HEALING THOUGHTS
The following are summaries of best selling books about the power of thought to generate health or unhappiness. Click on the title to see the summary of each book.
Peale, N. V. (1990). The Power of Positive Thinking. Cedar.
Carlson, R.(2003). Stop Thinking; Start Living. Discover Lifelong
Happiness. London; Element Books.
Tolle, E. (2001). The Power of Now. Hodder Mobius.
Braden, G. (2007). The Divine Matrix. Hay House Inc.
Peale, N. V. (1990). The Power of Positive Thinking. Cedar.
PREFACE.
15 million copies sold. The book is a philosophy of living, based on the author’s (a clergyman) trial and error discoveries of life and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The author prayed for God’s help writing the book and thanked Him when it was published. God was a partner in this project.
He suggests cultivating peace of mind which then gives joy and energy for creativity in living.
INTRODUCTION.
The book shows how to cope with anything in life; have peace of mind and positive well-being. Some people are depressed and oppressed by daily life unnecessarily. The book describes an evaluated effective scientific system of practical techniques for successful living that works, based on applied Christianity.
CHAPTER 1. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
There are 2 steps involved to do this:
1. Analyse why you have a lack of self-confidence.
2. Repeat aloud this affirmation. Do it many times,
“I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.” Philippians, 4,13. This statement actually works in increasing confidence.
Feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, etc. can come from childhood, background, bullying etc. Talking about these issue confidentially to a friend can help raise self-esteem.
Self-esteem can be raised by faith in God and prayer.
The mind needs disciplining to be a power producing plant. If we constantly fix our attention on negative thoughts, events and happenings the result will be to feel constant insecurity. Reciting “If ye have faith nothing is impossible to you.” Matthew, 17.20. and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8.31, lifts self-esteem. Lack of self-confidence seems common in the U.K.
In the face of defeating circumstances, count your blessings. You have much more than you realise. Negative attitudes can be disputed and replaced by positive ones.
The greatest idea for low self-confidence is “God is with me, helping me, guiding me”
In summary, to raise self-esteem and self-confidence do the following:
1. picture your success,
2. defeat negative thoughts with positive ones,
3. study and eliminate obstacles,
4. don’t be overawed by other people, they often have anxieties and inadequacies,
5. repeat aloud, 10 times a day, the Bible quotes listed above,
6. explore the origins of your self-doubt,
7. believe in yourself,
8. Say and believe “I am in God’s hands”. And now receiving all the power you need. Feel it flow into you. Affirm that the “Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke, 17.21) in the form of adequate power to meet life’s demands.
9. Remember that God is with you always.
CHAPTER 2. A PEACEFUL MIND GENERATES POWER.
Having peace of mind before sleep helps sleep onset. Therefore read the Bible and prayers instead of listening to heart-rending news on the TV before going to bed. Tell God your troubles and ask for help in prayer. This empties the mind and allows peace of mind as a gift from God.
A G.P. once said “many patients have nothing wrong with them except their thoughts”. The prescription he gave them was Romans 12.2 “…..be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Peace of mind brings health and well-being”.
To achieve peace of mind empty your mind of worries. Imagine dropping worrying thoughts into the sea from a boat and replace them with positive thoughts. Make a list of the most positive thoughts you can think of to use during the day. (Having something to look forward to, like a holiday etc. gives healing. Words have suggestive power over the mind. Saying to oneself words like “tranquility” and “serenity” relax the mind and body. Collect quotations that give you peace of mind; many can be found in the Bible. Some people carry the Bible with them for this reason. Positive conversation, memories of beautiful places and silence repeated during the day can produce peace of mind.
Too much noise is a drain on the central nervous system and the energy of a person.
Some people overwork or are over-active in order to resolve a sense of guilt, as self-punishment for past misdemeanours, as a means of blocking unpleasant memories or to fend off depression and low mood. Child management based on punishment may lead to the individual internalizing such discipline and using it to manage himself. Recognising this possible connection is important in treatment therapy. Also children can learn to be anxious from anxious parents and become anxious adults. An example is given of a patient with much anxiety being asked to pray with the G.P. he had consulted and to ask for forgiveness for past deeds in order to find peace of mind. This male patient was greatly helped.
CHAPTER 3. HOW TO HAVE CONSTANT ENERGY
How we think we feel, has a definite effect on how we feel physically. Religion is a system of thought disciplne and can by changing attitudes in the mind increase energy, e.g. Isaiah, 40.31. Believing that God can provide great resources of energy can increase energy levels. Isaiah, 40.29. Many believe this according to the author. Emotional upheaval drains one of energy. Peace of mind does not. Being in harmony with God does not.but rather provides divine energy. Thought life affects emotional life which affects physical health.
John, 10.10. says Christianity in one’s life can give power and energy to the individual. High tempo of work results in a decrease in energy. Working at God’s rate who He is within you will result in balance and a free flow of energy, i.e. it is nature’s pace. Working in rhythm with your job, office and P.C. conserves energy.
Negative emotions and thoughts drain energy blocking its free flow from God who is in everyone. Prayer can re-open this channel of energy. Negative thoughts, psychiatric illness, depression, schizophrenia, paranoia etc. result in a huge decrease in energy; too little is left to live normal life.
Resolve the problems that produce negative thoughts. Put the matter into God’s hands. Do the morally right thing and God will support you.
For declining interest in one’s job, the author recommends a sabbatical, simple life, walking, gardening, bible reading to fill the mind with refreshing words. A tired professor who did this was revitalized.
CHAPTER 4. TRY PRAYER POWER.
Every problem can be solved by prayer (even the Palestinian/Israeli conflict?)
Prayer is good for mental and physical health.
Affirmative prayers release powers by which positive results are accomplished. Prayers work.
A psychologist said “Prayer is the most powerful thing a person can use to solve their own problems” Daily prayer is refreshing; reduces aging and opens the mind to God.
How to pray is described in the Bible. See:
Matthew 18, 19-20;
Matthew 9,29;
Mark 11.24.
Faith and harmony are also required for prayer to work. An example of two businessmen struggling with a technical problem which was solved by prayer, is given.
Effective Prayer Formula:
1. Prayerize, pray by talking to God in all you do in the day about your problems,
2. Picturize, picture what you want to happen with God’s will,
3. Actualize, work hard and intelligently asking for God’s guidance and it will happen.
Many have used this PPA prayer system.
The example of a woman who nags her husband and is sharp with him so much that he is thinking of leaving, is helped to realise she behaves like this because she feels inferior to him. The author told her to picture herself as an equal to her husband, as beautiful, capable etc. and then use the PPA system. It worked.
Prayer can be a stimulus to creativity, see Luke 17.21 “The Kingdom of God is within you.” A prayer and meditation group of four people asked God for good ideas. They then wrote down all that came to mind.
“Prayer, the Mightiest Power in the World” by F. Laubach is recommended as a good book. He recommends doing “Flash Prayers” when walking, thinking them and giving them to people as they pass by. It is like giving away holy spirit to people as you go. Send out thoughts and prayers of love and goodwill. We can send out and receive prayer. Everyday is good if you pray. Pray as you wake for a good day.
Ten rules for effective prayer.
1. set aside a few minutes everyday to be silent and think of God,
2. tell God what is on your mind,
3. wherever you are in the day, meditate then concentrate on God’s presence.
4. give thanks for blessings, say sorry for past indiscretions and please for a request,
5. believe the pray works,
6. avoid negative thoughts,
7. ask for what you want but accept God’s will,
8. put things in God’s hand,
9. avoid resentment (a block to prayer power); pray for people you don’t like.
10. make a list of people to pray for. The more on the list, the better the prayer results.
CHAPTER 5. HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS.
You have to decide to be happy. As you wake in the morning, you can decide to be happy or unhappy. Decide to be happy.
The person who can carry the happy spirit of a child into old age is a genius. Alot of people manufacture their own unhappiness by negative thoughts and negative emotions, i.e. hate, anger etc. Proverbs 15, 15. “Cultivate a happy positive attitude”. Positive thoughts generate happiness. Just stop any negative thinking.
Start the day as you wake saying “This is the day, this is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice in it and be glad in it.” This gives a happy psychology for the day. Repeat this throughout the day.
Psalm 118,24.
Love and goodwill to others, being loving all the time and paying women compliments gives increased happiness.
A station porter helped an old lady in a wheelchair. A year later she died and told her daughter to find the porter and thank him.
God is where love is.
A businessman, a Christian had a message saying how to be happy on the back of his business card. It was a shortened version of something like the Desiderata.
As you increase in spirituality, your environment will change because of you.
A depressed man was given one of Peale’s books containing a good thought for everyday aimed at increasing happiness. The man was told to memorize the words. In three weeks it worked. The man got rid of self-punishing thoughts that he felt comfortable with in his misery.
A prayer group is needed in every city. One that Peale attended was very happy. It was the tops. I would add that comedy, jokes, laughter and humour generate pleasure and happiness.
CHAPTER 6. STOP FUMING AND FRETTING.
Fret not thyself. Psalm 37.1.
To stop fretting, moaning, cursing, swearing about life etc., slow down the pace of activity. A very high pace eventually generates physical and emotional illness.
John 15.27
Mark 6.31
We all need quietness.
Work at a sustainable pace with enjoyment and peace without fretting or anger. God’s pace is fast enough. Things will get done but at a pace that retains beauty and serenity.
God’s presence is apparent in the quiet. Life can get muddled. When this occurs, stop, find stillness and quietness to refresh yourself. Go for a long walk.
When working, take breaks, meditate for 15 minutes. Stop rushing.
Peale has a religio/psychiatric clinic at his church which expounds that everyone needs a calm philosophy of life by which to live.
GPs recommend patients to go to Peale’s church clinic to learn how to use religion, faith and peace of mind to decrease high blood pressure.
John 14.27
Isaiah 26.3
The body and brain react to the words being thought in the mind. Calming body movements can calm the mind.
I would suggest the if you are swearing all the time to yourself, you are in a bad humour; stop, calm down and find peace of mind and serenity again.
Practise being phlegmatic and emotionally laid-back.
Peale suggests the following to stop fretting:
1. sit down, relax each part of the body,
2. visualize a lake – calm the mind like the lake,
3. think beautiful thoughts,
4. repeatedly say to yourself words like “tranquility”
5. remember past times being helped by God.
6. Repeat Isaiah 26.3
I would add, give your wife and children a hug and tell them you love them; tell them about their good qualities and compliment them. Avoid criticizing them.
At the back of your Bible, write down quotations that describe the importance of a wife, children, family and friends to mental health.
CHAPTER 7. EXPECT THE BEST AND GET IT.
A man who failed at everything began to succeed. Why? He changed his belief in himself from expecting failure to expecting success. He changed because he read in the Bible:
“If thou canst, believe all things are possible to him that believeth” Mark 11.23.
Believe that God will help you in your endeavour. Be positive in all thinking. Expect to succeed, expect the best. It is the primary factor in learning. Expect the best and the Law of Attraction brings the best to you. Expecting the worst forces the best away from you. It is amazing how expecting the best sets in motion forces which cause the best to materialize.
Start reading the New Testament, recite and memorize it. This results in changing your thinking and then your life. It is the spiritual-power technique. Faith, positive thinking and belief are all the same.
Mark 9.23.
One case needing help; a woman who could not get a man to marry her. Peale said she was too critical and domineering. She needed spiritual joy.
You have your spiritual life written on your face.
Matthew 9.29 says “According to your faith, be it unto you” in all aspects of life, love, business etc. but you need a goal.
The Law of Attraction means that positive thinking attracts positive events, results, people, success etc. Mark 11. 22-23. Anything reasonable requested of God, He will grant you, but you must have no doubt, only faith that it will happen. Allow God to channel his power through your mind to accomplish this.
Mark 11.23.
Expect the best and with God’s help you will attain the best.
CHAPTER 8. DON’T BELIEVE IN DEFEAT.
Philippians 4.13.
CHAPTER 9. HOW TO BREAK THE WORRY HABIT.
Anxiety can lead to ill health. Worry is associated with generating arthritis.
Meditate and empty the mind before sleeping to decrease anxiety. Visualize all worries flowing out and away. Repeat during the day. Imagine being worry-free. picture it and ask God to give you peace and courage. God will see you through this situation. Forget past mistakes, look forward. Philippians 3,13-14.
CHAPTER 10. POWER TO SOLVE PERSONAL PROBLEMS
Pray about it. The case of a vice-president who expected to be president is described. He wasn’t. An outsider was appointed. The vice-president prayed and felt he should work with the new man. Then the new man left and he got the president’s job. Christianity gave the solution to the problem.
CHAPTER 11 HOW TO USE FAITH IN HEALING.
Faith is a powerful factor in overcoming disease and establishing health. A man with incurable jaw cancer, just started reading the Bible and within weeks the cancer decreased till eventually it disappeared. Reading the Bible made him feel warm and greatly happy. Christianity used to be involved in healing and meditation.
Avoiding hatred and embracing forgiveness promotes healing. Many who go to GPs have troubled spirituality and thought patterns. One GP prescribing religion and self-help books, feels that priests and GPs should work together.
In the U.S.A. medicine and clergy work together in some places to heal patients.
Grief takes a lot of energy exhausting production of insulin and leading to failure of the pancreas where insulin is made. Continually reliving past disturbing memories does the same.
A spiritual convalescence technique is as follows:
1. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Psalm 16.6.
2. ‘Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart.’ Psalm 27.14.
3. ‘I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.’ Philippians 4.13.
When a relative is ill, you can:
a. Get a doctor and pray.
b. Pray for the doctor.
c. Don’t panic with fear – avoid negative thoughts.
d. Put the situation in the hands of God.
e. Have spiritual harmony in the family. Matthew. 18.19
f. Visualize the patient as well, healthy and recovering.
g. Ask for God’s help with a ‘please’ then thank Him for his love.
CHAPTER 12 WHEN VITALITY SAGS, TRY THIS HEALTH FORMULA.
Negative emotions make people tired and ill, if sustained. The solution is to talk out the issues causing the emotions.
Faith, the bible and peace of mind etc. will work.
Chronic joint pain and skin conditions like eczema etc. can be caused by negative emotions like having a grudge, resentment, anger, guilt etc.
CHAPTER 13. THE INFLOW OF NEW THOUGHTS CAN REMAKE YOU.
William James said that you can alter your life by altering your attitudes of mind. Stop negative thoughts and think positive ones of faith, love, goodness, goodwill etc. Fill your mind with fresh stimulation. One negative man was changed by “The Lord is the strength of my life…..in this will I be confident”. Psalm 27.1.3.
CHAPTER 14. RELAX FOR EASY POWER
Nineteen million sleeping tablets are consumed every night in the U.S.A. and 7.5 billion headaches occur per year. Peale’s church clinic employs 12 psychiatrists. The psychiatrist takes a psychiatric history and locates the causes of the problem and then the priest sees the patient to indicate what to do. Therapy is prayer, faith, love and the Bible.
To cope with work,
1. Realise that you cannot do it all.
2. Try to enjoy and like your work.
3. Plan your work.
4. Do one task at a time.
5. Have a positive attitude to it.
6. Be efficient at your work.
7. Practise being relaxed at work.
8. Don’t procrastinate.
9. Pray about your work.
10. Ask for God’s help in doing it.
CHAPTER 15. HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO LIKE YOU.
William James, psychologist, said that one of the deepest human drives is the desire to be appreciated. The Bible says “…..live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12.18.
It is a very painful emotion to feel unwanted. For people to like you:
1. use their name when addressing them,
2. be totally uncritical of them,
3. be interested in other people in a loving sincere way,
4. acknowledge working people in restaurants, hotels etc.,
5. Pray for acquaintances,
6. People don’t like self-love; don’t talk too much about yourself, but do give some information about yourself,
7. build up the ego of the other person,
8. be easy with them – no negative emotions,
9. be interested in other people,
10. sincerely attempt to heal them,
11. placate their grievances,
12. like all people,
13. congratulate their achievement and give sympathy for sorrow,
14. give strength to people,
15. imagine you are the light of the world like Jesus. Give the holy spirit to people – give it away, please them, compliment them, love them etc.,
16. be a good listener, remember their circumstances, their names and those of their children,
17. use Socratic questioning for problems they describe, (i.e. ask “how do you think you might improve the situation?”),
18. leave people better off and feeling better than when you met.
19. Abroad – learn some of their language.
CHAPTER 16. PRESCRIPTION FOR HEADACHES
1. do exercise, physical activity. Don’t sit brooding. Do your normal routine.
2. be busy, (doing voluntary or part-time work),
3. cry if you feel grief. Carry on normal life after bereavement.
4. ask of God’s help.
5. again, faith, prayer and love work.
6. enjoy. 1. Corinthians, 2.9.
CHAPTER 17. HOW TO DRAW ON THAT HIGHER POWER.
Practise resting in God; feel in-touch with His power – let it flow through you.
(Love God and thy neighbour as thyself. When walking proclaim, “I love you God and your magnificent creation”).
***
Carlson, R.(2003). Stop Thinking; Start Living. Discover Lifelong Happiness. London; Element Books.
The author says “I have helped people unhappy for 30 years – feel happier after depression. I am a stress-management consultant. This book is based on ‘The Psychology of Mind’ by Mills, R. Banks, S. & Pransky G.
Traditional therapies can make a subject (S) worse by making them relive past traumas.
A happiness therapist tends to increase the happiness of the subject. Sudden shifts of consciousness can occur and improve i.e. by looking at the same world in a different way – a change in thinking. That gives happiness.
As you think, so shall you be. You have to decide to be happy.
Chapter 2.
What you think generates emotional feeling all the time. It is a major phenomenon. Negative thoughts give negative emotions and these produce unhappiness.
Thoughts are not real, they are not reality.
A bad event lasts minutes – but every time you think of it, makes it appear to happen again hundreds of times for weeks or years. “I am a failure; I am useless.” are only thoughts. You can decide to think better ones.
A bad job can produce irritation and this in turn negative thoughts and emotions to render the individual unhappy. Therefore change the thoughts from negative to positive. We create our own negative thoughts, so we can stop them.
Positive thinking hepls – but one must realise all the thoughtsare created by oneself. Stand back and watch yourself – do it.
Your thoughts cannot actually harm you not in depression, suicide, or schizophrenia. Don’t believe the thoughts. Enjoy the moment – don’t critically analyse everything. Give it a rest.
(It is suggested that endogenous depression in which there is abnormal brain chemistry, can give rise to very disturbing thoughts which cannot be escaped; they feel intolerable, unending, painful by the second; time seems to be lasting for ever. Thought of suicide can be a way of ending the pain. Also physical symptoms can generate negative thoughts and fears – but still they are only thoughts.)
Thoughts come involuntarily with the stream of consciousness. You can stand back and observe your own thoughts. This gives a freedom from their effects.
Attention to negative thoughts makes them wrse. Solve a problem yes but do not over analyse it. Some therapists over analyse negative problems, constantly revisiting the pain for the subject.
Chapter 3 Healthy Psychological Functioning.
Disregard and dismiss negative thoughts about yourself. It is not how you really are. Healthy functioning is peace of mind. Notice it, maintain it; et it be bigger than and replace depression/anxiety and unhappiness. It is your thought system versus healthy functioning (peace of mind). Some people in their thoughts are all the time analysing, comparing, criticizing etc. Often they are not happy. Sometimes turn off your thinking mind. Stop thinking. Dismiss thoughts. People who have peace of mind are kinder to others. Even when bereaved, problem-solve, then dismiss ditressing thoughts. In peace of mind - your wisdom is at work via your inner voice.
Thinking too much about past problems spoils the present. You learn (are conditioned) to think in a certain way that predisposes you to see people and situations in a certain way, which can become self-validating and can pass from generation to generation; (i.e. re attitudes caused by slavery). It will always seem correct.
Ego is linked to the your thought system (TS) works and can be dismissed and consequently allows new ways of viewing the world. Thinking you are a depressed person can lead to thinking a great deal about your depression giving negative thoughts that increase depression. You can be locked in until you decide to think only positive thoughts. (This Dorothy Rowe’s theory of depression).
Each time a thought occurs it is a ‘choice point’. Do you adhere to ‘peace of mind’ wisdom or over-analyse the issue? You can do this thousands of times per day.
Some have a long held habit of negative thinking. Count your positive and negative thoughts in a day. Negative thoughts relate to anything that makes you feel bad; e.g. negative mental dialogue. Just choose not to do negative thinking. Stop them when you notice them occur. You can choose to stay in a ‘loving feeling’ mood instead of negative thinking. Look for the emotion that follows a negative thought and that follows a postive one. Low mood produces negative thinking and this generates more low mood.
Some people in low mood become more critical of others, brusque. Make allowances for this in people. Don’t take seriously what they have said during a low mood.
Living in the ‘present’ – helps depression. Forget the past and the future – and sometimes just enjoy the present moment by moment.
Stop hurrying to improve depression or low mood. Concentrate on enjoying the job in hand and not on the next one. Prioritize if necessary.
Don’t postpone all gratification. Live each day as though it were your last says the author; however I do not agree, for me I tried to squeeze a lifetime of endeavour into each day as if it was my last and over did it.
Do forgiveness of others and yourself. It is saying that the past is over.
Do ‘present-moment” living.
Recognise feeling good and peace of mind when it happens by chance; it can lift a depressed person’s mood. (I used to rate my mood 4 times a day and was elated to see the improvement).
Mental problems and mental disturbance can come from too much negative thinking.
However, it is o.k. to feel sad, but not to be overwhelmed. Having a bad life history can generate negative thoughts, unhappiness, depression, anxiety etc. but don’t prolong them or give them too much attention. Let them come and go. Don’t talk of your bad history unendingly. This resurrects the bad events . Therapy and support groups can constantly do this for the worse. O.K., share bad events, but do not constantly resurrect them; this generates a nightmare. You can always stop the thoughts and thereby the negative feelings.
Illness and Death. Grief is pain of the past; illness pain now in the present; terminal illness/death is pain of the future; and the thoughts are still only thoughts and it is they that constantly repeat the pain; it is the thoughts that maintain the emotional pain. Therefore all that has been said so far still applies.
Persistence thoughts (even obsessional ones) can be very difficult to quell all the time, so let the thoughts come and go without too much fuss. Be in charge of your thoughts. Strive for peace of mind.
Awaiting death; don’t be obsessed with fears and thoughts of dying; stop them and think of the enjoying the last of your life. Ram Dass is a western philosopher. You can feel peace of mind, contentment, happiness even when terminally or seriously ill.
With bad news, don’t let the thoughts about it maintain the pain of it over and over again. Accept it and let it go. ‘Stress of Life’ by Hans Selyte says negative emotion affects the body chemistry; stress it and exhaust it. See also ‘Anatomy of Illness’ by N. Cousins. Stop your negative thoughts causing an emotional storm as it causes the generation of more hydrochloric acid in the stomach, increases corticoids, increases blood pressure and heart rate. (Clearing the mind, meditation and self-administered cognitive behavioural therapy can help would suggest.)
It is ok to analyhse a problem to get a solution; but then stop thinking; stop analysis paralysis. Negative thinking lowers mood/spirit and we become less wise and sensible. This applies to all problems. Peace of mind generates wisdom and a feeling of well-being. Be optimistic, feel gratitude, count your blessings.
This I would suggest is to help people with reactive depression and less so with endogenous depression, but nevertheless relevant.
Live in the present and don’t miss a chance to enjoy each moment.
***
Tolle, E. (2001). The Power of Now. Hodder Mobius.
The author is German with a degree from London University and a period working at Cambridge University.
He says “You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are”.
Preface. This book is about a shift in consciousness and spiritual enlightenment. The planet needs a change in human consciousness to survive. There is a search for how to remain in a peak experience state always.
Man can develop further spiritually; we are all connected with each other, the environment and the cosmos. There is more than just the physical reality. See David Bohm’s multidimensional model of reality. The soul (true self) lies behind our body, emotions and a chattering mind. Our ultimate destiny is to reconnect to the soul.
The author describes how he had depression and anxiety until he was aged 30. He thought ‘I hate myself’ feeling that there were two parts to himself. He asked himself which was real; the ‘I’ or the self. The ‘I’ rejected the self after intense depression. He felt born again and that light is love. The self collapsed. The ‘I’ felt at peace now and saw the beauty of nature.
He realised that his mind had caused his problems. With this enlightenment he became a spiritual teacher, lecturing groups of people.
One must identify what is false in the mind. The real I involves the joy of Being plus inner peace. Enlightenment is feeling connected to something greater, along with a peace that is an escape from incessant thinking.
Being, is in our life and in all life. In you it is the true self accessed by meditation, and concentrating on the now, so as to stop the mental chatter. Thinking is a barrier separating one from God, from others and from bliss. You are not your mind, therefore switch off thinking to produce silence. You can observe your own mind from a higher level. The mind worries, generating a voice in the head which can result in mental illness. The mind can be a tormentor.
Free yourself from your mind. Concentrating on Now only – stops the thinking chatter through meditation. (I would say that keeping busy in bereavement to mask one’s troubled thoughts may exhaust you. The answer may be to switch off the thoughts to bring silence and relief.)
Compulsive thinking is an addiction. Ego is the false self.
Mind is a stage in the evolution of consciousness. Meditation; mental stillness allows connection to the universal consciousness. Some call this ‘God’.
Creativity, new ideas etc. come from meditation and mental silence. Emotions are the body’s reactions to the state of mind. Your emotion tells you what your mind is really thinking.
Observe your emotions as well as your thoughts. Negative emotions are like pain. Positive emotions i.e. love come from being connected with the Being (God). Peace, love and joy come in meditation i.e. mental stillness. Emotion oscillates from pleasure to pain.
All cravings and addictions are a substitute for the joy of Being – (in the present and connected to God). Emotional pain comes for the same reason and causes physical pain and disease.
The way out of pain
Most pain is unnecessary. It comes from the non-acceptance of what ‘is’. To stop making pain, live more in the Now, i.e. this moment. Past and future are for running your life, but only use them when necessary. Accept pain – work with it and don’t fight against it.
Accumulated pain (pain body) from the past can persist and generate a negative outlook which rejects joy. The pain body can lead to illness and suicide. Expose pain to the light of the Now. Focus on the pain. Watching or observing the pain means you accept it for what it is now and it will heal. (This could be tested experimentally).
A spiritual teacher helps others watch their mind, emotions and pain – helping their watching become light that transforms the pain into healing. The mind is the ego and it acts to protect itself.
Being the observer of the mind/ego stops the fear of the ego being humiliated, stops your ego defending itself all the time- i.e. in fear all the time – as most people are. (Therefore I would suggest, when meeting new people, don’t give them cause to fear you). The ego strives for completeness with external trappings of success The mind creates a false self – the ego - as a substitute for your true self rooted in Being (God).
“You are a branch cut off from the vine” , as Jesus put it. Enjoy now, the present – don’t live for the past or the future. This is the key to spiritual enlightenment.
Rumi, a Sufi muslim, a great poet and teacher said “Past and future veil God from our sight” Take every opportunity to step out of the past and the future – and fully focus on the present, i.e. now. When threatened, focus on the present to avoid the egoic response.
Past, future, the mind, planning, predicting are all necessary but not all the time. Use the present moments to observe the way on the journey of life; enjoy it.
Psychological time is time spent agonizing over the past or, for example, living by a rigid belief system that generates – hell for people now – for the promise of a so-called better future. i.e. communism, extremism etc. The present can be bad, but not in the now. You cannot be unhappy in the now. There are no problems in the now only situations that can be dealt with now or left alone and accepted. Problems create pain. In a life or death situation you are totally in the present – survive or die. It is not a problem.
Ask yourself if there is joy in what you are doing. If it is all struggle then psychological time has taken you over, covering the present moment. Having too much to do can do this. Decide what to do then just enjoy it with full attention on the present now in doing it and the fruit of your action will come of itself; and feel peace and love. Everything is honoured; but nothing matters.
Mind Strategies For Avoiding The Now.
Deep suffering often leads to transformation to the now – realising the present. (Are children more in the present – now, than adults?) Ordinary unconsciousness (OU) occurs when the normal egoic mind is in control and is occupied by work, TV, etc., and this state is varied with short term pleasures, like alcohol, drugs, sex etc..
Unhappiness is deep unconsciousness (DU) and can result in violence. In OU resistance to what ‘is’ creates discontent. When stressed most people go from OU to DU but a conscious person – i.e. able to become present – and is able to witness their own mind, when stressed will do more consciousness. (Someone who is bereaved can be tempted to keep busy in order to mask the pain of grief, but may be judging from Erquart Tolle she should learn to meditate, silence her mind to find peace and love.)
Western civilisation has been imbude with ordinary unconsciousness since before Christ in its population and it is paralleled by a loss of connection with Being (God). It is due to the loss of presence; always wanting and craving something. In order to leave OU, ask yourself what you are thinking; ask how you feel. Monitor yourself. What is causing these negative thoughts or emotions? These cause unhappiness. Work to resolve these issues.
Complaining is non-acceptance of what ‘is’. Speaking out is empowering; change it or leave it or accept it. Whereever you are, be there totally.
Waiting for something to happen – means you are waiting for the future, not living in the present. Be grateful for what you have now. That is prosperity. Enjoy the present always. There is outer purpose – ambition; and inner purpose which is enlightenment.
Attend to your behaviour, emotions, desires and thoughts as they all affect behaviour, and cognition as they are in the present.
The State of Presence
Close your eyes and watch for the next thought. You wait a long time because intense presence is free of thought; the mind is still. Meditate. Being body-aware and listening to your body keeps you ‘presented’; so does the beauty of nature. (Be aware of the beauty of other men, women and children. They are equally part of nature). All things have a ‘consciousness’ to some extent. The watcher or witness is pure consciousness beyond form; i.e. enlightenment.
Tolle quotes Jesus’s parables in support of Jesus’s acceptance of ‘presence’.
The egoic mind is unconscious; there are now egoic countries. Alcohol, drugs addictions etc. give a partial relief from the egoic mind.
You can substitute ‘Christ ‘ for ‘presence’. Those with presence can recognize others with it. Presence (P) shines with a light. People with P meeting together produce a presence and light. It frees you from the illusion of only living in mind and body. You are alive in consciousness.
‘Unconsciousness’ is a word for ‘sin’ and ‘insanity’. Countries need to become ‘present’ to get connected to the Being (God) and to love to live in a different way from the egoic mind. Learn self-awareness of the inner body and mind. Denying the body, sex or association like nuns, monks, ascetics etc. does not lead to enlightenment..
Enlightenment comes through self-awareness of the body; acceptance of it; don’t fight against the body. Be self-aware of the inner body all the time to be connected to God. It is ‘presence’ in the ‘Now’. Do it in traffic jams to enjoy.
When a crisis arises , look at your inner body; be self-aware – an answer will form.
Forgiveness is important.
Inner or self-awareness slows down the aging process, improves the immune system and self-healing. Morning and night, meditate and focus on each organ of the body with consciousness. Being creative or problem-solving improves when one meditates for a few minutes between thinking.
When listening to others, be self-aware; don’t be thinking your own thoughts. Relationships are spoilt by not listening.
Meditation links us to the Being (God). Be self-aware (in presence) all the time in daily life. Being in presence allows the love of the Being (God) to enter you. The universe is the ‘body’ of God and when ‘present’we are all part of it.
Tolle says “You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are”.
If you miss all the opportunities for spiritual realization in your life, a portal opens when you die and through ignorance many misunderstand this portal of light and turn away in fear. Western culture teachers nothing of this knowledge of death.
Salvation is here and now. It is understanding that you are part of God. Presence helps make all your relationships loving. (Lust, greed, envy etc. is the ego at work).
Acceptance of what ‘is’ frees you from mind and makes presence possible. i.e. accept completely your partner as they are, to achieve a long loving relationship.
Love is a state of Being. In the stillness of presence you can feel the love of God within you. When another person feels this at the same time – then you are both truly communicating, not one egoic mind relating to another.
Marital crises are an opportunity to become conscious and presented and accepting - not judgemental of your partner. Too many people are looking for this enlightenment in falling in love with others and being disappointed. In a crisis, be the observer, the watcher; step back from inside the situation and your egoic mind. Your partner is likely to become conscious; ‘presented’. Express yourself without blaming your partner. Listen to him/her.
Enlightenment involves love and joy, openness and presence with all people. A crisis is an opportunity for presence and not egoic mind to solve the crisis by inviting the partner to be ‘presented’. (As I write these notes the portent of the words is inspiring, ennervating and satisfying. Typing up these notes is like re-reading the book and revisiting the pleasure.)
Women are closer to enlightenment than men. Early man saw God as female. Only when the mind came more to the fore, was God seen as male and females were subordinated.
Connection to God requires surrender, non-judgement, openness, allowing life to be, instead of resisting it; these are more feminine traits. The obstacle to enlightenment for men is the mind and for women – the pain-body.
The pain-body is the sum total of pain experienced by a person or a society (country). It can lead to being a perpetrator or victim of violence or to enlightenment. The number of enlightened women out numbers men. The pain-body can free you from the identification with mind and therefore lead to enlightenment.
Being emotionally attached or identified with the pain prevents enlightenment. Be the watcher and the attachment is broken. Victims blame their state on the criminal but the victim has the power of the present moment, to break from the past and start anew. Collective victim identity is when women say ‘look what men did to women’.
Men have abused women over the millenia but women today should not derive a sense of self from it and imprison themselves in the collective victim identity. If a woman is holding on to this anger etc. she is holding on to her pain-body. This blocks development of enlightenment and builds ego that does the same thing.
Any pain or emotion that you like, your presence transmutes it. Don’t let pain take over your thinking. Be self-aware of all your emotions, body symptoms and sensations and observe, watch; stand back from them and accept.
This acceptance transmutes the pain-body into radiant consciousness. Do this every time you have pain – for women do it at menstruation. Presence regains consciousness from the mind. When your wife is troubled by the pain-body and is irritable, it is not her speaking but her mind. If the partner is in ‘presence’ he can see it is not her real self or consciousness. It is her egoic mind responding to the pain. Therefore he should not retaliate with defensive comments but help her into presence.
Even being enlightened and with peace of mind, you still need a relationship with the opposite sex if you have that need. But being enlightened helps you relate deeply, i.e. enlightened – conscious of Being or God.
Unhappiness can be a great awakener to presence. The solution is to accept this moment fully. You do need to love and accept yourself. In enlightenment ‘you’ and ‘yourself ‘ are one. So then there is no need to love yourself- you are one.
When you live in complete acceptance of what is the best way to live, there is no good or bad. There is only higher good which includes the bad. Acceptance frees you from your mind dominance and re-connects you to God, and his consciousness will flow into your activity. In your presence you can feel the love of God and will love all creation. There is a field of consciousness around you – healing those in the field – by holding the frequency of intense presence. The ego acts to combat fear and lack. But it can lead to greed, power-seeking, control etc. causing conflict and illness.
Collective ego is the cause of wars. There is no ego when ‘presented’, no argument but complete acceptance of what is; no conflict within or between people.
Failure and suffering often lead to a search for spirituality. Getting self-worth from achieving completion of jobs is an identification with external factors; identification with mind. To an extreme this compulsion leads the body to become ill to force a stop. Being presented solves this. The advertising industry would collapse if people became enlightened and no longer sought to find their identity through buying things.
Negativism strengthens the ego. Presence stops it. When negativism occurs, swearing to oneself often happens. Use this as a trigger for ‘presence’.
E.g. a car alarm goes off and stimulates irritation in you. The irritation does not solve anything. Let it pass through you. Try to stop the alarm o.k. but don’t over react.
Don’t be dependent on the outer world for fulfillment or happiness – get it from presence. Every moment is the best moment now. At the level of Being (God) all suffering is seen as an illusion.
Being or consciousness, in others can be triggered and appear as healing. Compassion is the realization of the deep bond between oneself and all people and creation. St. Paul says the whole of creation is waiting for humans to become enlightened.
Enjoy the world, but don’t get attached to it and make it part of yourself.
Once enlightened, others may notice the peace that emanates from you. You teach through Being, demonstrating the peace of God. You become the ‘light of the world’ emanating pure consciousness, eliminating unconsciousness in the world; making it a better world. Let your peace flow into whatever you do.
In a problem, surrender to the circumstances; go with the flow, accept this moment and through reconnection to Being (God) you will be energized to find a solution without the egoic mind. More people on Earth need to have presence to use spiritual energy – the light from God – for us to move to a fairer world.
When ill, go with how you feel. Accept it; gain presence and enlightenment and God’s love. Don’t blame yourself or anything else for the illness.
Some people become conscious after a bereavement, deep suffering, pain or other disasterous event. They surrender to the situation and accept, are presented, entering a state of grace, enlightenment and feel the love of God. It is like crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.
With physical pain, face it; concentrate your attention on it. Full attention is full acceptance and the power of your presence removes time. Without time there is no suffering; no negativity can survive.
God is not separate from us. God is Being, not a being. Our being is God. Most people only awaken through suffering to enlightenment. People who are unconscious and driven by their mind and its learned patterns of behaviour and conditioning, experience limited choice. Presence brings consciousness and real choice.
***
Braden, G. (2007). The Divine Matrix. Hay House Inc.
INTRODUCTION
Written by a NASA scientist, Braden the author describes the divine matrix as a field of energy stretching across the entire universe. Bohm says that all aspects of the universe including us are connected in an ‘undivided wholeness in flowing movement’ i.e. developing; being created – responding to consciousness.
Beliefs create behaviour in relationships and so create love, hatred, good or bad behaviour in others. We are all thus creating, as we work and behave; creating the world around us as well as each other. We are the artist and the canvas. Therefore we have the power to change ourselves and the world – through the divine matrix.
The divine matrix is like a cosmic blanket covering everything. Our lives are played out in the fibres making ‘wrinkles’ in the blanket. To change something requires desire. The divine matrix reflects back to us what we have created. Michio Kaku’s book ‘Hyperspace’ is recommended.
This book about the divine matrix is aimed at bridging the gap between the findings of quantum physics and everyday life, and this can help us be better people in a better world.
There are four characteristics of the divine matrix.
1. A field of energy connects all creation. A
2. This field is the container, bridge and mirror for our beliefs. B
3. The field is non-local and holographic (meaning that each part is connected to every other part and mirrors the whole on a smaller scale). L
4. Emotions are used to communicate with the field. Consciousness is
non-local and holographic. E
Each moment we make decisions, that nourish us or deplete us, have far reaching effects. All of these choices combine to produce our collective reality.
Part I of the book is about discovering the divine matrix (DM),
Part II discusses how the DM works:
a. showing prayers are instant,
b. we are not limited by our body,
c. loving support is instant,
d. there is potential for instant healing,
e. we can see across time and space.
Part III discusses messages from the DM leading to deeper healing, the greatest joy and human survival.
CHAPTER 1 DISCOVERING THE DIVINE MATRIX. THE MYSTERY THAT CONNECTS ALL THINGS.
Key 1.
The DM is a container of the universe. At the particle level all things are connected and infinite. ‘Non-local’ means always connected and in more than one place at a time.
Key 2
Science is finding that everything is connected to everything else.
Key 3
To use the intelligent power of the universe, think that you are part of it – instead of separate. Deciding what you want (the idea) and then living the emotion of desiring it, will generate the possibility of it becoming reality. Conscious belief creates the idea – i.e. the imagination.
The space between atoms and in outer space is filled with a field of energy that allows light to travel. Without it, it would be dark. This field of energy is the great net that connects everything i.e. the divine matrix.
The question is whether or not the physics of atoms is relevant to the physics of everyday life.
When a light photon is split and the 2 halves are sent in opposite directions, they make the same choice of route, i.e. they communicate instantly - or are still connected to each other in a sense. This happens in nature and across galaxies light years apart. The divine matrix is involved.
The space between atoms and galaxies is the energy that connects everything i.e. the divine matrix. All atoms in the universe were connected at the ‘Big bang’ – and still are connected now. This implies for our daily lives that:
1. if all things are connected, what we do now influences other parts of our life.
2. consciousness is holographic – repeated. All consciousness is connected so prayers about people are instant.
3. All time is in the divine matrix therefore past, present and future are connected.
Therefore we are active creators in the divine matrix – not passive victims of fate. (We make our own chances).
If connected – we are more powerful in groups or communities than a single individual.
The divine matrix space may be the same as consciousness. The universe may be being created by consciousness.
Observation and participation may build the universe. The matrix is creation. It contains the universe. The matrix is a force of energy.
Experiment 1. There is an energy that connects DNA to the physical world. Human DNA affects photons – causing them to form a pattern which remains even when the human DNA is removed – i.e. they are still connected. Th DNA and photons seem to be connected via an energy field – evidence for the divine matrix. i.e. DNA (cells) influence physical matter. (This is called the DNA phantom effect)
Experiment 2. The emotion of a human subject affects his mouth swab cell electrical activity hundreds of feet away. Therefore a person and his cells have been separated, but are still connected even 350miles apart.
The conclusion is that :
1. a field of energy connects living separate tissue
2. human emotion influences living DNA
3. Distance of separation has no effect.
Experiment 3. The heart has an energy field. Human positive emotion affected human DNA in a jar. Five people meditating focused positive emotion, love, intention and imagery of a DNA sample in their mind. Different intentions gave different effects on the DNA molecule.
Therefore:
1. The divine matrix may be the matrix giving these connections.
2. Our DNA can affect photons – via our emotions.
The divine matrix is an energy field of connectors like a fabric underlying our reality.
Simply, the divine matrix is :
1. a container for the universe.
2. a bridge between our inner and outer world
3. a mirror reflecting our everyday A, B and C (A - affect, B - behaviour, C - cognition and beliefs.)
The divine matrix appears to have intelligence. It responds to human emotion including prayer. Therefore coincidence and déjà vu occur because of our connectedness.
PART II. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN IMAGINATION AND REALITY. HOW THE DIVINE MATRIX WORKS.
Our ABC + beliefs + prayers are us talking to the universe. From the state of our bodies to the extent of peace in the world, is the universe answering back.
Consciousness creates when we focus our consciousness on something and examine the world. Everything that happens to us and is done by us is a product of our consciousness and nothing else. Imagination and consciousness can create miracles. Consciousness creates our reality – be it healing or suffering, peace or war. Knowing this could be the source of our greatest healing and our survival.
“Man’s chief delusion is that he thinks there are causes other than his own state of consciousness”, says Neville – a philosopher from Barbados. (We have all the power we need to change all the things we choose. Key 6). We do this by the way we use our awareness and place our focus. Examples from “The Power of Awareness” book by Neville are as follows:
Neville told a dying man who wanted to live “constantly imagine you are recovered”.
Your imagination creates your reality. Be careful not to imagine your decline and death. The man recovered.
(In the Reiki session I had with a Reiki healer, I learnt that I should focus on living a good life and less on spending time trying to find a cure for my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M.E. The message then is to live and imagine constantly that you are well and recovered. This is similar to the life of the woman paraplegic Joni Eareckson).
To solve a problem imagine it is already solved.
Because electrons (energy) can be a wave or a particle – depending on the observer – it means that Key 7, what we focus on becomes the reality of our world; i.e. what we say or do results in one outcome or another – one reality or another. (Buddhism says this is like many ancient philosophies). There are many possibilities for each moment. Beliefs determine the possibilities and for a real outcome you have to become the reality you want. i.e. believe, feel, think, imagine it has already happened. i.e. change the level of thinking and consciousness which prevailed with the problem. Prayer is involved and the pray is ‘feeling’ your goal is already accomplished. i.e. pure emotion; feel it deeply with all your heart and soul. (At this time I tried out this way of praying with thoughts of my 63 year old cousin who was in hospital with bone cancer and in a very poorly state. Two months later he was back in Egypt where he works!). (What would happen if you felt the love of God and loved God as intensely and without any doubt as Key 7 suggests?)
What connects us to the DM and everyone else is ‘compassion’. Compassion connects all things and is a human experience and a force in the universe given in a non-ordinary state of consciousness without ego involvement or judgement.
The effects of prayer seem to only last whilst the praying occurs. To keep it up you have to ‘live’ the experience and be what you feel and pray for.
Bilocation occurs in quantum physics but also in life when someone is in deep meditative prayer in one place – and talking to others in another place.
Evidence for this was the story of a nun who bilocated and taught indians Christianity. Padre Pio bilocated to appear in front of bombers to stop them bombing an Italian Nazi occupied city.
CHAPTER 4. ONCE CONNECTED ALWAYS CONNECTED. LIVING IN A HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE.
Holograms are 3D pictures in which each part of the picture is repeated in every part of the picture. An image is visible above the 2D picture. We live in a non-local world where prayer about someone, like the behaviour of split photons is communicated to the other instantly. They are still connected even though miles apart.
All consciousness of all people is connected. The universe is a non-local hologram; i.e. all the parts are connected and when subdivided the same structure is repeated in all parts of the universe, i.e. each point within reflects all others – like a net. The net contains the universe giving it its holographic properties. Each already has the whole universe mirrored in it on a smaller scale. All things are already everywhere the hologram is in the DM. There is no ‘here’ and ‘there’.
Now the earlier cited experiments can be explained. The DNA reacted when the subject showed emotions because it was still connected to the person who was the subject even though it was in a different place. When we pray, the prayer is already everywhere.
The way to get change in the world – is to change things in a small step by step manner. One small change can suddenly result in change everywhere. (Scientific discoveries have been made at the same time in different parts of the world.)
Holographic principle – all parts are the same as the whole.
Non-local holographic principle – all parts are the same as the whole AND things can be in two locations at the same time.
The brain seems to be a holographic structure; information distributed repeatedly throughout the brain and not just in one place.
The idea of the DM as a universally connected hologram means we are limited only by our beliefs. It could be a prison or our greatest freedom.
Our collective consciousness may work holographically. A small change here gives a change everywhere; (like the spread of any idea around the world; like the suicide bombing idea).
Within the DM the Earth’s 6 billion minds are a part of a larger single awareness. Six billion consciousnesses are repeated like a hologram. Therefore each of us has the power to change the hologram of our world. The experiments with meditation for peace were linked to less violence in the near-by cities in the middle east region.
The square root of 1 per cent of a population has been found to be the minimum number of people to start a change in a population. The more that join the bigger the change.Therefore a 100 are required for a city of one million and 8000 people are required for the world of 6 billion people.
Just a little faith or belief is needed to open the door to a greater possibility. i.e. Jesus and the mustard seed/mountain parable. It is our belief whilst observing a phenomena that chooses one reality out of the many possibilities. Neville says faith is the persistence in the assumption that your desire is already fulfilled….your world inevitably conforms to your assumptions (faith or belief).
CHAPTER 5. JUMPING TIME AND SPACE IN THE MATRIX.
The only way we can describe time is through the things that happen within it. Past, present and future are an illusion says Eistein. Past, present and future are in the moment.
Braden recommends a book by Halberham & Leventhal. Small Miracles. Extraordinary Miracles from Everyday Life.
Jews believe in an after-life - heaven or ha-shamayim. The DM is the container for this world and the after-life. Both co-exist.
Remote viewing uses the DM and is more evidence of its existence.
Time might go forward and backwards i.e. in two directions. Today might affect yesterday. This is time for electrons; is it time for everyday life? Is consciousness involved? Past, present and future are in the DM container.
PART III. MESSAGES FROM THE DIVINE MATRIX.
The DM speaks to us through events in our lives. The DM reflects our beliefs in the state of the world. We only see the world as a reflection of an unseen deeper reality. Our daily experiences are the messages from the DM. It is difficult to ‘read’ these messages. The wind blowing on our face maybe a spirit making contact. Equilibrium resonance is us being in equilibrium with our environment. The world shows us physically what we are experiencing emotionally.
Because the DM constantly reflects our beliefs, feelings, emotions etc. through the events of our lives, the everyday world provides insights about the deepest realms of our hidden selves.
Basic fears are of abandonment, fear of low self-esteem, and surrender (loss of trust). These are universal fears. If we want something to change we must break the cycle and give the matrix something different to reflect.
CHAPTER 7 READING THE MIRRORS OF RELATIONSHIP. MESSAGES FROM OURSELVES.
Other people to whom we relate, show us our reflection. Recognise the messages mirrored to us by our relationships and we can discover the beliefs that cause suffering in our lives. (You can read people’s reaction to yourself.).
Do we recognise the messages we send to ourselves as part of the DM?
To overcome fear we must identify the pattern that allows it to exist.
Mirror of Relationships
The first mirror gives reflections of the moment.
The second mirror gives reflections of what we judge in our lives. Judgement of honesty, truthfulness etc. Blessing those who have hurt us, releases us from the cycle of pain long enough to allow in another emotion into our minds.
The third mirror gives reflections of what we have lost, given away or had taken from us. Attraction to other people may feel like love but maybe recognizing something in ourselves that we have lost.
When you are attracted by a woman; ask yourself ‘what is the attraction..?’ What is it saying about us? (For me it is that I want to give love. I want to please them; to give away the holy spirit. This might be my greatest power.)
The fourth mirror gives reflections of our dark night of the soul. For example Gerald has a good job, wife and two daughters. Then working away from home a great deal with a young woman in his team, he falls in love with her and leaves his wife to live with her. Then two months later she ends it with him. He has given up his family for her. He is devastated. He is in the dark night of the soul. The dark night of the soul (DNS) has the purpose for us, to experience and heal our own great fear, and be stronger as a result.
The fifth mirror gives reflections of our greatest act of compassion (to ourselves).
A beautiful girl keeps having cosmetic surgery to look better, till it kills her. What is our point of reference for judging our successes and failures? The DM reflects back to us the way we feel about ourselves (performance, appearance and achievements) as the reality of our world. Our greatest healing can come from being compassionate and kind to ourselves.
These five mirrors allow the greatest healing of the relatioships in our life. Each mirror is a stepping stone towards a greater levelof personal mastery; (knowing and understanding ourselves). When things go wrong, maybe learning to resolve them leads us further along our spiritual path.
CHAPTER 8. REWRITING THE REALITY CODE.
20 KEYS TO CONSCIOUS CREATION.
The universe can be thought of as a massive consciousness computer. Consciousness is the operating system and the output is reality. The software programs are our feelings, emotions prayers and beliefs – that alter the DM. We are already doing all this – i.e. changing our bodies, relationships, lives and the world.
We are holographic bodies with a holographic consciousness in a holographic universe. When we are sad, watching a sad film – we are sad because of our own losses. In a hologram a change on one level is reflected throughout the whole. It takes only a few people to start a new way of thinking or idea – in consciousness – e.g. Al Qaeda. The key is that it needs only one person to start changing the beliefs, and sending a new blueprint for reality to consciousness.
In a universe that mirrors our beliefs, angry people cannot create a peaceful world. Change anywhere in the system can be changed everywhere in a holographic consciousness. (For example the underclass in the U.K. started 30 to 40 years ago with small groups of unemployed people on state benefits who got used to an unemployed lifestyle forming on large housing estates. Crime and drug-taking have complicated the mélange. Their attitudes often involving an anti-education component have over time spread up the social class to affect a much larger proportion of society and secondary schools than ever before. Once ideas and attitudes take hold they increase over time. Another example is the spread of subprime mortgage debt investment across America and the U.K. One bank sees it as a good idea and many more banks follow suit.)
The principles are the same if we are seeking world peace – or positive change in our family or healing in others or ourselves. Using the series of 20 keys is the way to do it. They are the software our consciousness computer uses to make reality. The keys are like a code. Each key or step is required in that order.
If atomic particles can have instant communication with each other, be in two places at once, live in the past and the future, change history through choices in the present, then so can we who are made up of particles.
The great secret of creation itself, is that the single most powerful force in the universe lives within each of us. It is the power to create in the world, what we imagine in our beliefs. The author Gregg Braden believes that this is the way the universe works.
This book is in the category of New Science/spirituality.
20 KEYS OF CONSCIOUS CREATION
Key 1: The Divine Matrix is the container that holds the universe; the bridge between all things and the mirror that shows us what we have created.
Key 2: Everything in our world is connected to everything else.
Key 3: To tap the force of the universe itself, we must see ourselves as part of the world rather than separate from it.
Key 4: Once something is joined, it is always connected, whether it remains physically linked or not.
Key 5: The act of focusing our consciousness is an act of creation. Consciousness creates!
Key 6: We have all the power we need to create all the changes we choose!
Key 7: The focus of our awareness becomes the reality of our world.
Key 8: To simply say that we choose a new reality is not enough!
Key 9: Feeling is the language that ‘speaks’ to the Divine Matrix. Feel as though your goal is accomplished and your prayer is already answered.
Key 10: Not just any feeling will do. The ones that create, must be without
ego and judgment.
Key 11: We must become in our lives the things that we choose to
experience as our world.
Key 12: We are not bound by the laws of physics as we know them today.
Key 13: In a holographic ‘something,’ every piece of the something mirrors
the whole something.
Key14: The universally connected hologram of consciousness promises
that the instant we create our good wishes and prayers, they are
already received at their destination.
Key15: Through the hologram of consciousness, a little change in our lives
is mirrored everywhere in our world.
Key16: The minimum number of people required to ‘jump-start’ a change in
consciousness is the √1% of a population.
Key17: The Divine Matrix serves as the mirror in our world of the
relationships that we create in our beliefs.
Key18: The root of our ‘negative’ experiences may be reduced to one of
three universal fears (or a combination of them): abandonment, low
self-worth, or lack of trust.
Key19: Our true beliefs are mirrored in our most intimate relationships.
Key20: We must become in our lives the very things that we choose to
experience in our world.
***