelve Steps. How does the notion of “doing God’s Will” factor in with the teachings of the Twelve Foundations?
In order to align our will with Spirit, or “do God’s will,” we must be clear about the nature of God (or Spirit), and who we are in relationship to God (or Spirit). How can we surrender ourselves to God if we do not know who we are or to what we are surrendering? There may be some outer action of surrender, or some hope of surrender (with the idea that this surrender is going to be helpful to us) but no true surrender. A person who feels weak, who identifies with some state of powerlessness, who just wants to give up, cannot do God’s will or surrender to God. God is not able to accept that kind of surrender because such a state of powerlessness is alien to God’s nature. This surrender requires inner resolve and strength; we must come into full possession of ourselves before we can give ourselves away. How can we give what we do not possess?
What is God’s Will? What moves God to act? The simple answer—consistent with the philosophy of New Thought—is that God’s Will is to experience more and more of His own nature, which means His Will is to be ever-more joyous, alive, conscious, abundant, free, and beautiful. We, as human beings, as centers of God’s Glory, have been created to allow God to experience more and more of His own nature. And we do this by experiencing that self-same joy, aliveness, abundance, creativity, freedom, and beauty in and through our own lives. God’s Will is that we experience more and more of our own nature, our own love, joy, abundance, creativity, and beauty. This is the will that God has for Himself (to experience more and more of his own qualities) and this is the only will that God can have for us.
As mentioned, God is not will-less or weak—why then would a human being, made in the image and likeness of God, created to express the glory of God, think that having a crippled will, or no will at all, has anything to do with surrender to God or doing God’s will? The only way to do God’s Will is to be one with God’s nature, which means to be fully alive and truly yourself. There is no other way than this.
Food
Can you talk about food and Overeaters Anonymous? How does the message of the Twelve Foundations relate to this issue?
As you know, a major Twelve Step program relating to food addictions is “Overeaters Anonymous.” (And notice that, right from the start, this program requires us to adopt the negative title of being an “overeater.”) People who habitually overeat are often besieged by a sense of dissatisfaction, emptiness, lack of meaning, lack of power, or low self-esteem—and this applies especially to women. And the vast amount of awareness placed upon food, eating, dieting, one’s overweight body, thoughts of low self-worth, thoughts that no one will love me if I am fat, etc., only perpetuates the problem by lowering one’s “life-vibration” and keeping one’s consciousness riveted to negativity. By dwelling on the negative we keep on creating more of the same negativity in our life.
The best approach for people who want to overcome eating problems is to expand the center, bring about positive feelings of self worth and self love—and focus more on life (and the positive side of life) than on food, food issues, and the constant sense of struggle and failure. Most people who are dealing with a food “addiction” would be benefited by a purely positive, empowering approach. Bringing a further sense of weakness and powerlessness to a person whose power and esteem is already diminished—in an attempt to overcome their “addiction”—can be especially problematic and counter-productive. Again, most of this talk applies to women because, in this society, they have been negatively conditioned and have not had the same opportunity as men to come into their innate sense of power. This sense of disempowerment and emptiness (and a general sense of lack in the solar plexus energy center) often leads to food-related problems.
Ultimately, the only way to fully resolve a food addiction, or the need to fill yourself with food, is to feel your own sense of wholeness, to be centered in your own power and love. Any program which fosters a sense of weakness, and dependency on something outside your true self, will only take you so far. To further develop as a person, and a spiritual being, you will need to abandon that approach and find one which is more attuned to your true nature, and your true glory as a human being.
Loving Oneself
The big formula for Oprah, in terms of weight loss, is that we have to feel good about ourselves. Does this approach fit in with the Twelve Foundations?
Yes. The better you feel about yourself, the more value you find in life, the more in touch you are with your own qualities of love, aliveness, creative power, and beauty, the less sway food will have over you. However, when Oprah says that we have to love ourselves, or feel good about ourselves, which self is she talking about? I think most of her viewers believe she is talking about our personal self, our self image (i.e., who we believe ourselves to be). However, Oprah may also be talking about getting in touch with our true self. This is a much deeper part of our being; it is something much more profound and powerful than having a positive self-image. It is who we truly are. Once we are in touch with our true self our innate sense of love, joy, power, freedom, and beauty naturally emerges. We don’t have to “do” anything, or love ourselves, because we discover that our very nature is love.
All things considered, feeling good about yourself, as this person, finding joy and purpose and satisfaction in life is always supportive and beneficial—and a major part of the Twelve Foundations is devoted to this end. However there is a much greater part of ourselves we always want to be foremost in our lives; we want to live well, and feel good about ourselves, but ultimately we want to discover the true wonder of our being, who we really are.
You say that Oprah’s formula about loving yourself and feeling good about yourself is sound. So how does one do this?
It’s about developing as a human being, cultivating positive qualities, finding things in life which support you and bring you joy, being part of a caring group or community. This is the first part, the human part. On another level, in order to feel good about yourself you must be yourself; you must allow your own truth, who you really are, to be integral to your own life. It is your true self which embodies every quality you seek; once your true self becomes a living presence in your own life it draws unto you all the qualities of itself, qualities such as love, joy, abundance, freedom, beauty, etc. It illumines and brings joy to every part of your life. Without access to your true self, life always seems like a struggle; it is somewhat dead, and there is always the sense that something is missing. For indeed, the most important thing of all is missing--you are missing from your own life.
Our Souls’ Longing
To feel good about ourselves (as this person)—is that good enough? Will this lead us to satisfaction and fulfillment in life?
It’s a start, a solid foundation upon which we can base our spiritual development—but there is something more. So long as we completely believe ourselves to be this person (and exclusively identify with this limited part of our being)—even if we feel good about this limited part—our soul will long for more. Our soul knows that there is something much more profound about who we are, and so it is never satisfied with this limited identity we have adopted, this limited person we believe ourselves to be. It simply cannot feel its fullness and joy when locked into this person-based identity. So, no matter what, no matter how much we love or enjoy ourselves as this person, our soul will always want more. Our soul wants the fullness of itself.
The obsession with food (and every other obsession) is an attempt to appease our soul’s longing; it is an attempt to fill that sense of emptiness, that sense that something deep in our core is missing. And, indeed, the deepest part of ourselves is missing from our own lives. How then can our soul ever be satisfied?
So long as our soul is confined and imprisoned in this mental version of self, this personal identity—which we believe ourselves to be—she is going to suffer, and we are going to feel that suffering as the fundamental pain of our being. The soul will suffer because she is totally displaced from her true abode, which is the Heart. Experiencing that pain (and not really understanding what it is) we try to run from it (or cover it up) through various pursuits, goals, activities, obsessions, etc. But what are we running from?—the call of our own soul! That pain or longing, when properly understood and acted upon, is the very thing which can take us beyond the pain altogether into the radiant wonder of our own being. The Sufi poet, Rumi, writes:
”It is the burn of the heart that I want. That burn is everything; it is more
precious than a worldly empire because that is what calls the Beloved
secretly in the night."
Setting up a Twelve Foundations Group
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To support people in setting up a Twelve Foundations groups in their area we provide the following services, free of charge:
1. Regular consultation and training with group organizers.
2. Regular participation with the group (via phone) for the first year.
3. Free attendance (for group organizers +1) at the Twelve Foundations Retreat.
Groups may be formed around two general categories:
1. Spiritual Development and Wholeness
A New Path of Wholeness and Self-Discovery
This is a regular Twelve Foundations group; it is for people who want to expand and develop their spiritual nature and positive human identity in the context of a supportive group and an empowering set of spiritual teachings. This group is also for people who are reasonably well-adjusted, and who have ordinary life-struggles and challenges they want to overcome.
2. Recovery and Overcoming Addictions
The “Next Step” in Wholeness and Recovery
This group is for people who have overcome addictions and are now in “positive recovery.” It is for people who want to move beyond their old recovery identity and any weak self-image engendered by their involvement with such programs. This type of group may also be seen as "the Next Step" for people who have had some success with the traditional Twelve Steps but who are now in a position to move on to something more positive and empowering.
This group can also be used by people who are actively working to overcome specific addictions, or life-disrupting problems, such as alcoholism, narcotics, overeating, depression, etc.
Group Format and Guidelines
Group Intention
In terms of one’s participation with the group, and the group purpose, every participant should have a united intention. This intention (or something which supports group unity and purpose) can be read before each meeting.
We come together with the shared intention to support each other, both in one’s human life and in one’s spiritual aspirations. Our intention is:
to honor and support the highest in ourselves and in each other;
to allow and support the expression of joy, in ourselves and in others;
to have genuine appreciation for each others presence.
This is our intention; this is what we will express or sincerely move toward.
Meeting Format
> Meetings should begin and end on time.
> Meetings should run between 60 and 90 minutes.
> The format of each meeting should support the individual in understanding and imbibing the teachings of the steps; each meeting should foster a connection (between participants), create a sense of belonging (for everyone), and allow for the expression and experience of joy.
> Meetings could open with 5-10 minutes of a shared, physical activity, such as stretching, chi kung, physical game-playing, a Greek line dance, etc. Meeting could include 5-10 minutes of meditation toward the end of the program.
> To have a venue for a fuller expression of joy (and to get away from a purely verbal format), one meeting per week could be devoted to a joyous group activity (such as singing or chanting), game-playing, dancing, etc.
> One meeting per week could be devoted to dealing with personal issues. To simulate the ancient tribe, in this meeting men and women could meet separately, coming together only at the opening and ending of the meeting.
> Meetings should be aligned upon a particular teaching; thus, each meeting could open up with a reading in alignment with the teaching.
> Each meeting should be run by a moderator, or facilitator, to keep the meeting on track. Facilitators (if properly trained) may also “lead” the group, in terms of helping others to understand the teachings.
A Sample Meeting Schedule
8:00 Welcome by group leader. Welcome each other. Read Group intention. Read current step. Read a teaching related to the current step. (The reading can change every day or every week).
8:10 Chi kung (individual or shared)
8:20 Each participant shares something about the step or particular teaching (as stated in the reading)—realizations, insights, related stories, questions he/she may have, etc. The intention in the sharing is to help each other, and oneself, gain knowledge and insight, and put the teachings into practice. (The intention is never to unload or dump negativity, difficulties, or sympathy-inducing stories upon the group. That is not to say that a person cannot share his/her struggles, but only struggles related to the teachings of the steps and putting the teachings into practice). Other participants may share a few lines of insight related to the sharing.
9:00 Meditation
9:10 Sharing of insights
9:20 Sharing a one-line expression of gratitude for someone or something
9:25 Closing announcements, if any (short)
9:28 Last thought—an inspiring invocation or statement