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100-Year-Olds' Secret: Stay Aware
Keeping Up With the Times Is Key to Long
Life, Centenarians Say
By Daniel
J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise
Chang, MD
The secret to a
long life is to stay busy, get plenty of exercise & don’t drink too much. Then again, don’t drink too little.
Hermann Smith-Johannson, 103-year-old cross-country skier,
quoted in The New York Times, March 20, 1979.
April 3, 2007 - The key to long life is a vivid interest in
the world around you, a survey of 100-year-olds suggests.
That means people born when
Teddy Roosevelt was president are watching music videos, ordering at Starbucks & even listening to iPods, according to
the poll from Evercare, a division of UnitedHealth Group focused on the health care needs of Americans aged 50 & older.
"We're finding older Americans
are staying engaged & staying on top of what's going on in the world," Sherri Snelling, director of caregiving services
at Evercare, tells WebMD.
Evercare's 2nd annual telephone
poll of 100 people aged 99 & older isn't a scientific study - it's a snapshot of the attitudes of American 100 year-olds.
87% of survey
respondents were white; 70% still lived at home; 95% were 100 or older & 70% were women.
The point of the poll, Snelling
says, is simply to look at what successful aging looks like.
"When we think about the different
aspects of staying involved in the world around us, these nuggets of information are helpful to us," she says.
Some of those nuggets:
- 31% of centenarians have watched reality TV shows.
- 27% of centenarians have watched MTV or music videos.
- 1 in 7 centenarians has played video games.
- 68% of centenarians get their news from television, although
40% read newspapers.
- 11% of centenarians have ordered from Starbucks.
- When asked whom they most trust to tell
the truth, 34% of centenarians chose their minister, rabbi, or priest - just ahead of their doctor or nurse at 28%.
The most poignant finding
is that 100-year-olds value their memories more than their physical comfort. When asked what they'd like to change the most, 34% said "better memory" while 27% said "less aches & pains."
What was the most memorable
day of their lives? Their wedding day, said 28% of centenarians.
On the other hand, 106-year-old
Virginian Martha Hanks says there's no special secret to long life.
"I didn't do anything special," Hanks tells WebMD. "I just lived a normal life."
source: WebMd
Awakening Awareness : The Gateway to Knowing Who You Are
By Ron McCray
How many psychologists does i take to change a
light bulb?
Only one but the light bulb really has to choose
to change.
Anonymous
Copyright 2005 Ron McCray - All rights reserved - posted with written consent of the
author
The Three Jobs of Human Beings
This subject fascinates
me a great deal. What are we supposed to do while we are here on Earth? I mean, what are we really supposed to be in
engaged in while playing the roles that we play. What is there beyond butcher, baker, or candlestick maker?
Our relatively large brains
with their hemispheric differentiation into "left" (predisposed to logical, linear thinking)
and "right" (with its creative non-linear, thinking) enabled us to create
a vast array or roles to play in the great extemporaneous play that is life.
Is there an overall umbrella
or foundation (depending on one’s point of view) responsibility that
we took on prior to popping into life that somehow got lost early in our development as more pressing issues (like survival) needed to be addressed first?
I think so… Consequently,
I have uncovered three "jobs" for my lifetime that define what I am really doing here on Earth. They are "my" jobs, and you
are welcome to take on any one or all of them as there are lots of openings.
Job number one (learning self-love) was for me to discover that I am divine, that God dwells in me, and
that my key to truly living a harmonious and fulfilled life is a matter of learning to unconditionally love myself. That involves
healing whatever I need to heal that prevents me from loving myself. Once I did that, I found I was able to love God and everything
in the Universe. Talk about a turnaround in living!
Job
number two (manifesting) was learning
how to manifest what I need in life to fully express my passion, my essence for this lifetime. In working job number one (self-love)
I discovered that the essence of my life this time around is to inspire others to awaken to who they truly are and reconnect
with God. Over time I also learned the mechanics of manifesting, and that becoming a powerful manifester required me to first
love myself so that fear was not the basis for manifesting. So job number two was enabled by job number one.
Job number three (supporting others) came about after I essentially accomplished jobs one and two in answer
to the question, "What’s next?" From my perspective, what was logically next consisted of supporting others in taking
on jobs one and two. That is why this commentary and this website exist. I realize that I am more proactive in job number
three than are perhaps most other people. But it is not necessary to take on job three full-time; we still need butchers,
bakers, and candlestick makers. In the Teachings page of http://www.ronmccray.com/, I write about how we are all teachers regardless of whether or not
we are in front of classrooms. I recommend you to that commentary if you wish to explore how to support others a bit further.
Ron McCray
The Foundation of the Missing Pieces Series
No can ever do for you that which only you can do for yourself.
Missing Pieces mini-books are intended to support
those who choose to "give and do" for themselves.
Getting Started
Why read this book?
Do you want to lead an active spiritual life? If you have not opened your
awareness, you can’t get there from where you are. You can spend a lot of time and
money, and get nowhere. Many people, more and more all of the time, have reached a point in their lives when they yearn to
expand themselves spiritually, yet do not know how to get started.
Awakening Awareness is the first step in beginning
to evolve spiritually. Without awareness, we sleepwalk through life without the ability
to be proactive in our lives. Swept about by currents of fear, reflex, and conditioned responses, no one can pursue a spiritual
path without awareness.
Intention
The intention of the book
is to lead you to awaken the ability to communicate with your Higher Self. What you can expect from communicating with your
Higher Self are:
• Reconnecting with our collective divinity
• Receiving guidance and validation on moving
forward in life
• Dealing powerfully and quickly with judgment
and fear
• Gaining access to manifesting
what you need in life to live passionately and joyfully
When we awaken to the
fact that our Higher Self is always with us, and is integral to our biological bodies, then communication with the
Higher Self is achievable.
Method
Awakening Awareness
is organized into ten steps and is built on a model or method of transforming your actions to awaken your awareness.
The model has four phases:
1. KNOWLEDGE is
the information that you need to master the step. It is like being shown how to ride a bicycle. The Knowledge of riding a
bike does not enable you to ride the bike. It does not teach you how to balance, only that balance is necessary.
2. EXPERIENCE is
putting Knowledge into an action to determine our own unique perception of the Knowledge. It is getting up on the
bike and working to achieve balance. Most people fall several times in the Practice phase for each of us must learn our own,
unique way of balancing on the bike.
3. UNDERSTANDINGS
is finding your personal truth out of the Practice and making it your own. It is like finding your balance on a bicycle.
TRANSFORMATION occurs when and if you choose to consciously incorporate the Understanding
into your life until it becomes a reflex. Transformation will only happen if you find enough value in the Understanding to
apply it over and over until it becomes unconscious competence, the highest order of learning.
For bicycle
riding it is the point when you no longer think about how to ride, you simply do it. Awakening Awareness takes you
to the point of Transformation. Only you can do that for yourself. All of the tools are provided. You must master them if
you wish to transform your life so that you are awake and aware.
The Ten Steps
Step 1: Creative Energy
- "Spirit"
Everything in the knowable and unknowable universe exists as intelligently
shaped creative energy. An energy so fundamental that all other forms of energy and matter, including humanity and the Earth,
derive from it. Having a grasp of creative energy is crucial to awakening awareness.
Step 2: Self-Consciousness
in this sense means awareness
of how we are being in a given moment. It is not the traditional state of embarrassment or shyness
generated by a sense of inadequacy. Each of us is in one of two states throughout our lives: either
physical consciousness or Spirit consciousness. This step defines the two states and provides the means to consciously experience
each one.
Step 3 – Spiritual
Awareness has many definitions.
For our purpose, it is the state resulting from shifting from physical consciousness to Spirit consciousness. In this step,
the process of making the shift is explained and practiced.
Step 4: Enlightenment
was defined earlier as maintaining the state of
spiritual awareness. What do we do after we achieve the state of spiritual awareness? We can then experience enlightenment as fully loving and accepting all that is around us. In this
state, we have access to creative energy.
Step 5: Free Will
is humanity’s gift. All living things (and inanimate ones as well) share creative energy as their essence. Humanity
has one additional important distinction, namely, we possess the ability to choose how we live life. Karma is another name
for this opportunity. Free will is about recognizing the power of choice and how choice permeates every aspect of life.
Step 6: Discernment
We have often heard the admonishment, "Don’t believe everything that
you read or hear." What excellent advice this is! The challenge is one of figuring out what to believe. Discernment is our inner voice that leads us along our life’s path.
Step 7: Life Contract
is a recurring question that haunts so many of us, "Why
am I in this life, and what am I supposed to do?" There is one global answer that applies to all of us; however, we each have
our own unique expression of that purpose. That is your life contract.
Step 8: Love, Intention, and Co-Creation
(Manifestation) combine to enable
us to have what we need to move forward in our contracts. Our human and biological condition is a state that many of us want
to alter. We desire more wealth, contentment, deep relationships, and security. Much of our waking time is spent in pursuit
of these and other goals. We can employ our Higher Self to manifest our goals, if the goals are appropriate.
Step 9: Fear is
the greatest impediment that we have to co-creation or manifesting what we need in life. Fear is a human invention that appears
all too real for many. Until we learn to deal with fear, our ability to move forward in our life contract is greatly inhibited.
Step 10: Awakening
is the end game of this book and the beginning
of a new way of living. From an early age, we are cloaked in a human persona that enables us to deal with the physical world.
The cloak is called by various names including ego and identity. The cloak serves us well; however, when we begin working
to link with our Higher Self, we are on a path of awakening to realize that we are truly spiritual beings. We will examine
how to be aware of our Higher Self and to bridge the gap created by the "veil" to communicate
directly with our Higher Self.
Step 1: Creative Energy
- "Spirit"
KNOWLEDGE Wouldn’t it be great to learn the key to unlocking the Universe? Here it is.
Everything in the
knowable and unknowable Universe exists as intelligently shaped creative energy. An energy so fundamental that all other forms
of energy and matter, including humanity and the earth, derive from it. This creative energy carries an infinite intelligence
that shapes itself according to its own design and purpose.
Thus a rock "knows" it
is a rock, not in the human sense of awareness, but in the sense that the energy
comprising the rock purposefully shaped itself into the rock. If the rock is shattered into fragments, the shattering occurred
because the rock permitted itself to be shattered. The rock could have resisted the blow if remaining intact served its design and purpose.
The purpose of this step
is to assist you in developing an awareness and acceptance of creative energy. Creative energy is the fundamental foundation of transformation. Without awareness
and acceptance of creative energy, this book is of no value and is inappropriate for you.
Throughout the sentient
history of humanity, we have recognized creative energy in one form or another. We have worshiped it, we have feared it, we have rejected it, and we have attempted to manipulate it. The quest to understand creative energy has given rise to shamans, medicine men, witches, priests, holy men, ministers, nuns, monks, lamas, astrologers,
clairvoyants, fortunetellers, and philosophers of various shades. These often-gifted people found ways of accessing creative
energy at its source. They in turn communicated their experiences to those who had not found access.
All interpreted
(or pretended to interpret) aspects of creative energy to
fill humanity’s need for information about that which cannot be perceived by our five traditional senses. The source of creative energy is called
by many names: God, Allah, Gaia, the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods, Mother Earth, and so on. For
the purpose of this book, creative energy is also referred to as Spirit.
Some humans
received deification from other humans because of their apparent superior knowledge of creative energy and include Christ,
Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, and saints — a representative list although certainly not an exhaustive one.
These are
all "ordinary" humans who developed an extraordinary awareness of creative energy.
They also left legacies
of knowledge about creative energy that have survived in one form or another as revered texts that attempt to give insights to their fellow humans about creative energy. Distilling all this information into one universal message brings us to the
importance of love — much more on that later.
One last point
before venturing along your own special and unique path... the discovery of quantum physics contributes greatly to understanding creative energy. When physicists undertook experiments to study aspects of quantum physics, they discovered that what they
expected to find, they found.
When other physicists
replicated the experiments, different results occurred based on the expectations of those researchers! It seems that the closer
we move to the vital source that is creative energy, the more the energy shapes itself to our intentions. Please remember this as you move forward. The point will be expanded later. Now, it is time to do some work.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are
optional; however, if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain
at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness (by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true. Write your
answer underneath the question that it addresses.
You may find
that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue
asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with this part of the Experience, continue by following the next instructions.
Now, without using analysis,
logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in
your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true. Write your answers down. You may
find that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise.
To find
answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with this part of the Experience, read the following instructions.
Reread the questions and
answers that you explored above. Gather these items together: a small bowl of mildly warm water (around 98 degrees Fahrenheit or 22 degrees Centigrade) and a handful of soil (or sand).
Position yourself
in a state that is receptive to new experience. You may wish to find a quiet spot that is dimly lighted and free of distraction. Position yourself such that you are comfortable and that the water and soil can be easily reached.
Close your eyes,
take a slow, deep breath inhaling for about eight seconds, hold the breath for eight seconds (if
you are uncomfortable holding your breath that long, then exhale when discomfort starts), then slowly exhale for eight seconds.
Perform this breathing cycle three times.
Resume normal breathing
and picture yourself in the center of a wave of complete well being where all of your wants, needs, and fears cease to have any effect on you. See them as dissipating in the wave and absorbed by it until they are part of the wave and supporting you as you float carefree.
When you are contented and in harmony with the wave, place the fingers of one hand into the bowl. At first you will feel the water. Direct
your thoughts to experiencing the water flow through (not around) your fingers. Merge
the water and your fingers into the energy flow so that their identities are dissolved becoming one with the flow of the energy.
Now, scoop up some
of the soil and cup it in the palm of your other hand. Direct your thoughts to experiencing the soil or sand disappear into the energy wave. As did the water, the soil dissipates into the energy wave
becoming part of it.
Direct your thoughts back to the bowl and recreate the water from the wave of energy. Feel its wetness, its temperature, and its easy movement
around your fingers. Direct your thoughts to the hand that held the soil and recreate the soil from the wave of energy. Note its weight, texture, and the shifting
of the grains when you gently move your hand. Withdraw your hands from the water and soil or sand.
Continue breathing as
you recreate yourself from the energy wave leaving your wants, needs, and fears behind absorbed into the wave. The experience is complete. You may wish to do the exercise several times as it will deepen
and intensify when repeated. Make any comments below about the Experience that you wish to remember.
UNDERSTANDING
Understanding involves recreating the experience of creative energy in a manner that you choose. Here are the instructions. Find
a physical object that attracts you. It could be a tree, a cloud, a golf ball, water, even wind - whatever appeals to you.
Be in the presence of your chosen object. Sit or stand very still and place your attention on the object. You may wish to
close your eyes.
Slowly move yourself inside of the object and perceive the world as the object
does. Not as you think the object would but as the object. Stay in this state for as long as you are the object. If the first experience
did not work well for you, try again with the same or another object until it does work well. When you are satisfied with your effort, record your thoughts.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you now have the tools
to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction that
Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence;
nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein
lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
Self-Consciousness
KNOWLEDGE
Self-Consciousness in this sense means awareness of how we are being in a given moment. It is not the
traditional state of embarrassment or shyness generated by a sense of inadequacy as in, "I’m too self-conscious to wear this silly hat"! As humans, we are always in one of two states: physical consciousness or Spirit consciousness. Even
when we sleep, we are in one these two states, and the state is reflected in the nature of our dreams.
Physical consciousness
occupies most of the time of the vast majority of humans. In this state we are concerned about "issues" that reflect our physical well being. For example, health, wealth, power, concern for others, safety, social status, right versus wrong, and the biological urge for sex illustrate the concerns that root us in physical consciousness.
When we are in physical
consciousness, our attention is focused on our biological selves. There is nothing "wrong" in existing in a state of
physical consciousness. We have a mandate to keep our biological bodies in good working order so that we may be capable of taking the actions that forward us. Many of us become so concerned with keeping our biological bodies satiated and safe,
that we seldom venture out of physical consciousness.
Recall times when
you felt a very strong sense of love and acceptance. What you felt may have been with respect to another human, an animal, a place, or an experience (watching the sun set, for example). Typically this emotion holds complete acceptance, peace, contentment, and timelessness. You may have experienced this emotion when performing the Experience or Understanding exercises in Step 1, Creative Energy. If not, do not be concerned for you have experienced this emotion many times. It is the state of Spirit consciousness.
Essentially,
Spirit consciousness is a state of selfless love and acceptance. While in this state, the ego, identity, self are all set aside, replaced by a sense of connectedness in which we are profoundly related to everything. Spirit consciousness is directly experiencing the flow of creative energy.
This may seem like an impossible state in which to exist. You have been in this state many times in your
lifetime. You simply were not aware of the nature of the state. Spirit consciousness is
the "natural" state for us. Physical consciousness is "unnatural."
The nature of our biology
demands that we put survival first so that the body remains intact and functioning. However, in the industrialized world,
we extend physical consciousness far beyond the biological mandate. We have placed "meaning" on virtually every aspect of
our physical lives. Where we live, the car we drive, the title of our position, the amount of power we have, how much money we make, and the adornments we place on our bodies have taken on far more significance than necessary.
Moreover, they
separate us from our fellow humans instead of bringing us together. Competition (for physical symbols of success) has replaced cooperation. Consequently,
we experience "scarcity" and drive ourselves to get "ours" at the expense of others attempting to get "theirs." A common description
of this phenomenon is the "rat race" (with apologies to rats).
Once again, there
is nothing "wrong" in engaging in the rat race. All that we do in life is an opportunity to learn. We take some of the opportunities,
and some of them we don’t. There is no judgment either way. Once we have knowledge of Spirit consciousness, it can become the desired state of consciousness because it is
the truly natural state. We aspire to Spirit consciousness because it is the state we want to be in and not because
we think it is the state that we should be in.
The purpose of this step
is to create awareness of the two states. Physical consciousness is very easy for most of
us to recognize since we dwell in it so much. Spirit consciousness is usually not experienced directly but has occurred many
times for all of us. The exercises that follow will assist you in recognizing both states. For now, that is all that is needed. Later, we will work towards entering Spirit consciousness as a "conscious" choice.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are
optional; however, if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain
at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness (by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true.
Write your
answer underneath the question that it addresses. You may find that your sense of this lesson deepens
and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue asking and answering until your
curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with this part of the Experience, continue following the next instructions.
Reread the questions and
answers that you explored in the Experience. Position yourself such that you are comfortable. Close your eyes, take
a slow, deep breath inhaling for about eight seconds, hold the breath for eight seconds (if you
are uncomfortable holding your breath that long, then exhale when discomfort starts), then slowly exhale for eight
seconds. Take at least three breaths in this manner.
Now, think of the
one thing in the world that holds (or held) the highest degree of
warmth and contentment for you. Perhaps it is a parent, a sibling, a child, another loved one, a place, a pet, an experience. The only essential
requirement is that when you think about "it," you experience a warm, satisfied, peaceful emotional state.
Remember how you felt
and reenter that state of emotional being. Sink into it and be conscious of how you feel. Are you happy? Are you safe? Extend the emotional state for as long as you are comfortable doing so. If you fall out of it, breathe deeply, reorient
yourself, and enter the state once more. When you are done, take three more slow, deep breaths. You experienced Spirit consciousness.
Immediately, refocus
your thoughts to an event, thing, or person that causes you upset, anxiety, or discomfort. Enter into the state that results from these thoughts and dwell on how the state is directed towards your
"survival." Are you comfortable? Are you content? Or are you anxious, afraid, doubtful, or suspicious? This is physical consciousness.
Now, clear away
the emotions created by physical consciousness. Take three slow, deep breaths. Recall whatever you used to enter Spirit consciousness
and once more enter that state for as long as you are comfortable. When you are done, take three more slow, deep breaths.
Record your experiences and be sure and contrast your perceptions
of the differences between physical and Spirit consciousness.
UNDERSTANDING
To validate your existence in either physical or Spirit consciousness, you will need to develop awareness of being in either state. Use some device to remind yourself to check
in with you as to the your state. Anything will do that reminds you to think about (be aware, be conscious) of the state.
Place a rubber band
around your wrist, an unfamiliar object in your pocket, or associate something that you do often with taking stock in which
state you are occupying. At this point, there is no request to do anything about the state. You just want to know that that
is where you are in the moment. The more frequently that you check your state, the easier and more reflexive it becomes.
The identification
of which state should be easy after completing the Experience exercise as described above. If you did not do the Experience
or are unsure of the results, please go back and repeat it until you are comfortable recognizing the two states.
Clues for the state
of physical consciousness include a tense, uncomfortable physiological condition, and a fearful, angry, or depressed emotional mood. In general, there is a sense of foreboding, resentment, unhappiness, or distress. Clues for the state of Spirit consciousness include a relaxed physiological condition, a sense of well being, contentment, humor, and an emotional mood in which everything is as it should be.
You may find that
there you are aware of far more instances of being in physical versus Spirit consciousness.
Do not be concerned. Most of our training as children and adults orients us to physical consciousness. Although Sprit consciousness is the "natural"
state, it is suppressed by our training and social influences to be in the background and often invisible, or transient.
"Things may be good now,
but trouble’s on the way," is the motto of so many people. When you do experience Spirit consciousness, savor it and
consider how great it would be to remain in that state most of the time. It is possible.
Please make any notes that
occur for you as you experience the two states during your daily activities. This Understanding exercise is one that you need to keep doing beyond this step. You will find that Spirit consciousness occurs more frequently as you become aware of its existence. The more that it consciously occurs for you, the more time you will want to dwell therein.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember
that you now have the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious. It may seem a
contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious
competence; nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein
lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
Spiritual
Awareness
KNOWLEDGE
There are many definitions
and ideas about what constitutes spiritual awareness. The following discussion does not
discredit or invalidate any other concept. This approach to spiritual awareness supports
the other steps described in this book.
The distinction that is
given to spiritual awareness for our purpose herein is simple. Spiritual awareness is achieved as a result of shifting from physical consciousness to Spirit consciousness. Moving from
one state to the other places us in another way of being as well as how we are in action.
We have all experienced
spiritual awareness whether we knew it or not. In the preceding step, the exercises provided
consciousness of the two states: physical, and Spirit.
Since the
goal is to have spiritual awareness as much as possible, learning to move into that state is
essential. Making the shift requires action beyond "thinking about it." Let us explore the importance of action.
Nothing matters
in our world except action. Thoughts can be inspiring or depressing; however, they do not matter until we take action on them. The most perceptive, creative,
and potentially beneficial thoughts amount to nothing unless they are acted upon.
This book came about
through action, not by merely thinking about writing a book. So, if we are to transform ourselves, action on our part is required. What then are the actions needed
to move us into spiritual awareness?
The first step
is to accept that you are in a state of physical consciousness. This is a "thought," and thus must be taken into action to have any benefit. The action associated with knowing that you are in state of physical
consciousness is to speak that fact aloud. "I am in a state of physical consciousness." Saying it aloud is an action that
has moved beyond thoughts. It is a declaration to yourself and the universe.
The second step
is to declare aloud that you intend to shift to a state of Spirit consciousness. "I give intent to be in Spirit consciousness,"
works well; however, as in all actions, make the action your own and choose words that resonate with you.
The third action
is to laugh aloud at your state of physical consciousness and at whatever is holding you there. Laughter as an action is very
powerful. No matter how "serious" you may assess your situation to be, there is always humor present. Look for it, see it,
and then laugh out loud. Laughter takes the importance out
of being in physical consciousness and opens the door to Spirit consciousness.
The last step is
to unconditionally accept and love whatever held you in physical consciousness. Embrace it and see it as a lesson that is
altogether appropriate for you at the time. You may not understand the lesson at this point.
We will deal with discerning
the lesson in a later step. The action is to state aloud that you accept whatever the situation and thank it for the lesson
that you learn. "I accept that I lost my job and give thanks for the opportunity that it is." Again, make the words your own.
What you say needs to
be your own creation. You can use the words that illustrated the examples above if they work for you. This is not a
rite or a ritual. It is a practical process that needs tailoring to you. The important point is to remember to say these statements
aloud. If you need to excuse yourself to find privacy, then do so.
When you laugh,
make it a big laugh so that the universe (and you) really hears it. Even
if you have to force the laughter, do it anyway. Soon, the laughter will be genuine, and the shift to Spirit consciousness
becomes quicker and easier.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools
to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however, if you do not do them (or
at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness (by this method). It is, as is explained later,
your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon
sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions,
and whatever you create is true. Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses.
You may find
that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue
asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed.
Each time, you
are aware of being in physical consciousness, determine if you want to shift
to Spirit consciousness. If so, follow these four steps (refer to the Knowledge for this
step if need be):
1. State aloud
that you recognize that you are in physical consciousness.
2. State aloud
that you give intent to be in Spirit consciousness.
3. Laugh heartily
about your state of physical consciousness. Force it if necessary. Laughter is critical to learning to shift.
4. Give thanks
aloud for whatever gripped you in physical consciousness for the lesson that it provides. Think about what you can learn from it and accept the lesson as entirely appropriate.
Record ten instances
when you shifted your state as a record of progress.
One last note - the fourth
step of shifting includes thinking about the lesson contained in the state of physical consciousness. The lesson is critical
to Spiritual growth, and it will not go away until it is accepted. The lesson will keep presenting itself until it is learned.
Record some of the lessons that you discovered while shifting from physical to Spirit consciousness.
UNDERSTANDING
Understanding this step is aligned with the Experience. As you practice shifting from physical to Spirit consciousness, begin noting
the emotions that you have when in Spirit consciousness. Look for contentment, peace, lightness, relief, joy, humor, and love,
whatever you find yourself being in that moment. Initially, spiritual awareness only lasts
a short time before you are pulled back into physical consciousness.
Do not be discouraged.
You have years of operating in the physical, and the habit is tenacious. Recall the sense of well being experienced while
in Spirit consciousness and kindle the desire to be in that state. Is it not far more pleasant than the uncomfortable emotions
associated with physical consciousness?
Gratification of the physical
senses is experienced as physical consciousness. Food, drink, sex, thrills, observing beauty, and music are all physical experiences
that are pleasant. They are the offsetting rewards for "enduring" the trials of other physical experiences that are not so
pleasant.
For example, many people work
at jobs they do not like in order to have two weeks of a pleasant vacation (although there
is that nagging thought of returning to the "real world" at the end of the vacation that lurks during the vacation). Without
knowledge of spiritual awareness, these rewards are necessary to motivate us to stay in
the physical world.
Having spiritual awareness
provides the most opportunity for experience of all the steps. Since most of us live most of our day in physical consciousness,
then we have an abundance of openings in which to transform our physical consciousness to Spirit consciousness.
The trick is to have the awareness that we are in physical consciousness and the desire to shift to Spirit consciousness. This will only
happen by practice until a habit is developed. So, start by committing that you will make the shift at least once a day, then
move to twice a day, and so on. To get started, use reminders.
Post a note on your bathroom
mirror, on a kitchen cabinet, on the dashboard of your car, in your calendar (make sure
the note is on every day), make it your screen saver, or place a reminder on your desk or workspace.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember
that you now have the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction
that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence;
nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein
lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
Enlightenment
KNOWLEDGE
Are you enlightened? What is it? If you
don’t have it, how do you get it? These are questions asked by many people – and there are many answers as well.
In this step, enlightenment is presented as being simple but not necessarily easy. After completing this step, especially
the Experience and Understanding sections, you will not only understand what is enlightenment you will
have the conscious experience of being enlightened.
Earlier we defined enlightenment as being in the
state of Spirit consciousness. The last step provided the experience of "feeling good" when entering into the state of Sprit
consciousness. What do we do after we achieve the state of Spirit consciousness? We can then experience enlightenment. When
enlightened, we have direct access to creative energy.
With direct access to creative energy, we can be
at cause in our lives instead of at effect. Being at cause allows us to influence and direct what comes our way. It is being
proactive. Being at effect is to be reactive, responding to what comes our way with a sense of helplessness that is fatiguing
and frustrating. Being at cause, on the other hand, produces exhilaration and optimism.
What is enlightenment? Of course it is the state
of Spirit consciousness and access to creative energy. Moreover, when we experience enlightenment, we are unconditional acceptance
and love for all manifestations of creative energy that we learned in step one is everything in the universe. Love
and acceptance are the access to consciously shape creative energy and to be at cause in our lives.
As humans, our experience with physical consciousness
tells us that we must manipulate to survive. We have learned to manipulate our environment, our society, and each other in
order to protect and preserve our biology. We even use manipulation in love by making love conditional. The object of our
love only receives our love if he or she conforms to what we want — no conformity, no love.
Virtually all children learn about conditional love
at an early age; thus, they shape their behavior in such a way that receiving love, acceptance, and attention is dependent
on their behavior. They are loved for how they behave. They are not loved for who they are. Consequently, who they are is
hidden and suppressed in favor of
acting in the way that will "earn" love. Parents
and other significant adults do not purposefully mold their children in this way. They are simply perpetuating how they were
trained as children.
When we love someone or something (even a rock) without
expectation, conditions, or attachment of any kind, we are enlightened and in the state of Spirit consciousness. When in this
state, we have the potential to be at cause in our lives. To realize that potential, there is additional work to do. The next
steps provide instruction in the nature of that work.
The essential point to get from this step is that
the key to enlightenment is unconditional love and acceptance. From that state, all other power and energy emanate. Without it, all other metaphysical trappings and practices are
futile (in the sense of being at cause in life). Meditation, channeling, crystals, the Tarot, everything that has been written
(including this), and knowledge will not automatically enlighten anyone. How nice it would be to experience enlightenment
by chanting a mantra, assuming a yoga posture, reading a book, attending a seminar, or doing whatever else we devise. The
only thing that works is to consciously extend unconditional love and acceptance.
One way to distinguish the experience of enlightenment
versus knowledge of enlightenment is learning to ride a bicycle. Balance is essential to riding a two - wheel bike (without
training wheels!). We can view demonstrations of others riding a bike, we can read about riding a bike, we can attend lectures
on riding a bike, we can study the physiology of the inner ear and brain associated with balance, we could spend years gaining
knowledge about how to ride a bike. Very little of that will prepare us to actually ride, because we must gain the experience
of balance for ourselves. No one can give it to us.
And so it is with receiving enlightenment through
extending unconditional love in the state of Spirit consciousness. This workbook will help by providing knowledge and exercises
to lead you to the experience. You must do the work and take the steps. It is possible for every human being to experience
enlightenment. You need only to have the intention and commitment to do so. Recall the discussion in step three about action.
Thoughts never did anyone any good. The implementation of thoughts through action creates miracles.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding,
and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you
have learned. They are optional; however, if you
do not do them (or at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness
(by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions that arose from the
preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now, without using analysis, logic, or
"common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers.
If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true.
Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses. You may find that your sense of this
lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue asking and answering
until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with your questions and answers,
continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
Experiencing enlightenment is done in stages. Each
stage follows the same steps:
1. Select a focus of your attention.
2. Shift from physical consciousness to Sprit consciousness
(remember the four actions from step three).
3. Extend unconditional love and acceptance to whatever
is the focus of your attention.
4. Experience enlightenment.
5. Record the experience in a few words.
The exercise is designed to gradually
increase the level of difficulty in extending unconditional love and acceptance. Remember to set
aside all opinions, judgments, expectations, and conditions associated with the "focus." This will be easier for the first
focus than the fifth as our level of expectation and conditions increase with those focuses more important to us. Our physical
consciousness demands that we try harder to control that which is important to us. Only by setting all of those considerations
aside can we begin to experience enlightenment. One last note: enlightenment is not a "one - time" objective. We will experience
being in and out of enlightenment many, many times in our lifetimes.
First focus: an inanimate object: e.g., a rock, a picture, clouds, etc. Extend unconditional love and acceptance
to it. Jot down some notes about your experience.
Second focus: a plant, e.g., a flower, tree, houseplant, weed, etc. Extend unconditional love and acceptance
to it. Jot down some notes about your experience.
Third focus: an animal, e.g., cat, dog, bird, horse, etc. Extend unconditional love and acceptance to it. Jot
down some notes about your experience.
Fourth focus: a "distant" human, e.g., stranger, a co - worker, etc. Extend unconditional love and acceptance
to him or her. Jot down some notes about your experience.
Fifth focus: a close human, e.g., child, parent, sibling, friend etc. Extend unconditional love and acceptance
to him or her. Jot down some notes about your experience.
UNDERSTANDING
To understand the state of enlightenment, we need
to become aware of our emotions and body sensations when we are not experiencing enlightenment! The Understanding practice
first consists of catching yourself in an extreme state of physical consciousness and noting emotions and body sensations.
Are you tense, do you feel like hitting something, are you listless; do you feel nauseous; are you trembling? What emotions
are you experiencing?
The most common emotions associated with
extreme physical consciousness are fear and anger. These two are expressed in difference ways, e.g., frustration, discontent,
and aggressive behaviors, but it is importance to look beneath these surface emotions to find what lies underneath. Usually,
anger and fear are there. If we take these two even deeper, we find only one emotion: fear. Fear is the subject of an entire
step later on in the book. Write down the body sensations and the emotions while you’re are experiencing
them if at all possible; if not at the time, do so as soon as possible afterwards.
The second part of the understanding practice
should be done immediately following the first part. The second part is to ask yourself what emotions and body sensations
would you rather have than the extremes that you just documented. Would you rather feel relaxed,
calm, and in control? Would you rather not experience
love and acceptance? Document your thoughts about how you would rather feel than the emotions and sensations associated with
an extreme state of physical consciousness. Please do so immediately following the determination of how you would rather feel.
Please practice this more than once. Use the following
format to answer the two questions. If you write your responses, all the better.
What did you experience, physically and emotionally, when in the state of physical consciousness?
What would you have rather felt instead, physically and emotionally?
Understanding occurs out of how you perceive the
Experience. Understanding is your own unique, personal interpretation of the Experience.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you now have the tools to transform
your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught
to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence; nonetheless, the goal
is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein lies the greatest reward for
doing the work.
Free Will and Karma
KNOWLEDGE
Ever hear the expression,
"What goes around comes around?"
Whoever said that must have
had karma in mind. Let’s take a look at what karma is and how it is affected by free will and choice.
All living things
(and inanimate ones as well) share creative energy as their essence. Humanity has one additional important distinction, namely,
we possess the ability to choose how we run our lives. Our choices begin before birth when we plan how our coming life will
be shaped. This is not predetermination! Before birth, when in pure Spirit form, we make decisions about how our new life
will be set up and what opportunities for learning and advancement will be presented to us. It is then up to us during our
lifetime to choose to pursue an opportunity or not. Each lifetime contains the seeds for us to learn something that we have
not learned in previous lives. Karma is another name for this opportunity.
Karma contains
the remaining lessons that each of has left to learn. There is no bad karma or good karma — just karma, although there
are negative and positive aspects to karma. Positive karma is created by our taking actions that are in alignment with Spirit
and increase our authentic or personal power. Negative karma is aligned with our physical selves (our personalities) and diminishes
our authentic power by seeking external power.
The opportunities
that we plan for ourselves often appear to have good or bad attributes. Effortlessly making money or having a highly successful
career could be viewed as good karma. Experiencing tragedies and living in poverty can appear as bad karma. In actuality,
they are equal. Each is an opportunity to learn. We may or may not choose to learn from the opportunity. If we do not take
the opportunity in this life, then it will present itself in later lives.
The Hindus speak
of the wheel of life to which we are bound lifetime after lifetime. We remain on the wheel until we achieve enlightenment
and the ability to lead our lives in an enlightened state. When this occurs, we have achieved our purpose as human beings.
We will have demonstrated that we can rise above our physical consciousness and know without a doubt that we are truly Spiritual
beings. Why this is important and what the ramifications are of doing so remain veiled to us while in human form. Whatever
the result, suffice it to say that the ramifications are cosmic in their importance. If we knew the importance of our mission, we would immediately abandon our petty physical concerns in favor of the mission.
Although this seems desirable, the ultimate lesson is to rise above physical concerns as an act of free will in the face of
the enormous pull that physical consciousness places on us.
Thus, free will
is the gift that we have as human beings that sets us apart and enables us to contribute to each other, Spirit, and the Universe
in ways that we cannot begin to fathom. Free will permeates every aspect of our lives. We are continually faced with choices,
and each choice carries a set of responsibilities and consequences. The choices are undeniably there. Often, we deny the choice
and take the position that we are victims caught up in forces over which we have no control. This is simply not the case and
is a human invention to avoid taking responsibility for our lives.
Take for example,
an auto accident. Say that you are sitting at a red traffic signal and another car rear ends your car. How could you possibly
have responsibility for someone else hitting your car from behind when you were legally stopped and minding your own business?
The answer lies in the fact that you chose to be where you were when the accident occurred. There are many other places that
you could have been. You chose to be in that one at that time. We never "have" to do anything. We choose to perform each action
that we take. Even if you think that you "had" to be in your car on the way to a meeting or whatever, first, you did not have
to go. To be sure, that choice carries responsibilities with it such as having someone else get angry or causing you to miss
something special, but you did have a choice. Second, there are many routes that you could have chosen as well as choosing
when you left for the appointment.
Thus, every day
of our lives, we make hundreds of choices. Most of them are unconscious or are reflexes. Some of them are perceived as not
being choices at all and come from being at effect. We are cause in everything that we do. Realizing this and living into
it creates enormous freedom and contentment. It is after all, your choice.
Consider that whatever
we do in any moment is perfect. The perfection lies in the fact that we always choose our actions, and in making the
choice, certain responsibilities are attached to the choice, and we are held to those responsibilities whether we consciously
recognize them or not. The balance is therefore complete because choice and responsibility make a complete circle of cause
and effect. The deception occurs when we do not realize that we are always at cause!
If I feel like I have
been a victim, it is because I am looking at the responsibilities that attach to some action (like getting fired) without
looking at the choice(s) that I made that generated the responsibilities. So, I see myself as being at effect (the victim)
of something that I conveniently forgot that I caused.
The next three phases (Experience,
Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however,
if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness
(by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon
sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions,
and whatever you create is true. Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses.
You may find
that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue
asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with
your questions and answers, continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
Recall an action
that you took that had apparent negative results. Examples are beginning a relationship (even if a brief one), taking a job,
driving recklessly or carelessly, making a rude remark, and so forth. (The following instructions involve documenting the
results of your Experience. Transfer the format suggested below to a pad or piece of paper.)
Describe the action and
its negative result:
Action: _________________________
Result(s): _______________________
Ask yourself the question,
"Why did the negative result occur?" and write it down.
Why? __________________________
Now, if your response
indicates that someone else or a force of nature was responsible for the result, then reexamine the action and list what other
actions you could have taken:
Alternative Action(s): ______________
Do you see that there
are always alternative actions available? We choose to do what we do, even if that choice is unconscious. Results are
not causes. They derive from the choices that we make as an exercise of free will. Results are automatic. Choices are not.
Every choice has associated results and responsibilities. Choosing is ours and ours alone — always.
Now, repeat the
above steps with respect to an action that you are contemplating taking.
Action: ______________________
Desired Result(s): _____________
Ask yourself the question,
"Is the action directly linked to the result that I want?" and write it down. If the action that you are contemplating is
to demand a raise from your boss, then what are the likely outcomes of making the demand?
Likely result? ____________
Now, if your response
indicates an outcome that is negative (i.e., you do not get what you asked for), then what are other actions that could result
in a higher probability of getting what you want? Remember that there are no guarantees. The boss is exercising free will
as well, so you can never be sure of the outcome. Everyone is choosing all of the time.
Alternative Action(s): _______________
The point
of free will is that we choose all of our actions. The events in our lives are all a function of the choices that we
make. Choice results in action that carries responsibility. This is immutable, an absolute. It
is the very fiber of physical consciousness, and is the only gateway to Sprit consciousness. To have Spirit consciousness,
we must choose to do so.
UNDERSTANDING
(The following instructions involve documenting the results of your Understanding.
Transfer the format suggested below to a pad or piece of paper.) For at least the next four days, select
one action per day that you took and document the following:
Day ___:
Action: ________________________________
ult(s): ______________________________
What responsibility was associated with the action?
___________________________________
Other actions that could have been taken (choices):
___________________________________
TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you now have
the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise
that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until
it becomes unconscious. It may seem a contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence;
nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein lies the
greatest reward for doing the work.
Discernment
KNOWLEDGE
We have often heard the
admonishment,
"Don’t believe everything
that you read or hear."
What excellent advice
this is! The challenge is one of figuring out what to believe. Enter discernment. Streams of information constantly
barrage us. Further, in the realm of metaphysics, not only is there an enormous amount of information, much of it is contradictory.
What is presented here is not meant to refute the work of others. There is only one body of knowledge about Spirit; and, in
our human form, we see different aspects of that knowledge and draw various conclusions that are appropriate for ourselves
in the moment. This is the essence of discernment.
For example, consider
an ordinary tennis ball. One person sees it as an essential piece of equipment for the game of tennis. Another sees it as
a dog toy. Someone unfamiliar with the game of tennis might describe it as a round, white object. A scientist may evaluate
it as a spheroid containing an inert gas. The interesting fact is that all of the assessments are true. Truth therefore is
not necessarily an absolute. Truth is a personal belief for an individual based in the moment. A person’s truth about
the tennis ball could be that it is a piece of equipment for the game. When the ball is worn and no longer has its resiliency,
the same person may now regard it as a dog toy or give it some other use. The truth of the tennis ball shifts from person
to person and moment to moment. Truth can also be a personal permanent absolute for us. For example, the belief in Spirit
(God) can be a personal truth that does not change over time or circumstance.
Discernment is
finding the truth in the moment for you. There are three interrelated principles that are relevant in this discussion. The
first is knowledge or information. Our world abounds in knowledge. It is everywhere around us: radio, television, movies,
printed material, and conversation. Knowledge is of little value until we discern what is true for us in all of that knowledge.
Truth, the second principal, is the distillate of knowledge. Jurors hear evidence (knowledge) and discern what is true
for them (verdict). Sometimes, in trials, the truth is so different for individual jurors that no consensus can be reached
and the jury is hung, unable to complete its job. All of the jurors heard the same information, but exercised discernment
and found different truths.
So, from knowledge
we discern truth for ourselves. The third principle is wisdom. Wisdom is what we do (action) with truth. Truth that
is not placed into action is of little value. Here free
will and choice enter into the equation. As we discern truth, we use free will to choose the action that we take based on
the truth. In applying wisdom, we generally have two basic options. We can live into the truth by accepting its validity for
us and incorporating it into our actions, or we can deny the truth and veer away from it. Wisdom, like karma, is neither good
nor bad. Wisdom is how we choose to act when presented with an opportunity to learn.
For example, we
may have set up a lesson in which we have the opportunity to learn unconditional love and acceptance. The setting is an abusive
relationship in which we are the abused. Knowledge tells us that we are being abused and that abuse is not acceptable in our
society so that the abuser is wrong. However, we discern that the truth for us is that the abuser is really seeking love and
acceptance and that the abuse is an effort to gain attention. What we do about the truth is our expression of wisdom. If we
veer away from the truth and place blame and retribution on the abuser (a socially acceptable action), then we have denied
the lesson and the opportunity to learn from the experience is lost (for the time being). If however, we approach the abuser
with unconditional love and acceptance, then we find the power in this lesson, karma is satisfied, and we move on to the next
lesson.
Discerning the truth is
often subtle. Do not confuse discernment with values imposed by family, church, or society. It is often all too easy
to accept someone else’s "truth," rather than recognize and admit our own truth. Someone else’s truth is valid
for him, and may be valid for us, but only after thoughtfully exercising discernment. There are three actions associated with
discernment:
1. Recognize that information and knowledge are never
of themselves the truth.
2. Do not automatically accept anything as truth
that is delivered by any form of authority that maintains that is the truth.
3. Filter everything through your heart or intuition,
and never deny your truth because of judgment or opinion.
Truth will not always
appear as pleasant or what appears to be in the best interests of our biological selves. Often truth appears neither
pleasant nor desirable. That is the nature of being in lesson. If the lesson were easy, you would have been learned it long
ago.
The next three phases (Experience,
Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however,
if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain
at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness (by this method). It is, as is explained later,
your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon
sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions,
and whatever you create is true. Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses. You
may find that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure.
Continue asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete
with your questions and answers, continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
This Experience
may challenge you more than the previous ones. By this point, you are probably experiencing Spirit at a deeper level than
when you began the book, so some stretching is in order. Recall an event that created intense strong emotions in you, preferably
fear based resulting in anger, resentment, feelings of oppression, or other "negative" emotions. Relive the experience and
let the emotions come up. This time, change the "script" of the event so that you have the opportunity to vent your emotions
on the party who is powerless this time to retaliate or rebut. He, she, or they must suffer your wrath until you have expended
all of your emotional energy associated with the original event. Now, the lesson in the event is available to you. You need
only to access it.
Access is through shifting
to Spirit consciousness by holding the event and the people involved in it in unconditional love and acceptance. (Remember
in Step 3, that giving intent to make the shift and laughing about the event help you to make the shift.) Remove all judgment,
opinion, and feelings of being a victim. See the other party as connected with Spirit and you. See them as actors in a play,
and all of you are extemporizing a scene in the play that was agreed to long ago, before your birth. Now, look for the lesson.
What did you learn about Spirit’s love for you? It is probably a very simple "truth."
Whatever you truly discern
for yourself from this reenactment is the truth for you. See and treat it as a jewel of incalculable value, for it
is.
Journal your experience.
The details of the event are not as important as your state of mind when you held the other person(s) in an envelope of unconditional
love and acceptance – Spirit consciousness.
UNDERSTANDING
To Understand this step,
repeat the Experience reliving traumatic moments and events in your past or even recently. Repeat the same process as explained
above. Here is a quick review:
1. Recall the event.
2. Relive the experience and let the emotions come
up.
3. Change the "script" of the event so that you have
the opportunity to vent your emotions.
4. Continue venting until you negative emotions are
exhausted.
5. Shift to Spirit consciousness by unconditionally
accepting what originally happened. (Remember to give intent and to laugh at the event. Review Step 3 if need be.)
6. Remove all judgment, opinion, and feelings of
being a victim.
7. See the other party as connected with Spirit and
you. What was that "play" about?
8. Look for the lesson. What did you learn about
Spirit’s love for you?
9. Whatever you truly discern for yourself from this
reenactment is the truth for you.
10. See and treat your truth
as a jewel of incalculable value, for it is.
The more of these events that
you replay, the easier they become. Additionally, you will find that you will not react, or will not react as strongly, to
future events. Once you begin to see that lessons abound for you, and that they can be quickly and painlessly learned, your
life will change dramatically. Life will be more effortless and peaceful.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember
that you now have the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning.
There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it
over and over until it becomes unconscious. It may seem a contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious
competence; nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it.
Therein lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
Life Contract
KNOWLEDGE
A recurring question plagues so many of us is "Why
am I in this life, and what am I supposed to do?" There is one global answer that applies to all of us; however, we each have
our own unique expression of that purpose. That is your life contract. The universal reason for all human existence seems
an improbable, if not impossible assertion. Think for a moment about why is mankind here on the earth? Given that we are thinking,
analytical beings of a relative high order of intelligence capable of creativity, are we merely products of a Darwinian evolutionary
process? Or are we something greater, finer? As written earlier, our contribution to Spirit is veiled to us for if we were
to know it, the drive to remain in our biology would disappear, and most of us would simply choose to leave this energy and
rejoin Spirit on the other side of the veil.
What then is this one purpose that we all have? It
is simply to support our fellow humans in discovering who they truly are — Spiritual beings who chose to unconsciously
"hide out" in human form so that they have the opportunity to rediscover themselves prior to death. Re-membering who we truly
are is the "game" that we have chosen to play. Recall the adage, "It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you
play the game that matters." How we play this game of life is all that matters.
By realizing what the game is and consciously choosing
to play our own way, we demonstrate that we can rise above our biology, our physical consciousness, and grasp the truth of
our Spiritual connection. Our life contract is how we planned to play the game of re-membering. We define the playing field
and choose the other players. There are also a few simple rules to the game. How the game is played is through our exercise
of free will — choice. Just as in an athletic contest, the players choose moment by moment the actions that they will
take, thus defining by free will the outcome of the game. It is also so for the game of life.
The game that we designed for ourselves is called
our life contract. It embodies karma as its rulebook. As we proceed through the game, our release of karma and the lessons
we learn determine if and when we reach the center of our contract — the sweet spot. When we are in our sweet spot,
we are living the essence of our life contract.
The center or essence of our contract is experienced
when we are fully engaged in supporting others to rediscover their contracts, the ultimate "one" goal that each of us has.
Most if not all contract essences can be described in a word or two. They are the themes of our life contracts. Examples include
inspiration, healing, joy, love, compassion, and even greed or viciousness. How can it be said that greed or viciousness support
others in re - membering their essences?
We are quick to judge many things especially in terms
of right and wrong. Spirit judges not in terms of right and wrong. In fact, Spirit judges not at all. We either learn our
karmic lessons, or we don’t. Either way is equally received. So from this we learn that right and wrong, and all judgment
are human inventions. Thus, by being selfish, a person can actually contribute to the advancement of others who may see beyond
the selfishness, and learn that there is more to life than acquiring, wealth, power, and possessions.
In this example, two independent but related opportunities
occur. The first is that the people exposed to the selfish person’s greed have the opportunity to see beyond the greed
and discover what is truly beneficial, namely, enlightenment as we explored earlier. This occurrence is independent of what
the greedy person does or discovers. Hence the second opportunity is for the greedy person to look beyond greed, as powerful
of a biological pull as it is, and see that there are richer gifts to acquire than those of our physical world. In Dickens’
A Christmas Carol, Scrooge learns this at the end of the novel and begins to use the products of his greed to ease the burden
of other humans.
Greed, for example, stems from a belief that there
is "not enough." If there is not enough, I must ensure that I get my share and then some. Got to save for the proverbial rainy
day! There is in fact enough of everything our biology needs to go around — worldwide. As for the gifts of Spirit, there
is an inexhaustible abundance, a never - ending supply. Why? Because of creative energy. In the next step, we will explore
how to harness creative energy to satisfy the needs of our biology.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding,
and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however, if you
do not do them (or at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness
(by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions that arose from the
preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now, without using analysis, logic, or
"common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers.
If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true.
Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses. You may find that
your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue
asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with
your questions and answers, continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
Please answer the question, "If time and money were
not considerations, what would you do with your life?" Consider carefully — this is what you would do with the balance
of your life, howsoever many years that may be. Write down your answer before proceeding farther.
Now, answer the question, "When you are feeling the
best about yourself, what word of phrase best describes how you are being (feeling)?" Is it loving, compassionate, helpful,
healing, or whatever? Take your time. Write down your answer.
Go back to your first response (what you would do
with the rest of your life). If you were doing whatever you described, would it "be" what you wrote in the second response?
If so, you have begun to gain a view into your life contract. If the two do not match, i.e., what you think you want to do
does not produce how you want to feel or be, then rethink both until you get a match. Complete this exercise before continuing
to Understanding.
UNDERSTANDING
Please don’t do this Understanding unless you
completed the Experience to your satisfaction. Validation of this step cannot be completed without a match between what you
want to do and who you want to be.
Whatever you chose as what you want to do, find a
way to test it to determine if the actions really do produce the feelings that you desire. How to test? To begin, have some
small experience of what you want to do (the response to the first part of Experience). For example, if working with animals
is what you want to do because doing so gives expression to your desire to be compassionate, then work part - time at an animal
shelter before you quit your day job. Perhaps one or two weekend days per month will provide the test that you need.
After testing, reflect on the feelings that you experienced
while in the test. Were they what you sought? If not, give it a few more tries. Sometimes we need to acclimate to new experiences
to truly allow ourselves to experience without our previous convictions and judgments intervening in our ability to be with
the experience. If after some number of "trials," you are not feeling what you desire, then try a different expression of
what you want to do, and test that. If after a few different types of trials, if you are not getting the results you desire,
go back to Experience and work through the exercise once more.
A note on "being"…We are being something all
of the time. Perhaps we are angry, sad, happy, content, loving, frustrated, whatever. We can "choose" (recall the step about
free will and choice) whatever way of being we wish in any given moment. If this is so, why is how we are being or feeling
while engaged in our desired action so important? Why not just be whatever we want to be anytime? Its importance stems from
the power, the energy that we get from doing what we intended ourselves to do before coming into this life. We do not have
to choose to be a certain way. Feeling and emotions flow to us without choosing. They are altogether natural and appropriate.
Ah, to live that way most of the time…
TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you now have the tools to transform
your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught
to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence; nonetheless, the goal
is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein lies the greatest reward for
doing the work.
Love, Intention, and Co-Creation
(Manifestation)
KNOWLEDGE
The human and biological
condition is a state that many of us want to alter. We desire more wealth, contentment, deep relationships, and security.
Much of our waking time is spent in pursuit of these and other goals. We can employ our Higher Self to manifest our goals,
if the goals are appropriate. The act of manifestation is called co - creation, i.e., the person, and his or her Higher Self
are sharing in the act of manifesting. The two keys to bringing what we want into creation are love and intention. Let us
deal first with love.
Love is a many splendored
"word." It has so many meanings and categories, that when we invoke the word, others (and sometimes ourselves) are
hard pressed to know what is really meant. I offer you a basic definition that serves all occasions: Love is allowing someone
or something to be exactly who someone or something is. When I say that I love someone, I mean that I am allowing him or her
to be whoever he or she is. It means that I am not going to attempt to influence, coerce, manipulate, or chide another person
to be something (for my purpose, not theirs) that they are not. Everyone is perfect, every moment, all of the time. Love is
a component of being that is exists at the level of Self — who each of us truly is irrespective of our ego and identity.
Now, we place emotions
in our relationships. Mostly, when we say that we love another, we are ascribing the emotion of caring for that person. Emotions
exist at the human level of being, not at the level of authentic Self. Emotions are not bad (or good). They are simply a part
of our human makeup. If we use the definition of love that simply says that we unconditionally accept someone or something,
it is easier to express love for everyone and everything than when we use some aspect of caring as the basis for love. My
definition allows me to love someone that I have never met nor of whom I have any knowledge whatsoever. When I allow others
to be themselves, I enter into an entirely different relationship that allows all sorts of wonderful things to happen.
The most difficult person
for most of us to love (accept unconditionally) is our self. In order to effectively co - create what we want, we must first
love our self. If we do not think we are worthy of what we want to manifest, Spirit is not going to deliver. We might have
enough Self - love to manifest a good parking spot because even as unworthy as we regard our self, we at least deserve a good
place to park. But, when it comes to manifesting a job that
pays $100,000 a year, suddenly, we cannot believe that someone like us could ever be so lucky as to fall into something so
great, and although we may go through the motions of co - creating, we are secretly sabotaging the effort because of a lack
of Self-love.
The basis of finding Self-love
is to heal whatever there is in our past that trained us to feel unworthy. There are many ways of doing this. You had a brief
exposure in Step 6 – Discernment - in the Understanding of the exercise. If you do not recall it, then you might want
to review and perhaps repeat that portion of the exercise. For all of us, total healing of the past is possible. Healing can
take place quickly or over a period of years or never — it is up to each of us to choose. To get started, I recommend
finding a healing group with which to work and/or a healing counselor or coach who can help guide you through your healing.
There are many such
people around, you need only to start looking, and someone will come forth. It works like that. The important
thing to remember is that healing is not an all or nothing process. Each time you heal something in yourself, you add to your
ability to co - create, to manifest what you want. Healing is like a Spiritual savings account. You can keep adding to it.
The great thing is that if you stay true to what you have healed, the account keeps replenishing itself each time you make
a withdrawal. Such is the nature of Spirit whose bounty has no bounds.
Intention is the
vehicle by which we begin a specific act of co - creation. Specificity is paramount. Whatever you want, be as specific as
possible. For example, if you want a new car, avoid giving intent for just a car. Instead describe the car: make, model, year,
color, options, and so forth. Speak your intentions aloud. Let your Self and Spirit know what you are up to. Say something
like, "In the name of Spirit, I give intent (describe what you want)." Use words that work for you and be sure to have the
word "intent" in the message somewhere. This statement said aloud informs Spirit of your request. This is called clarity
of intent.
The next step in
co-creation is to be clear about your purpose in asking for the manifestation. There are two Spiritual laws that cannot be
circumvented. First, you can only co-create for yourself, not for anyone else. Second, you cannot co-create anything that
is damaging to yourself or another. This step is called purity of purpose. The final step in co-creation is the request itself
said aloud. "In the name of
Spirit, I co-create
(whatever you want) for the purpose of (why do you want what you are asking for)." Your purpose does not have to be lofty
in order to be answered — the purpose simply needs to come from the purity of your heart — that it does not affect
anyone else and what you are requesting is in your best and highest good. Asking for good parking spots is definitely okay.
The co–creation
statement thus sets Spirit in motion via your Higher Self to grant your request. There is the phenomenon known as lag
time. This is the time between stating your co – creation and its realization, which, depending on the circumstances
could be minutes, years, or never. For example, pulling into the parking lot is not a good time to ask for that great parking
spot. It works better to give that intention before leaving home. You also should not give Spirit the time by which your co
– creation is to manifest nor tell Spirit how to create what you want. Spirit’s power and resources are infinitely
greater than our own, so let Spirit do its job in its own fashion.
Here is a review
the co–creation process for manifesting what you want in life:
1. Have sufficient Self love in your Spiritual savings
account to qualify for what you are asking. Simply, stated, do you love yourself enough to know that you deserve what you
are asking.
2. Make your statement of intent aloud, "In
the name of Spirit, I give intent (describe what you want)," with as much clarity as you can.
3. State your co-creation aloud with purity
of purpose, "In the name of Spirit, I co-create (whatever you want) for the purpose of (why do you want what you are asking
for)." As far as Spirit is concerned there is no difference between asking for that parking spot and ending world hunger.
The difference in manifesting those two is in the amount of Self-love that you have.
4. Allow for lag time between making your statements
and the results. Remember that you cannot put Spirit on a timetable nor dictate how the manifestation will occur.
What if co-creation doesn’t
work? You may not have given it enough time. Look also at whatever healing you may need to do in the area of your life
in which you are requesting co - creation. If you hold negative emotions about yourself in that area, then Spirit will not
co-create with you. Our part of the co-creative process is to heal ourselves. As a reward for doing so, what we request becomes manifest as is in our best and highest good.
The next three phases (Experience,
Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however,
if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness
(by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions
that arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now,
without using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon
sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions,
and whatever you create is true. Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses.
You may find
that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue
asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with
your questions and answers, continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
Pick something
that you wish to manifest in your life. Make it something that is to you rather trivial (remember that to Spirit there is
no difference in magnitude — the only difference is the importance we place on a request especially with respect to
our feelings of worthiness to have whatever it is). Write it down.
Now, honestly answer
the question, "Do I believe that I deserve what I requested above?"
If you do not,
then trace any negative feelings about yourself that you have with respect to what you want to request back to wherever you
find their origins. When you get there, understand that whatever was going on was done by the people involved who were doing
the best they know how to do at the time.
See it as not being about
you and about them instead. Then forgive yourself for caring these emotions around with you for all of this
time. You do not need to forgive the people involved, just
yourself. Once you have done enough healing to see that you deserve what you are requesting, go to the next step.
Now write out your
statement of intent to the effect: In the name of Spirit, I give intent to:
(Remember clarity
of intent — give Spirit the specification of your request)
Next, be very sure
about your purpose. Why do you want this request? If it comes from the heart and is in the best and highest good (purity of
purpose), you are ready to finish the statement of intent:
Write out your co-creation:
In the name of Spirit, I co - create (the request) for the purpose of (whatever that may be). Say both the intent and co -
creation statement aloud and — wait. Remember lag time and that Spirit is not going to necessarily deliver on your schedule.
Repeat this exercise using
"more important" (to you, not Spirit) requests as you heal your past wounds that keep you locked into feeling unworthy in
the area in which you wish to co-create.
UNDERSTANDING
The validation
for the exercise is to simply keep a log of what you request via co-creation and how and when it appeared in your life.
For example:
"June 10 – After healing every negative emotion
I felt with respect to getting a better job, I gave intent to co - create a job in art design near my home that paid $75,000
a year.
August 13 – My friend Bonnie called me about
an opening for the exact job that I wanted at her company.
August 16 – I interviewed for the job and was
hired on the spot for $75,000—this stuff really works!"
In your log, start
the record of each co - creation on a new page so that you have plenty of room to record all of the events that relate to
the co - creation. You may find that re - reading the records of what occurred is most helpful in refining your skills.
Not all of your co-creation
may work or within the time frame that you want them. Remember that Self-love is the price of admission. The more you love
your Self, the greater the power of your ability to co-create.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember
that you now have the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning.
There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation.
It is taking what
you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious. It may seem a contradiction that Awakening
Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence; nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time
as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
Fear
KNOWLEDGE
In the last step on co-creating or manifesting what
you want, the point was strongly made that we can only manifest that which we believe that we deserve. "Deserving" is determined
by how great our Self - love is. The greatest impediment to Self-love is fear. Although fear is a human invention, it acts
so powerfully on most of us that this entire step is dedicated to exploring fear and dealing with it. Let us begin with posing
the question, what is the opposite of fear? If we wish to transform our relationship with fear, we need to know what we are
transforming it into.
Fear often originates from a sense of not being in
control. We use control to manage people, things, and situations that we do not understand or that threaten to expose our
lack of Self-love. If we accepted people, things, and situations for what they are, we would be back to the universal definition
of love; hence, love is the opposite of fear. That we can control anything is an illusion but one to which we strongly cling.
Love is at the level of true Self while fear is an emotion, and all emotions exist at the human level. We trade the experience
of love for the emotion of fear and inhibit our abilities to co - create and manifest. We cannot simultaneously love and fear
something or someone. This is a subtle form of physical versus Spirit consciousness that we explored in step 2.
If we wish to manifest whatever we want that is in
our best and highest good, it stands to reason that we need to love more and fear less. The first step is to identify when
fear is present. We all know pure fear. What is not so readily evident is that fear undergoes a metamorphosis into other emotions
such as anger, suspicion, frustration, or anxiety. Whenever one of these emotions is present, trace it back to the fact that
it is really fear at work.
For example, a neighbor comments that he thinks that
you could do a better job of keeping your front lawn tidy in "conformance to neighborhood standards." You feel a rush of adrenaline,
a quickening respiration, and thoughts about driving across his lawn in the middle of the night with a truck. Most of us would
describe this emotional state as anger. Now, consider where the anger comes from. You are being criticized because someone
else doesn’t like your lawn. Does this mean that he thinks that you are not much of a person because your lawn is not
to his satisfaction? What does it mean about you the person (the Self) that your lawn (a physical thing) does not come up
to someone else’s standards? It takes on the
meaning for most of us that we are inferior because our lawn is judged as being inferior. We fear that our lack of Self-love
has been exposed. Now "they" see behind our façade. Our cover is blown.
The fact is that our fear of the exposure of our
self-imposed inadequacy got associated with the lawn and our anger over the criticism of our lawn became a focal point to
draw attention away from our lack of Self-love. This dynamic occurs over and over, and each time it happens, we do not make
a withdrawal from our Spiritual savings account. To convert fear into love, try these steps.
1. Recognize the negative emotion and trace it back
to fear.
2. Understand that what you fear is really your lack
of Self-love being revealed or discovered by someone.
3. Look into your past as far as you can for what
happened that originally attacked your Self-love. This is often referred to as a wound.
4. Understand that whatever happened was independent
of your true Self, and the people involved were acting out of who they were being at the time and not because of you. You
may have been physically in the middle of whatever occurred, but what happened was not your fault. You were perfect then and
have been perfect since.
5. Accept yourself for having suppressed your
Self-love in favor of someone else’s judgment or opinion about who you are. What others think is not relevant. If you
truly experience the sense of forgiveness, then you will have healed that particular wound and can now love what happened
instead of fearing. This is one example of transformation.
To make this transformation complete and permanent,
you will need to break the habits surrounding the old wound, i.e., to catch yourself becoming angry because of the conditioning
that you have around that type of event. If you identify the negative emotion and remember the healing, you can instantly
move from the negative emotion to love. The more that you do this, the old fear-based habit will give way to love and your
Spiritual savings account will begin to fill.
The methods described above will enable you to change
(not eliminate) your relationship to fear. We cannot become fearless. Fear is wired into the biochemistry of our bodies. On
the level of physical fear (when we are threatened with or actually physically attacked), fear has enabled humanity to survive
in a seemingly hostile world. Fear has been a necessary part of physical survival. With Tyrannosaurus Rex bearing down on
one of our ancestors, fear provided that extra amount of strength, speed, and agility to save
Great Uncle Ugg from becoming dinner. Those same
physiological reactions are present in our modern bodies and respond just as strongly to psychological fears as they do to
physical fears.
The difference is that we create our psychological
fears while T-Rex was real. Our bodies treat them the same and do not know the difference. Thus, if we are to change our relationship
with psychological fear, it is necessary to find the source of the fear and heal it. As mentioned in step 8, there are support
groups and coaches who can lead you through the healing process. Healing takes work and commitment. There are no shortcuts
or quick fixes. The benefits of healing the past include not only an enhanced ability to manifest, they include having harmony
and peace in your life as well as becoming clear about why you are on Earth and your mission while here.
Healing your past is the greatest gift that you can
give to yourself and the world.
The next three phases (Experience, Understanding,
and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are optional; however, if you
do not do them (or at least try), you will remain at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness
(by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing. EXPERIENCE
List any questions that arose from the preceding
Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now, without using analysis, logic, or
"common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers.
If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true.
Write your answer underneath the question that it addresses. You may find that your sense of this lesson
deepens and that more questions arise. To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue asking and answering until
your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with your questions and answers,
continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
For this Experience, choose one area of your life
in which you frequently experience fear. It does not have to be a big fear, although if you choose a major fear area, that
would be great. Describe the area in writing along with what triggers the fear, for example, if you fear speaking in public
(the number one fear in the US), are your feelings of fear triggered by the mere idea of speaking in front of others or does
the fear occur when you are ready to go to the front of the room and begin speaking?
Now apply the five steps from the Knowledge above
to healing this fear:
1. Recognize the negative emotion and trace it back
to fear. Write down your initial emotion (if it is not fear, then trace it to its root in fear) and record what you fear.
2. Understand that what you are fearing is really
your lack of Self - love being revealed or discovered by someone. Write down your thoughts about that possibility.
3. Look into your past as far back as you can for
what happened that originally attacked your Self-love. This is often referred to as a wound. Describe what happened to create
the wound.
4. Understand that whatever happened was independent
of your true Self, and the people involved were acting out of who they were being at the time and not because of you. Please
describe your thoughts about your understanding.
5. Forgive yourself for having suppressed
your Self-love in favor of someone else’s judgment or opinion about who you are. Write, then say aloud, "I forgive myself
for suppressing my Self-love in the matter of: _______________________________________." UNDERSTANDING
For one day, carry
a small notebook with you. In it record every conscious instance of when you felt a negative emotion. You need not try to
heal the emotions—simply be aware of them and write them down as they occur. Please don’t wreck your car
in the process; write them down after you have stopped!
The next day, preferably in the morning, read what
you wrote the previous day. See each of the instances of having a negative emotion as a loss of an opportunity to contribute
to your Spiritual savings
account. If you are a normal person and have made
a conscientious effort at recording your negative emotions, you find on reading what you wrote, there is an enormous opportunity
to heal your past and gain the benefits of doing so.
Remember that each of those negative emotions can
be traced back to fear—the fear that your lack of Self - love is about to be exposed. That someone will see that you
are not the perfect person you want to project to the world because you do not see the perfect person within you that is already
there. When you realize and accept the perfection of your Self, there is no need to project. Your perfection shines as a light
from within. TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you now have the tools to transform
your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught
to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence; nonetheless, the goal
is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein lies the greatest reward for
doing the work.
Awakening
Background
From an early age, we
are cloaked in a human persona designed to enable us to deal with the physical world. The cloak is called by various names
including ego and identity. The cloak serves us well in maintaining our physical bodies; however, when we begin working to
link with our Higher Self, we are on a path of discovering that we are truly spiritual beings.
You are your Higher Self! Our Higher Selves are contained with our etheric bodies. Each Higher Self is an energy that is entwined with DNA. Each Higher Self contains everything there is to know about each of us, and moreover, represents our link, our gateway to all other knowledge.
Awakening
is about accepting your Higher Self and establishing contact. Everyone can do this. Each of us can manifest communicating with his or her Higher Self. As we explored in the last two steps, there is a way to manifest what you want through Spirit.
It is possible
to do without consciously communicating with your Higher Self; however, the process of manifesting becomes so much easier and powerful through communication with the Higher Self. The same process discussed in step 8 on manifesting applies to co-creating communication with your Higher Self. All we need to do is to express our intent aloud and have sufficient Self love to recognize that we deserve the ability to communicate with the Higher Self.
Before exploring actual
communication, let's take a few moments and talk about the Higher Self. Before each of us comes into physical being, the Spiritual entity that we are is whole. There are lessons that we have yet
to learn that linger on from other lives (karma); however, that learning
is specific to our human existences, not to our Spiritual selves.
The purpose of
a human existence is to demonstrate that through free will, we can find out way back to Spirit and lead our lives as heaven
on Earth. Most of us struggle with our humanness, and we create karma as we go through life.
Karma is created
when we fail to love our fellow humans, ourselves, and our Earth. When we create karma through an unloving action, the law of the universe responds with an equal and opposite reaction. This does not mean that if you act in fear, love will be returned to you in equal measure. It does mean that if you act in fear, the fear will be returned back to you in equal measure. When it returns to us, we have an opportunity to heal.
Why has Spirit gone to
all of this effort to establish this system of birth, rebirth, and release or healing of karma? Suffice it to say that
no human being knows. One can endlessly theorize, and it is not for me to provide any declarative answer.
What I think is that when we generate love, we add value to the universe in some way that benefits all things including the Earth and its denizens. It is only what I think as has been given to me by my Higher Self for my own discernment, and it is in that Spirit that I offer it to you.
The "veil" separates our
Higher Self from us. The veil consists of built in limitations of our bodies and minds that prevent us from fully perceiving our Higher Self and the realm of Spirit. The veil separates us from our Higher Self and the part of us that is from and of Spirit, the soul. When we die, the soul rejoins the Higher Self, and we are made whole once more.
To communicate with our Higher Self is altogether possible. First, please realize that your Higher Self is constantly trying to communicate with you. What we experience as intuition or flashes of insight represent instances when we have picked up what the Higher Self is saying.
The next step is
to give intent to Spirit to hear the Higher Self. "In the name of Spirit I give intent to communicate directly with my Higher Self," will do nicely, or use words that are comfortable for you. Whatever you say, say it aloud. After you give intent, blank your mind and see what thoughts pop into it.
If you have blanked your
mind, your Higher Self has generated the words, thoughts, or images that come to you. The process is much like tuning an old fashioned radio, the analog kind with the dial that is
turned to tune in the station. If you have used one of these, then you may recall that when the station signal is weak, you
have to fine - tune the dial, to keep playing with it until the station is as loud as you can get it.
To receive your Higher Self, fine tune your mental radio and keep listening. When I began hearing my Higher Self (after several months of giving intent and tuning) I could only hear a word or short phrase. As I became a better tuner, the messages got
longer, and now, I am in direct communication with my Higher Self whenever I choose. My Higher Self often jumps into my consciousness even when I am not focusing on her. (Higher Self have no sex, but I prefer seeing my Higher Self as female, and she graciously accommodates me as in all things.)
One last point,
although it took me several months to begin hearing, everyone's experience is different, and yours may take minutes, days,
months, or years. It all has to do with your Spiritual savings
account balance, and do you feel worthy to communicate with your Higher Self.
The experience is very
subtle. Be very focused on what you are doing, blank your mind, and just listen. If it doesn't work, try again later. Self love, intention, focus, and practice will get you there. The rewards are great. For starters, I learned that I was really never alone. My
Higher Self is always with me from the middle of a crowd to deep in a vast forest with no people around for miles. The sense of comfort and safety is priceless.
Moreover, in the
matter of manifesting, the Higher Self can advise as to whether something you want is in best and highest interest. Just ask.
The Higher Self will not tell what you should manifest - that does not come with our free will package. If you are receiving messages that
contain words like "should," "must," "have to," or "mandatory," these messages are not coming from your Higher Self. They are coming from a group of entities known as the Dark Ones.
Dark Ones are spirits
that have come to the Earth to feed on our negative emotions. They will attempt at times to urge or goad you into action that will create negative emotions in you or others. If you perceive this is happening to you, simply tell them to go away, that they cannot stand before a
warrior of the light, that you will not tolerate their presence and interference, and that you forbid them to attempt to influence you in the future.
This is best said aloud,
and again, use your own words for they will have the most impact. If you want to tell them "To get the hell out of Dodge!"
then do so. As you do more and more healing of the past, you will find less and less interference by the Dark Ones.
And so it is that
these lessons have come to an end. Thank you for allowing me to share my experience and knowledge with you in these pages.
This as in all things ultimately came from Spirit, and I give thanks and honor to Spirit for having been given the opportunity to present this information to you.
The next three phases
(Experience, Understanding, and Transformation) of this step provide the tools to implement what you have learned. They are
optional; however, if you do not do them (or at least try), you will remain
at the level of Knowledge and consequently will not awaken your awareness (by this method). It is, as is explained later, your choice. Happy choosing.
EXPERIENCE
List any questions that
arose from the preceding Knowledge. Jot them down on a piece of paper leaving a few blank lines after each question.
Now, without
using analysis, logic, or "common sense," answer each of the questions that you wrote. Let your intuition or "uncommon sense" guide you in your answers. If need be, answer from the perspective that you are creating answers to your questions, and whatever you create is true.
Write your answer
underneath the question that it addresses. You may find that your sense of this lesson deepens and that more questions arise.
To find answers to them, use this same procedure. Continue asking and answering until your curiosity is stilled. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. When you are complete with your questions and answers, continue with the additional Experience instructions below.
In this Experience,
you will begin experimenting with communicating with your Higher Self. The first step is to think intensely about your worthiness to have communication with Higher Self. If you experience any twinges whatsoever about your ability to do so, then perform the healing process described in both
steps 8 and 9. Record any thoughts or insights that came to your during the healing process.
Next, give intent aloud to communicate with your Higher Self: "In the name of Spirit I give intent to communicate directly with my Higher Self."
Now, relax and blank your mind. It is not easy to think about nothing and you will find your mind drifting. When you become aware of drifting,
forgive yourself for not being present to the communication, relax, and blank your mind.
Do this for at least two minutes.
Remember what pops into your head during these periods of blanked mind activity and write the words of images down. If you
received nothing, try again the next day until you finally start receiving. Deep breathing before undertaking this exercise
is a good way to prepare.
UNDERSTANDING
Keep a log of what
you receive from Spirit. Communicate with Spirit at least once a day. The more that you exercise the mental muscles, the easier and more powerful and beneficial are the results. In the log, record the date and time, some notes about what you did to prepare for the communication, and most importantly, what did you hear and or see.
Keep this log for
as long as you wish. Reread the entries from time to time looking for trends in your activities that make your communications easier.
It is recommended that
you reread this entire book and repeat any of the exercises that appeal to you. Everything that has been described is possible
for anyone to do with intention, faith, and the acceptance that Spirit does indeed exist. I have done all of them myself.
Other than what came with me
into this life as standard human equipment, I have no special talents or abilities. I am living proof that all of this is
possible, and I attest to the incredible life and gifts that Spirit has bestowed on me as a result of doing the work described
herein.
TRANSFORMATION
Remember that you
now have the tools to transform your unique Understanding into conscious competence, the highest form of learning. There is no exercise that can be taught to you to accomplish transformation. It is taking what you now know and applying it over and over until it becomes unconscious.
It may seem a contradiction
that Awakening Awareness is about gaining unconscious competence;
nonetheless, the goal is to simply be aware as much of the time as possible without having to "work" at it. Therein
lies the greatest reward for doing the work.
posted with the written permission of the author
source site: click here
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Limiting Beliefs & The Law of Attraction
By Marcie
Hunt
How Can I change a belief that I don’t want? How do I de-activate a belief that has become part of a long-lasting pattern?
The answer is, don’t bother.
What? Don’t bother you say. Yes that’s right. Let’s talk about what happens when you begin to dissect a
belief.
Perhaps you wonder why you have a particular belief, and begin to analyze it to find out what’s behind it. Maybe there's something wrong with you, you might be thinking.
You used the Law of Attraction, so why didn’t you get what you asked for? Is this persistent belief keeping you prisoner?
Let’s take an example. The beliefs:
I’ll never have a great relationship. It’s just too hard to find the
right love partner. Maybe I should move, and then I’ll find my true partner. Of course there is the possibility that
I just don’t deserve the right partner, and I’ll be alone for the rest of my life.
The self-analysis: Why
do I believe this? Maybe my Dad was too tough on me. Maybe my parents’ divorce caused me to mistrust lasting relationships.
There was my previous relationship when my partner cheated on me.
Does any of this sound familiar to some of you? It
is not uncommon for single people to go through these tormented thoughts and feelings during a relationship transition.
Now,
let’s look at the Law of Attraction. From a purely scientific viewpoint everything is energy. Remember that the Law
of Attraction is a natural law of cause and effect. It is based on energy attraction and, like the Law of Gravity, is always
working- whether you are aware of it or not. Whatever you focus on often, you attract. Whatever you feel deeply about causes
you to attract corresponding situations and people into your daily life.
When you think about, dissect, and worry
about a belief, you are in the process of attracting it! Not only that, but as you think about it, the Law of Attraction brings
additional similar thoughts to your mind. Have you ever had the experience of waking up in the night and thinking thoughts
that are filled with worry and anxiety? And those thoughts seem to grow and to multiply? That is the Law of Attraction.
Many
of us who have moved along the path of self-growth have participated in “clearing processes.” A few years ago,
I was experiencing severe vertigo. I tried all sorts of clearing and healing processes. I went to numerous doctors to figure
out what was going on. I read articles and books about dizziness and vertigo and the potential causes.
I did finally
receive proper medical help through a Chiropractor-Neurologist. I began to focus on good health every day. I consciously chose
to trust in a healthy body full of vitality, as opposed to paying attention to everything that went wrong. My health has consequently
improved tremendously.
Was it easy to arrive at that point? No. It took effort and persistence. However, the benefits
FAR outweigh the consequences of holding on to a negative belief, such as feeling fearful and ill.
When you center
only on beliefs that are serving you, then you are moving in the right direction. You are beginning to attract what you truly
desire. With time your alignment will change. That limitation will also change. You will feel less resistance and more ease.
When a limiting belief comes up, you can shift to a better one. First you will need to be aware of your thoughts and
how you are feeling. Let’s say that you are thinking about how lonely you are. You feel sad and depressed. Allow yourself
to experience these feelings. Then let them go by choosing to shift to the next best feeling. Perhaps it is anger-then frustration-then
hope-then expectation. Go to the best feeling that you can at the moment, because you cannot go from loneliness and despair,
for example, to joy in one step.
By using this process you are not ignoring your feelings, whatever they may be. You
are simply choosing a better feeling. And in this way, you are aligning your energy and attracting more of what you want.
As this becomes your new habit, you won’t even remember that you held the old beliefs. You will feel relief that you
dropped the analysis/paralysis.
You will be in the flow and attracting your intentions. As you focus on your desired
intentions and get excited about what you want to create, you’ll attract even more inspiring thoughts and even better
feelings. You can center on your desire as often as you like, just don’t be too attached to the outcome.
Allow
the Universe to respond. Some things take time. All too often we become impatient and think that the Universe is not responding.
By remaining in the flow as circumstances arise, pay attention to opportunities and people that appear in your daily existence.
Follow up with action, and soon you will be creating what you have envisioned-and much more! You won’t have to struggle
so hard, as the Universal Energy will draw situations and helpful people into your life.
The best example of being
in the flow was discussed during an Abraham-Hicks seminar. Esther Hicks was taking about how important it is, in our society,
that everyone is struggling to get to where they want to go, and it is like trying to swim upstream. The more you swim upstream,
the more you are applauded and the more awards you receive. The more you swim upstream, the more exhausted you become, but
surely you will arrive at some point.
If you just let go and go with the flow of the river, so to speak, you enjoy
the ride and arrive at your destination with ease. The energy of the river is so powerful that it carries you along.
That
is what Allowing and going with the flow is all about. Doesn’t it sound like more fun than struggling to go upstream
against the current?
By developing the habit of paying attention ONLY to what you desire, and allowing it to manifest,
you will be creating, creating, creating! You will notice that your new intentions amplify positive feelings, such as love,
joy, peace, abundance, purpose and vitality.
Often, by simply taking time each day to consciously bring these feelings
within, you will understand that high vibrational feelings are the true benchmark of attracting the life you love. Your Emotional
Guidance system tells you what you are attracting at any given moment. Are you are drawing situations based upon worry, frustration
or anger? Or do your daily life events reflect the love, joy, service, adventure and creativity that you feel. The beauty
is that you can decide what you want to choose.
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